took her a second to realize he was speaking to Cynna, not her. “I’m talking to Lily, who’s allowed to know about kidnappings and such, right? Since she’s FBI, too, and not likely to give interviews on the subject. Now, are you going to take a shower or not?”
This time Lily caught Cynna’s raised voice. And the slam of a door. “Maybe you shouldn’t yell at the pregnant woman.”
“If I don’t nip back when she nips at me, she’ll think something’s wrong. Tell me about the death magic Rule found.”
She did. Lily was good at condensing a report to the key points, having given plenty of them in her days as a beat cop, then in Homicide. But she didn’t believe in skimping on the details when consulting an expert—she couldn’t know which details Cullen needed. So it took several minutes.
When she finished, Cullen proved once again that he was as bright as he was irritating. “You’re wanting to know just how shaky the limb is you’ve crawled out on, yanking Meacham away from the locals. Was he responsible for what he did, or not? Sorry, love. Can’t say for damned certain sure.”
“You can tell me for certain sure if Meacham needed a Gift to use death magic.”
“To invoke it, yes. To use it? That’s where things turn iffy. There’ve been reports going back to pre-Purge days of . . . Yes, it’s still Lily.” Cullen’s voice took on a different tone. Husky. “Have I mentioned how great you look wet, naked, and knocked up? There’s probably another flight we could catch....”
The next part was muffled, but suggested a moment that should have been more private than it was. Then Cullen’s voice came back, sounding absurdly cheerful, considering he couldn’t have done much in that brief time. “Cynna says hi. Now, where was I?”
“Explaining the difference between invoking death magic and using it.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll give you the short version, because we’re leaving as soon as that luscious body I get to touch whenever I want to is covered—hey, no throwing things!” Lily assumed that bit wasn’t directed at her. “Full disclosure: I don’t know much about death magic.”
Lily paused a beat. “Inconvenient, yet reassuring.”
She could hear the grin in his voice. “That said, I’m eighty or ninety percent sure no one in this realm could perform the invocation ritual solo. And ritual is required—there’s no way of just slurping up power by killing people at random. Meacham couldn’t perform any part of that ritual, but it might—just might—be possible for him to do the killing. The power released by the deaths would be contained within a circle and absorbed by whoever created the circle.”
“The three victims were killed at some distance from each other, separated by walls. Doesn’t sound like there was a circle.”
“No. Bludgeoning with a baseball bat doesn’t fit what I know, either. But again, on this particular area of magical practices I am not an expert.”
“Get to the part about how using death magic is different from invoking it.”
“It’s possible to create a charm or talisman even a null could use. Hellish hard, but it can be done. So technically, it’s possible for someone like Meacham, someone without magic, to have used a talisman.”
“Talisman?” Her heart gave a sudden, scared jump in her chest. “Is that another way of saying artifact?”
“Not exactly, but you probably aren’t interested in the precise definitions.”
“No, I’m not.” Absently, Lily rubbed the place on her stomach where the skin was shiny-smooth . . . a burn scar. Cullen had given it to her last year, but she didn’t hold it against him. Not considering the alternative—an ancient staff powered by death magic in the hands of the man it had driven mad. The staff had been used to control others.
It had also sent Rule to hell, along with part of Lily. The part that ended up dying there.
“Déjà vu all over again?” Cullen said gently. “I don’t
This time Lily caught Cynna’s raised voice. And the slam of a door. “Maybe you shouldn’t yell at the pregnant woman.”
“If I don’t nip back when she nips at me, she’ll think something’s wrong. Tell me about the death magic Rule found.”
She did. Lily was good at condensing a report to the key points, having given plenty of them in her days as a beat cop, then in Homicide. But she didn’t believe in skimping on the details when consulting an expert—she couldn’t know which details Cullen needed. So it took several minutes.
When she finished, Cullen proved once again that he was as bright as he was irritating. “You’re wanting to know just how shaky the limb is you’ve crawled out on, yanking Meacham away from the locals. Was he responsible for what he did, or not? Sorry, love. Can’t say for damned certain sure.”
“You can tell me for certain sure if Meacham needed a Gift to use death magic.”
“To invoke it, yes. To use it? That’s where things turn iffy. There’ve been reports going back to pre-Purge days of . . . Yes, it’s still Lily.” Cullen’s voice took on a different tone. Husky. “Have I mentioned how great you look wet, naked, and knocked up? There’s probably another flight we could catch....”
The next part was muffled, but suggested a moment that should have been more private than it was. Then Cullen’s voice came back, sounding absurdly cheerful, considering he couldn’t have done much in that brief time. “Cynna says hi. Now, where was I?”
“Explaining the difference between invoking death magic and using it.”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll give you the short version, because we’re leaving as soon as that luscious body I get to touch whenever I want to is covered—hey, no throwing things!” Lily assumed that bit wasn’t directed at her. “Full disclosure: I don’t know much about death magic.”
Lily paused a beat. “Inconvenient, yet reassuring.”
She could hear the grin in his voice. “That said, I’m eighty or ninety percent sure no one in this realm could perform the invocation ritual solo. And ritual is required—there’s no way of just slurping up power by killing people at random. Meacham couldn’t perform any part of that ritual, but it might—just might—be possible for him to do the killing. The power released by the deaths would be contained within a circle and absorbed by whoever created the circle.”
“The three victims were killed at some distance from each other, separated by walls. Doesn’t sound like there was a circle.”
“No. Bludgeoning with a baseball bat doesn’t fit what I know, either. But again, on this particular area of magical practices I am not an expert.”
“Get to the part about how using death magic is different from invoking it.”
“It’s possible to create a charm or talisman even a null could use. Hellish hard, but it can be done. So technically, it’s possible for someone like Meacham, someone without magic, to have used a talisman.”
“Talisman?” Her heart gave a sudden, scared jump in her chest. “Is that another way of saying artifact?”
“Not exactly, but you probably aren’t interested in the precise definitions.”
“No, I’m not.” Absently, Lily rubbed the place on her stomach where the skin was shiny-smooth . . . a burn scar. Cullen had given it to her last year, but she didn’t hold it against him. Not considering the alternative—an ancient staff powered by death magic in the hands of the man it had driven mad. The staff had been used to control others.
It had also sent Rule to hell, along with part of Lily. The part that ended up dying there.
“Déjà vu all over again?” Cullen said gently. “I don’t
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