Steel weapons wouldn’t work and neither would fireballs. Dammit. Those kids couldn’t hold him all day.

“Can the boys let him go and dive for cover?” I asked.

“He’d roast them before they could blink,” Vegard said. “We need a demon trap.”

“So get one!”

“I’ve sent Dacan, but he won’t be back in time.”

A voice brushed against my mind, its familiar intimacy like a caress of dark silk against bare skin. I didn’t need to see him; I knew who he was.

Tamnais Nathrach. Goblin dark mage, former chief shaman for the royal House of Mal’Salin, ex-magical enforcer to the goblin queen-but right now, Tam was a really pissed-off father whose son was in mortal danger.

“Get behind the demon where he can’t see you!” Tam commanded. “Quickly! He can’t turn while the boys still have him.”

Tam and I had spoken mind-to-mind many times, but never like this. Never this close. Tam wasn’t just speaking to me; Tam was inside of me.

“How… What the hell are you-” I blurted out loud.

“Just do it, Raine!”

Vegard glanced sharply at me.

“It’s Tam,” I told him.

We had a demon on a rampage; Tam was a dark mage. It was clearly a match made in hell. I didn’t know what he could do to help; but whatever it was, I was all for it.

“Tell Talon to stop,” Tam ordered. “Then you can take the demon from Piaras.”

“I can what?”

“I’ve fought demons before.” His words came in a rush. “I can work through you; tell you what you need to do.” Silence. “Raine, my power is your power.”

I froze, thoughts running in panicked circles in my head. I knew what Tam was saying, but worse yet, I knew what he meant.

Last week, when I’d used the Saghred to keep innocent people from being slaughtered, Tam and his potent black magic had been right there with me. We’d worked together, combining our power, doing what had to be done. That had earned us both a lot of unwanted attention and accusations. That six lives had been saved didn’t mean a rat’s ass to our high-ranking accusers.