She"d seen the dead before. She"d been to leave-taking ceremonies where the mortal remains of witches were returned to the earth. But those had been nat ural deaths, and the corpses had been peaceful. While this ...I think it was a boy. It had short hair and a flat chest. But there was no way to recognize the face. It was so distorted-didn"t even look human. . . .
He died violently. May his spirit be released; not held here by the need f or revenge. Oh, Sekhmet, lion-headed G.o.ddess of Egypt; Mistress of Death, Opener of Ways, Sekhmet Who Reduceth to Silence . . .
Her disjointed thoughts were interrupted as sunlight fanned into the room. A t the door, Eric shouted, "I"m back!"
Thea stood up. Her legs wanted to cave again. She opened her mouth, but what came out was a whisper. "Eric-"
He was hurrying toward her. "What"s wrong? Thea?"
"It"s somebody dead."
She saw his eyes widen in absolute disbelief-and then he looked past her. He took a step toward the thing on the floor, stopped, crouched, and stared for a second. Then he whirled back and grabbed her as if he could somehow protect her from what he"d seen. "Don"t look at it; don"t look over there," he gasp ed. "Oh, G.o.d, it"s bad." * "I know. I saw it." "It"s bad; it"s so bad. ..."
They were both holding on to each other. It was the only safety in this night mare.
"He"s dead. That guy is dead," Eric said. It was obvious, but Thea understo od the need to babble. "There"s nothing we can do for him. Oh, G.o.d, Thea, I think it"s Kevin Imamura."
"Kevin?" Black dots danced in front of Thea"s eyes. "No, it can"t be-"
"I"ve seen him wearing that shirt before. And the hair . . . And he"s on the committee to decorate this place. He must have been setting up that dummy." T hea"s mind showed her a terrible picture. A crusted dark line on that bloated face-like the wound made by a slashing razor. And the soft black hai r . . . Yes, it could have been Kevin. And that meant- Blaise.
"Come on," Eric was saying, his voice dazed and quenched. "We"ve got to tel l the office."
Numbly, Thea let him guide her. Her mind was in another place.
Blaise. Did Blaise know . . . could Blaise have . . .
She didn"t want to form the thought even to herself, but she couldn"t help it.
... finally gone all the way? Not just spilled blood, but taken a life?
It was forbidden to witches. But the Harmans were part lamia, and vampires sometimes killed for power. Could Blaise have gone that far into the dark ness?
After they got to the office, things happened fast, but Thea couldn"t really t ake it in. Activity whirled around her. The secretaries. The princ.i.p.al. The po lice. She was grateful for Eric, who kept telling the story over and over so s he didn"t have to.
I need to find Blaise.
They were back at the gym. The police were cordoning off the whole building with yellow tape. A throng of students and teachers was watching. Thea "s eyes skimmed the crowd, but she didn"t see Blaise anywhere.
Voices rose around her.
"I heard it was Kevin Imamura."
"Somebody said that guy from the dance came back and got him."
"Eric! Eric, did you really see him?"
Then one voice outshouted the others. "Hey, Mrs. Cheng, what about the H alloween party? Is the gym gonna be open by then?"
The princ.i.p.al, who had been huddled with a couple of police officers, turned around. Black hair riffling over her forehead in the breeze, she addressed the entire crowd.
"I don"t know what is going to happen with the gym. There"s been a tragedy, and now there"s going to be an investigation. We"ll just have to wait and see what comes of that. Now, I want everybody to go back to their cla.s.ses.
Teachers, please take your students back to your cla.s.srooms."
"I can"t go back," Thea whispered. She and Eric were standing at a little d istance from the thinning crowd. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about th em.
"I"ll take you home," Eric said immediately.
"No-I need to find Blaise. I have some things to ask her." She tried to make her stupefied brain work. "Eric, I should have told you this before. You"ve g ot to be careful."
"Of what?"
"Of Blaise."
