Anita laughed. "They're right. You are a cool one. Good. That will make our discussion much easier. Would you take a seat, please?"
I crept along until I was behind the open door and could see through the crack into the room. A young man faced Anita, who was at a table. The guy stood by the table. Eloise was over at the window.
Cassandra had sat at the table, her back to me.
"I see Savannah didn't follow you," Anita said.
"She wasn't curious. I am. The curse of a long life. Anything interesting intrigues me."
"A long life indeed. You're the oldest living vampire. Your life must be nearing its end."
"If you're asking me to give my body to science, I've misplaced my donor card."
Anita smiled. "That would be very rude of me, and I can assure you, this is a completely respectful conversation, Ms. DuCharme. I have a proposition to make. I'd like to offer to extend your life."
"Ah."
"That's interesting, isn't it? It intrigues you?"
"Perhaps." Cassandra folded her hands on the table. "First, Ms. Barrington, tell me about Matthew Hull. He admitted to killing you. Clearly he didn't. He simply wanted the council to think he had, so if anything happened to him, his work could continue. You were working with him, not against him. And now you're working with Gilles de Rais?"
"You have it all figured out."
"Another curse of old age. I have no patience for prevarication or pretense. I presume you'll indulge me in that?"
Anita didn't answer. I tensed, ready to . . .
Ready to what? Run in and shout, "Leave her alone, you bad people!"
I took out my cell phone and texted Lucas. Potential situation. Bring backup. I gave my location and told him to call from the back door when he arrived. He texted back immediately, saying he was ten minutes away and Troy was with him.
As Anita and Cass faced off in silence, I ran through ideas. They knew I might be nearby, so I could sneak out, make some noise, and lure the guy out of the room. But that would still leave Anita and Eloise.
"Yes," Anita said finally. "I was collaborating with Matthew Hull. When I learned who he was, I made contact and we discovered we had a mutual interest."
"Immortality research."
"When the werewolves began getting close, he suggested faking my death to distract them. I went along with it. But I had no idea that he planned to take those babies and kill Zoe Takano. I'd never have allowed that. They're lovely girls, Elena and Zoe. I was relieved to hear they survived the attacks."
Truth or bullshit? I couldn't tell. Anita's sweet old lady routine was as convincing as Cassandra's unshakable doyenne.
"I'm glad to hear that," Cassandra said. "But you have continued Hull's work, have you not?"
"I've incorporated it into my own. Being presumed dead does have its advantages. I've been able to continue my work in peace."
"Without your granddaughter to look after. I'm sure that made it particularly peaceful."
"My granddaughter is still with me. I know Elena made inquiries after my death, checking on her, and I appreciated that. As she discovered, Erin was in the care of a witch friend, who kept her until it was safe for me to take her back."
"So now you're continuing your immortality work with Gilles de Rais."
Silence. I could tell Anita was thinking fast. Did she dare admit to collaborating with a notorious killer? She'd already insinuated that she wasn't working with him.
"Gilles de Rais intrigues me," Cassandra said.
Relief flooded Anita's broad face. "As he should. He's a fascinating and brilliant man."
"Who has found the cure for mortality? Is that what you're offering to share with me?"
"Possibly."
"In return for what?"
"Your cooperation."
"With what?"
"You'll need to speak to Gilles about that."
"I'm speaking to you," Cassandra said. "If you can't supply the answers, then I trust you can bring him here to continue this conversation."
"He's no longer in Los Angeles."
"Then why did you wish to speak to me?"
"To initiate the conversation."
Cassandra sighed. "Did I mention my age and lack of patience? As you've pointed out, my time on this earth is limited. I think my position entitles me to better treatment, and you can tell Mr. de Rais that I'm not impressed."
The young man stepped forward. "No one means you any disrespect, Ms. DuCharme. I'm sure Anita can call him and explain the situation."
Anita glowered at the interruption. But after a moment, she nodded, and said she'd try to get him on the phone. When she left the room, I pressed back against the wall behind the door. She passed without noticing me, and continued toward the stairs. Apparently she didn't want Cassandra overhearing this conversation. I started to slip after her.
