hanged-man sketches.
The sounds beyond seemed to fade into background noise, like an annoying neighbor playing his porn video with the volume jacked. My world narrowed to this little cubby, to the warmth of Jeremy's arms, stretched around me as he wrote, to the whispers that tickled my ear and vibrated down my back, to the scratch of his cheek against mine as he shifted, to the spicy smell of his breath-tacos or burritos grabbed on the run. I leaned against him, solved his puzzles and laughed at his drawings
Who else would do this for me, play hangman while an S and M cult was in full swing only yards away? Who else would know it was exactly what I needed-a distraction so innocent, so innocuous, that it couldn't help but make what was happening out there seem equally harmless?
I didn't even notice that the ritual had ended, I was so engrossed in solving a hangman puzzle. The Disciples' conversation was sparse and subdued now, no one in the mood to discuss dishwashers. Chains rattled as they were undipped. A hoarse voice asked for the wine. Chalices clinked as someone gathered them.
I went on to the next puzzle: a nine-letter American city. Minutes later, the basement light clicked off and the puzzle went dark.
The voices and footsteps receded as Jeremy put away his notepad. I slid from his lap, found the flashlight and turned it on, then picked up my shoes and slung them over my arm.
I whispered, 'Do we wait for them to leave or try to find that alternate exit?'
'The latter is probably safer. Do you remember where you left off searching?'
I nodded, and slipped from the box maze. As I crossed the main area, I looked around it, ignoring the flecks of blood on the walls as I searched for the ghost. As unpleasant as he was, I might be able to blackmail him into telling us where to find that door, by threatening to 'report' him. But there was no sign of the ghost. Typical. Always there when you don't need them, never when you do.
I found my place along the wall and resumed searching. I moved aside one box stack myself, then hit an immovable crate. Glancing toward Jeremy, I saw him crouched beside a dark square inset in the wall just on the other side of the ladder.
'Is that-?' I whispered, stopping as he heaved on the cover.
The crack of breaking metal. He pulled back the cover and stuck his head inside. I headed toward him.
As I neared the ladder, a foot appeared from the bottom of the chute. I stumbled back. Jeremy spun, seeing the foot appear and waving for me to take cover. I swung the flashlight along the nearest wall, stopping at the first stack tall enough to hide me. I turned off the light and raced forward, my hands out, measuring the distance and praying I was right.
My fingertips touched cardboard just as the main light came on. I swung behind the stack, my pulse racing, waiting for a shout.
When footsteps headed toward the other wall instead, along with a deep mutter of 'where did I leave that?,' I could breathe again. I hadn't been seen. Now I just had to it relax while Botnick found whatever he left behind-
A shadow appeared across the floor, moving slowly, and I realized my mistake. I was hidden from the stairs, but not from the other half of the room. I glanced over my shoulder. Behind me was another box, on my other side. If I could wedge between the two, the shadows should hide me. I backed up into the gap. Too narrow. Using my hip and shoulder, I eased the one box over-
It scraped along the concrete, the soft whisper as loud as a shot. I froze. So did the shadow, now halfway into view.
'Hello?' Botnick called.
As he spoke, I eased back into the gap, wiggling and squeezing until I was-
Slap, slap, slap.
I looked down to see my dangling shoes swinging against the box.
ESCAPE HATCH
I GRABBED MY SWINGING SHOES with my free hand. A low chuckle sounded right in front of me, and I slowly lifted my head to see a bearded man standing less than ten feet away.
'Well, hello,' Botnick said, his eyes locked on mine. 'Come for the meeting? You're too late, but I'm sure I could arrange a private lesson.'
He stepped forward. Eyes still on his, I resisted the urge to shrink back and flipped the shoes around so I gripped them just below the heel. Four-inch spikes. Maybe they were good for something after all.
Botnick kept strolling forward, in no rush, savoring the fear in my eyes. I let him have that, widening them and inching back, bringing my shoes up to my chest as if clutching them in fear, getting them higher, ready to-
A blur behind Botnick. The man flew from his feet as Jeremy swung him in a head lock. Botnick gasped for air, clawing at Jeremy's arm. Jeremy stood there, face impassive. When he tightened his grip, Botnick went wild, flailing and gasping. Jeremy relaxed his hold on Botnick's windpipe. Then he cupped his free hand under Botnick's jaw.
'Scream and I'll snap your neck. Understood?' Jeremy's tone was soft and even, like a patient teacher warning a difficult child.
When Botnick didn't respond, he tightened his grip on the man's jaw. Botnick's eyes flew open, wide with pain and something like excitement. He mouthed 'understood.' Jeremy relaxed his hold.
'It's true, then,' Botnick said hoarsely before Jeremy could speak. 'About the magic.'
My gaze met Jeremy's, but he looked as confused as I.
'Your strength,' Botnick went on. 'That's not…human. You're one of them. It's true about the magic. They've found the key.' His eyes gleamed with a fervor bordering on the religious, and I knew that the excitement I'd seen hadn't been a reaction to the pain, but to the cause of it-a show of supernatural strength.
Botnick continued. 'You-they-your group. They got my message, didn't they? That's why you're here. To see whether I'm worthy.'
Even standing behind Botnick, Jeremy let his face betray nothing. But in the pause that followed, I knew what he was thinking-working through his options, deciding how best to handle this.
'How did you learn about us?' Jeremy asked after a moment.
'Pillow talk.' A small laugh from Botnick. 'It has been the undoing of many a man. In this case, it was a shared lover. A particularly attractive occult aficionado.' His gaze traveled to me. 'You know the type. Not terribly skilled, but eager to learn and pleasant to teach. One of your members let a few things slip, presumably to impress her, and she passed them on to me, for the same purpose.'
'What did she tell you?'
'That you'd breached the wall. Discovered true magic.'
Jeremy waited. After a moment, Botnick interpreted Jeremy's silence as meaning he wasn't satisfied and cleared his throat.
'Her exact words were that your group had found a way to harness the power of life.' He smiled. 'She had no idea what that meant. I think she expected me to tell her. I didn't, of course. I kept your secret.'
Only telling a few of his closest contacts… like the one Zack Flynn knew. Jeremy didn't call him on it, though, just kept silent, as if still awaiting a full reply. Botnick shifted his weight, his eyes rolling back as he tried to gauge Jeremy's expression. Jeremy kept him facing forward. Botnick looked to me for help. I looked back, face as impassive as Jeremy's.
'I understood what she meant,' Botnick said. 'That you'd harnessed the power of magic through the transference of the life force. Through sacrifice.'
'Sacrifice?' Jeremy said. 'She said that?'
'Well, not specifically, but I inferred it, given the wording.'
'What do you know of us? Our group?'
Botnick straightened. 'That you're serious practitioners. Not like most of them-wannabes and freaks looking for a place to belong, messing around with ritual magic and calling themselves witches and satanists as if it were no different than calling themselves Rotarians. Or indulging some socially unacceptable need-' he waved at the hook