He looked incredulous. "Thea . . ." He glanced at the old gym. "You can"t think she had anything to do with-what happened to Kevin."
"I don"t know. She could have had somebody do it-or made him do it himself."
Thea kept her voice low. She looked straight into Eric"s face, willing him to believe her. "Eric, I know you don"t understand, but it"s like I told you before. She"s like Aphrodite. Or Medea. She laughs when she destroys things . Especially when she gets mad . . . and she"s mad at you."
"Why?"
"Because you picked me instead of her-because I like you-lots of things. Th at doesn"t matter. The point is that she may come after you. She may try to ... seduce you. And"-Thea glanced at the bobbing yellow tape surrounding t he old gym-"she may try to hurt you. So will you just be careful if you see her? Will you promise me that?"
Eric looked windblown and bewildered, but he nodded slowly. "I promise."
"Then I"ll see you later. We still have things to talk about-but I have to find B laise first."
She walked toward the crowd, leaving Eric standing there in the wind. She k new he was watching her. .A waving hand caught Thea"s eye. It was Dani, her face full of sympathy an d concern.
"Thea, are you all right?"
"Sort of." Thea gave a laugh she didn"t recognize. "Have you seen Blaise ar ound?"
Dani"s soft little hand crept into hers. "She and Vivienne went home-I mean, to your place. I"ll go back with you, if you want. You shouldn"t be alone."
Thea squeezed her hand. "Thanks. I"d appreciate it." She was grateful-and reli eved that Dani didn"t hate her. "Dani-about the way I acted earlier . . ."
"Forget it. I don"t know what I said, but I didn"t mean to make you mad." Sh e added gently, "Thea, are you really okay? Really? Because I don"t want to upset you more. . . ."
"Why?" And then: "What, Dani?"
"Your grandma"s sick. That"s why Blaise and Vivienne went home-Vivienne "s mom paged her. She"s a healer-Vivienne"s mom, I mean-and I think she"s taking your grandma to h er house."
Thea was disturbed. Gran hadn"t moved to Las Vegas for the same reason oth er Night People did. Lamia and made vampires came because so many of the h umans here were transients-the kind that wouldn"t be missed if they disapp eared. Other witches came because of the power vortexes in the desert. But Gran had come because of the warm, dry climate. Her lungs had been bad si nce she was a kid. Please don"t let it be serious, Thea kept thinking as D ani drove her home. She felt as if her skin had been rubbed too thin all o ver her body.
When they got to the shop, Gran was already gone. Tobias and Vivienne were downstairs. "Is she okay?" Thea asked. "Is it something bad?" "Not too bad, " Tobias said. "She just kept getting dizzy today, and then she had a cough ing fit and couldn"t stop. She finally decided maybe she"d better get someb ody to sing it out. So she called Ms. Morrigan."
Oh, great-chanting. Just what Gran loved. But she must have been really sick to ask to have it done. "Can I call her?"
"I wouldn"t," Vivienne put in. Her green eyes were kind, her voice rea.s.sur ing. "I"m sure Mom"s working on her by now, and when she does a singing, i t takes all night. You shouldn"t disturb them. But don"t worry, Thea-my mo m"s really good."
"Yes-it"s not that I"m worried about." Thea looked around distractedly, fin ally coming back to Vivienne"s face. "Did you hear about what happened at s chool?"
"No." Vivienne looked mildly curious. "What happened?"
Instead of answering, Thea said, "Where"s Blaise?"
"Upstairs packing. She"s going to stay overnight at ray house. You can come, too-Thea?"
Thea was already racing up the stairs.
She burst into the bedroom she and Blaise shared. Blaise had a small suitcas e open on her bed.
Thea didn"t waste words. "Did you kill Kevin Imamura?"
Blaise dropped a black silk teddy. "Did I what? What are you talking about?
"He"s dead."
