The situation in the basement wasn’t any better since we’d gone to retrieve the pendant. Rufus had Mister Gentry trapped in silvery coils that showered sparks everywhere while Purrberus had Rufus pinned against Ruddy’s trapdoor. Ruddy was pitching a fit but at least he was out of the way.

“Wow,” Jamison said. “You definitely have an infestation. You’re looking at 40,000 direts, cash or check. I’ll need half now and half on completion of services. Personal checks need ten days to clear.”

“Forty-thousand direts? I don’t have that kind of cash and I don’t have any checks,” I said. My ten diret weekly allowance from Addison was stashed away under my bed in Jenelle. “We’ve already wasted too much time!”

Jamison shrugged and turned to leave. “Those are my rates and that’s my policy.”

“Who are YOU?” Rufus shouted. “Who let all of my undead creatures out?”

Behind me, the creatures clicked and chittered.

“Where is the pendant? I can sense it,” Mister Gentry said.

“It’s right here,” I said, holding it up. The sinister feeling rolled off it in waves. Images from my nightmares flashed through my head and for a moment, I felt as though I were submerged.

“How did you get that!” Rufus writhed under Purrberus’s paw.

Mister Gentry strained against the silver cords. “Give it to me!”

“I want to make a deal with you,” I blurted, shocked at myself. I knew it was a terrible idea but asking him nicely wasn’t going to cut it. Mister Gentry was my ticket home since I no longer trusted Rufus to help me out.

“Why should I make a deal with you?” Mister Gentry cackled.

I tried to keep my voice as calm as I could with my dry mouth still tasting like stomach acid. “Because I know you want this pendant more than anything and if you bring me home, I’ll give it back to you.”

Mister Gentry cackled some more, sending a shower of hissing blue sparks everywhere. “Are those the terms? Anything else?”

“Yes,” my voiced cracked. “You must agree to release Roanna from Purrberus.”

“Don’t you dare give him that pendant!” screamed Rufus.

“Enough,” said Mister Gentry. “I don’t care if Purrberus starts digesting that harpy.”

“Me neither,” piped up Ruddy.

“I want to go home,” I said. “Addison is sick.”

Mister Gentry’s mocking laughter rolled around the laboratory. “Addison shouldn’t have eaten so many doughnuts.”

My stomach roiled in anger. “If you want the pendant you have to agree to help me get home. And let Roanna go.”

“What a rude person,” Mister Gentry said. “You won’t get anywhere with that attitude.”

“If my services aren’t needed, I’ll just get going,” Jamison said.

I whirled around. “No, wait! Please don’t leave.” There had to be a way for him to help.

“Then I’ll need half up front,” Jamison said.

“Here it is,” announced Yvette. She strutted past me followed by Tobin. Clutched in her bandaged paws was a crumpled blue paper spattered with ink. She handed it to Jamison.

“What’s this?” Ink smudged across Jamison’s hands as he smoothed out the paper. “Now I can’t read it.”

“It’s half the payment,” Yvette said, “like you demanded. Twenty thousand direts.”

“Did you steal one of my checks, Yvette?” shouted Rufus, still crushed beneath Purrberus’s paw.

“That’s nothing compared to what Coralie did. She trashed your room,” Yvette said. “And set all your zombie bugs free.”

“That was part of the bargain!” I said. Behind me, the undead invertebrates chittered angrily. “And I didn’t mean to break anything.”

“What bargain? What did you break?” Rufus said.

“I’m helping more than you. At least I’m trying to pay him and I hate him,” Yvette said.

“I can’t even read this,” Jamison said, squinting. “Don’t you remember how to write?”

“I did the best I could,” Yvette hissed. “It’s a lot harder to hold a pen when you have burned paws.”

“Why didn’t you have Tobin write it?” asked Jamison.

“We tried that and his writing was worse,” she said.

“I forbid you from cashing that check!” screamed Rufus.

“Ignore him and help us get rid of our infestation,” Yvette said, “because I want things to go back to normal around here.”

“It’s barely legible,” Jamison said. “No bank on Ransara will honor this.”

“I wrote all the important information on it,” Yvette said. “Even his Chimbrelis password.”

“Don’t you dare!” Rufus shouted, his eyes glowing so bright I wondered if they’d get stuck like that.

“Then we’ll write you another one,” I said, “but we need to get on with this.”

Jamison tucked the check inside his jacket. “Fine, for now.” He flicked the stub of chewed up torrowroot to the floor. “I’ll even waive the ten day check clearing policy but I’ll have to add another fifty direts on in case it gets returned.”

“Okay,” I said. It wasn’t but it would have to be.

“ENOUGH! Purrberus, finish the necromancer off. I want the pendant before the exterminator tries to zap me,” Mister Gentry said.

“No, no!” Rufus’s shrieks became muffled as Purrberus’s paw began to slowly suffocate him.

