Strong Mystery: Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica) Read Online Free

Strong Mystery: Murder, Mystery and Magic Books 1-3 (Steampunk Magica)
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his statement, a very brief
flash of light came from the window. “Well, at least for a while,” he amended. 
    Jinhao thought that she could faintly hear the snarling of some
beast like thing . She shivered despite herself.
    No steel nor Adept powers could stand against the claws
of a Court Demon. The power to summon such things was reserved for use only by
the Throne alone. Or, she thought hotly, the corrupt Sorcerer of a corrupt
Empress bent on a shameless revenge for an imagined slight of the heart. The
Westerner, Strong, looked at her again.
    “See here,” he said earnestly. “Do you care about this Xu at
all?”
    “No!” she replied fiercely. “I loathe him! It is because I do
not care for him that he has sent such a thing I am sure!”
    Strong nodded briskly.
    “Right then.” He looked around the room in the glow of light
cast by the globe of mage light overhead. He rummaged in a pack beside the bed.
With a cry of triumph, he waved a pair of writing brushes over his head. He
thrust one of them into Jinhao’s hand.
    “Here is what we do,” Strong said to her. The flash of light
and almost subliminal growl came again. Strong looked in the direction of the
window.
    “Hungry little bastard. Where was I?” He held up a brush,
gesturing emphatically. 
    “Ah yes! Here is what we do. Take your brush and dip it into
some of that blood oozing everywhere. Draw a circle with it that is about so
big.” He vaguely gestured at the floor of the room. Jinhao looked at the brush
with some distaste.
    “That seems disrespectful,” she said. Strong had already begun
drawing the circle on the floor. He looked up at her with an arched eyebrow.
    “Is a Demon sent by this Xu likely to be respectful?” he asked
mildly.
    “No.” she agreed reluctantly. She knelt to begin the macabre
task. Bright flashes and a louder audible growling from the window saw her
finish her task, with her half of the circle meeting the half drawn by Strong.
Owen hopped around her to draw strange symbols against the edge of the circle.
    “There,” he said with a satisfied air. “Now stand here,” he
pointed with his cane at a spot farthest from the window. She promptly moved to
stand where he directed. Strong moved to stand near the window, brush in one
hand, and cane in the other.
    “Should we not be within the circle?” she asked. All the
pictures she had seen of Western Sorcerers showed them standing within a circle
like the one they had drawn on the floor. Owen spared her a glance over his shoulder.
    “No, we are exactly where we are supposed to be,” he said. He
rolled his shoulders as if preparing to lift a heavy weight. “This is a
different type of circle. I intend to lower my wards and invite it in. No
matter what you may see or hear, stay where you are, and do not cross the
circle no matter what.”
    Jinhao opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. What
was she to do? This was a type of fighting that she was unfamiliar with.
Despite his strange British ways, he seemed to know what he was doing. She drew
her swords, despite knowing they would do little except to provide her with
something to clasp with her hands. She had seen the aftermath of a Demon attack
before. Still, if this Owen Strong was wrong, she would at least go down fighting. 
    The ending appeared, at first, to be almost anti-climactic.
Strong, still in his ridiculous nightgown, raised his arms, chanting in a
strange language Jinhao did not recognize. The flashes of light and the
growling stopped suddenly. Strong hopped to one side and with a quick swoosh of
his brush closed the last arc of the circle. He then came around the circle to
stand near her.
    “Now watch,” he said breathlessly. “And remember what I said, do
not cross the circle .”
    Jinhao watched the empty space enclosed by the blood circle. A
tall shape gradually formed in it, scaled and crocodile-snouted, with sharp
horns and far too many teeth. A wave of sulfur-tinged stink accompanied
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