"Eloise," I heard Cassandra say. "I see it didn't take you long to contact Anita after speaking to us."
"It wasn't like that. Well, okay, I figured it wouldn't hurt, right? I mean, she's Anita Barrington. Of course I want to get on her good side, and when I called Brad here, he agreed we should do it . . ."
As Eloise chattered, Brad stepped behind Cassandra. There was a blade in his hand. A huge butcher's knife.
He swung it back.
"No!" I screamed.
I raced through the door. Rage filled me. And then something else.
Power.
It rushed in like a shock of electricity, so fast and hard my brain went into shock. My body kept moving, though, flying forward, my hands lifting, sparks flying from them, waves of energy pulsing from me, knocking everyone to the floor.
Brad started to leap up, butcher knife raised, gaze still fixed on Cassandra. I hit him with an energy bolt. I didn't say the incantation. I just swung toward him, and thought the energy bolt, and it hit him so hard he smacked into the wall. He hit the floor, mouth opening and closing, eyes wide, hands clutching his stomach as he convulsed. After a moment, he went still.
Cassandra snatched up the knife and got to her feet.
Eloise backed into the corner.
"Brad made me do it," she whimpered. "He's the one with the knife. He's the one who got Anita out of the room."
"And who told him to kill me?" Cassandra advanced on Eloise as she cowered.
"N-nobody. It was his idea. I told him about Anita and he volunteered to help her speak to you. Then he said if we could get her out, he could kill you and you'd be worth a lot of money. Your body, I mean. On the black market. For immortality experiments. You're going to die soon, right?"
"And if I could help others achieve their own immortality, it's a good way to end my life. Sorry, but nobility has never been one of my virtues."
"What's going on here?" Anita stepped into the room. When she saw me, she blinked. "Savannah. Good to see you again. If you came to rescue your friend, I can assure you we were having a friendly conversation--"
Cassandra raised the knife. "I don't consider this conducive to friendly conversation. Particularly not when it's aimed at my neck."
Anita's look of shock seemed genuine. "What? No. How--?"
"Seems your new friends weren't interested in conversation," I said.
"She killed Brad," Eloise said, pointing at me. "Just killed him."
I looked at Brad. He lay on the floor, eyes open. Dead.
Had I done that? How? Even now, when I whispered an incantation, I could tell it wasn't going to work. The power was gone, leaving me empty and numb.
Cassandra turned to Anita. "You may have had nothing to do with this, but your inability to ensure my safety does not bode well for a business relationship. Tell Gilles I said no."
"Savannah." Anita stepped forward. "May I at least speak to you? I know our last encounter wasn't pleasant, but we've realized our mistake."
"You want to deal with me? Release the boy and his parents."
"Boy?"
"You know who I'm talking about. Larsen Dahl. An
d on the subject of children, if you go after the Danvers twins, you'll end up like him." I pointed at Brad's body.
"Elena's children? I'd never hurt--"
"I know they're on Giles's list of collectibles. And I know Matthew Hull wanted them, too. You've admitted to working with both."
"Matthew wanted them for their value on the black market. To fund his experiment, not as material for it. The children are in no danger from me or Giles. I can assure you--"
"Don't assure me. Just stay away from them. And return the boy and his parents."
We walked out, leaving Anita to deal with Eloise.
"So it seems your spells have returned," Cassandra said. "And at a very opportune moment."
I shook my head. "They're gone again. I can feel it. I don't know what that was. I didn't even cast. Just reacted."
"If my life being in danger invoked that response then . . ." She looked over at me. "Thank you, Savannah. It was unexpected and appreciated."
I looked away, my cheeks heating. I tried to think of a clever comeback, but couldn't, and settled for saying, "What you said in there, about negotiating with Giles . . . I know you're getting to the end and . . . and that can't be easy but . . ."
