Vivian looked up at the waning moon, just past its full ripeness. The fire sparked in the darkness of night as she clutched her robe around her body. Underneath it, her bare skin pricked from the cold. A summoning like this must be done skyclad. Only the stars could clothe her skin.

Lifting the heavy cast iron pot over the hot flames, she muttered the words to cleanse her cauldron. She dropped off her robe and drew her dagger. Stepping close to the fire, she cast her circle, sprinkling salt along the outer border to seal the space from external energies. She called the corners, bringing the powers of north, south, east, and west into her circle.

Vivian could feel the power building as she poured water into her cauldron. One by one, she dropped her ingredients into the boiling water, speaking the words of the ancient summoning spell. Vivian’s voice rang like a bell, echoing out over the forest and ocean below.

As she recited the words, coming to the moment when she would add the black myrtle, she went farther and farther into the altered state of the spell. The sound of crashing made her snap her head around to look at what it was.

As if a vision, she saw Laurence in her backyard, stepping over a pile of broken clay pots. He approached her in long strides, his expression intent.

“What are you doing here? It isn’t safe.”

“Vivian. I want to help you. I think I know a way to break your ex-husband’s spell.”

“Laurence, it’s too late. There isn’t any other way.” She dropped the black myrtle into the bubbling water just as Harold broke through the bushes at the edge of the yard.

“You’ll never get away from me, Vivian. You’re coming back with me now.”

She felt the tug of his binding spell, pulling her out of her circle. With all her will, she recited the last words of the spell that would summon the demon from hell. With a roaring scream, the demon crawled its way up from the ground. Vivian’s breath stuck in her throat. It was monstrous. Pure evil poured off the being’s red rutty skin.

“You dare to summon a demon to destroy me!” Harold screamed. Laurence roared behind her. Vivian felt her eyes water and touched her cheek to see blood on her fingertips.

“Take him!” she screamed. The demon growled and charged forward, grabbing Harold in its massive claws. Vivian felt the tentative hold she had on the beast. She glanced at Laurence. His face had gone animalistic, nearly half shifted into bear form. He looked ready to charge. 

She bit her lip, hating what she had to do next. “Take him with you to hell!” she screamed above the howling wind, whirling around them. The demon gripped Harold and clawed its way down into the soil, disappearing completely. Her heart beating like a wild bird, she closed her circle, blood still dripping from her eyes.

She grabbed her robe and ran to Laurence who had taken a seat on her patio chair. “That was something else,” he said, not looking at her.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. What are you doing here?”

“I came to tell you I think I can break the spell. But now, I’m not so sure.” He stood and turned away to walk around the house to his truck.

“Wait!” she yelled, hurrying after him.

“How do you think you can break the binding spell?” she asked, grabbing his arm. He turned, anger and longing in his eyes. “A shifter’s mating bite is extremely powerful. It is a claiming. If a shifter were to mate you, it would break any previous claims on you.”

“And you would do that for me?”

“I don’t know. After what I just saw, I don’t think I can.”

He pulled away and stomped toward his truck. “Laurence, wait!”

“Vivian. Witchcraft makes me sick. It killed my mother. I thought you were different, but now that I’ve seen that spell, I know you aren’t.”

“What happened to your mother?” she said, not letting him go. If he were right, she could free Harold from hell, the spell broken, she wouldn’t have to live with the karma or the guilt on her conscience.

“My mother was the alpha female of our clan in Alaska. We had a territorial dispute with another clan over our fishing grounds. The land had belonged to our clan for generations, but they were greedy and wanted to expand their territory. My mother resisted. She hired a lawyer to prevent them from claiming the land. But the clan wouldn’t settle when the law was on our side. Instead, they hired a witch to curse my mother for revenge. She took ill, after never being sick a day in her life. A week later, she died.”

“How do you know it was a witch’s curse?”

“I found a fetish under my mother’s house. And there was talk in town. The clan leaders bragged about giving my mother what she deserved.”

“Laurence, that’s terrible. I’m sorry. My family would never do that kind of thing. It sounds like a voodoo curse.”

“You just summoned a demon to take your ex-husband to hell, Vivian. I don’t see the difference.”

“It was self-defense!” she said, clutching her robe around her throat.

“I’m sure the bear clan could have claimed self-defense as well. I don’t think there is any excuse.”

“Fine, Laurence. If you don’t think I had cause to defend myself from a man who would have forced me to go with him to do far worse things than I’ve done today, things like what happened to your mother, then I’m done with you. He isn’t even dead. He’ll come back as soon as I’m gone from this world. Not that that matters to someone on your high moral ground. We have nothing left to talk about.”