Circle of Enemies

Annalise nodded. “Normally I wouldn’t wait to take out a couple of predators, but this is an unusual circumstance. If Wally King thinks there’s a way to get a spell book from this house, he’ll be back. I have to be here when he shows up. I can’t let him get a lead on the Book of Motes or the Book of Oceans.”

There was a note of desperation in her voice. Was she worried that Wally would become a primary? I was sure of it. But that wasn’t all. The original spell books were a tremendous source of power, and she wanted them for herself.

But that was above me. I was just a guy with some invisible monsters in the back of his stolen Hummer. “Boss, these guys are dying slowly and badly. We need to … Wouldn’t Wally have needed a circle to summon these things? A barrier, like the one in Canada?”

“Yes. Get one of your buddies to tell us where it is. If we can find that, we’ll kill them there. If we can’t, we’ll try to get our hands on his book; it would have instructions on making the circle ourselves. If that falls through, we’ll have to risk it. We won’t have a choice. And yeah, those guys are suffering, but we’re not here to make things easier for people.”

She was looking away from me as she said it, and I was glad. She wouldn’t have been happy if she’d seen my reaction—and maybe that’s why she was looking away. Because in a sense, she was right; the most important thing was stopping the predators. Still, the suffering those men were going through had to count for something.

“So you’re just going to sit here, waiting for Wally King?”

She still didn’t look at me. “Looks that way.”

“What if one of the invisibles turns up? How will you know?” She shrugged. “What if the guy who lives here is in danger?”

She turned and looked me in the eye. Her pale face was serene and still. “We’re not here for him, either.”

Before I had a chance to think about it, I was pushing the car door open and climbing out. I didn’t want to be near her right then. Annalise had the power to kill predators and help people. The only thing she lacked was the will to do it. She just didn’t give a shit.

I jogged across the street and went through the gate. The grounds were as overgrown as they’d been before, and it was quiet. The sun was still burning hot, and my clothes were drying quickly. I jogged toward the door. It was closed.

As I came closer, I saw a tall patch of natural wood on the painted green door. It had been repaired while I was in Canada, then broken open again. Someone had kicked the door in.

I could have gone back for Annalise, but I didn’t. Ty might be in there, and who knows how many others from my old crew. They had predators on them, yes, and they would have to be killed, yes—and damn if that wasn’t a hard thought to take and hold—but I didn’t want Annalise anywhere near them. She didn’t care about making things easier for people. She didn’t care, period, and I didn’t want her anywhere near my people.

I laid my hand on the door but didn’t open it. Maybe there would be a better way. I went back down the steps to the narrow path between the bushes and went around the house.

It was impossible to move without rustling bushes, and the noise made me feel incredibly exposed. The windows were as high as my shoulder, and the bushes had grown slightly higher than the sill. There was no way I was getting through a window, or even getting a good look inside.

I went around a tall tree to the next set of windows when someone walked past the glass, moving away from me.

I ducked low. It was Bud, and while his face was turned away, I could see his jaw moving. He was also scratching furiously at the back of his neck. Was he talking to Lino or to one of the guys in the crew?

I crouched low, squeezing between some sort of thorny bush and the tall wooden fence that marked the edge of the property. I reached the backyard and the lush vegetable garden. It was empty. A rain barrel sat beneath a back window, with a PVC pipe leading out of the house and through the lid. I moved toward the back steps.

“Good to see you, Ray.”

Damn. I turned toward the sound of that voice and saw Summer sitting on a little bench by the tomato vines. She held a gun on me. For a moment, I thought it was a toy ray gun, then I realized it had a silencer on it.

With her empty hand, she rubbed at her nose. My ghost knife was in my pocket, but could I reach for it without being shot?

“Don’t,” she said. “I can see your spongy little brain working—it’s right there on your face—and if you try something stupid, I’ll kill you and make my excuses to the new boss.”

“Who’s the new boss?” I asked. I already knew the answer.

“He can introduce himself.”

She nodded toward the back door and stood. I went up the steps with her behind me. I pulled the door open, thinking I might spin around and snatch the gun from her, but when I looked back she’d gone invisible again.

I couldn’t steal what I couldn’t see. I wondered whether the predator would feel pain when the bullet left the barrel, or if the gun became very hot. I went inside.

The house was stuffy; Lino needed to turn on his air-conditioning. There was a small entryway with a long room off to the side—it held gardening equipment, piles of sports gear, and the laundry machines. The door behind me didn’t swing shut right away; Summer was staying close enough to catch the door, but not too close. I went up the next step into the kitchen.

As I entered the room, I let my hand fall on the door and slammed it shut behind me. I twisted to the side, bumping against the stove and the handle of a bubbling pot of water as a single gunshot punched through the door. My ghost knife was in my hand, but I couldn’t use it. Not unless I wanted the drape to kill Summer and bring more of its kind.

I took the handle of the pot—there were three eggs bubbling in about a quart of water—and lifted it off the stove.