"It might be advantageous to us at a later stage if we haven't ruled out collaboration." She walked another few steps, then lowered her voice. "For the record, while I'm not overjoyed at the prospect of my life ending--I suspect there will be some very unbecoming kicking and screaming involved--I have accepted it."
I nodded and we continued out.
thirty-two
Lucas texted to say they'd be here in two minutes. I texted back to say we'd handled the situation. Just meet us and we'd explain all. For now, best to leave Anita alone. As Cassandra had said, there was an advantage in letting her think we might negotiate with her.
In the alley, Cassandra and I walked in silence, lost in our own thoughts. When I fell a pace or two behind, she didn't notice.
I kept thinking about what had happened inside. When a friend was in danger, my power returned. Did that mean some otherworldly entity was actively holding it back, saying, "Okay, we'll let you have one shot if you really need it." That sounded more like a deity than a demon. Mom said the Fates weren't involved but--
"Savannah."
I turned to see a homeless man tucked deep into the shadows of a recessed doorway. He had his head down, as if dozing. When I started to move on, though, he lifted his head and his eyes glowed with a weird light, not a demonic yellow or orange or green, just a glow.
"If you want to find your spells, dig deeper," he said. "Too much power has made you lazy. Complacent. Dig deeper. Work harder. Fight smarter."
"What--?"
"A war is coming. Wars need champions."
"Savannah?" Cassandra said as she turned and she walked back. When I looked at the homeless man, he was asleep again.
Cassandra let out a soft curse. "I didn't even detect him. My apologies. I'm not quite the bodyguard I used to be, it seems."
"Did you hear what he said?" I asked.
She looked at me blankly.
"He was talking to me. Didn't you hear him?"
"I only heard you, Savannah. What did he say?"
I looked back at the homeless man. "I must be imagining things. Sorry."
We met Lucas and Troy on the street out front. Bryce hadn't been seen since leaving his bodyguard's apartment. Using the GPS on the company vehicle, Sean had tracked it to a nearby parking lot, where it seemed to have been abandoned. There was no signal coming from Bryce's phone.
Sean hadn't told the Cabal. Not about Bryce's potential involvement and not about his disappearance. We weren't reporting this to Benicio yet either. Our best hope was that Bryce would contact Sean for help. He wouldn't do that if he knew two Cabals were after him.
"Sean would like to talk to you," Lucas said when we were in the car Sean lent them.
I stiffened. I wasn't ready for that. If Bryce was on the run, it was my fault. Even if Sean didn't blame me for that, how did he feel knowing I'd investigated Bryce's bodyguard when he'd removed him from our hunt?
"It's late," I said.
"Not that late."
"I'm going to head back to Miami with Cass. You can handle this. We need to work the immortality angle. The best files are in Miami and you know how Cass is with research--she'll skim and declare the job done."
"I'm sitting right here," Cassandra said.
"And not disputing the point, I notice." I turned to Lucas. "I'm not great with research but I'll do my best. Tell Sean--"
I stopped. Hadn't I vowed to be more mature? This wasn't more mature.
"Okay, I'll call," I said.
"He'd like to meet you in person."
I hesitated.
"I'm sure a call would suffice, if that's easier."
I shook my head. "Ask him . . . No, I'll ask him to meet us at the airport."
Great plan. Except Sean got waylaid by an urgent summons from his uncle, and we couldn't delay the jet. I suppose I should have been relieved. I wasn't. I'd worked up the nerve to talk to him about Bryce, and now that I wasn't going to get the chance, I realized I really wanted to have that conversation. Wanted to see him. Wanted to reassure him as much as I knew he'd reassure me.
Didn't happen. Might not happen for a while.
The Cortez jet was waiting when we arrived. I spent the flight trying to cast spells.
Who--or what--was the guy in the alley? Talk of wars and champions made me wonder if I was under so much stress I was hallucinating. Worse yet, hallucinating lines from comic books.
But my powers had temporarily returned. I'd knocked three people to the floor. I'd killed a man with an energy bolt.
After two hours of fruitless casting, I tried a new tactic, clearing my mind and reaching deeper into myself, blocking everything out until I felt the faintest twitch of power.
