I tried to scramble up. The hammer appeared, hovering over me.
"Move, and I'll knock you back down," Jesse said. "And this will hurt a lot more than my fist, kiddo."
"So what happened, Leah?" I said. "Did your hell dimension kick you out? Not nearly the badass you thought you were?"
Jesse blinked. Then sputtered a laugh. "I beg your pardon?"
I pushed onto my elbows. "Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you?"
A pause. He tilted his head, considering, then said, "Actually, I'm surprised I pulled it off this long. But I shouldn't be. No offense. You're a great kid. Just none too quick on the uptake."
I started to rise. The hammer readied itself to strike and I stopped.
"Good girl," Jesse--Leah--said. "I wouldn't want to mess up that pretty face. You grew up nice, kiddo. If I were a guy, I'd totally go for you. But I'm not, which was part of the problem. It would have made things so much easier."
"Would have made what easier?"
"Oooh, do I get to reveal my nefarious motives now? I love this part. Okay, cue the sinister music. The villain is about to tell all."
She stepped toward me. While it was clearly still Jesse's body, my fevered mind saw Leah.
"It started in my childhood. My brother used to torment me ..." She frowned, tilting her head. "No, I did the tormenting. Huh. That doesn't make nearly as good a story."
"Can we get on with it?" I said. "I'm dying here."
"Oh, it's all about you, isn't it? You aren't going to die, Savannah. Well, I hope not, because I'm really kinda fond of you. Always was. As I recall, you're the one who snubbed--"
"You poisoned the cookies."
"So you figured that out? Good girl. Probably thought it was that evil commune, didn't you? Nope. The cookies were just convenient--like the commune itself."
"You knew I'd find the Santeria and think it suggested something supernatural was going on in Columbus, when it was just a New Age cult guy practicing what he considered a cool religion."
"Pretty clever, huh? The cookies were just a bonus. See, to zap your spellcasting, the poison has to be administered slowly, which would have been much easier if ol' Jesse could have just seduced you and popped in a needle now and then when you were sleeping. But it was clear from the start that wasn't happening. So on to contingency plan A. Poison something you were munching on. Start draining your spell power while being taken into your confidence, lowering your defenses on all fronts. First part worked smashingly. Second, not so much."
She was standing so close now that I could reach out and grab her foot. Yank her down. And I would have, if I wasn't more likely to puke on her than punch her. Just keep her talking. God knows, Leah loved to talk.
"You weren't interested in poor Jesse as any kind of partner. First you team up with the detective. A human? Never thought I'd see the day. You used to have nothing but contempt for humans. A girl after my own heart. So I get rid of the human--"
"You did kill Michael."
She sighed. "You're interrupting. Fine, let's get this over with. My list of crimes against humanity. I didn't kill Ginny and Brandi, but you already knew that. Gotta give you credit, kiddo--I wasn't sure you'd figure that one out. I was actually kind of proud of you, putting together the pieces. Had some trouble with the follow-through, though, didn't you? Couldn't bear to take little motherless Kayla away from her grandma. Nothing says a killer can't be a good mama. You know that from experience."
I opened my mouth.
Leah cut me off. "Sorry, got off track there. I was listing my crimes, wasn't I? Killed Claire--that was the setup to get you on the case, so Jesse could get close. Didn't kill Tiffany. Figured the twit offed herself when you started sniffing around. Killed the security guard and Cody, and, yes, killed Michael. He was in the way. Added a nice twist to the case, too. And a serious bonus--Jesse swoops in to save the day, bringing you two closer. Then who shows up? Adam Vasic. After I timed it just right, killing Claire when I knew Paige, Lucas, and Adam would be away for the week, he has to cut out of his conference early. I remember Adam, you know. That last day at the compound. You were already giving him big puppy dog eyes. Too cute. Between you and me, though, what's cute at twelve is kind of sad at twenty-one."
"Go to hell. Oh, sorry. Go back to hell."
She laughed. "No, thanks. Do you know how tough it is to get out of there? And that's just escaping. Then I needed to track down a necromancer who owed me a favor and use my poltergeisting skills to torture him until he agreed to get me into a new body. Which is not easy either, let me tell you. And now that I'm here, I intend to stay, which is where you come in."
