"Miss, please, where is it?" Father Louis asked anxiously.
As if it had been marked with an X, I went over to a section of wall only about two feet outside of the demon's circle. Lucky for us, whoever had buried the staff hadn't hidden it a few steps over, or we'd have another big problem on our hands. I pressed my hand against the wall. Power reached out to zap my palm, and I smiled despite the fresh spurt of pain.
"It's right behind here."
Adrian turned to Father Louis. "We'll need a power drill, work gloves and lots of cloth." To me, he said, "You're not touching it, Ivy. Not yet. I'll pull it out, and then we'll lock it up somewhere safe while you build up your tolerance to it."
I wasn't ashamed of how relieved that made me. More time to train was a good idea. It gave me a better chance at surviving.
"Ooh, give Moses's staff to the Judian, splendid idea," Blinky mocked, breaking through my happiness.
Adrian shot him a dangerous look. "See that rope wrapped around her hand? It's David's slingshot, and while I haven't been able to kill you these past few years, it can."
Father Louis left after muttering something in Latin that made the demon's mouth curl down. "Superstitious old fool," he said contemptuously. Then the pale green eyes all over him narrowed as he stared at me. "You must know that the staff will kill you if you attempt to use it."
My worst fears spoken aloud. I couldn't let him know that he'd scored a hit, though. "The slingshot didn't," I said, holding out the glowing rope around my hand for emphasis.
"A mere toy," the demon scoffed. "Its claim to fame was killing one giant. Moses's staff brought an entire nation to its knees with plagues so fearsome, their like has never been seen before or since."
"One more word to her," Adrian said through gritted teeth, "and you won't live long enough to see the staff."
Blinky waved a hand, as though suddenly bored with us. We spent a tense few minutes in that silent standoff until footsteps on the staircase had my head swiveling toward the door. Father Louis bustled into the room, slightly flushed, and he dropped several items by Adrian's feet.
"I already had most of what you needed here for when we do repairs," he said, his words breathier from his exertions. "The drill was at the hall next door, which is under construction."
Adrian snorted. "You stole it?"
"Borrowed," the priest replied promptly. "I'll return it as soon as we are done."
An hour later, Adrian had carved out one of the stone blocks that made up the wall. I almost held my breath as I saw the outline of something in the narrow space between these stones and the next layer of rock. Adrian glanced at me, his expression so inscrutable, his features could have been carved from the walls surrounding us. Then, very slowly, he pulled out an oblong object wrapped in dark, stained cloths.
I took in a long breath. Father Louis fell to his knees, and for the first time, the demon looked afraid.
Then Adrian drew the cloth away, revealing what was inside. I stared, cocking my head in confusion. That didn't look like a staff. I wasn't an expert on them, but wasn't a staff essentially a long wooden stick? This was stone, and unless the low lights were playing tricks on me, it looked like a tablet.
Then low, cruelly satisfied laughter broke through the shocked silence in the crypt.
"Looks like your illustrious hallowed sensors dialed a wrong number, Davidian," the demon drawled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
"THAT CAN'T BE," I muttered, going over to Adrian and grabbing the tablet. It felt supernaturally limp in my hands, but when I brushed the cloth around it, power overloaded my senses enough to almost knock me over again.
"What the hell?" I exclaimed in surprise.
The demon grunted. "Come closer and I'll show you."
I ignored that. Adrian didn't. He lasered another death stare at Blinky before returning his attention to me.
"What is it, Ivy?"
"It's the cloth."
He wouldn't know because he was wearing industrialized, superthick work gloves, protecting his bare skin from the supernatural forces emanating from the cloth. I grabbed a large handful to be sure, then screamed at the paralyzing pain shooting through me. It brought me to my knees, and through the sound of my own gasps, I heard the demon's taunting laughter.
"How delicious. It wasn't the staff that called you down here. It was merely the cloth that it used to be wrapped in."
I wanted to tell him to shut up, but I couldn't catch my breath. I dropped the cloth, backing away from it as though it were a poisonous snake. My body ached right down to the marrow in my bones, and I hadn't felt anything that excruciating since I'd used the slingshot for the first time.