"Asmodeus removed it so I could perform the spell on you."
"He knows you have the book?"
Kelly didn't answer.
The book had come from Kelly. Kelly was the only human who had access to her house. Kelly was also the only witch Brianna knew, and one had to be a witch to use the Demonic Book of Spells. What made Brianna feel worse was that she had just stood up for her friend and Kelly had made a liar out of her.
Heat crept into her face when she thought of what she had done to Asmodeus the night before. He had defended her to Raum and Naberius and she had made a liar of him. Karma was a bitch. "Kelly, you know you can't play with a book like that. There's nothing good in that book. You taught me that."
Kelly sneered. "One of the spells in this book just healed you, bringing you back from certain death."
"Kelly—"
"I have a business to run. This isn't a hobby to me like it is you. You play with witchcraft, yet I live by it."
Brianna had never seen Kelly so defensive before. "You're dealing with dark magic. It's dangerous."
"It's only dangerous when you don't know what you're doing. In your hands this book could be potentially harmful. You are ignorant of our ways, and you have never had a good grasp on spells or incantations. I do."
Kelly's words hurt. She was laying bare all of Brianna's weaknesses, pounding them into her, letting her know just who was the more powerful of the two. The challenge she detected in Kelly's words and actions raised alarm bells in Brianna's mind. "How long have you been dealing with dark magic that you know what you're doing? Where did you get that book? Who taught you to read it?"
"Don't worry about where I got it or how I came to understand it," Kelly snapped. "The fact remains I know how to use it, which tilts the favor in my direction."
"What favor?" Not that Brianna expected to get any sane answers from Kelly. It was useless. Her words were making less and less sense. "Kelly, you're a good person. If you practice dark magic it could turn you. It will corrupt you."
Kelly laughed and the sound chilled Brianna. "Who's to say I'm not already corrupted? You're so young. Sometimes I forget that."
Brianna felt as though she were speaking to a stranger. "You're not much older than I am."
"You've no idea, do you?"
Brianna lay very still. Was Kelly into the dark arts further than she had originally thought? To what extent had the darkness corrupted her friend? "What are you talking about?"
Someone pounded on the door. A volley of sounds erupted in the hallway, as if her hearing had just cleared.
"Brianna!"
It was Asmodeus. Before she could call out to him Kelly started mumbling a spell. As she did, her eyes changed from blue to white. There were no pupils.
Just as the door opened Kelly disappeared.
Asmodeus barged in, scanning the room. "Where is Kelly?"
Brianna's gaze was fixed on the spot where Kelly had disappeared. Humans couldn't do what Kelly had just done. Brianna had never heard of such a thing.
"She's gone. She just disappeared. Her eyes turned white as she used a spell. Asmodeus, how could she do that?"
Asmodeus practically ran to her, a worried expression straining his face as he sat next to her on the bed. "She put some sort of ward up over the room. We've been trying to get in." He placed a hand on her cheek.
"Kelly—"
"Don't worry about her right now." Asmodeus got up and went back to the door. "Raum, did you hear what Brianna just said about Kelly?"
"Yes."
"Find her," Asmodeus said.
"Will do."
Asmodeus shut the door and walked over to Brianna. "How are you feeling?" He ran his hand over her forehead, a gesture he had done more than once. In that moment her dishonesty about the angels bubbled up within her, and the way she had lied to him left her disgusted. Her one goal in life had been to hone a craft she had no business with, and it had landed her in this mess. Now she didn't know what to do, who to trust. Her best friend had just turned into someone else before her eyes.
"The book belonged to Kelly," she said, stating the obvious. For some reason she felt guilty by association.
"Kelly will be dealt with, and I don't want you to worry about her. Leave that situation to me. I want you to know you can trust me."
She didn't comment. The silence that hung between them was awkward.
He took a deep breath. "I know that sounds odd, coming from a demon, as that label intones a sense of evil, and in many ways it should. My goal throughout many centuries has been to take my revenge on Michael, though I've come to realize that will not bring back my family, nor alleviate the sense of being alone in this world. It will only bring on more pain."