Kiss The Night Goodbye

Nikki closed her eyes. If she had to go in alone after Michael, she would—but she had a bad feeling it would all go to hell if she went without Circle help. 'So what do we do?'

Seline paused and said, 'I want you to go in my place, Nikki.'

'What?' Jake half rose from the chair. 'No way!'

Nikki touched a hand to his arm, squeezing lightly to stop his protest, and asked, 'How? I might not have met you, Seline, but I know you and I look nothing alike. Besides, it's very likely that Weylin tried to kill me. He knows what I look like.'

'Weylin may know a lot about what happened in that week, but I doubt he realizes I was using magic to hide my true appearance. We'll use that same magic to hide yours.'

'If he's a sorcerer, won't he sense it?'

'No. The spell will be similar to what he used to get Lenny in the building, but stronger. More hidden.'

'So, you change my appearance, then what? I just waltz in there and get Michael back?'

'I wish it was that easy.' She paused again, and unease crawled up Nikki's spine. 'For this ceremony to work, he will have to have all the major characters in place.'

'How, when it all happened over a hundred years ago? Most of the major players will be dead, won't they?' But even as she said it, the image of the gnarled driver came to mind. She had a vague suspicion at least one of the major players was still alive. Whether he was still human was another matter.

Seline blew out a breath. 'Yes. But all Weylin really has to do is get living replacements. His magic is strong enough to enforce role-playing.'

'So what will I have to do?'

'There are three huge problems.' Seline's voice was grim. 'The first being, you must do what you can to disrupt the sequence of events. But we do not know which events Weylin knows about, and which he will deem important for the ceremony. Plus, Michael and I were separated much of the time, and I do not know everything he might have done.'

'So tell me everything you remember, and I'll play it by ear.'

'Yes.' Seline paused again. 'Then there is the sacrifice. Michael and I rescued the women on the night of the new moon. Letting them die is not an option, so you must try and find them before the new moon rises.'

'Will that be enough of a change?'

'To be honest, I have no idea. Maybe the mere fact of you going in my place will be enough to break the spell, but you will be playing my role, so it may make no difference. I can't be sure. If I went in and tasted his magic, I might know, but for everyone's sake, that is something I cannot risk.'

'I don't suppose we have anything on the people he might have snatched, so I can try and trace them with psychometry?'

'Not a hope. He could have taken them from anywhere, and we haven't the time to try and track them down.'

Nikki grimaced. She didn't think it would be that easy, but she had to ask all the same. 'So what's the third problem?'

'Weylin has raised a protection barrier around the old town. We can't get anyone in.'

'If you can't get anyone in, how am I going to get in?'

'He'll create a door at a specified time. If anyone tries to come in with you, he'll kill everyone in that town, except Michael. Then he'll start killing Circle operatives.'

Nikki blew out a breath and slumped back in the chair. 'He's got all the bases covered.'

'He's had a long time to plan this revenge of his. Beating him will not be easy.'

Beating bad guys never was. 'So, how many people are in this town?'

'Hartwood was an old mining town. He'd have to have enough people to cover the main players—barman, saloon girls, general store owner, preacher, people like that. At least a dozen, at a guess. And it is a guess, remember that. I have no idea what path his magic has taken.'

'How can he possibly manage all that magic and still control all those people? Surely it would sap his strength?'

'It would, but all he would have to do is perform regular sacrifices, and his strength would be maintained.'

'Meaning I might also have to try and stop those sacrifices?'

'Yes.'

Great. She worried her lip for a moment then asked, 'What about Michael? He has a strong mind and strong shields. How on earth would Weylin force him to play this little game?'

'Weylin tried to kill you. If he could enforce the belief that he had into Michael's mind, then he would put Michael in the same frame of mind that he was in a century ago.'

'That doesn't answer my question.' She and Michael had their connection—he would know, deep down, she wasn't dead.

'It would take magic to enforce the role-playing. If what we've discovered on Lenny and Nadia is any indication, you will discover symbols painted on and around his spine.'

'Meaning all I have to do is erase those symbols, and he'll be free of Weylin's magic?'

'Again, I fear it is not that simple.'

'Nothing ever is,' she muttered.

Amusement filled Seline's voice as she said, 'Not when it comes to magic, I'm afraid.'

Nikki sighed. 'So, what's the problem in this case?'

'It's twofold. First, the symbols will be inked into his skin, and they will need to be washed with a special soap before they start to fade.'

'Meaning we take lots of baths?'

'This is a ghost town, remember,' Camille commented, amusement touching her thin lips. 'It won't have running water, let alone hot running water.'

'Guess that means electricity will also be at a premium?'

'Hartwood did have power a century ago, but I'm guessing only the section where the rangers stay would have power now,' Camille said. 'And it wouldn't be necessary for any of Weylin's spells.'

Nikki rubbed a hand across her eyes. She'd roughed it on the streets as a teenager, but her teenage years were long ago, and she was well and truly used to life's little luxuries—water on tap, hot food, clean sheets. It was sounding like those were going to be a little sparse on the ground. 'Am I able to take anything in with me?'

'Weylin has provided a list of what can and can't be taken in. Candles, matches and a small camp oven are on the list. But we'll try and sneak some soap in, as well.'

'What about food?'

'He has apparently stocked the general store, probably because I had a lot to do with the store owner.'

Nikki had a feeling she didn't want to know the exact details of that. 'So, what's the second problem with removing the symbols from Michael's back?'

'Michael himself.'

Nikki's eyebrows rose. 'Why?'

'He will be role-playing, remember, and will see you as me. He and I were never intimate, though my role as saloon girl meant we did share a kiss or three.'

Seline paused, as if waiting for a reaction. Nikki shrugged, even though she knew Seline couldn't see the gesture. Michael had told her many times he and Seline had never been sexually intimate, and Nikki trusted the truth of his words. But he'd never said they hadn't kissed or touched, and she'd be a fool to think otherwise.

After another second of silence, Seline continued, 'While instinctively he will be drawn to you, he will fight it, because deep down he knows that he and I never happened.'

'So that's another way of maybe tripping the spell—dragging him into bed.'

'Possibly. But one thing you should remember—the Michael you meet in Hartwood will not be your Michael. He will be rougher, harder.'

How much rougher and harder could he be than when she'd first met him? He'd been so close to edge, so close to becoming one with the darkness, back then. And though he'd only really threatened her once, it was something she was never likely to forget.

'Is there anything else I need to know?'