tangling in the dirty fabric.
“Love you, too, sis,” Sylvie said.
Two walls of the office were fully consumed now, the fires licking upward, climbing into her private office, rolling forward, reaching for the front. Sylvie thought of all her files, the computers, the upstairs office, the whole of her life’s work going up in ash and flame, and said, “Lio. Grab Merrow. Let’s get out of here.”
13
Manipulations
THEY ERUPTED OUT ONTO THE STREET, THREE OF THEM COUGHING IN the smoke that billowed out after them, Merrow a silent deadweight at the end of Sylvie’s arms. Her shoulders protested, even with Zoe taking his ankles. Suarez had refused to arrest him, saying, “I can’t hold him securely. I won’t put my colleagues at risk. We’re in enough trouble.”
“I wasn’t going to give him to you anyway,” Sylvie said. “He’s got info I want.”
For once, something was going their way. Streets that were normally busy and crowded with pedestrians were all but empty. The only witness to their exodus was a gull that shrieked and flapped toward the sea.
Sylvie said, “Where is everyone?”
“Staying home. Trying not to catch the plague,” Suarez said. “Didn’t you notice that traffic was lighter than usual?”
“I just thought I caught a break,” Sylvie said. She shook herself. “Yeah. I should have noticed.”
“You two get out of here. Talk to him. Find out how to stop the plagues.”
“You’re not coming?”
“I discharged my weapon. I shot and killed federal agents. If I want to keep my job, I need to stay here and call it in.”
“All right,” Sylvie said. Zoe whined about Merrow being heavy and to hurry it up. “Be careful, Lio.”
Sylvie rubbed blood off her cheek, and said, “Yeah.”
Merrow twitched and mumbled; Zoe dropped his feet, grabbed the stun gun and zapped him again. His eyes rolled up in his head as the newest jolt left him partially conscious but in no shape to be casting spells. Good enough.
“Zoe. Leave him some brain cells,” Sylvie said.
“Whatever. Where are we taking him?”
“Val’s is home base.”
“You asked her first, right?”
“Of course I did. Couldn’t have gotten everyone past the wards without her permission.” Sylvie winced. Those wards were toast. Had been ever since Lupe ushered Erinya in. Magical wards had been replaced with a jungle that seethed and hungered. They were on the road, driving the ISI car along a pleasantly deserted highway, almost to their destination when Sylvie did a little mental head slap. She was bringing two witches to a god. While she didn’t care if Erinya burned every last drop of witchcraft back out of Merrow, Zoe was another story.
“Zo, you absolutely cannot do any magic while you’re at Val’s,” Sylvie said. Her voice cracked, the first thing said in long miles. Zoe was huddled up on one seat, her hand clenching tight on the stun gun, her gaze never leaving Merrow.
At least, Sylvie thought, she’d given her contrary sister an escape hatch from obsessively reviewing the wrongs Merrow had done her. Zoe erupted into instant protest.
“What? No! Why?”
“Because Erinya’s there. The moment you fire up your magic, you burn out.”
Zoe made a face. “So not fair. Gods are such bullies.”
“And try to be polite. To everyone. We’re all on edge.”
Merrow coughed laughter in the backseat, rattled his cuffed hands behind him. “Polite. Your little witch is a stone bitch. I wanted to rip out her tongue after twenty minutes in her company. I give your bad-tempered, impulsive god less than two minutes before Zoe’s a smear on a wall.”
“Don’t make me send her back there with the stun gun again,” Sylvie snapped.
“Won’t change the truth.”
“Did you ever consider that I might be nicer to someone who didn’t kidnap me and keep me tied up in a basement, then a car trunk?”
Sylvie and Zoe laughed at the same moment, and Merrow subsided into a dark scowl.
“Sorry,” Sylvie said. “You’ve lost your edge. Where’d you pick that talent up anyway? It doesn’t really seem witchy. It’s not a spell you cast. It’s just you.”
Zoe said, “He’s half-blood monster. I think Merrow’s not just his name. It’s genealogy. A half-blood. Val says that a lot of the water monsters have a way with compulsion enchantments. Like the mermaids’ song, like the kelpie who makes you want to ride even if you know better.”
“Like the Encantado,” Sylvie said.
“Yeah. That’s the big gun,” Zoe said. “The strongest of the water magics.”
“Really?” Sylvie said. The creature she’d met had been pissy, tired, and losing ground on a battlefield he hadn’t chosen. He hadn’t struck her as particularly powerful. But she’d been behind wards when she talked to him at length. If he was that strong … damn, she wished she had a way to contact him. Add one more monster to her
“So Val says.” Zoe looked over her shoulder at Merrow.
Merrow said, “That woman’s not worthy of the title witch. All she does is hole herself away from any conflict and waste her talent on academics. She deserved to get her talent burned out.”
“It’s coming back,” Zoe said. “Better not be rude to her, or she’ll make all you Society witches cry.”
Sylvie almost reflexively stomped on the brakes, bound both by basic driver instinct and by the sudden wave of compulsion. Almost.
“Don’t!” Zoe snapped at the same moment.
Sylvie pressed down harder on the accelerator, taking them off of Virginia Key and onto the short expanse of Rickenbacker Causeway which connected to Key Biscayne. Merrow lunged for the side door, determined to get out, whispering spells to override the door locks, and Zoe flailed at him with the stun gun.
Merrow screamed and went limp.
The SUV bumped gently onto the key.
“I didn’t even hit him with it,” Zoe said.
“He got hit with something bigger. Take a look.”
Key Biscayne had gone jungle. Erinya’s will exploding outward, corrupting and changing everything in its path. There was little left of Crandon Park from what Sylvie saw. All the buildings drowned in an impossible vegetation and red flowers that snapped and bit. Shadows, spotted like jaguars, ghosted through the greenery, and brought to mind the dapple of sunlight over leaves. Zoe sucked in a breath and slid toward the middle of the SUV as if its steel walls could protect her.
Merrow had been spell casting when they crossed, head down, focusing all his energy into a spell, and found himself abruptly at the mercy of a magical tide he couldn’t bear. Scoured out from within. No wonder he’d shouted.
Sylvie kept the SUV to the center of the road; the jungle encroached fast on either side. At least, Merrow wouldn’t be a threat now. At least, they’d be able to question him without worrying about him spitting out spells instead of answers.
BY THE TIME SYLVIE STOPPED AT VAL’S ESTATE, SHE WAS DRIVING purely by GPS guidance. Nothing