"To do what? Cast a super Krazy Glue spell to keep you in Jesse's body?"
"Um, no. Sorry. Once again, it seems, it's not about you--it's about Mom, who is one relentless bounty-hunting bitch, dead set on bouncing my ass back into my hell dimension."
"You want me to ask her to back off?" I laughed. "Not likely."
"Um, no. Wrong again. I don't need you to ask her anything. Your only job here is to play daughter-in-distress. You've had some practice at it, I'm sure. You call Mom. She comes running. I cut her a deal--if I get to stay in the living world so do you. I'll release you, with the name of the poison, which will be the only way any doctor can treat you in time. Haul me off to hell ... and you die a slow, painful death." She grinned. "A brilliant scheme, if I do say so--"
She stopped as I disappeared under a blur spell. She swung the hammer, but I'd caught her off guard. I scrambled out of the way, then leaped to my feet.
I won't say I ran--it took all my power just to lurch, and even then my brain kept screaming at me to slow down, conserve energy to cast, not escape. I ducked into an aisle, then another, as Leah whipped who-knew-what at my blur. Finally, when I was far enough ahead, I slid into a shadowy corner and hunkered down.
Leah needed me alive. As much as I raged at being used as a pawn--and not for the first time--I clung to that as proof that I wasn't as close to death as I felt. Save Adam. Save myself. Then come back, hunt the bitch down, and send her back to hell.
thirty-eight
"Do you think this is going to help?" Leah yelled. "You've been poisoned. You have no idea what it is. You get that, don't you? Please don't tell me you're going to get all noble and sacrifice yourself to save the countless innocents I might kill if I'm allowed to live."
She laughed. "No, Paige hasn't rubbed off on you that much. You're still your mother's daughter. You don't give a damn about my future victims."
I held my breath as she walked past me.
"Do you really think I'm going to go on a killing rampage?" she continued. "You know me better than that, Savannah. I don't enjoy killing. I just don't mind it. If no one gets in my way, I'll be happy to live a nice, boring, murder-free life. I even tossed you a bone with Cody, by killing him and making it look like a suicide. I left evidence at his house that'll finger him as Claire's killer and will suggest he offed the trailer trash twins, Ginny and Brandi. Then he came here and shot the guard before killing himself. He'll get blamed for everything--hell, probably even for his wife--and he won't be around to argue. All the murders are solved and little Kayla can stay with Granny. That's what you want, right?"
She walked a few more steps.
"You don't believe me about the poison, do you? You think it's not fatal. You think you have enough time to get away."
Her voice kept moving away. I tensed, ready to dart out and get farther. Just get far enough away to start my sensing spell and find Adam.
She'd stopped talking, though, so I couldn't tell where she was. I strained for the clomp of Jesse's boots on the concrete. Then I heard the swish of fabric moving along the floor. A thump. Then another. Leah was dragging someone.
My heart stopped. She passed me, dragging the bound-and-gagged body of the homeless guy. I could breathe again and sucked in air a little too hard. She stopped and looked around.
"Close by, I think. Close enough to wa
tch a demonstration? I hope so."
She pulled a syringe from her pocket. I knew what was coming. And I knew I shouldn't do anything about it.
Paige would do something without a second thought. Lucas would pause to analyze the situation, but he wouldn't sit by and watch an innocent man die.
But I was my mother's daughter and I could analyze this situation in the cold light of reason and say, "There's nothing I can do. Nothing I should do." I was too sick and too helpless without my spells.
Save myself. Save Adam. Whoever this guy was, I couldn't save him.
It was so simple. Logically, it was so simple. And yet, as the man struggled, his eyes rolling in terror, I realized I wasn't completely my mother's daughter. Not anymore.
She pushed the needle into the man's neck. I leaped forward. The blur spell broke and she twisted out of the way, fingers still on the syringe, pressing down the plunger as I cast a binding spell. It failed. I cast again. It failed.
I ran at Leah. She backhanded me, sending me flying off my feet again.
