transfer, a little flicker of warmth, and—
I woke to late-morning sun streaming onto my face. In another room, I could hear Chance ranting. A thunk told me he’d kicked something. Rare—and enjoyable—as it was for him to lose his cool, I should go see what had him so agitated. I slid off the mattress and padded down the hall into the parlor, where he was pacing.
“What’s wrong?”
I thought I knew. I prayed I knew.
“The powder’s gone! I’d love to know how they managed that trick. Well, that and the bleeding wall too. We’re warding this place first thing, assuming we can even find what we need in this godforsaken backwater.”
“I took it.”
Chance drew up short, mouth half open. “Why? What’d you do with it?”
Pride put a huge smile on my face. “I think I gave it to Booke to study. He should be able to tell us what it’s used for.”
For a moment, he struggled for words, trying to articulate how crazy I sounded. He listed a few reasons why that was impossible, and I smiled. I felt like the Cheshire cat, irritatingly pleased with myself.
Eventually, I gave him the explanation I knew he wanted, but that didn’t seem to make him feel any better. It took me a moment to figure out why. He’d thought he knew everything about me, and here I managed something like this. He wouldn’t like feeling out of the loop; never had.
Chance studied me for a long moment. “I thought you couldn’t do magick. You told me you practiced with your mother’s books and never got any spells to take.”
“I’m sure it was Booke’s doing.” If it worked; if we hadn’t banished the evidence to some weird pocket dimension where demons would eat it—and hopefully suffer indigestion—and where the powder would do us no good at all. “We can call him later to confirm our success.”
“I thought the cell phones weren’t working.” Why was he acting so suspicious? The way Chance eyed me, you’d think I made a habit of keeping secrets from him instead of the other way around.
“They worked in the library yesterday,” I reminded him.
“You need to check on your mom too. So we’ll stop there after we shop for the sea salt, but I don’t know where we’re going to find agrimony, wormwood, cedar, dill, and coriander in bulk around here.”
“I’d include pine, heather, marjoram, and slippery elm, but we’ll have to make do with whatever we can get.”
Chance’s mom had taught us about protective herbs, and living with Chuch, we’d received a refresher course in good wards. The mechanic layered them inside and out for double coverage. We’d do the same—and I wouldn’t leave Butch out there until we did.
That morning, I felt energized. Though things weren’t any better than the previous day, I had a handle on them. We’d go shopping for supplies, and then we’d make phone calls. Booke was on the case, and if I knew Chuch and Eva, they would want to do some legwork if they could. Jesse was on the way.
If Kilmer thought they could frighten me off, they had another think coming.
This was for my mom, Cherie Solomon.
We had not yet begun to fight. Sure, they’d crippled us by taking away the tools we generally used to solve problems, but we’d find ways around the obstacles they threw in our path. No matter how many times they knocked me onto a dirty road, I would rise. I’d ferret out their secrets and then handle the objects that would spill them.
In other words, Kilmer, game on.
Luckless Bastard
By one p.m., we had a trunkful of bulk spices. We’d driven to a neighboring town to pick up most of them. More interesting, twenty miles away, nobody seemed to have heard of Kilmer. They’d never even driven through.
We stood outside the public library while I snapped pictures of the building’s exterior with Chance’s phone. When I thought I’d gotten all the angles, we went inside. I studied the screen and, sure enough, as the door closed behind us, five bars lit up on
I woke to late-morning sun streaming onto my face. In another room, I could hear Chance ranting. A thunk told me he’d kicked something. Rare—and enjoyable—as it was for him to lose his cool, I should go see what had him so agitated. I slid off the mattress and padded down the hall into the parlor, where he was pacing.
“What’s wrong?”
I thought I knew. I prayed I knew.
“The powder’s gone! I’d love to know how they managed that trick. Well, that and the bleeding wall too. We’re warding this place first thing, assuming we can even find what we need in this godforsaken backwater.”
“I took it.”
Chance drew up short, mouth half open. “Why? What’d you do with it?”
Pride put a huge smile on my face. “I think I gave it to Booke to study. He should be able to tell us what it’s used for.”
For a moment, he struggled for words, trying to articulate how crazy I sounded. He listed a few reasons why that was impossible, and I smiled. I felt like the Cheshire cat, irritatingly pleased with myself.
Eventually, I gave him the explanation I knew he wanted, but that didn’t seem to make him feel any better. It took me a moment to figure out why. He’d thought he knew everything about me, and here I managed something like this. He wouldn’t like feeling out of the loop; never had.
Chance studied me for a long moment. “I thought you couldn’t do magick. You told me you practiced with your mother’s books and never got any spells to take.”
“I’m sure it was Booke’s doing.” If it worked; if we hadn’t banished the evidence to some weird pocket dimension where demons would eat it—and hopefully suffer indigestion—and where the powder would do us no good at all. “We can call him later to confirm our success.”
“I thought the cell phones weren’t working.” Why was he acting so suspicious? The way Chance eyed me, you’d think I made a habit of keeping secrets from him instead of the other way around.
“They worked in the library yesterday,” I reminded him.
“You need to check on your mom too. So we’ll stop there after we shop for the sea salt, but I don’t know where we’re going to find agrimony, wormwood, cedar, dill, and coriander in bulk around here.”
“I’d include pine, heather, marjoram, and slippery elm, but we’ll have to make do with whatever we can get.”
Chance’s mom had taught us about protective herbs, and living with Chuch, we’d received a refresher course in good wards. The mechanic layered them inside and out for double coverage. We’d do the same—and I wouldn’t leave Butch out there until we did.
That morning, I felt energized. Though things weren’t any better than the previous day, I had a handle on them. We’d go shopping for supplies, and then we’d make phone calls. Booke was on the case, and if I knew Chuch and Eva, they would want to do some legwork if they could. Jesse was on the way.
If Kilmer thought they could frighten me off, they had another think coming.
This was for my mom, Cherie Solomon.
We had not yet begun to fight. Sure, they’d crippled us by taking away the tools we generally used to solve problems, but we’d find ways around the obstacles they threw in our path. No matter how many times they knocked me onto a dirty road, I would rise. I’d ferret out their secrets and then handle the objects that would spill them.
In other words, Kilmer, game on.
Luckless Bastard
By one p.m., we had a trunkful of bulk spices. We’d driven to a neighboring town to pick up most of them. More interesting, twenty miles away, nobody seemed to have heard of Kilmer. They’d never even driven through.
We stood outside the public library while I snapped pictures of the building’s exterior with Chance’s phone. When I thought I’d gotten all the angles, we went inside. I studied the screen and, sure enough, as the door closed behind us, five bars lit up on
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