“Talk to me about the box,” Luther said. “It is clearly some sort of transdimensional containment unit.”
“What does that mean?” Mahon asked.
“It is an object that exists as one thing in our reality and something else in a different realm. It leads to a place that is attached to our plane of existence but is also outside it.”
“Like the mists of the Celtic gods,” I said.
“Yes. That means that someone has to activate a portal to that other place, hold it open, and then close it once the djinn is deposited into the box.” Luther turned to Bahir.
Bahir nodded. “There is a ritual. I memorized it. The box must rest on the ground—it won’t work on the second floor, for example—and I must draw a complex circle and write sacred verses around it. Then I will open the portal with my blood and hold it open. Once the earring is placed into the box, if everything is done correctly, I will become a conduit and banish it. The problem is getting the earring into the box. Someone must murder the human host and physically take the earring and carry it to me. The box cannot be moved once it’s positioned.”
“That will be really difficult,” Luther said.
Thank you, Captain Obvious. Shakush would do everything in his power to keep from being put into the box. Even if we brought the entire chapter of the Order and managed to pry the earring from the current host, whoever touched it would become Shakush’s target. He could go through the knights one by one. Ugh.
“We will help,” Mahon said into the sudden silence.
George startled. “Dad?”
He put his arm around her shoulders. “I don’t care how powerful he is. Nobody touches my future son-in-law.”
“As long as you stay away from the earring,” Curran said.
Mahon looked at him.
“He’s worried about the wishes you would make,” I told him. “Wish one, Curran is the Beast Lord. Wish two, George is his Consort. Wish three, you turn into an even bigger bear.”
George stared at me, horrified.
“You think so little of me?” Mahon said. “That really hurts.”
He sounded genuinely upset. Oh no. I had hurt my stepfather-in-law’s feelings.
“We still don’t know where Shakush is,” Nick said. “Can you sense him?”
Bahir shook his head.
“I know someone who can,” I said. I would probably go straight to hell for this, but there was no choice. We had to save Eduardo and the city.
“You can’t use Mitchell,” Luther said. “First, it’s unethical. Second, it’s cruel. Third, he was my colleague and it’s a matter of basic human decency. He’s a ghoul, for crying out loud.”
“What if he were no longer a ghoul?” I asked.
Luther opened his mouth and paused. “Are you thinking of setting him on fire again?”
“Was that what it looked like?”
“Yes. I was concerned, actually.”
“Then yes. Something like that.”
“I have a moral obligation to safeguard him,” Luther said. “The answer is no.”
“Why don’t we ask Mitchell what he wants to do?” I said. “If he says no, I’ll walk away. If he volunteers, you’ll help me.”
“Help you do what exactly?” Nick asked.
Explaining it was too long and complicated. “You will see. Bahir?”
“Yes?”
“Why haven’t you turned into a ghoul?”
Bahir blinked. “Was I supposed to?”
Ghouls were djinn without enough magic to assume their true forms. He must’ve had enough magic.
“Can you transform into an ifrit?”
Bahir smiled. “Not all the way.”
That explained it. He already had enough magic, so he bypassed the ghoul stage.
“Okay.” Curran leaned forward, an unmistakable note of command in his voice. Suddenly all of the attention focused on him. “We need to limit this. The more people, the more potential possession targets for the djinn. It will be me, Kate, Bahir, Mahon, George.” He glanced at Mahon. “Anybody else?”
“I’ll talk to the family,” Mahon said.
“Me!” Julie volunteered.
“No,” Curran and I said at the same time.
“But . . .”
“You just got a united parental no,” Luther said. “Stay down, you’ve lost the fight.”
“I will go.” Derek stepped out of the shadows in the hallway.
Curran thought about it.