I’m so vengeful that I’d do something like that. It’s that you think I have a good reason to be.”
Dr. Forrester looked away. “You were my only involuntary patient,” she said finally.
A server came over with a coffee pot. After she took their orders and left, Holgersen said, “We may have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Rehashing the past isn’t going to help us. We’re all on the same side.”
“Are we?” Thea asked.
“Of course,” said Holgersen. “We’re all concerned about what happened at Hemlock Heights.”
“But we all want different things,” Thea said.
Holgersen raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“She just wants to protect herself,” Thea said with a nod at Dr. Forrester. “You want to know whether Seth Bates was hexed, right?”
“Among other things,” Holgersen agreed.
“So you’re worried that the hexing isn’t over yet.” Thea looked from him to the doctor. “I’m worried about when it began.”
Dr. Forrester frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
“Boyd Lexington was showing symptoms of being under the influence of the superhex,” Thea said. “Long before Hemlock Heights.”
“What’s this?” Holgersen asked.
Thea told them about her visit with the Bowmans. “So what happened?” she asked Dr. Forrester when she was finished.
Dr. Forrester shrugged, but her eyes slid away from Thea’s. “They must have been continuing their experiments in the neighborhood. Probably without the residents’ knowledge.”
“Try again,” Thea said. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Dr. Forrester did meet Thea’s eyes then, and her own were flat. “Nothing. That’s the most obvious answer.”
Thea held her gaze, but she didn’t find any dishonesty. The shame was too strong to sense much else.
“But it’s not obvious at all,” said Thea. “The thing with the superhex is, it’s super . It’s not a subtle thing. If they were regularly using it on the people at Hemlock Heights, what happened there would have happened a long time ago.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the superhex they were experimenting with,” Holgersen said.
“Why would they need to experiment with just regular hexes?” Thea asked. “They already know pretty much everything there is to know about those. They’d have no reason to risk that.”
“I’ve done some checking around,” Holgersen said. “Sounds like most of the hexes you sell involve virtues. These people were manifesting sins, right?”
“Right, but that doesn’t mean hexes that inflict sin are some new experimental thing,” Thea said. “They’ve been around for probably hundreds of years. They’re just less commonly used.” She sighed and leaned back to sip her coffee. “As you can imagine, the consequences of a virtue hex are easier to contain to just the target.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry.” The server approached, talking to Dr. Forrester. “We’re out of the French toast. Would you like to order something else?”
Dr. Forrester blinked at her. “But it’s made of bread and eggs and milk. How can a diner be out of those things?”
“It’s a special brioche for the French toast,” the server said. “We’re out of it. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“So make it with regular bread. You have regular bread, right?”
Thea looked from the girl’s flustered face to Dr. Forrester’s hard one, and tried to read the doctor a third time.
The shame was gone now, which was in itself odd. The vices and virtues furies sensed in people weren’t usually passing moods.
Even odder, Thea couldn’t identify what had replaced it. It wasn’t one specific thing. More like a gathering cloud, one that was darkening and obscuring everything that was natural for the doctor.
“Ma’am, would you like to see the menu again?” The server was asking.
“Pancakes,” Dr. Forrester snapped.
The girl hurried away. Thea sniffed, loud enough for Holgersen to give her a curious look, but Thea ignored him. She’d always identified
Dr. Forrester looked away. “You were my only involuntary patient,” she said finally.
A server came over with a coffee pot. After she took their orders and left, Holgersen said, “We may have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Rehashing the past isn’t going to help us. We’re all on the same side.”
“Are we?” Thea asked.
“Of course,” said Holgersen. “We’re all concerned about what happened at Hemlock Heights.”
“But we all want different things,” Thea said.
Holgersen raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“She just wants to protect herself,” Thea said with a nod at Dr. Forrester. “You want to know whether Seth Bates was hexed, right?”
“Among other things,” Holgersen agreed.
“So you’re worried that the hexing isn’t over yet.” Thea looked from him to the doctor. “I’m worried about when it began.”
Dr. Forrester frowned at her. “What do you mean?”
“Boyd Lexington was showing symptoms of being under the influence of the superhex,” Thea said. “Long before Hemlock Heights.”
“What’s this?” Holgersen asked.
Thea told them about her visit with the Bowmans. “So what happened?” she asked Dr. Forrester when she was finished.
Dr. Forrester shrugged, but her eyes slid away from Thea’s. “They must have been continuing their experiments in the neighborhood. Probably without the residents’ knowledge.”
“Try again,” Thea said. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Dr. Forrester did meet Thea’s eyes then, and her own were flat. “Nothing. That’s the most obvious answer.”
Thea held her gaze, but she didn’t find any dishonesty. The shame was too strong to sense much else.
“But it’s not obvious at all,” said Thea. “The thing with the superhex is, it’s super . It’s not a subtle thing. If they were regularly using it on the people at Hemlock Heights, what happened there would have happened a long time ago.”
“Maybe it wasn’t the superhex they were experimenting with,” Holgersen said.
“Why would they need to experiment with just regular hexes?” Thea asked. “They already know pretty much everything there is to know about those. They’d have no reason to risk that.”
“I’ve done some checking around,” Holgersen said. “Sounds like most of the hexes you sell involve virtues. These people were manifesting sins, right?”
“Right, but that doesn’t mean hexes that inflict sin are some new experimental thing,” Thea said. “They’ve been around for probably hundreds of years. They’re just less commonly used.” She sighed and leaned back to sip her coffee. “As you can imagine, the consequences of a virtue hex are easier to contain to just the target.”
“Ma’am, I’m sorry.” The server approached, talking to Dr. Forrester. “We’re out of the French toast. Would you like to order something else?”
Dr. Forrester blinked at her. “But it’s made of bread and eggs and milk. How can a diner be out of those things?”
“It’s a special brioche for the French toast,” the server said. “We’re out of it. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“So make it with regular bread. You have regular bread, right?”
Thea looked from the girl’s flustered face to Dr. Forrester’s hard one, and tried to read the doctor a third time.
The shame was gone now, which was in itself odd. The vices and virtues furies sensed in people weren’t usually passing moods.
Even odder, Thea couldn’t identify what had replaced it. It wasn’t one specific thing. More like a gathering cloud, one that was darkening and obscuring everything that was natural for the doctor.
“Ma’am, would you like to see the menu again?” The server was asking.
“Pancakes,” Dr. Forrester snapped.
The girl hurried away. Thea sniffed, loud enough for Holgersen to give her a curious look, but Thea ignored him. She’d always identified
Similar Books
