The Parisian Codex

42 - Second Ritual

The sun set, and I awoke.

I'd spent the day in the pit, lying between the magic circle and the wall of bones. I turned towards the circle and realized that Zagan was right: the protection that concealed its contents had just disappeared. I could now see Romane's backpack, grimoire, bowl and dagger lying on the floor.

Romane and Zagan weren't there.

I listened carefully. A heart was beating in the main tunnel—slowly.

I stood up, careful not to disturb the bones. My shoulders still ached, but now I could use my arms. I grabbed a blood bag, a flashlight and entered the gully.

Romane was sitting cross-legged in the dark, her back straight against a white stone pillar, her hands resting on her knees. A flashlight lay unlit beside her.

No trace of Zagan.

I sat down by the gully to eat my breakfast while Romane meditated. The demon returned before she had finished her session.

"Bad news," he murmured as he sat down beside me.

"The Pope is visiting Paris?" I said.

Zagan glared at me. "A gang of thugs decided to take on Mathieu's empire. They shot one of my men in the street and are threatening to attack the club."

"So?"

"I had to send some of my men back to town."

"Which ones? The ones who were protecting the access to the mine?"

"No one would understand if I kept them all here right now. I left two at each entrance, with orders to report by phone every 30 minutes."

"But..."

"Let's not waste time," Romane interjected.

Her voice was tense. The light from my lamp showed her face, tired but resolute.

"You look exhausted," I said.

"You know how to talk to the ladies," she replied tartly. In a softer tone, she added: "I've been dreaming about Cernunnos all night. I can't wait to get this over with."

She was the first to enter the gully.

Zagan had put the animals back to sleep, and the puppy didn't flinch when Romane grabbed it. The girl arranged the dog and the bowl as Zagan had shown her. Her hands didn't tremble. Her face was expressionless. But in her chest, her heart was beating wildly.

She dropped the dagger long enough to wipe her hand on her pants, picked up the weapon again and placed the blade on the puppy's throat.

Romane nicked the artery, and her hair-raising moan echoed through the cave. The puppy's blood spurted into the bowl as the girl screamed in pain. When the bowl was full, Romane put the puppy's corpse down, turned away and vomited violently.

I leaped to my feet, but Zagan stopped me. "The ritual has begun," he said. "You mustn't break the circle. She'll pull through."

Indeed, Romane was already getting herself together.

She grabbed the bowl with a trembling hand, stood up and walked around the room, using the puppy's blood to retrace the formulas painted on the wall. Then she soaked the circle, signs and symbols with the remaining blood. Back inside the circle, she repeated the concealment and protection spells. Once again invisible inside the circle, she summoned Teutatis and Cernunnos.

Romane's voice rolled like thunder under the cave's vaulted ceiling. She put all her energy into the summoning as if determined to do everything in her power to make the puppy's sacrifice worthwhile. The words echoed off the stone. The rock shook, and the bones vibrated. The ground rumbled beneath my feet.

Zagan smiled. "She's woken them up," he murmured.

***

Romane left the circle and dropped to the ground. "I think I'll go back to sleep."

"You should eat something," said Zagan.

She shook her head.

"At least drink some water," I said. "You'll get dehydrated and faint."

She accepted some water from her canteen, nibbled on a cereal bar and grabbed her sleeping bag. She returned to the circle, and a few moments later, her regular breathing indicated that she was already asleep. I led Zagan down the gully to the main tunnel.

"Yes," said the demon without letting me speak. "It's normal for her to be exhausted. She's just woken up a few hundred dead in the depths of the Paris Basin. Twelve hours' sleep, and she'll be fine. She's stronger than you think."

"I gathered. That doesn't mean I won't worry about her."

"Ah, you act like a solitary vampire and jaded private eye, but you've got the heart of a damsel."

"Maybe," I mumbled. "What about you? You gonna keep on protecting Mathieu's empire?"

"Speaking of which, I'll go out for a few minutes to check my phone. Then I'll get some rest because not all of us's been snoring all day."

"I never snore."

"How would you know? You always sleep alone."