Devil's Punch by Ann Aguirre Page A

Chance. “There are four walls…we get it.”
    Expression sheepish, he returned to my side and slid an arm around my shoulders. “Unbelievable, right?”
    â€œYep.” I pointed at the carriage. “You might want to put that back in the box. It’s taking up a lot of room. I figure the spell goes both ways?”
    Greydusk nodded. Having something to do seemed to help it. I held out my hand for Chance’s backpack. Once he handed it over, I dug for grimoires. If we had limited time to figure out a way out of this before our captors arrived, I wanted to be ready. I flipped open the blue book and started reading.
    Most of the spells weren’t helpful. My mother had been a white witch, one who believed in getting back to nature, so there were lots of charms for growing plants and discouraging animals from rummaging around in your garden. If I wanted a life like that, I’d never have to worry about gophers eating my veggies. Unfortunately, I didn’t see a damn thing that could get us out of a magus trap.
    â€œBalls,” I muttered.
    Chance knelt beside me. “No luck?”
    It was fantastic that he sounded surprised, as if he thought enough of my abilities that I could cast something that would help. Min’s abilities were quieter, though I did believe her salves and creams had magickal healing properties. His mother went more for result than special effects, and Lily’s ability hadn’t been flashy either. I mean, when she went astral, she just laid there. Not exactly ostentatious.
    â€œWould you mind skimming the red one for me?” In my bones I knew we had to hurry.
    â€œOf course.” He took it and sank down beside me. “Can you cast all of these?”
    â€œMore or less.”
    I didn’t admit I hadn’t practiced them all. Especially not the gopher spells. Glancing up, I had an idea, so I plucked a small stone from the ground, stood, and threw it upward as hard as I could. At twenty feet or so, it plinked into an invisible ceiling and came back down.That was probably why the quasits weren’t inside with us and instead had to content themselves with taunting from outside.
    Then it hit me. I’d touched the ground. Picked up a rock. Which meant this thing had no floor. Chewing my lip in delighted inspiration, I ripped the red grimoire out of Chance’s hands with an apologetic look. I flipped the pages madly until I found the spell I wanted…and then sighed in relief when I saw it had no herbal components.
Thank you, Mom.
I read it four times, memorizing the related sigils.
    It was risky as hell, but I might be able to reverse-engineer this. Her spell was designed to drive away gophers. If I tweaked it and cast it backward, I might be able to attract tunneling creatures. And that would give us a way out, provided whatever I summoned didn’t eat us. Chance knew I’d figured something out, but he didn’t ask. He just made room. Greydusk watched me with hope dawning in its expression, like it believed I might be able to break us out of the indestructible snare.
Watch me try
.
    I drew my athame and brought my magick up, so that it flared in sparks from my fingertips. In the air, I etched one symbol in reverse order while the energy swirled around me in dark circles. Casting felt different in Sheol, darker and more dire. Would my halo show my trip to the underworld as well? I’d be lucky if I didn’t become
kill on sight
to all other gifted humans hereafter, but I couldn’t worry about that now. The spell swelled to a crescendo, pain boiled up from my belly, through my hips, and down my arms to flash from my fingertips.
    â€œ
Advenio
,” I shouted as I released it.
    Arrive
.
    And something did. The ground rumbled beneath our feet, starting far away and closing the distance with terrible speed. Rocks trembled as the creature came, frantic to answer my call. The impact shook me to my knees when a yawning hole