“You see them when you cast magic, and they disappear when you stop casting magic. It might be some sort of side effect you’re experiencing from magic use. A hallucination, an afterimage-I don’t know. I haven’t ever heard of this before. But you’re a Hound. You use magic a lot, and I’m not surprised something like this might happen. I think you need to see a doctor.”
No, I thought. I most certainly did not need to see a doctor. “Okay,” I said. “Well, that’s a place to start.”
I knew I wasn’t hallucinating. Zayvion had seen them too. Zayvion had fought them with me. If I was hallucinating, then so was he, at the same time, and about the same thing. Not likely.
“I’ll take you back to the station,” he said. “I’ll get your statement and the paperwork started, and then I’ll take you home.” Stotts didn’t wait for me to answer. He put the car in gear and followed the exit arrows.
“I’d rather finish the job first.” I was tempted, really tempted, to put Influence behind my words. With no more effort than breathing, I could make Stotts do what I said.
I’d seen my father use that power far too often- on others and on me-to think it was a moral action. Still. I really wanted to Hound the second site to see if Pike’s signature was on it too.
Stotts picked up his coffee, drank the cold dregs. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“Let me tell you why you’re wrong,” I said.
“All right.”
“I think I know who cast that spell. But I am not sure, not certain enough that I would testify in court. If I Hound the second site and it looks like it’s the same person, then I would be happy to stand in front of the law and point fingers. But if I don’t have a second site to compare to, I will not feel comfortable taking the stand.”
“Who do you think it is?”
“Not until I see the second site.”
“Are you trying to bribe me, Ms. Beckstrom?”
“If I were trying to bribe you, you wouldn’t have to ask that question,” I said.
“So you won’t tell me what you found, even though I’m paying you for your services and you are legally obligated to tell me?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you. But I won’t testify to it.”
“Tell me.”
I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted a stab at that other site-and I did-and if I wanted a chance to clear Pike’s name-and I did-I would have to trust Stotts would give me that chance.
“Martin Pike.”
I felt like a complete jerk, but Stotts did not look surprised at all.
“Interesting,” he said.
“I’m not the first Hound to indicate him in this, am I?”
“No. But you’re the first one who has doubts.”
“Something about the spell doesn’t smell right,” I said.
“And you’re not the first one to say that.” We were on the ground floor of the parkade now. He paused and then turned right. “I’ll take you to it,” he said. “But if you see anything strange while you’re using magic, anything like back there-ghosts, or whatever-you will stop and we’ll call it a night.”
“Thanks,” I said, and I meant it.
It was dark now and still raining. The drops were smaller, icier, driven by the wind like a sandblaster.
We drove through the neighborhood and I worked on calming my mind. Magic stirred in me, sluggish, distant, but it did respond. I might have been drained by the watercolor people, but it was not permanent.
Good. I didn’t care what Stotts said. I was going to pull on magic for as long as I wanted and Hound this spell no matter what the watercolor people did to me.
Now that I was expecting it, I could handle the pain. The watercolor people had hurt me, but they hadn’t killed me. Yet.
Stotts parked at the curb. “This is the second site.”
More people moved around in this part of the neighborhood despite the rain and cold. Shadows hunched in doorways and overhangs, light catching the cherry embers of cigarettes, the flash of teeth, the glitter of eyes.
This, I decided, was not the kind of place to be alone in the dark. Stotts pulled his gun, did something with it, and then reholstered it. Good thing I’d brought a buddy.
Hells, what about Davy? Was he out there, skulking in the shadows? If he was, he should be easy for me to spot. I glanced at the street, at the houses and abandoned shops and boarded-up buildings. I didn’t see Davy. I hoped he had stayed home.
Stotts took a deep breath and traced a glyph too quickly for me to see which spell he was casting. Then he closed the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, creating a circle and holding magic there like a trigger, ready to pour it into the glyph when he needed it.
Well, well. He wasn’t just a by-the-books gunslinger after all.
“Ready?” Stotts asked.
“Damn straight.” We both got out of the car.
Stotts didn’t need to point out the place where the kidnapping had happened. I could tell even without pulling on magic. Someone had built a small, hand painted cross and nailed it to the side of the building and written “My baby” across it. This girl may have been running with a gang, but she was also someone’s daughter. Someone who still remembered her.
“She was last seen two weeks ago.” Stotts walked around the car to stand next to me.
“Two weeks? Have there been any leads?”
“Nothing I can disclose.”
Magic bucked in me, burning slowly up my bones. It felt like my limbs had fallen asleep on the inside, my bones numb. Magic burned, stung, tingled painfully from the soles of my feet upward, as if it were trying to reestablish blood flow.
Holy hells, that itched and hurt.
“How old was she?” I asked.
“Fifteen.”
The same age as Pike’s granddaughter. The granddaughter who was used by Lon Trager. The granddaughter who committed suicide.
I walked to the middle of the sidewalk. The soles of my feet felt bruised, but at least they weren’t burning numb. I hoped the pain of magic refilling me would be over soon.
Stotts stayed near the cross, his coat open. His right hand was free so he could easily pull his gun. He stood with his middle finger and thumb obviously together, a clear symbol to anyone watching that he was holding a spell in check and could cast it in seconds.
I hadn’t bothered putting my gloves back on. But I needed to stall just a little until my arms and hands stopped itching and hurting so much. I couldn’t cast magic if my fingers weren’t working.
“Did you do anything with the spells?” I asked Stotts.
“No. You’re not the first one to Hound them, but no one’s contaminated the site.”
“No kind of Holding or Stasis put around them?”
“That’s contamination. These are just as we found them. Can you get to this now or is there a problem?”
I shook my head. No more stalling.
If Stotts was that uncomfortable standing out here on the street while he had magic and a gun, I needed to get this done quickly.
I calmed my mind, putting my expectation and fear of Pike being involved aside. I needed my judgment to be absolutely clear if I were to see the truth of this hit.
I muttered a mantra and set the Disbursement spell-that fever would last a little longer now. Probably ought to stock up on my chicken noodle soup supply. I pulled on the magic inside me.
