Alastair only just has time to think it before his question is answered.

A blur of mismatched fur and stitches claws its way free from the bag at last. Chairs screech and crash against the floor as everyone scrambles to get away from whatever new monster has been unleashed.

Virdia screams and Azazel poofs into a bat. As Alastair and his father stand and stumble backward, he is let free from his father’s grasp in their hurry. In fact, the only person who does not ...