Kim Harrison - The Witch with No Name

“You want him out, right?” Trent’s expression was calm as he searched. “That’s not going to happen until he trusts you. He’s probably not eaten for days.” His attention went down and he smiled. “You need a bath, Buddy. Where have you been?”

Jenks hovered over them, and I watched a camouflaged Bis inch into the kitchen, intrigued. “Dumpster, by the smell of it,” Jenks said, fingers pinching his nose. “And the river. Cats are better, even if they do try to eat you. They at least keep themselves clean.”

Trent found a bag of food and Buddy whined, nails clicking. “Good boy. Here you go.”

The kibble clattered into a salad bowl, and Trent set it down with a disarming look of satisfaction. Jenks on his shoulder and Bis clinging to the ceiling beside the fan only added to the odd tableau. All three watched him eat, and then Trent bent to shake even more into the bowl.

Smiling, I turned away, shock a cold slap when I found Cormel had moved and was sitting in the chair right beside me, staring. Holy shit!

“Right,” I said, smile gone, and Cormel nodded for me to get on with it. “Ah, he needs to be prone,” I said, glancing at Felix, the undead vampire glaring malevolently at me, apparently not appreciating the kindness to stray dogs.

Two of the men by the door came to shift him, seeing that his hands and feet were bound.

“Soon, Felix,” Cormel crooned when Felix began to struggle. “Soon. Give her a chance to work. I’ll remove your gag if you promise not to howl.”

Felix’s eyes were entirely black, but when he nodded, Cormel patted his hands, taking a small jackknife from his pocket and cutting the gag himself. Jenks and Trent hastened back to the living room, leaving Buddy to growl at the vampire inching forward to grab him.

The gag fell away. “She stole it,” Felix said, his voice crawling down my spine as he fixed his unblinking eyes on me. “Make her give it back. It’s mine! ”

Cormel patted his shoulder and stood, the knife tucked inside his overcoat along with the gag. “She didn’t steal your soul. She captured it so she could fix it properly.” He turned to me. “Isn’t that right, Morgan?” he threatened.

I nodded, glad when Trent took the chair behind me again. “Keep him there,” I said, not liking Cormel being this close. “If I’m interrupted, his soul will return to the ever-after.”

“You might lose it?” Felix exclaimed, his alarm sparking my own fear. “Give it to me! Now!”

“I’ll lose it if you interrupt me or take the scarf off your face before I tell you to.”

Stark fear marred Felix’s young face, giving me a glimpse of what he might have been. Cormel shot me a look to be more gentle before he leaned over Felix and patted him on the shoulder. “She won’t lose it, Felix,” he said, reminding me that for all their casual disregard for the lives of those they destroyed, they had a weird sense of protection for those they deemed worthy of it. That their children seldom entered that category was indecipherable vampire logic.

Trent leaned over me, the lingering scent of ever-after obvious. “I should do the charm. You’re better at defense than I am,” he said, almost breathing the words.

Jenks’s wings were clattering in worry, and I wished he’d park it somewhere. “No,” I said, thinking back to Trent’s numb shock of capturing Felix’s soul. I was the demon here. I could do it. “As long as no one interrupts me and he doesn’t remove the cloth until I say, it should be fine.” Chin rising, I looked over the room, not liking how many people were in here. “I need to anoint anyone who’s staying in the room with spider silk so his freed soul isn’t attracted to them. I’ve only got a few strands.”

Jenks rose up, arms crossed. “I don’t need any. No vampire soul will find me.”

Cormel gestured at his thugs, and I breathed easier until I realized all of them were heading out, leaving just him to maintain control of Felix. And the bastard smiled at my unease. “Kalamack?” he said, almost taunting. “Are you staying?”

My pulse quickened. Rule number one: never be alone with a master vampire. Misunderstandings were often fatal. “He’s my spotter in case I need help.”

“You are unsure of the charm?” Cormel said, and I lifted my chin, thoughts of Landon’s inexperience and hidden agenda warring in me. The man wanted me dead. What in hell was I doing trusting that his greed for recognition would keep me safe?

“I’ve never done it before,” I said, my unease coming out as anger. “Trent is here in case there’s a snag. Got a problem with that?”

“Can we get on with this?” Felix growled, and Trent pulled his spelling cap out, hastily arranging it on his head before pulling his ribbon from a pocket like a magician. Draping it around his neck he sat down, his ankle going to his knee and settling back to look confident and unmoving. Buddy trotted out from the kitchen, and no one said anything as he flopped down at Trent’s feet with a happy sigh. Trent gave Cormel a mute look, daring him to protest.

“Begin,” Cormel said sourly.

My fingers shook as I unfolded Ivy’s borrowed black silk scarf, the strands of this morning’s spiderweb in it. It had been hard to find this late in the year, impossible if not for Jenks. Still kneeling, I draped the first strand over Trent’s shoulder. “Thank you for staying,” I said, starting when he unexpectedly took my hand, eyes pleading.

“I should do this. It was my idea to trust Landon.”

“Yeah, let him,” Jenks said, and Buddy sneezed from the pixy dust.

But something in the feel of his hands about mine said he wasn’t worried about Landon. It was something else. “And have Cormel say I didn’t fulfill my agreement?” I said, and Cormel cleared his throat impatiently. “No.” I slipped from Trent’s hands, feeling a tingle pull all the way through me. “Jenks? Here.”

The pixy’s chin lifted, and I stared at him until he dropped down and tweaked a tiny piece from Trent’s strand. “Happy now?” he barked at me, and I stood.

“Ecstatic.” My mood worsened as I looked at Cormel. “Sir?” I said, holding out the scarf. I wasn’t going to get any closer to him than I needed to.

Motions slow, he took a long strand and draped it across the buttonhole of his coat. He still hadn’t taken off his coat, and his suit under it looked expensive and exquisite, the kind that Trent had once worn all the time.

There was one strand left, and I carefully plucked it free, intending to put it on my hair.

“What about the dog, Rache?”

Crap on toast, what about Bis still hiding at the ceiling? Lips pressed, I broke it in two, holding the larger strand out. “Here, you give it to him,” I said, eyes going to Bis in the kitchen. “I don’t think he likes me yet.”

Jenks’s gaze was crafty, dust sparkling as he dropped down. Wings clattering, he took it, darting first to Buddy and then the kitchen, pretending to get another dollop of peanut butter before rising up to give the last strand to Bis.

Cormel was frowning, and my stomach clenched. The world was going to change again. I should have worn nicer shoes.

I took a deep breath and reached out my awareness, laying a mental finger, as it were, upon the nearest ley line. My sour expression melted away as the energy flowed through me and back to the earth, connecting me to all things. It was akin to a warm bath, a shot of tequila, and an hour’s massage, easing my tension and instilling in me the confidence of past spells. Feeling the first hints of a soothing numbness, I began to spill the salt into a pentagram.

As if pulled from the energy flow itself, the beating of drums seemed to rise in my memory, making my motions sure and steady as I felt as if I was drawing on the skill of all of those who had come before me. Landon hadn’t said anything about the elven chant coming into play this soon, but it felt right, and I let it flow through my actions. Ta na shay. See me. See me recognize you.