Free Unmarked by Kami García

free.”
    She shook her head, dismissing the idea. “It’s easy to mistake a demonic entity for the demon himself. Andras can’t break free from the prison holding him. It’s not easy to explain, but there are safeguards in place.”
    “You mean the Shift?” Priest took out his journal and flipped to the diagram.
    Faith stepped closer. “I’ve never seen it before, only a piece.”
    “The one you gave Darien Shears?” Lukas asked.
    She turned around slowly. “Where did you hear that name?”
    “From Darien’s spirit. We had a little run-in with him at the prison.” Alara studied my aunt, measuring her reaction. “He told us a woman gave him the cylinder—the last piece of the Shift—and asked him to keep it safe.”
    “Shears said it was his chance at redemption,” Lukas said.
    My aunt stared at them in shock.
    “You and my grandmother were the only women in the Legion,” Alara said. “You’re the woman who gave him the cylinder, aren’t you?”
    “There’s no way you would know about that unless you found it.” Her eyes went wild. “Where is it? You have no idea what that device can do.”
    I didn’t want to tell her the next part.
    “I assembled it.”

T hen Andras is free.” Faith slumped against the wall, her shoulders sagging. “And the clock is ticking.”
    “Until what?” Priest asked when she started to turn away.
    “Andras opens the gates and invites the rest of the demons to his party up here.” Faith stifled a bitter laugh.
    “How do we stop him?” Jared asked.
    She took a deep breath and rubbed her neck. “Andras isn’t some vengeance spirit you can destroy with salt rounds. He is a marquis of hell. The incarnation of evil. He’s everywhere and nowhere, and he
will
find us.”
    “With all five members of the Legion, we stand a chance,” Priest said.
    Faith gave him a strange look. “You honestly believe I even the odds against a demon?”
    Lukas slipped his journal out of his jacket pocket. “My dad always talked about how much stronger the Legion would be if all five members were together.”
    She shook her head. “And you think that means we have some kind of superpowers?”
    “Of course not.” Lukas frowned.
    Faith sighed. “When the Legion members are together, they
can
raise a protective barrier. Priests used grimoiric magic and seals to protect themselves from evil for centuries. The barrier is an extension of that principle, but it can’t help us hurt Andras. It keeps him from hurting us.”
    “That’s it?” Priest picked at the silver duct tape on his headphones. “The five of us get together and it makes what—a force field?”
    “I’m sorry you thought it meant something else. But we aren’t talking about catching a stray dog and dropping it off at the pound.” Faith stopped pacing and looked him in the eye. “Do you know your Legion history? What happened the night our ancestors in the Legion summoned Andras?”
    “Markus Lockhart drew the Devil’s Trap. But he screwed it up, and they lost control of Andras.” Priest sounded like he was tired of recounting the story. “Weknow everything except the part about what happened to the angel.”
    My aunt stiffened. “Your families certainly didn’t tell you much.”
    Alara hooked a thumb under the edge of her leather tool belt. “Then why don’t you fill us in?”
    Faith slipped back inside the hidden closet behind the bookshelf and came out carrying a brown leather-bound book embossed in gold.
    “Is that your journal?” Alara sounded hopeful.
    Faith dismissed the possibility with a wave of her hand. “Of course not. Someone who’s been running as long as I have knows better than to keep anything irreplaceable with them. This book belonged to my father. The journal he inherited was in terrible condition, so he transcribed the older entries into this book. He died before he finished, but he did transcribe the most important entry—the one from the night Andras was summoned.”
    Priest’s