"Damn," she said as she walked over to me, lying on the floor. "As much as I liked being a chick, there are definitely advantages to having a guy's strength."
She stomped on my stomach and I let out a howl. She hauled me up by my hair and I threw up, splattering the floor with everything in my stomach.
"That might make you feel better, but the poison's in your bloodstream."
She whipped me around to see the homeless guy convulsing on the floor. His eyes rolled and I was sure he was screaming, but all that escaped the gag was a horrible mewling sound.
"Doesn't look too comfortable, does he? It'll all be over soon, though. For him, at least. That was a double dose."
I fought to get up. She let me, then delivered a right hook to my stomach and I went down again, doubled over in agony.
She grabbed my hair again and forced me to look at the homeless guy, dead now, wild eyes staring, face and body contorted.
"Kids these days don't take anyone's word for anything," she said. "You need proof. So I provided it. I'm hoping that will be enough, but if it isn't, I'm willing to indulge you with a second lesson. I have someone else in the back room just dying to help me out."
Adam. I looked at the homeless guy and threw up again.
"Don't like that idea, I see," Leah said. "Really got it bad for Fire Boy, don't you? Can't see the attraction myself. A nice guy, but nice isn't right for you, Savannah. Too vanilla. I'd be doing you a favor, you know, getting rid of--"
"What do you want?" I rasped, throat raw from retching.
"I've already told you. Call Mommy Dearest."
"My cell doesn't work in here."
"Still haven't lost your bite, huh? You're right. It doesn't. Handy thing, a cell phone blocker. But this call will get right past it."
"If you think I have a spell to contact my mother--"
"Then draining your spell power would have been really dumb, wouldn't it? Just concentrate really, really hard and call Mommy."
"You're nuts."
"Mmm, possibly. But I'm pretty sure it will work. Eve is out there right now, looking for me, and she's always looking out for you. That made things tough, I'll tell you--getting close to you while she's hunting me. Luckily, I have two addresses these days. Jesse Aanes and a gal in Connecticut. I let Eve find hideout number two, and she's been chasing that body ... while I keep popping back here. Now it's time to give her the forwarding address. You call, she comes, we negotiate."
"What if she doesn't hear me?"
"Then you'd better try harder."
When I said nothing, she yanked my hair again. "Don't even think about getting noble on me, Savannah. I've got Adam, remember?"
I squeezed my eyes shut as I doubled over, concentrating with everything I had.
She relaxed her grip on my hair a little. "That's better. Now just let out a big old mental distress call and Mommy will come--"
The chattering of metal cut her short. I didn't open my eyes to see what was happening, just kept focusing, drawing on my power the way I had only once before, when Leah had told me my father had had Paige killed. I pretend that I don't remember that day, but I do. All of it, as much as I try to forget.
Now I needed to draw on that power again.
More clattering and chattering. Then a squeal as some piece of machinery moved. A crash as something fell over.
"Damn, girl," Leah said. "Even doped up, you can set a room shaking. You just have to put your mind to it."
I kept focusing, feeling the energy fill me. Around us, everything rattled and shook. A wind whipped up. Then came an awful, spine-twanging wail. Something whipped past me. Leah sucked in her breath.
"I do believe that's Mommy," she said with a chuckle.
The wailing grew louder, coming from every side now. Ghosts? Demons? Earth spirits? I didn't know. Didn't care. They were just a byproduct of what I was trying to do. I kept my eyes shut as my power rose.
"Savannah?" Leah's voice quavered just a little. "Um, you might want to take it down a notch, kiddo. You're calling up every--"
I leaped up and hit her with a knockback spell. She flew into a metal rack. As she tried to recover, I hit her again and she went down. Around us, spirits whistled and moaned. The very building seemed to shake.
"What the hell are you doing?" she shouted over the din.
"Sending you back where you belong."
"Then you'd better pack your own bags, kiddo, because if I go, you do, too. There's no way you'll make it to a hospital in time. Even if you did, by the time they figure out which poison it is, you'll be dead."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take."
