Free Dead Rising by Debra Dunbar

as horrible with the lights on. In fact, I was tempted to turn them off and go to bed, hopefully to awaken to a miraculously repaired apartment, but I knew better. Slipping on my flip-flops, I grabbed a roll of paper towels and a broom, and got to work.
    Cleaning wasn’t easy when your hands were shaking. Wine and broken glass wouldn’t be a problem, especially since the carpet was nicely rolled up against the wall and still relatively clean. It was the lack of window that was going to cause me some serious trouble. It was past midnight on a Thursday, and I didn’t have a sheet of plywood to nail over the thing. Would someone try to rob me up on the third floor? I thought about the money in the tampon box, about my need to sleep without worrying if someone would climb in and assault me. Tired as I was, I’d need to do one more spell—an illusion this time, to make sure the window looked intact. It wouldn’t last past dawn, but at least I’d be able to sleep, especially if I added an alarm spell to it.
    I thought about the demon that had appeared. I’d been pushing that to the back of my mind, but with the apartment clean and the carpet re-rolled out, it had returned to my thoughts. Who had it been? It sure as heck wasn’t Vine. I’d seen him summoned numerous times. He’d been the go-to demon for Haul Du .
    A vision hit me of that smoke demon appearing the next time Haul Du summoned Vine. Could they hold him? Being used to Vine, the experienced mages didn’t always take the precautions I’d just done. If that thing showed up instead of Vine, a whole lot of mages could die. I wasn’t very happy with the members of Haul Du , but I didn’t exactly want them slaughtered by a minion of Satan.
    I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts, hesitating a few moments before dialing Raven. It went to voice mail four times before she finally answered.
    “I’m not supposed to be talking to you.” She was whispering, like others were nearby, listening in.
    “This is urgent. Have you guys summoned Vine lately?”
    She hesitated. “That’s not… I can’t talk to non-members about such things.”
    Damn it. “You’ve got to tell the others, Raven. I summoned Vine tonight and another demon came. He was not friendly, and I barely managed to send him back. Cross Vine off your list and use another Goetic demon.”
    “Maybe you made a mistake with the sigil?”
    A valid assumption for someone who’d only been an initiate for eight months. Raven was forgetting something, though. “I’m a Templar. I’ve been drawing sigils in a null room for over a decade.”
    “Maybe the incantation—”
    “Something is wrong with Vine. Either he’s dead, or he’s been subsumed by this other demon. Trust me, Raven, you don’t want to deal with this guy.”
    “They won’t believe me, Aria. And I’ll be in big trouble just for talking to you.”
    These idiots were going to get themselves killed. There were a few of them that I wouldn’t mind seeing in the obituaries, but I liked Raven. There had been a time when I’d considered her my best friend.
    “Tell them that I left you a message. As a Templar, I’m tasked with protecting Pilgrims on the Path. This is my public service announcement to you Haul Du pilgrims, warning you of danger ahead. Okay?”
    She laughed, and for a second I felt a lump lodge in my chest. We’d been friends.
    “Okay. Take care, Aria.”
    She hung up before I could reply. Damn, that lump in my chest hurt. I had two quick spells to do before bed and I was an emotional wreck. Time for drastic measures. Time for the Emergency Beer.
    Everyone should have an Emergency Beer. Not the light stuff that you drink after mowing the lawn, or something happy and fruity. No, Emergency Beer should be dark and rich, with enough alcohol to be noticed, but not enough to put you in a stupor. I carefully choose my Emergency Beer, replacing it with something else when it had been consumed. This one was a barley