Necromancing the Stone (10 page)

She blinked a few times, surprise fluttering across her features while she looked around. “Where the hell did you bring me, Sam?”

“Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Honestly, I have no idea, but wherever we are, it practically reeks of magic.” She wrinkled her nose.

“Pretty, isn’t it?”

I jumped up about ten feet.

We both turned, and that was when I saw that we weren’t alone in the clearing, after all. There was a woman in a long dress about ten feet away from me. Her red hair trickled loose past her waist, white flowers and vines weaving in and out of it. The flowers opened, wilted, crumpled, and then bloomed again, the cycle repeating as I watched. It was dizzying. I shivered.

She walked toward me, and try as I might, I couldn’t move a muscle. I had the strangest urge to drop to my knees. Not a compulsion, really, but something told me it would be a good idea. So I did it. The soil under my knees felt cold, and a pebble was digging into my shin, but I stayed with my head down until I could see her feet. She was barefoot.

“That is very sweet, but somewhat unnecessary.” Her rich voice held a note of laughter in it.

Still, she sounded pleased. The gesture was worth it, then.

“Stand, Samhain Corvus LaCroix, stand before you catch your death. Besides, I refuse to spend the evening addressing the crown of your head.”

When I got up, she was seated on a log by a crackling fire and Ashley was looking at me rather strangely, but she had curtsied when she’d seen me drop to my knees.

There were a lot of things I was still adjusting to, and sudden magic was one of them. “Neat trick,” I said, nodding at the fire.

“Thank you.” She patted part of the log next to her. I sat down, tilted slightly in her direction. She took my chin in her hands and examined my face for a few long moments, lingering mostly on my eyes. I’d gotten used to this kind of thing. I relaxed and let her do whatever she had to do, enjoying the fire in the meantime. Finally, she patted my cheek. “You’ll do fine.”

“Thanks?”

She pulled off her mantle and settled it about my shoulders. It felt like velvet, thick and soft, warm as if it had been sitting in the sun. I pulled it around me and felt not just warmth, but comfort. While that mantle was wrapped around me, I felt my chest loosen. Everything tight and terrible left my heart and took a breather.

The flower lady turned a smile on Ashley, who had taken a seat across from us and was currently scowling in our direction.

“Your loyalty does you credit, little Harbinger, but rest assured that I mean your ward no harm.”

“Uh-huh. Well, I’ll remain skeptical if it’s all the same to you.”

“As you wish,” the woman replied, her smile gaining an amused twist.

I hadn’t felt this good in a long time. Settling in, I stared at the fire and my surroundings, waiting for her to ask for what she wanted. There was always something.

The flowers in her hair bloomed, died, and bloomed again before she spoke. It was kind of cool.

“You are wondering, perhaps, why I am here instead of Brannoc?”

“The thought had crossed my mind.” More precisely, I had been wondering what had gone wrong. I didn’t have the best control, and sometimes my magic did odd things.

“His death,” she said, “was traumatic. And I would prefer he rested. I have a certain interest in this particular family line. How would you put it? We go way back?”

“All death is traumatic.” I’d seen a few deaths in my life, and I’d yet to see anyone go smiling.

“I can see how you might believe that, but it’s not true.”

I pulled the mantle tighter. Seattle nights can be chilly, even in the summer, but wherever we were, it was much colder. “Traumatic or not, his family deserves to know what happened. They’re counting on me for information. Some help.”

“I know.”

“You’re going to send me back with nothing, aren’t you?”

She blew on the fire, and the flames climbed, grew, and crackled, responding to her whim in an unnatural way, like they wanted to please her. “Nothing, no. Just not what you came here for. I’m sure his family would love to see him, just as I’m sure they’d love answers, but I must consider what is best for all my children, so I’m stepping in, whether the pack wishes it or not. Brannoc is one of mine, and I
will
protect him from further hurt. That is all you need to know for now.”

“Even if your interference keeps us from finding the killer?”

“Even then. I am not saying that I am beyond vengeance, Samhain. But I am patient, and that can wait. The victim comes first, not the killer.”

