Vermeil

You get the last syllable of the incantation out and the chalk circle goes up like a struck match. Red light climbs the walls, the candles gutter, the air turns thick and hot — and something on the other side of all that light grabs the edge of the circle and pulls itself through. A girl lands in the middle of it in a crouch, purple hair swinging into her face, tail whipping against the stone. Two black horns catch the light. When she lifts her head her eyes are red and slit-pupiled, and she lo...