"And you thought I did it? Thanks a lot, but it"s not him I want to kill." Bl aise narrowed her eyes and Thea felt cold. Then she tilted her head. "So how did he die?"
"He was strangled. Somebody murdered him."
Blaise just raised her eyebrows and murmured, "Hm. I wonder where Randy is?
" She held a shirt up, considered it, and added, "Do you want to come stay at Viv"s with me? It"s better than staying here by yourself."
"I don"t know. Do I have to watch you to make sure Eric doesn"t end up like Kevin?"
Blaise gave her a scorching look. "When I go after a boy, I get him first. I d on"t strangle him before the fun begins."
She slammed her suitcase closed and stalked out.
Thea sat on the bed.
In spite of her sharp words, Thea now knew Blaise hadn"t done it. Her cousi n had been genuinely surprised.
And Randy? I suppose it could have been, if he somehow got out of wherever they"ve taken him. He had a reason to hate Kevin. But . . .
The alternate explanation slid into place so quickly that Thea realized it mu st have been in her mind all along.
The spirit.
She sat there for an endless time, trying to think. It was like trying to find her way through a thick fog.
Gran"s gone . . . and if she"s sick I can"t bother her anyway ... of course, Blai se won"t help ... but I need to trust somebody. . . .
Dani gently pushed the door open. "Can I come in?" When Thea nodded, she walked in and sat down on Blaise"s bed.
"They left. I told Tobias to go too-he had a girlfriend he wanted to see. I"ll s tay here tonight, if you want."
Thea took a shaky breath. "Thanks, Dani."
"Look, Thea, I don"t want to pry, but . . . are you okay? I mean, you"re as pal e as a corpse-" Dani bit her lip. "Sorry, bad choice of words. But I am your fr iend, and if there"s anything I can do, I"d like to help."
Another breath. Then Thea made her decision.
"I worked a forbidden spell."Dani looked shocked, but not appalled. "Which one?"
"Calling back the spirits."
When Dani didn"t scream or faint, Thea told the whole story. All about her summoning-everything except why she"d been doing it. "And now I"m scared, " she finished. "I let something out yesterday, and today Kevin gets murde red. Blaise didn"t kill him. She thinks Randy may be involved, but . . ."
Thea shook her head.
"But, Thea, be logical. Why should it have anything to do with your spell?
" Dani"s rational voice was soothing. "You let someone out, not something.
The elders summon the ancestors all the time without anything bad happeni ng. You just feel guilty because you know you weren"t supposed to be doing it."
"No. Dani, I can"t explain it, but the thing I let out-it wasn"t friendly. It knocked Blaise and me down. None of the spirits I saw the elders summon ever d id that."
"Well . . ." Dani looked doubtful. "But why would one of the ancestors wen t to murder a human?"
"I don"t know." Somehow talking about it had cleared Thea"s mind. She said slowly, "But. . . maybe the book would tell us."
Ten minutes later, they were sitting side by side on Thea"s bed, with the ir on chest on the floor and the book between them.
"First, could you tell anything about the amulet that fell in the fire?" Dani a sked in scientific tones. "Like, if the hair was gray, it could mean-"
"The witch was old." Thea caught on immediately. "No, it wasn"t gray or whi te. It was dark-sort of like mahogany." She closed her eyes, trying to reme mber.
"It all happened so fast-but I think it was long. It was doubled up lots of time s in the clay."
"So maybe a woman."
"Yes." Thea read for several minutes. "Wait a minute. Look at this."
" "Suzanne Blanchet," " Dani read with difficulty. " "Bom sixteen thirty-four in Esgavans on the day that they made bonfires for the peace between France and Spain. Tried sixteen fifty-three at Ron-chain, prisoner at the court of R ieux." "
"And listen to the charges," Thea said grimly. " "Bewitching men"s corn, killi ng cattle, bringing hunger into the country, and strangling babies at night wi th her long hair." "
"Strangling," Dani breathed.