The cords that bound Mister Gentry dimmed, then sparked, and dimmed again. I broke out in chills.

Rufus squirmed.

“Good,” Yvette said. “Can’t wait for this to be over so that Jamison will get out of my house.”

“You’re eager to be rid of me just as I’ve arrived to help,” Jamison said. “Rude.”

“You’re the rude one. You’ve never apologized for turning me into an opossum,” Yvette said.

“Apologize for apprehending a criminal?” Jamison laughed. “I did you a favor.”

Yvette hissed and bit him on the leg. Jamison swore and swatted her away while Tobin and I screamed NO! and STOP!

At that moment, Mister Gentry broke free of the cords. He glided toward us, his grin terrifying.

“Look out!” I screamed.

Tobin grabbed Yvette and dove for cover under the stairs.

Jamison shouted something that sounded like gibberish to my ears. A wall of acrid smelling yellow fumes fogged our view. Mister Gentry slid through it with a pooft. His body became wracked with violent coughing in between threats to kill all magic users.

Jamison whirled around and pointed his baton at Purrberus. Light strobed from the gemstone at the top of it as he chanted in some magical language, the words sharp and angry.

Led by Astrid, the undead invertebrates swarmed around Jamison. Their high pitched chittering whined in my ears. Searing light streaked out of the gem and struck the demon cat’s tail with a CRACK. A low boom rumbled around the basement like a shock wave.

Purrberus leaped off Rufus and started grooming her puffed out tail, growling loud enough to raise clouds of dust.

Rufus lay still near Ruddy’s trapdoor. Ruddy’s claws gouged the sides of the door, narrowly missing him. His litany of profanities added to the din.

“Magic users, the bane of my existence!” Mister Gentry’s face shifted into something even more monstrous. If looks could kill, Jamison would’ve been dead that instant.

Arcs of black, prickly-looking light shot out of Mister Gentry’s hands and snaked around Jamison’s throat. Mister Gentry dragged Jamison towards him, shaking off the undead invertebrates like dust. The demon lord’s sinister, sneering laugh knocked more things off the shelves as Jamison clawed and kicked to free himself.

Jamison struggled to reach under his jacket. Before I could throw myself to the ground, he drew out a pair of pistols and fired at the Mister Gentry. The bullets tore through the demon lord and ricocheted off the walls. I gagged on a sudden putrid odor polluting the basement.

“Those sting, pest control scum!” the demon lord shrieked, whipping the magical cords so that Jamison’s head snapped side to side. I thought his head was going to pop off and roll away.

“They sting,” said Tobin, “because they’re coated in demon pesticide. Pew, whatever evil stuff you’re made of, you stink.”

The gemstone-topped baton had clattered to the floor. Jamison gurgled and flailed. The gem’s light sputtered and went out like a doused flame. Astrid and her kin surrounded the baton, and the same shrill noise as before invaded my ears.

The baton began to hum, its gem flickering and pulsing. It did look alive. Astrid and her kin’s voices rose above the crackling of Mister Gentry’s magic. The baton quivered, flipped up, and shot up to the ceiling, where it bobbed and floated near the rafters. Light welled up in the gem as they pointed it towards his sneering face.

Mister Gentry tightened his grip and hoisted Jamison into the air directly in line with the business end of his baton. Jamison’s tongue lolled out of his mouth. He dangled like a trout ensnared in Mister Gentry’s magical bonds, the life nearly squeezed out of him.

“Shooting him with his own weapon would be a fitting end to this wizard trash,” the demon laughed.

The baton’s gem buzzed and flared, too bright to look at.

“James, don’t die!” Tobin screamed. “We’ve been through too much together!”

Rufus groaned. At least he was still alive.

The baton pivoted and fired a blast of blazing light at Purrberus. It struck the demon kitten of the side of the head. She screeched and stumbled away.

“Stop shooting at my baby!” Mister Gentry screamed. “You have no idea what you are doing, vermin.”

The baton pivoted again and fired another blast at Mister Gentry’s feet. The demon lord lit up like a firecracker. He roared and released Jamison, who crumpled to the floor with a bone-crunching thud. I couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not, I didn’t dare move.

Mister Gentry and Purrberus seemed to have forgotten I existed as I stood frozen to the spot in terror, unable to do anything but watch the chaos. Except I had the pendant. A wave of dread washed over me as I looked down at its flat blackness in my gloved hands.

“Purrberus, you must be working up an appetite,” said Mister Gentry, plucking Tobin and Yvette from under the stairs by their tails. Their screams echoed around the basement. Of course Ruddy joined in.

Purrberus bounded over to Mister Gentry, lashing her tail and purring.

“No, wait!” I screamed.

Mister Gentry grinned. “I thought my three headed cat had gotten your tongue at last.”

“What about the pendant?” I said.

“What about it?” said Mister Gentry. Tobin and Yvette twisted and shrieked wildly in his grasp. “The more you two flea-bitten mistakes carry on, the more I want to cast you into any one of Purrberus’s mouths.”