I wanted to argue, but I caught a look from Ashley just then. She was shaking her head ever so slightly, her eyes now more speculative than skeptical. I got the message. No talking back to the flower lady.

She was going to take back her mantle soon too, I just knew it. I sighed, pulling the fabric up over my cold nose. “What am I supposed to tell them?”

“Tell them his soul is resting, that you cannot help them in this way.”

“So, what you’re saying is that I’m useless.” I should have felt angry or upset, but nothing seemed to shake the peace I was feeling. Creepy, yes. But I knew my zenlike feeling would end soon and I would be right back in the muck of things.

“That depends. Is this all you have to offer?”

“I don’t think my ability to burp the alphabet would be helpful right now.”

She blinked at me and tilted her head. “Can you really do that?”

“Just to
R
.”

She laughed then, an endless, sunny peal. At least, I wished it had been endless. True beauty always seems short-lived. Ugliness just keeps on going. She leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. “Yes, you’ll do fine.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Faith is important, Samhain, and I have an abundance of it. You will find a way to help them, I am sure of it.” She leaned back, pulling the mantle with her. “In fact, I am counting on it. And you’re going to need that faith. There is a darkness out there, a sickness. I don’t know what it is, but it’s reaching out to you.” She patted my cheek, looking worried. “Be careful.” Then I was cold again, standing heartbroken in a field, a concerned Ashley by my side. We were surrounded by the pack. They looked pissed. I could still feel the warm press of the woman’s lips on my forehead.

Have you ever looked up and realized an entire crowd has gone quiet and everyone is staring right at you? I felt like I’d walked into a church naked—it was that awkward. Brid stepped away from her brothers. She reached out and gave me a little shove. “You’re back.” She didn’t wait for me to answer. “And you smell weird.”

“So you keep telling me.” I hiccuped.

“No, you smell like … flowers.”

I sniffed my jacket. I did smell like flowers.

James slid up behind me. “Where on earth did you go?” He ripped my jacket out of my hands. “And stop sniffing your jacket. It’s unseemly.”

“Who are you—Miss Manners?” I was going to say something more, something amazingly witty, but instead I had to run to the bushes and be noisily sick. As I retched, I could see Ashley anxiously talking to James, her hands fluttering around her. Being that he was James, he patiently listened to her while leading her closer to where I was doing my best to relive every meal I’d ever had.

As they got closer, I could hear James cursing under his breath. He only used bad words when he was really pissed. Once I was done communing with nature, he grabbed my chin and tipped my head toward the torchlight. He peeled back my eyelids and examined my pupils. I don’t think he liked what he saw, because he kept his frowny face on.

“What in Hecate’s name happened to you?”

I tried to answer him, I really did, but Ashley glared and shook her head, making a zip-lips motion at the both of us. James grabbed me by my collar and slapped me. Not a light tap, either. My cheek stung in the cold.

“Ow.”

“Master, this is important. What happened to you?”

Ashley pinched him. “Now isn’t the time for that conversation.” I think James was too surprised to actually react.

I stared back at him. I couldn’t even shake my head in frustration—there was nothing there. It was like a part of me was drunk or dipped in Novocain. I was having a hard time understanding and reacting to things. A different part of me was noting it and trying to fix the problem, but it wasn’t getting anywhere.

Brid came up behind James, who looked like he was about to shake me.

“My father?”

Her eyes were hurt and raw—I so badly wanted to help her. Even if I couldn’t really feel it right now, I knew it. “I can’t … his soul needs rest.” What an amazingly shitty and lame thing to say to her.

She closed her eyes in defeat, a tear escaping and cutting down her cheek. “I see.” Brid turned and walked away.

The pack followed her, either shooting me nasty, accusing glares, or not looking at me at all. Some of them were arguing and not doing anything to hide the fact. I heard words like
trust
and
incompetent
being thrown about pretty liberally, and none of what they were saying sounded complimentary. New leader, new slate, all I’d done seemingly gone in their minds. I watched them go.