That twitch spoiled my concentration--I got excited, then anxious when I couldn't find it again. More resting. More relaxing. More focusing.
We were on our descent before I felt another flicker of power. I forced myself to relax, then thought of the easiest spell I knew.
The pen rose an inch, then dropped.
"Very good," Cassandra said. "With practice, you might be able to poke someone in the eye with it."
I glowered at her.
"I'm not saying it isn't an accomplishment," she said. "Only that you may wish to ask Jeremy for marksmanship lessons in between your spellcasting practice sessions. That earlier show of power was remarkable, but you can't count on it."
She had a point, of course. It was a start, but at this rate, not very helpful. Even if I did get my spells back, I needed to know other ways to defend myself.
I think that's what the guy in the alley meant--the same message I'd been hearing from others for years. Being a supercharged spellcaster hadn't made me invincible. It'd made me complacent. Take away those spells, and I'd felt weak and helpless. Only I wasn't weak and helpless. I needed to remember that.
I'd insisted Lucas not tell anyone we were coming, so the only person who met us at the airport was the driver. We were walking through the parking lot at Cortez headquarters, when someone snuck up behind me and tickled my ribs. I yelped and spun to see Adam, grinning. Just grinning, like nothing had happened between us. He looked tired--face drawn and clothes rumpled--but very happy. And very pleased with himself.
"Hey there," he said.
"Hey yourself. You look like shit."
He laughed. "Thank you. Been up half the night, but I finally found what I'd been looking for."
I glanced over my shoulder to see that Cassandra had continued on.
"What were you looking for?" I asked.
"Later. First, we need breakfast. I'm starving."
"I ate on the plane."
"Too bad. You're eating again. Or watching me eat."
We headed for the elevator.
"And you'll tell me about this amazing
discovery over breakfast?"
"Nope."
"What?"
"I need to get stuff ready first."
"Ready for what?"
"You'll see."
I looked at him, at his grin and his glowing face, and I felt . . . guilt. I'd hurt him and it shouldn't be this easy to fix that.
I stopped walking. "About the other day--"
He clapped a hand over my mouth. "Uh-uh. I'm in a good mood. Let's leave the angst for later, okay?"
I peeled his hand away. "I can't. I treated you badly. I didn't mean to, but I did, and I feel like shit."
"It's okay."
"No, it's not, and you telling me it is only makes it worse because I know you're just saying that to avoid a fight."
He sighed, and waved me back into a corner of the garage as two guys in suits passed.
"Okay, you want to hash this out? Speed-fight, then. Five minutes. If it goes into overtime, we postpone it. Okay?"
I nodded. "I want to say--"
"Uh-uh. First shot's mine. It's not that you took me for granted, Savannah, it's that you treated me like your flunky--"
"I--"
"Still my turn. I'm not a leader. Never wanted to be one. I'm happy to let Lucas or Paige make the big decisions. But if I get my choice of partner, I pick you. Because on that level--out in the field, working a case--I want a partner, not a boss. Most times, if it's you and me, it works. But sometimes there's a problem. You're strongwilled and I'm stubborn."
"I--"
"Almost done. If you insist on taking the lead, I dig in my heels. Usually you see it and you give a little and I give a little, and we're good. But if you're stressed, then you're pushing hard. And if I think you're making a bad move, then I'm pushing back hard. Eventually something's gotta give."
"I know."
"So I figure the blame is fifty-fifty. You were fighting for the lead, which is always a mistake with me. But you were stressed, so I shouldn't have gotten as angry as I did. I was just as stressed though, so it kind of . . ." He shrugged. "Blew up. I just needed a couple of days off."
"Away from me."
He met my gaze. "Yeah. I know you don't want to hear that but, yeah, I needed to step back, and I think you needed it, too. Take a break before we both really lost our tempers and said stuff we don't mean."
"Okay."
"Your turn then."
I shook my head. "I don't need it. That works for me. Step back until we cool down. I just . . ."
"You thought I was stepping back for good?"
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