“Put them in!” screeched Ruddy.

Purrberus mewed and the rest of the shelves that had been standing collapsed.

My mouth tasted dry and disgusting. “What about our deal?”

Mister Gentry’s mocking laughter drowned out their screams. “Please refresh my memory...something about returning my personal property in exchange for the harpy who stole my Purrberus’s tooth and fashioned it into a piece of costume jewelry?”

Its tooth. So that’s what it’s made of. “What about returning me home?”

“Home? But you came all this way,” he said. “Aren’t you the slightest bit curious what lies within the realm of my Purrberus?”

Suffocating despair from my dreams welled up in my mind. Panic seized me. I was never going to get home. Addison would die knowing I had screwed up again.

Mister Gentry drew closer. “Have you ever felt such darkness before, Coralie? I think you are well acquainted with it.”

Memories of my parents and the raw desperation I’d felt after they were both gone engulfed me. Tears stung my eyes. A sudden BZZT shocked me out of it.

Mister Gentry whipped hand away as if he’d been stung. “What the hellbeast was that?” he hissed. Yvette and Tobin screamed as they swung around like furry pendulums.

“What was what?” I said, but I knew.

The gloves. I squeezed the pendant and waited for him to obliterate me.

Rage twisted across Mister Gentry’s face. “Hand it over,” he said with deadly calm and bared teeth. “It pains me that you think I’d entertain the idea of releasing Roanna or getting you home.”

“Then why should you get it back?” I blurted, knowing full well I could be smited before I even finished saying it.

“You are playing a dangerous game. Give me what is rightfully mine so I can fix Purrberus.” Behind him, Rufus and Jamison had both begun to stir.

“Fix?” I said.

“As in repair,” said Mister Gentry.

The undead invertebrates began their unholy trilling. I thought it would vibrate the enamel off my teeth. They raised the baton and aimed it at Mister Gentry.

“I find it ironic that the glorified bug zapper with the fancy jewel is being used by zombie vermin. Purrberus, get rid of them,” Mister Gentry said.

Purrberus swatted the undead invertebrates. They hissed and bit but they were no match for the giant, stomping paws. The kitten turned her attention on the baton and batted it back and forth in the air. Then she flipped over onto her back and began kicking the baton with her hind feet. A massive jolt of white heat surged from the gem and slammed into the beast. Purrberus yowled loud enough to crack the stone slab.

The undead invertebrates and I were blown back from the force of it. I thought for sure I’d be fried to a crisp but somehow not even my eyebrows were singed. My ears rung without mercy.

Jamison sat up weakly, mumbling something under his breath. The baton fell to the floor with a heavy clank and rolled toward him. He groaned and held his right side. Wincing, he reached for the baton but the demon cat sprang up and swallowed him whole before he could grab it.

Before I could come to terms with that, Purrberus swallowed Rufus. I started to scream but instead I retched. Still nothing came out.

“A palate cleanser, Purrberus,” said Mister Gentry, and flung Yvette and Tobin into the demon cat’s gaping middle mouth. Their shrieks snuffed out as they fell into the void.

No!” I wailed, hugging my knees. I had to get to the Chimbrelis…call for more help…

“Spare me, Coralie,” Mister Gentry laughed. “You have no chance.”

Purrberus’s giant paw sent me tumbling into a pile of wood crates. Some undead bugs who’d been hiding under there scurried off. Groggily I tried to escape but THWAP the paw smacked me in the other direction.

Bloodied and bruised, I clutched the pendant for dear life, even as it continued to haunt me with its evil feeling. Mister Gentry and Ruddy cackled as the demon kitten beat me up.

“Just give it to me,” Mister Gentry said.

“Give it to him,” said a thin, tired-sounding voice.

Astrid. The undead invertebrates clicked in agreement.

“I just wanted to go home,” I sighed. Everything hurt. “And now they’re probably all dead inside that thing.”

My skin crawled as Mister Gentry inched closer to me. “That thing is my kitty, and she has a toothache. I’m losing my patience with you.”

Something frostbite-cold touched my right thumb and began moving around inside the glove. In a panic, I whipped off the glove. Out rolled the little blue marble. At least it wasn’t the hand that was still holding the pendant.

The marble zipped around on the floor, pinging and bouncing off everything in its path. Losing the marble was going to be the final nail in my coffin.

Before I could blink the marble had grown to the size of a grapefruit. Then it caught Purrberus’s six baleful eyes. The demon kitten pounced.

“Now what?” said Mister Gentry.

The marble swelled larger with each passing moment. It darted away from the kitten and flew right at my face. Its smooth blue surface rose in front of me, while the void of Purrberus’s center mouth loomed behind it.

Vertigo gripped me. The floor seemed to fall away. I grabbed uselessly at the air for anything to save me, and dropped the pendant.