My voice was eerily calm. I was eerily calm. I could hear my mother's voice, telling me not to be stupid. Save myself. But the voice was faint, overruled by my own.
If Leah was given a free pass, she'd use it. She'd kill anyone who got in her way, and when the day came that she got in trouble again, she'd know how to get help. Come after me. Threaten my friends and my family.
I knew what I had to do.
Leah leaped at me. I hit her with another knockback. I could feel my energy ebbing, the fever burning so hot I could barely see. Around me, the spirits started to fade, my power fading with them.
No time to delay. I'd made my choice. Now finish it.
I cast a binding spell. Leah froze. While holding her, I closed my eyes and concentrated until sweat poured down my face, dripping onto the floor.
Mom? Are you out there? I need you.
I bent over, fists clenched, calling and calling and calling, as I had that day all those years ago, feeling the house shaking around me, the spirits rising, every spirit but the one I wanted and I'd kept calling until finally ...
A faint whisper. "Savannah ..."
My head jerked up, eyes flying open.
"Mom?"
I struggled to focus. My eyes burned. My legs ached holding me up. The building seemed to sway.
"Savannah ..."
A shape appeared, so faint I could see only an outline with a weird blue glow dangling at its side. But I knew it was her. I knew.
"I heard you were looking for someone." I waved at Leah. "I got her for you, Mom."
I struggled to smile. The room flickered, like the lights were about to go out. Beside me, Leah's eyes blazed and it took everything I had to hold the binding spell as she fought to get free, to tell my mom about the poison, to make the deal.
"Don't listen to anything she says, Mom," I said, my voice hoarse, every word a struggle. "She's going to lie and tell you I'm in trouble. I'm okay. Adam's here. He'll get me help. We figured everything out and foiled her plan. So don't listen to anything she says. Just take her away."
The figure moved toward me. I called on every ounce of strength I had to stand tall, not to let her see how sick I was. She leaned toward me, embracing me, and I felt it. I swore I felt it.
"So proud of you," she whispered.
"Take her," I
said. "My spells aren't working so good--something she gave me. But I'm fine. Just take her before the binding breaks. And whatever she says, don't listen."
My mother moved away then, and that weird blue glow rose. Leah's eyes rolled. Absolute terror filled them and I drank that in, let it fill me. The glow sliced down like a blade, passing right through Jesse's body, leaving no mark. A scream. A terrible scream. Then Jesse's body fell over, Leah's spirit gone.
"I'm okay, Mom," I said again, barely above a whisper. "Don't listen to anything she--"
I hit the floor and the world went dark.
thirty-nine
"Savannah?" The voice was unrecognizable, choked with panic. Hands gripped my shoulders. "Come on, Savannah. Wake up. Just open your eyes. Please open your eyes.
I tried. I really tried. But the most I could do was flutter my eyelids enough to see Adam bent over me.
"That's it. Just stay with me. Please stay with me."
"Jesse..."
"He's fine. He's gone to call an ambulance."
"I..."
"Don't talk. Just stay with me, baby, okay? Stay with me."
Everything went dark again.
I FELT LIKE I'd been dropped ten stories onto the subway tracks, electrocuted, then run over by a half-dozen trains. My muscles ached. My head pounded. Each breath took effort. I could hear the blip-blip of machines and smell the stink of overcooked lasagna, laced with antiseptic. Even with my eyes closed, the light scorched my eyeballs. Cold air blew over me, freezing everything except one hand, which was warm, cupped in someone's. Fingers brushed hair from my forehead. Touched my cheek. Rested there a moment, then brushed the hair back again, lulling me to sleep.
When I woke again, someone was rubbing my shoulder, murmuring something I couldn't make out.
With effort, I cracked open my eyes. It was Adam, pale under his tan, eyes bleary, hair standing up, like he'd been running his hands through it.
"You look like hell," I whispered, throat aching with the strain.
He let out a shaky laugh, hand tightening on my shoulder.
"Not going to tell me I look worse?" I whispered.
"No." He bent down, lips brushing my forehead. "You look great."
I squeezed my eyes shut against a different ache. I wished he'd joked back. And I was glad he hadn't.
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