"I did. That bastard tried to-"
Savannah cut her off. "Heard it already."
I glanced over at the young witch. She'd settled onto the grass, cross-legged, leaning back on her hands. A cocky pose-as if so un-threatened by Molly she might as well make herself comfortable. Molly's lips pressed into a thin line. I strolled behind Molly and motioned for Savannah to sit up. She did. Molly relaxed.
"The council doesn't know I'm here," I said. "The werewolf is only coming as unofficial backup. Friendship, not duty."
Molly's gaze slid to Savannah.
"I'm the unofficial unofficial backup," she said. "I sent Jaime to see you because I thought you'd help her. Then, after she left, I had second thoughts. So I followed."
"Do they know you're here?"
By the contemptuous twist Molly gave "they," she meant Paige and Lucas.
Savannah shook her head. "I said I was driving Jaime to the airport, hanging out until her plane came. By now they're probably figuring I skipped out on my chores, but nothing more than that."
"So, Molly, your secret is safe… if you want it to be," I said. "We can back up and start over. Pretend we're in your living room again. I just told you my problem and you want to help."
"In return for…"
Savannah barked a laugh. "You think you're in any position to bargain?"
"I'll offer the same deal," I said. "If you help me, I'll contact Mike."
Molly scowled.
"In that case, how about this deaclass="underline" you answer my questions in return for me forgetting who killed him."
I TOLD her the story again.
"First piece of advice?" she said. "Go back and take a hard look at whoever is giving you this cock-and-bull."
"Cock-and-bull?"
"Someone's having you on. Feeding you bullshit."
"I've tried contacting these spirits myself and-" A brittle smile my way. "Step one, then, would be to find a better necromancer. Either there are no spirits or they're in on the game. Whoever came up with this story doesn't know jack shit about magic. They trolled the Internet or maybe checked out a few reference books at the library. What they researched isn't our magic. It's human magic."
"Human magic?"
"In human folk magic, you kill someone to drain his energy, his power, and take it for yourself."
Savannah made a rude noise, summing up her opinion of humans.
"But human magic doesn't work," I said.
Molly pinned me with a withering look. "No kidding, which is why I said someone's pulling your leg."
I looked at Savannah.
"She's right about this not sounding like a sacrificial ritual. Same as Paige and Lucas said. But if you've tried contacting them yourself, then it's not a problem of power."
Molly rolled her eyes.
"Could the ghosts be playing a trick?" Savannah said. "That does happen, doesn't it?"
"A trained necromancer can tell if she's being played."
A sniff from Molly.
"You say it sounds like a human's version of magic," I said. "Could that be what it is? The results of humans sacrificing people in some kind of fake black-magic ritual?"
Molly and Savannah looked at one another. In that exchanged look, all grudges seemed forgotten-sister witches considering an academic question.
"What does happen when humans play at ritual sacrifice?" Savannah said, half asking, half musing. "They can't get any powers from it, but does anything happen to the soul of the person they kill?"
Molly said, "If it did, necromancers would have seen this kind of thing before."
"So maybe it doesn't happen every time. But under certain circumstances…"
"Who can tell with humans-the lengths they'll go to in pursuit of magical powers. Sacrificing babies? Children? Torture? We have nothing on them."
So said the woman who, less than an hour ago, had been ready to put out my eyes with a red-hot stick. But I knew even Savannah would agree it wasn't the same thing. I'd been a threat. I'd knowingly walked into the house of a dark which, so one could argue that I'd taken my chances. It wasn't the same as killing a baby in hopes of receiving some magical boon.
Savannah and Molly discussed this further but came to no conclusions. Investigating human magic would be a wise next step, but not something either of them could help with.
When we finished, the sun was setting.
Savannah said to Molly, "Your kids are at a friend's place, right?"
She nodded.
"So they'll be fine if you're later than you expected. Here's what I'm going to do. First, I'm not untying your hands. That's your job. Second, I'm leaving you in a binding spell. When I'm far enough away, it'll snap and you can walk to the parking lot, find your phone, make that tow-truck call. But if you come after us-now or later-you're launching a council investigation into Mike's death."
AS WE drove to Molly's neighborhood to find Jeremy, Savannah explained how she'd followed me, but stayed back until it was obvious I needed help.
"What gave it away?" I said. "When she loaded me bound and gagged into the back of her truck? Or when she actually said 'I am now ready to kill you and throw your body in the swamp'?"
"Hey, for a while there, it looked like you were going to talk your way out of it. I didn't want to interfere."
In other words, she'd been giving me a chance to escape on my own.
"Don't feel bad," she continued. "It's not your fault you don't get the cool superpowers."
"Thanks."
She threw a grin my way.
I picked twigs from my hair, then checked my reflection in the visor mirror. "I do appreciate you coming after me, Savannah. When I tell the story to the council, I'll leave your name out of it."
She hesitated, then shook her head. "No. I'd better come clean now or it'll bite me in the ass later, and I'll get in more shit for making you cover for me. I'll take my licks. But if you could…" A glance my way. "You know, tone it down a bit? Maybe leave out the koyut spell?"
"So long as you tone down the 'I had to rescue Jaime again' part."
A grateful grin. "Agreed."
AS SAVANNAH circled Molly's block, I saw a flash of someone through the slats of Molly's fence.
"There's Jeremy," I said. "In her backyard."
"Where?" she squinted into the near dark. "Ah. There. Good eyes."
She didn't add a sly remark about my uncanny Jeremy radar. I flatter myself that Savannah doesn't know how I feel about him, but if she doesn't, she's the only one.
She pulled over as Jeremy leaped the fence, taking it as easily as a two-foot hurdle.
"I'd better let you out here and hightail it back home before Paige calls out the National Guard."
"Running off before I can tell him what happened?"
"Running as fast as I can, but tell him I said hi and I'll see him at Thanksgiving." She paused. "On second thought, don't mention that part or they're all liable to decide that keeping me from going to Stonehaven is a suitable punishment."
WHEN I crossed the road, Jeremy was gone. Standing in front of Molly's house, I had a strong sense of deja vu… and an even stronger sense that standing here really wasn't a bright idea. I pictured Molly arriving home to find the necromancer who'd escaped her clutches hanging out on her front lawn.
I was looking for a safer place to stand when a voice behind me said, "Hello, Jaime."
I wheeled so fast I tripped over my own feet. Fingers clasped my forearm, steadying me. I looked up into a face with high cheekbones and slightly slanted black eyes. Dark hair fell over his forehead as he leaned forward. I resisted the urge to reach up and push it back… then lift onto my tiptoes, press my lips against his, my body against-
Damn it, was I ever going to see Jeremy and not start blushing like a schoolgirl? It was ridiculous. I'd had erotic fantasies about men right in front of their noses and never batted an eye. With Jeremy, even the thought had me in vapors.