No Humans Involved

'You say it sounds like a human's version of magic,' I said. 'Could that be what it is? The results of humans sacrificing people in some kind of fake black-magic ritual?'

Molly and Savannah looked at one another. In that exchanged look, all grudges seemed forgotten-sister witches considering an academic question.

'What does happen when humans play at ritual sacrifice?' Savannah said, half asking, half musing. 'They can't get any powers from it, but does anything happen to the soul of the person they kill?'

Molly said, 'If it did, necromancers would have seen this kind of thing before.'

'So maybe it doesn't happen every time. But under certain circumstances…'

'Who can tell with humans-the lengths they'll go to in pursuit of magical powers. Sacrificing babies? Children? Torture? We have nothing on them.'

So said the woman who, less than an hour ago, had been ready to put out my eyes with a red-hot stick. But I knew even Savannah would agree it wasn't the same thing. I'd been a threat. I'd knowingly walked into the house of a dark which, so one could argue that I'd taken my chances. It wasn't the same as killing a baby in hopes of receiving some magical boon.

Savannah and Molly discussed this further but came to no conclusions. Investigating human magic would be a wise next step, but not something either of them could help with.

When we finished, the sun was setting.

Savannah said to Molly, 'Your kids are at a friend's place, right?'

She nodded.

'So they'll be fine if you're later than you expected. Here's what I'm going to do. First, I'm not untying your hands. That's your job. Second, I'm leaving you in a binding spell. When I'm far enough away, it'll snap and you can walk to the parking lot, find your phone, make that tow-truck call. But if you come after us-now or later-you're launching a council investigation into Mike's death.'

AS WE drove to Molly's neighborhood to find Jeremy, Savannah explained how she'd followed me, but stayed back until it was obvious I needed help.

'What gave it away?' I said. 'When she loaded me bound and gagged into the back of her truck? Or when she actually said 'I am now ready to kill you and throw your body in the swamp'?'

'Hey, for a while there, it looked like you were going to talk your way out of it. I didn't want to interfere.'

In other words, she'd been giving me a chance to escape on my own.

'Don't feel bad,' she continued. 'It's not your fault you don't get the cool superpowers.'

'Thanks.'

She threw a grin my way.

I picked twigs from my hair, then checked my reflection in the visor mirror. 'I do appreciate you coming after me, Savannah. When I tell the story to the council, I'll leave your name out of it.'

She hesitated, then shook her head. 'No. I'd better come clean now or it'll bite me in the ass later, and I'll get in more shit for making you cover for me. I'll take my licks. But if you could…' A glance my way. 'You know, tone it down a bit? Maybe leave out the koyut spell?'

'So long as you tone down the 'I had to rescue Jaime again' part.'

A grateful grin. 'Agreed.'

AS SAVANNAH circled Molly's block, I saw a flash of someone through the slats of Molly's fence.

'There's Jeremy,' I said. 'In her backyard.'

'Where?' she squinted into the near dark. 'Ah. There. Good eyes.'

She didn't add a sly remark about my uncanny Jeremy radar. I flatter myself that Savannah doesn't know how I feel about him, but if she doesn't, she's the only one.

She pulled over as Jeremy leaped the fence, taking it as easily as a two-foot hurdle.

'I'd better let you out here and hightail it back home before Paige calls out the National Guard.'

'Running off before I can tell him what happened?'

'Running as fast as I can, but tell him I said hi and I'll see him at Thanksgiving.' She paused. 'On second thought, don't mention that part or they're all liable to decide that keeping me from going to Stonehaven is a suitable punishment.'

WHEN I crossed the road, Jeremy was gone. Standing in front of Molly's house, I had a strong sense of deja vu… and an even stronger sense that standing here really wasn't a bright idea. I pictured Molly arriving home to find the necromancer who'd escaped her clutches hanging out on her front lawn.

I was looking for a safer place to stand when a voice behind me said, 'Hello, Jaime.'

I wheeled so fast I tripped over my own feet. Fingers clasped my forearm, steadying me. I looked up into a face with high cheekbones and slightly slanted black eyes. Dark hair fell over his forehead as he leaned forward. I resisted the urge to reach up and push it back… then lift onto my tiptoes, press my lips against his, my body against-

Damn it, was I ever going to see Jeremy and not start blushing like a schoolgirl? It was ridiculous. I'd had erotic fantasies about men right in front of their noses and never batted an eye. With Jeremy, even the thought had me in vapors.

'Jeremy,' I managed.

'I'm sorry,' he said, still holding my arm. 'I didn't mean to startle you.'

'We need to bell you, like a cat.'

A twitch of his lips. Not much of a smile, but I knew it was one.

'So,' I continued, 'you could follow my trail from the coffee shop.'

'Not easy in the daylight, when I can't crouch to sniff the sidewalk. Fortunately, your perfume is distinctive.'

'It's worth the price then.'

He released my arm and gave me a once-over, and while I'd love to think he was checking out my hot new outfit, I knew the truth- he was trying to figure out what had happened. He plucked a leaf from my hair.

'I ran into some trouble,' I said.

'So I see.'

His voice and expression were impassive, but he was worried. With Jeremy, the emotional signs were never obvious.

His gaze flitted toward Molly's house.

'She's… tied up for a while. But you're right, talking here probably isn't a wise idea.'

'I didn't say that.'

'No, but you were thinking it. Come on, then. Let's get someplace safer and I'll explain.'

As we walked down the street, I snuck another look at him. Just over six feet, he was lean and athletic, though that side of him rarely showed… unless he was leaping over six-foot fences. Not the kind of maneuver you'd expect from a fifty-eight-year-old, but it was easy to forget how old Jeremy was. Werewolves age slowly and- with silver just starting to thread through his dark hair and shallow lines around his mouth-I'd peg him at my age, if that.

Paige swore Jeremy had Asian blood, presumably from his mother, but there was no use asking him; he knew nothing about the woman. She'd disappeared from his life shortly after his birth. That was the world of werewolves, where mothers and sisters played no role, wives were unheard of, and even lovers came and went quickly. Elena was the exception-the only living female werewolf.

It was a world of men. The Pack and its bonds were everything, and everyone else was an outsider. And this was the man I'd fallen in love with-the leader of a world in which I would always be 'the other.' My heart, it seemed, could be as feckless as my brain.

'Here,' he said, guiding me into a darkened playground.

His fingers rested on my arm as he steered me, and I found myself trying not to read too much into the casual contact that tingled up my arm. Yet it did mean something. Werewolves, while very physical with one another, don't extend that attitude toward others. Clay, the most wolflike of the Pack, avoids even handshakes. Elena's