The brothers were last. Bran picked up his father’s body and carried it back to the pyre, Sayer and Roarke flanking him. Sean stopped to place a gentle hand on my shoulder. He shook his head at me. “Maybe now isn’t the best time for you to be here. The pack…” He didn’t finish the sentence, just shook his head again and turned away from me, following the path his siblings had set.

James didn’t want to stay for the whole funeral, and not just because of Sean’s warning. Something was wrong with me, and he didn’t like it. Ashley was hovering like an agitated mother hen, complete with hand-wringing.

“I didn’t know you cared.” I hiccuped again, my stomach churning.

“I don’t,” James said. “But it would reflect poorly on me if you died while in my charge. Besides, I don’t want you to vomit on my shoes.”

I slapped him on the back. “There’s the James I’ve come to know and love.”

Despite James’s well-stated reasoning, I ignored his demands. Whether I was in the pack’s favor right now or not, I was staying. Brannoc had been a good friend to me, a mentor since I became, well, me. The least I could do was watch. The body burned, and the pack howled. I was still strangely numb. At some point, I reached into my jacket and found a flower. A morning glory, its twisted vine holding on to the inside of the jacket’s lining, the white flower open and full. I slowly walked up to the fire and tossed it in. I said good-bye to Brannoc Blackthorn. After that, I finally let Ramon and James escort me back to the car, a worried Ashley bringing up the rear. I didn’t even know I was crying until James wiped my face with a handkerchief.

Then I threw up on his shoes.

10

SOUL DOUBT

James had to drive, since I was having a hard time doing complex things like walking and not vomiting. Ramon wasn’t in great shape, either—as we passed under streetlights, I could see the muscles in his face twitching. Judging by the looks James kept throwing him, I think Ramon was struggling to keep from changing.

I closed my eyes to try and block out the spinning that had started once I got in the car, and I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing I knew, Ramon was carrying me. I was surprised to see we were at my mom’s house.

“This is so romantic, Ramon. You’re like my Latino Romeo.”

“Keep it up, and I’ll give you something to vomit about.”

James was in such a rush, he almost disregarded the path and tried to walk right through my mom’s garden.

Ashley grabbed the back of his coat, yanking him to a stop. “You better not, unless you want a less-than-helpful reception.”

James replied with a nod of his head and followed the twisting path to the front door. He knocked once sharply, then held his arms behind his back, looking for all the world like he’d just stopped by for a polite chat.

Haley cracked the door open as far as the chain would let her. That was new—we’d never had a chain before. She cocked an eyebrow about my in-Ramon’s-arms status but said nothing as she slid the chain and opened the door, revealing her pajamas. Skimpy pajamas.

“You should get a robe,” I said. “Don’t you think so, James?” He stood there, hands now clenched, his posture stiff. “James?”

He straightened suddenly, coming back to himself.

“Yes,” he said. “And a better lock.” Then he pushed Ramon and me through the door. In one motion, he slipped off his own jacket and slid it over Haley’s shoulders. “I’m sorry to intrude this late, but we need your mother’s services quite badly.” As if summoned, my mom came out of the kitchen. She was also in her pajamas, her strawberry-blond braid swinging. She paused a moment, taking us all in. Frowning, she ushered us to the kitchen table.

Ramon dumped me at the table while James and Ashley had a whispered conference with my mother. My sister plopped down across from me. Amusement shone in her gray eyes as she pulled her black hair back into a ponytail. Physically speaking, Haley and I look a little like night and day. She takes after her dad, Haden. So while she’s a bit taller than my mom, and we all share the same pale skin and freckles, Haley is definitely a LaCroix, dark hair and all. I, unfortunately, take after my biological father. My hair is somewhere between brown and blond, and my build is scrawny. I have my mom’s baby blues, though, which is nice. Still, I’m not going to win any beauty contests. Haley might, if they didn’t disgust her.

She snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to big bro.”

I mumbled some kind of a response, but I’m not sure if actual words came out.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” She leaned back, annoyed.

I shrugged. “Anything in the fridge? I’m starving.”

Haley was staring at me now. “Sam, it’s like four in the morning.”

“So?” When she didn’t answer, I got irritated and mentally called for Brooke. If anyone would listen to me and possibly get me a sandwich, it was her.