Tempting Danger (34 page)

Lily pulled her hand back, holding it slightly away from her body. Her eyes cut to Rule, making sure he was with her. He nodded. She backed up a step, putting space between herself and the agents.

Then she spoke. “You’re bespelled. Both of you.”

“What?” Karonski laughed. “You’re joking.”

“It’s the same feel. The same ugly feel as the magic used to kill Therese Martin is all over you.”

“Can’t be.” Karonski was humoring her. “I know my protection spells. Martin and I can’t be tampered with that way.”

“Think about it. Think about what you believed before you spoke to this man. Compare that to what you think now.”

Croft frowned.

Karonski looked puzzled. “I changed my mind.”

“Abel,” Rule said softly, “you performed your own tests at the murder scene. Why would you say there’s no evidence that it was done by sorcery?”

“Because . . .” Karonski’s face screwed up as if he’d bitten into bad meat. “My spells aren’t admissible as evidence except in certain rare and strictly defined instances.”

“But they did show that the woman was murdered by sorcery, didn’t they?”

“Definitely. The traces were strong, unquestionably the result of sorcery, and . . .” His voice drifted away. “I forgot what I was going to say.”

Lily looked at Rule. “A persuasion spell, maybe? What do you know about persuasion spells?”

“Not much.”

Karonski answered. “They’re pretty weak stuff, generally, even when used by someone with a Gift of charisma . . . huh. That’s funny. I remember thinking when I met Harlowe that I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a touch of that Gift.”

“We were there too long,” Croft said suddenly. Beads of sweat stood on his forehead, as if he’d been exerting himself. “We arrived at three-thirty. We got back here at five-thirty. But I don’t remember enough. I can’t account for enough of the time.”

“Shit,” Karonski said. “You’re right. We interviewed him for about ten minutes, then . . . I can’t remember. Was someone else there?” He looked at Croft. “Did someone come in while we were talking to Harlowe?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember.” Croft looked at Lily. “You’re right. We’ve been tampered with. You can’t trust us.”

 

 

WHAT
do you do with a pair of special agents who’ve lost their minds—or parts of them?

Lily tried to determine the extent of the tampering. The two agents were willing, and they tried to cooperate, but it was soon obvious they couldn’t reason their way past what had been done to them.

Twenty minutes later, Rule put a hand on Lily’s shoulder. “I think we’d better stop. Pushing them any further might do permanent damage to their minds.”

Croft was staring at his hands, clasped on the table. His face was chalky with strain. Karonski was muttering to himself, reciting a litany of reminders about why he couldn’t trust his own mind. Every time he stopped, he reverted to the programmed thoughts.

“They need medical help,” she said. “Or some kind of help. I’m out of my depth here. If only we could get them to call their boss, he could—”

Croft looked up. “Brooks, you mean? I already called him. He knows we’re pulling out.”

“Right.” Lily nodded. “That’s good. You know, you aren’t looking so hot. Maybe you should lie down.”

“I’m not . . .” Croft rubbed his forehead. “Have we been drinking? I can’t seem to think straight.”

“Not pulling out,” Karonski said suddenly. “Need to be out, though. Sedate us.”

“I can arrange that,” Rule said.

Karonski met his eyes. “Do it. Do it while I still remember why.”

Rule took out his phone. “While I arrange things, Lily, talk to them about anything other than the case. Karonski likes basketball.”

 

 

KARONSKI
had no trouble talking about basketball. Croft wasn’t interested, though, and was in worse shape than his partner, his short-term memory scrambled. They needed to engage both men’s minds as completely as possible, so once Rule got off the phone, they played poker.

Croft was deadly at poker. Whatever had been done to him hadn’t affected his ability to think and plan—as long as he wasn’t trying to think about the case. The strain didn’t disappear from his face, but it eased when he had something else to focus on.

By the time help arrived, he’d fleeced Lily for thirty bucks and taken more than that off Rule and Karonski.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Nettie Two Horses said as she came inside. “Where are my patients?”

“Right here,” Lily said. She hoped they knew what they were doing, too.

Two muscular young men followed Nettie into the room. Lily recognized one—the redheaded lupus who’d been at the gate when she visited Clanhome. The two of them looked at Rule for a moment, then fanned out.

Croft had risen to his feet when they entered. He had a tense, ready-for-trouble look. “What’s going on?”

“You weren’t feeling well, remember?” Lily said. “This is Dr. Two Horses. She’s going to examine you.”

“I’m feeling better. No need for a doctor.”

Nettie set her bag on the table. “Why don’t I check you out, just to be sure, since I’m here?

Croft moved closer to Karonski. “I don’t think so.”

“It’s all right, Martin,” Karonski said. “We asked them to come.”

“I don’t remember that.” His forehead glistened. The strain was back.

“Yeah, well, we’re having a little trouble with our memories, aren’t we? That’s why they’re here.”

“I don’t know . . .” His eyes darted around the room. Nettie and Lily stood closest to him, at the table; Rule was walking their way. The two young men were working slowly closer, coming from the sides. “We weren’t having any problems until
they
showed up.”

He went for his gun.

“Martin, no!” Karonski cried, hitting his arm—and the other three men turned into blurs of speed.

Two seconds later, Lily had her weapon out, but it wasn’t needed. One of the two young lupi held Croft’s arms; he sagged, dazed. Lily thought the other one had hit him, but it had happened so fast. . . .

“All over?” Nettie Two Horses said. She was on the floor, where she’d dropped with admirable alacrity.

“Pretty much,” Rule said. He stood next to Karonski. “You okay, Abel?”

“No.” He was white and shaking. “Hell, no. Hanging on by my teeth . . . can’t remember why we’re letting you do this. It’s like swimming in butter to try to think, dammit.”

