Page 123 of The Rut in the Road

I gaped at him.

He grimaced. “I’m tired,” he informed me. “That seemed funnier in my head than it clearly was coming out of my mouth.”

“I don’t think you want me to accidentally kill a client,” I grumbled.

“No,” Mason agreed. “I definitely do not.” He sighed. “I don’t know what you need to do,” he admitted. “But it might be worth trying, at least?”

I glanced over at him. “I—don’t want to hurt anyone,” I replied.

He nodded once. “Ward!” he called.

The warlock, looking a little paler than usual, with a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead, rolled his way out to the lobby. “What?” he asked.

“Can you watch Rayn to make sure he doesn’t accidentally create death traps that might kill us or our clients?”

“And I would do that how?” Ward asked.

Mason shrugged. “Make sure the magic is the right color?” he suggested.

“Red or other red?” Ward asked, sounding annoyed.

Mason hummed again, a dissatisfied sound, this time.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,”Sylvia snapped, popping into visual presence so that Mason could also see and hear her.“Archie or I should be able to tell whether it’s life or death magic.”She offered a smile that I wouldn’t really call friendly.“And as a lovely bonus, we’re already dead, so there’s only so much it would do to us.”

“What would happen to you?” I asked her.

“Death magic would do very little if it were designed to target the living,”she replied primly.

“And if it’s life?” I asked.

This smile was definitely not friendly, although I didn’t think it was hostile, either. Mischievous, maybe?“Well, that’s when things have the potential to get interesting,”she replied cheerfully.

“Oh, dear God, save us from that shit,” Ward muttered, dropping his head into one hand.

I looked at Mason, who shrugged. “Only one way to find out,” he replied mildly.

“Is that really a good idea?” Beck asked, coming into the room. “Like, do it for science or whatever, but…”

“But?” Mason asked.

Beck held up both hands. “Your problem if Rayn accidentally resurrects Sylvia,” she replied. “Or Archie.”

I’d be okay with that, as long as you let me bring Barney.

I stared at him.Who’s Barney?

“Barney,” Ward said, as though he’d heard my question. “For reference, was Archie’s dog. Which, if I remember right, Archie, was destroyed by the Ordo after you resurrected him.”

Archie cackled.Yeah, well, sport here’s got a much more interestin’ way of resurrectin’ than I do.

Ward shot me a look. “Donotresurrect Archie’s dog.”

“I definitely won’t do it on purpose,” I replied. I couldn’t exactly promise not to do it at all, since I had a track record now of accidental resurrection.

“What if,” Mason said, sitting up suddenly. “You give the sigil an energy boost the way you did me when we were first experimenting with life casting?”

We all stared at him. “Um,” I said. “I can try?”