The Isis Collar

saying it’s not possible, but it’s very unlikely. I think we’re dealing with a look-alike, or maybe a spawn. They’re half human, so closing the rift didn’t get rid of them, and some of them can look like anything.”

I still believed it was her, but there was no point in arguing with both of them. So I changed the subject. “How’s the leg feeling? Ready to go to the hospital?”

John let out an exasperated sound. “We already discussed this. I’m not going to the hospital. There’s no need.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stood as tall as I could. “You haven’t moved more than a few millimeters since we’ve been talking and your breathing is wheezy and shallow. Remember, I’ve got sensitive hearing. At the very least, you cracked some ribs. At worst, you’ve punctured a lung. I’m betting if I took off your shirt, I’d find bruises and mysterious lumps over some of your major organs.” I stared at him and he stared back defiantly. “Care to prove me wrong? Take a good deep breath. Or just stand up and walk across the room. If you can without throwing up blood like you did outside, that is.”

The staring match continued until his eyes shifted. Uh-huh.

Bruno let out a little chuckle that was three parts amused and one part worried. “You won’t win this one, Creede. You can’t imagine how stubborn she is on stuff that matters to her. If you want, I’ll drive you and we can go through one of the back entrances. I’ll even introduce you to Dr. Gaetano. He’ll keep it quiet. Plus, you really do want to get tested for the disease. This is a mutated variety. Won’t hurt to get a bump on your vaccine.” He shrugged, then added the thing that sealed the deal. “If they ask, we can say we ran into a group of vampires and took them out. No witnesses, no proof, and no stigma in the press.”

Stuff that matters to her. I didn’t focus on much past that part. He was right. I’d done the same thing to Bruno more than once. Because it mattered … he mattered. Crap.

“I’ve been inoculated.” He gestured to the passport. “And bodyguards don’t get the shit kicked out of them.” It was a lame excuse from John and wasn’t even true.

I let out a rude noise that was close to a raspberry. “Bullcrap. We most certainly do. It’s part of the job. Maybe you lofty mages don’t, but the rest of us regularly get punched and kicked around. We just tend to give as good as we get. This time you didn’t get to.” I smiled and there was a dark edge to it. “But there’s always next time and you can bring friends to the party.”

Bruno likewise smiled dangerously, at my expression and probably at memories of when we’d done just that in the past. Was I willing to kick some tail in retribution for a friend? Sure.

“I suppose it won’t hurt to have the leg X-rayed. There’s still a little stinging going on. Could be a faulty charm.”

I forced myself not to roll my eyes. Stinging was normal until after an hour, which it hadn’t been. But fine. Whatever justification he needed. “Great. You guys take off and I’ll meet you there. I want to change out of these clothes and get some food in me.”

Bruno helped John up and I watched carefully to see if the leg would hold his weight. It did, but I could tell it would be slow going down the stairs. John took a few tentative steps, testing his mobility. I looked at Bruno. “Make sure he hangs on to the rail going down. And go slow.”

He gave me one of his inscrutable looks and then sighed before moving his chair out of John’s way. “We’ll be fine.” He stepped into the hallway with John close on his heels. “C’mon. I’m parked out front.”

That’s when I noticed the small blue book still in my hand. “Wait! Passport.” John took it, but not before giving my fingers a light squeeze.

“Thanks.” He didn’t smile, but his eyes did and I knew that the sentiment was for more than just the papers. “See you soon.”

“Yep.”

I listened to their slow descent while I got out of my bloody clothing in the bathroom. I was going to have to burn the clothes. Nobody’d told me to, but it just made sense, and they were ruined anyway. It hadn’t escaped my notice that Bruno was wearing borrowed scrubs. My braid was still hanging in there with the exception of a few strands. Still, it felt weird, so I took out the band and bobby pins and brushed it out. Soft waves framed my face and actually looked pretty good. Different, but good.

I stripped down, showered, and shampooed. I didn’t take long, but I was thorough—very thorough. Just thinking about the zombie made me shudder. I had to scrub every inch of me down twice before I really felt clean. It wasn’t until I climbed out and shut off the water that I heard a familiar female voice talking to John and Bruno downstairs. I hastily yanked on my clothes and hurried to the railing over the stairs to confirm what I heard. “Dottie? Is that you? What are you doing here on a Sunday?”

“I saw myself giving a reading today and it seems the others in the vision are here as well. Please come down, dear. You’ll want to see this.”

I grabbed my hairbrush, using it to comb through my wet hair as I went to join them in the non-damaged portion of the reception area. John was already in a chair, looking a little too pale for my taste. It made him look older than Dottie. Dottie is a little ball of fire, despite her age. With her bright eyes, warm smile, and vivid blue warm-up suit, she looked ready for anything. Dottie’s walker, complete with carry basket and the requisite chopped tennis balls on the front feet, was next to the couch and her silver and crystal viewing bowl was on the table, along with a bottle of holy water. Bruno was pulling two more chairs around for us to sit on the other side of the table.

She looked at John. “Have you ever had a reading of a past event, young man?”

He shook his head. I got the feeling he wasn’t trusting himself to talk for fear he’d start coughing. He looked at me with penetrating eyes and spoke directly into my mind. You’re too perceptive some days.

I keep forgetting he’s a telepath and while I try to believe he’s ethical about it, I wondered just how much of what had been flitting around in my mind upstairs had been “overheard.” He didn’t say a word, just quirked one corner of his mouth in a smile and returned his attention to Dottie.

Damn it.

“Are you really sure this is the best time, Dottie? John really needs to get to the hospital.” Where they would hopefully poke and prod him until he screamed.

Yeah, he heard that all right and turned his eyes to me with an amused expression.

She nodded, her eyes bird bright, already in “seer” mode. “Yes, dear. Now is the perfect time.” She poured holy water until the bowl was half full and then looked at John with one hand extended. “I’ll need something you were wearing during the event. Metal works best.”

He shook his head, finally trusting himself to talk. But there was a hoarse edge to his voice that worried me. “I don’t have anything like that.”

It made me frown. “What about your watch? That’s metal.”

He shot me a horrified look. “It’s a Rolex! You don’t put quality watches underwater.”

I sighed and shook my head wearily. Looking at Bruno didn’t help. He had unconsciously put a hand over his own quality watch and wouldn’t look at me. “It’s metal, John, and I’m sure that a Rolex is water resistant. She has to have something you had on at the time.” Which made me wonder why he still had his watch. I mean, it was a Rolex. A gold one, and they’d left it. “Doesn’t it strike you as odd you still have that watch?”

That did it. He looked at the timepiece suspiciously and undid the clasp. Dottie closed her eyes and put her hands on either side of the bowl. Her chant was a common meditative exercise that I occasionally used when I was doing yoga.

With a sad sigh, John let the Rolex slide into the bowl. For a long moment it lay there quietly. Then a bubble rose to the surface, causing him to wince.

“Sheesh. Boys and their toys.”

Bruno snorted. “Says the woman who screamed when I had to cut off her designer pant leg.” Hey, that wasn’t the same at all! I glared at him until he smiled. Okay, fine. Point to the men.

Concentric circles of water abruptly raced from the bubble toward the edge of the bowl, pulling our attention back to the reading. When the waves hit the glass, flames erupted, racing around the silver rim. Both Bruno and