Library

Chapter 30

Standing in the foyer of Elenora Ellingham's mansion, Alice looked at the sample Remy had given her. She turned the tiny plastic vial in her hands. The single drop of blood inside barely moved. "This isn't very much to work with."

Remy glanced at his boss. Merrow shrugged. Remy sighed. "There wasn't much to begin with. Can you make it work? What about the strands of Ephie's hair I gave you?"

Alice raised her gaze to Remy, although for a moment, it seemed like she was looking over him and not at him. "You don't make magic work. It decides that. So I can't answer your question except to say, we'll see."

He ignored the fact that she'd said nothing about the strands of hair. "Then you'll do the spell? Or cast the—whatever it is—you'll do it?"

"I will. Tell me what you know about this abductor."

"She's female," Remy answered. "That's as far as we've gotten. DNA is still processing, but the blood type is different than Ephie's, so we know the sample didn't come from her."

"This woman who took Ephie … she won't want to be found. That will make it harder. Does she have magic of her own?"

Merrow chimed in. "We don't know that, but we believe she's doing the bidding of a voodoo practitioner, who is now deceased. Birdie was drugged with something that paralyzed her."

"And," Remy added, "Ephie's mother was sent a black feather that had been coated with paralytic toxins."

"Zombie dust." Alice's brows went up. "Curious. Do you have a sample of that?"

"No," Merrow said. "But I can get you one. Do you need it for the spell?"

"No. Just something I'd like to have." Her eyes narrowed as her focus returned to Remy. "You love Ephie."

It wasn't a question, but he answered anyway. "I do. Yes. Very much. And I want her back as soon as possible."

Alice smiled. "Good. You can stay. That energy matters." She looked at the sheriff. "You, I don't need." She started down the hall. "Come along."

Remy turned toward his boss.

Sheriff Merrow shook his head. "I'll be in the car."

Remy went after Alice, catching up to her in a few long strides. "How long will this take?"

"As long as it needs to."

He rolled his eyes. Thankfully, she couldn't see him.

She snorted softly. "For a vampire, you're rather skeptical."

"I know you're a powerful witch. I understand that. But time is ticking. I need to find Ephie before it's too late. And you're not exactly giving me a lot of reassurances."

They came to a nondescript door. She stopped and put her hand on the knob. Once again, her gaze seemed to drift past him for a moment. "Magic isn't science. I can only do what it will allow me to do."

She opened the door. "This way. Touch nothing."

She went down a short hall that bent left and dead-ended at a pair of impressive double doors. She opened one and went through. He followed, still frustrated, but knowing there wasn't much he could do except have patience. Much harder than it sounded.

They walked into a room that had the feel of a medieval chamber to it. At least to him. Walls of shelves filled with books, boxes of various sizes, and small, curious objects. Bottles, little carved figures, bowls, a crystal bell, a polished, spiraling shell. A blackbird's wing.

An enormous fieldstone fireplace took up most of one wall. It had embers in it, glowing red, but no flames. A chair was positioned by the fireplace. It was upholstered in worn tapestry fabric. Next to it was a small stand holding a couple of narrow books and a cup of tea.

But the centerpiece of the room was a large, plain wood table, scarred and stained with ages of use. Behind it was one of several tall, gothic-arched windows that gave a brief glimpse of the night beyond.

An intricately woven rug of many colors covered the floor. It showed signs of age, but the threads were still glossy. Silk, he thought. It would have been a comfortable room to spend time in if not for the acrid scent of magic.

"What is this room?"

"My practice. A sacred place where magic is performed."

He stuck his hands in his pockets, careful not to touch anything. Something about the place unsettled him.

"There are elements here that can be used against vampires. That's what's prickling your skin and raising your hackles."

He shot her a serious look. "You work for a vampire. You live in a vampire's house."

Alice went to her shelves, opened a large wooden box, and took out a large beeswax candle. "I am beholden to Elenora for many reasons. She's not just a vampire but a dear friend. That has nothing to do with anything in this room. I would never do her harm, nor would I do harm to anyone who meant no harm toward me."

She set the candle on the worktable, then went back for another box, this one smaller and carved from translucent stone. She brought it to the table.

She took the lid off. Inside was either salt or sugar. He guessed salt. She used it to make a circle around the candle, about six inches out from it. Then she removed a long, narrow glass rod from a cup on the table. There were other glass rods in the cup along with different kinds of feathers, some metal rods, and a few writing implements.

"Pay attention to the flame. Any information I can gather will be there in the flame. There isn't much blood, so the image, if it appears, won't last long."

"But then you can use Ephie's hair?"

"No. That's for something else."

He didn't understand why she'd needed it then. "What will we see in the flame?"

"Whatever the owner of the blood is looking at during the brief moments the blood burns."

Remy shook his head. "What if she's sleeping? It's nighttime."

"Then we'll see nothing." Alice raised her eyes to him. "Would you rather I wait?"

He tried not to let his frustration show, but that was hard. "No."

"I know you're concerned," Alice said softly. "If this doesn't work, we can try again, but this time we will attempt to locate Ephie."

"I don't have any of her blood."

"No, but you have her familiar."

Remy frowned. "You mean her cat?"

"Yes." Alice waved her hand over the candle. The wick sputtered with fire.

"I know you talked to Ephie at the coven meeting. Is that how you know about Jean-Luc?"

"No." Alice twisted the stopper off the plastic vial. "I know about him because he's been sitting on your shoulder since you arrived."

"What?" Remy felt both shoulders, but there was nothing there. "Jean-Luc, where are you?"

The cat appeared midway through his leap to the floor. He landed, chirped at Remy, then hopped up onto Alice's table.

"Sorry." Remy reached for him.

"Let him stay," Alice said. "There is more pure magic in that creature than either of us has. And he loves Ephie, too. His presence is a good thing."

Jean-Luc stared at the flame, his tail swishing slowly.

"How did you know he was there when he wasn't visible?"

Alice's coy smile was her only answer to that question. "Hush, now. I need to open the spell."

He had no idea what that meant, but he went quiet.

"Let what is hidden be shown. Give us sight through the eyes of the one who possesses the blood." Alice dipped the end of the glass rod into the vial and turned it, collecting the blood on the end.

She carefully lifted it out, turning the rod continuously so none of the blood dropped off. Then she passed that end into the flame.

It flared and shot up, then leveled off.

The flame widened about a half-inch from where it danced on the wick. Then it widened a little more.

Remy leaned in as a picture appeared inside the flame. It wasn't much. A small flat-screen TV on a dresser displayed an unrecognizable show.

But next to the television was a mirror. And in that mirror, Remy caught a glimpse of a woman in a chair. Tied to the chair. He recognized the hair and the outfit.

The image disappeared as the last of the blood burned away.

He straightened. "You saw that, right? The woman in the chair?"

Alice nodded.

"That was Ephie."

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.