“You get the first dose,” Nettie said briskly, standing and taking a syringe from her bag. “Don’t worry—your partner will be fine. Sammy didn’t hit him too hard. Sammy, you can get the trunks now. Lily, you can put that up.”

Lily glanced at the gun still in her hand, shrugged, and holstered it. The redhead went out the door and came back in with a large, empty trunk. Then he brought in a second one.

They put the agents in the trunks. Sammy and the other young man each carried one out, handling it as easily as if it were empty—which is what they hoped anyone watching would assume. Once they reached the panel van they’d arrived in, the agents could be removed from their cramped quarters.

Lily began gathering up the papers and folders on the table. “Your men are alarmingly well-versed at getting bodies out of hotel rooms.”

“They watch television,” Rule said. “I take it we aren’t leaving things for whoever comes to see why Kronski and Croft don’t return to headquarters?”

“We’re taking temporary custody of everything. We’ll turn it over when the time comes. Get the laptop, will you?”

He moved to help her. “Are we going to tell anyone about this?”

“When someone comes asking, yes. Not now. I’d rather not spend the next twenty-four hours or so locked up. We know at least one SDPD officer is with the bad guys, so they’re out. And the local Feds would pretty much have to take us into custody and holler for someone from MCD to come sort things out.”

“I have a few questions before I go,” Nettie said. “I understand you’re a sensitive, Lily.”

She glanced quickly at Rule, then away. “Yes.”

“What can you tell me about the feel of the spell on these two?”

“Ugly. Raspy and sort of rotten-mushy. Like . . . like touching fresh shit with ground glass in it. Will you be able to help them?”

“I don’t know. I can keep them sedated, but I’ll need to know more about the spell before I try removing it.”

Rule spoke quietly. “I smelled it.”

“What?” Lily turned. “You didn’t tell me.”

“At first I didn’t know what I was smelling. It was faint, and I’d never encountered its like before. Later I didn’t have a chance. Unfortunately, subvocalizing only works one way between us.”

“That was weird, by the way,” Lily said. “Handy, but weird. That’s how you told those two men of yours what to do? Subvocalizing?”

He nodded.

“So what does the spell smell like?”

“Putrefaction.”

Nettie looked at him sharply.

“Yes. I’m told that death magic has the same reek.”

THEY
left the hotel at twilight. The air itself seemed gray, as if all the color had bled out of it. Everywhere buildings were opening yellow eyes on the approaching night, and the dash lights stood out crisply against the muffled charcoal inside Rule’s car. Lily rubbed her temple and tried to organize her thoughts.

“One thing I don’t understand,” Rule said as he pulled out into traffic. “Why did Harlowe tamper with them? He should know by now that you’re sensitive. He took quite a risk.”

She frowned. That hadn’t occurred to her. “There might be a communications problem in their camp, and he didn’t know. More likely, though, he didn’t realize I’d be able to tell. I’m . . . well, I’m a lot more sensitive than most.”

“I don’t know much about it,” Rule admitted.

“Most sensitives don’t pick up secondary magic unless it’s really strong. They’d be able to shake your hand and know you were a lupus, but they wouldn’t feel the lingering magic on the floors of your father’s house, left by the feet of many lupi.”

“You felt that?”

She nodded, her mind on the question he’d raised. “Harlowe might have thought that even if I picked up on the spell, no one would listen. I’m off the force, discredited. Croft and Karonski were the only ones who’d believe me—and they’re the ones bespelled.”

“Not a comfortable thought, considering we’re likely to be visited by someone looking for them.”

“We have to hope MCD has witches on the payroll who can confirm the existence of the spell. A coven would be good. Solo practitioners can’t summon as much power or perform the more intricate spells.”

“I’d assume they don’t have a sorcerer,” he said wryly, “given that sorcery’s illegal. Dammit, I wish we could find Cullen.”

“So do I.” Though not, she suspected, for the same reasons. “Um . . . I hate to sound ignorant, but why would a sorcerer be better than a coven? A first-rate coven can draw a lot of power.”

“According to Cullen, sorcerers see magic. That’s how they’re able to work directly with the forces involved, unlike shamans and witches. I’m guessing that a sorcerer would be able to look at Karonski and Croft and see the spell binding them—a great aid in removing it, I would think.”

“That would be handy,” she admitted. If they could trust the sorcerer in question. Rule had a great deal of confidence in his friend. Lily didn’t.

“I can think of one more reason Harlowe took the risk of bespelling Karonski and Croft,” Rule said slowly.

“What?”

“They’ve got something big planned for the very near future, and it was more important to get the Feds out of the way than to maintain his cover.”

A chill ghosted up her spine, the ripple of possibilities she’d rather not contemplate. What would a group like this consider big?

They lapsed into silence. Outside, the city was waking to its nighttime self, stringing lights along its streets and spires like a lady donning a gaudy abundance of jewelry.

Was it the growing darkness that made her so aware of Rule? Not that she’d been unaware of him before. All day she’d felt him near, known where he was without needing to see him. But the nature of it had shifted. Now it prickled along her skin, gathered in a hot ball in her belly. She could almost feel his breath, as if some part of her was leaning toward him, even though she sat perfectly still.

She shook her head. This was not the time, dammit. She needed a clear head, not the fog of lust. She was missing something. Something important.

All at once she had it. “Shit. Ginger.”

“You think they did to her what they did to Karonski and Croft?”

Lily shook her head. “She touched my face when she made that dig about my makeup, and all I felt was annoyed. No, what hit me right now is that she decoyed us. Kept me from going to the meet with Harlowe, didn’t she? They didn’t want me there. I couldn’t be spelled and would have tumbled to them.”