Chapter Four
A sleepless night followed and blended into a lethargic day. I trudged through my normal routine on instinct alone, accomplishing nothing beyond showing my face in the usual places. At work, no matter how hard I tried to focus, it was impossible to keep my mind on a single task. On the rare occasion that someone talked to me, the only responses I could manage were generic phrases like "I hear you" and "that's great." I existed solely on a superficial level.
Even if I had slept, I'm not sure things would have been any different. There was a darkness on the horizon, creeping closer with every tick of the clock. It was no longer a question of whether this was all a dream or if I would be called upon again. The reality of the situation had grown beyond my capacity for denial. The Matron had made a date and I knew she meant to keep it.
As soon as the sun began to set, I found myself in a familiar stillness. A wave of fear struck me, and instinct took over. I got up from my seat and sprinted forward off the couch, past my television set, and through the wall behind it.
At the speed I was moving, I ran beyond my visible apartment almost immediately and soon after saw nothing but blackness. I don't know how far I traveled, but several minutes passed before the fire caught up and consumed me. Even then, I still tried to run, finally tripping over some unseen nothing only to land on my stomach on cold, hard concrete. The circle spread out around me.
I peered toward the wall of candlelight. The Matron, the Princess, and the Follower were standing side-by-side at the edge of it. I picked myself up slowly, surprised I wasn't in more pain. Instead of trying to stand, I surrendered and knelt.
"Get Ambree," I heard the Matron say.
The Follower disappeared into the darkness while the remaining pair walked over to me. When they were close enough, the Matron's eyes found mine. "I hope you've taken this time to think about your place."
Behind her, the Princess stared at me silently. My sight unconsciously lowered to find her hands at her waist as I wondered if she was still carrying the dagger she had used to threaten me the last time we were together. There was no sign of it, but I knew there wouldn't be until she decided she needed it again.
When the Follower returned, she wasn't alone. A woman I had never seen before walked into the light at her side.
The new arrival looked much older than the others. Short gray hair framed her sharp face which was heavily creased and leathered by time. Her sagging skin hung over a skeletal frame, wrapped in a black corset top and black leather pants. Only her eyes, brilliant and green, betrayed the age of the rest of her.
Without hesitation, she walked over to my circle, but unlike the others, she did not give herself a buffer at the edge. She stepped to it boldly, her toes practically touching the outer line.
"Ambree, what are you doing?" the Matron hissed. "You're too close."
The woman turned her head slightly. "Do you have him under control or not? If he hurts me, he knows that you can end his life with little effort." She looked back at me as she spoke the last sentence.
"What are you going to do?"
"I need to meditate with him."
"Fine, but step back and bring him to the edge of the circle. It took us so long to get the summoning right. I don't want to have to start all over again when he does something silly like try and take you hostage."
"No. This will be fine right here. You may leave now. I need to be alone with him."
The Matron sighed. "We would like to supervise our demon while you work with him. Be reasonable."
"If you have reconsidered accepting my help, I can leave. I have no doubt you will find the solution to your problem, eventually. You have done well so far to justify taking up all this space."
"But Kindrid." The woman in white over-annunciated the second word, spreading it across three syllables. "How are we supposed to learn from you if you won't allow us to watch?" She bowed her head slightly as she finished the sentence.
"There is either a problem with you or a problem with him. I cannot tell the difference if you are here pulling at his strings. I need to know what he is capable of without your bond interfering." The old woman kept her eyes locked onto mine as she spoke. Her stance and tone were as cold as the person she argued with, but I saw no hunger or malice in the way she regarded me.
There was no immediate response. The Princess and the Follower looked to the Matron who held her breath for a long moment. It was a deliberate pause, something that might have worked to intimidate someone with less confidence, but her target was unmoved.
"Tell me now before I waste any more of my time."
The Matron let out a humph and turned, making her way out of sight beyond the ring of candles. Her companions quickly followed. "Don't forget whose summoning this is," I heard her shout before the sound of something large and poorly oiled closing signaled her exit.
The woman gestured to me. "Please stand."
