This explained why I hadn’t heard from Morgan. How foolish of me to have worried about her. She wasn’t at her parents’ house; she wasn’t out of state. She was holed up over at her lair in Bernal Heights, figuring out new and better ways to eliminate dangers to her existence like Victor and myself. And snacking on unfortunate acquaintances.
That thought hit me full force. Morgan was dead, of course, probably killed at the same time as her beloved dog. When I’d shown up there, the shape-shifter had taken the form of Beulah. When I drove it off, it had circled back and reappeared at the front door as Morgan. The real Morgan, or parts of her, had probably been down in the basement all along.
Victor followed me outside, but I didn’t stop walking until he grabbed me by the arm.
“You got something,” he said. I nodded. “And?”
“Morgan. She’s the shape-shifter.”
“How do you know that?” he asked, then stopped and cocked his head to one side, thinking. I could see his quick mind turning it over. Ramsey’s comment. My reaction. The night I’d called him when Morgan had spent the night. “Oh,” he said. Then the further implications struck him. “Oh,” he said again. “Well, you certainly can pick them.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
When we got back to Victor’s, everyone was still up. Timothy and Sherwood were talking quietly in a corner of the study, and they were relieved to see us safe and sound. Eli had made it back from Berkeley and had to be filled in on the night’s doings.
“So it imitated me,” he said. “Fascinating.”
“Frightening is more like it,” said Sherwood.
“And you couldn’t tell?” Eli asked.
“It wasn’t perfect,” Victor said. “But in the heat of the moment, it could pass.”
“There’s worse,” I said. “It took over Morgan’s persona, and that one was perfect. Which means Morgan’s dead, and has been for a while.”
I sat down heavily on a small chair by the stone fireplace. The weariness I’d been keeping at bay washed over me. One thing was all too clear-I had royally screwed things up. Again. I sat there feeling sorry for myself, then realized how petty that was. It was Morgan who had paid the price, not me. Not only was I a screwup; I was an ass.
Maggie walked over and jumped into my lap. I was so astonished I almost fell off the chair. She’d never done such a thing before. She didn’t even like me much. Comfort and pity from an Ifrit with attitude. How low could I sink?
I hadn’t known Morgan that well, but I’d certainly liked her. And due to me, she was dead. If she’d never met me, if I hadn’t pulled her into this, she’d be blissfully going about her life, unaware and unafraid. If I hadn’t flirted with her and invited her to hear me play, if I hadn’t thought it would be neat to date a nonpractitioner for once, she and her beloved Beulah would still be alive.
I’m a practitioner; I deal with demons and monsters all the time, and even though I’m not that good at it, I can take care of myself. But she couldn’t, and I’d had no right to drag her into my world.
Sherwood came over from her spot in the corner and put an arm around me.
“You couldn’t have known what would happen, Mason. It’s not your fault.”
“No? How is it not my fault?”
“It’s not, son,” Eli said. “You can’t foresee everything.”
I looked over at Victor. He understood, and unlike Sherwood and Eli, wasn’t about to comfort and excuse me. He looked back at me for a long time, and finally gave a slight nod.
“Welcome to the world of grown-ups, Mason.”
“One thing I don’t understand,” I said. “Morgan, the shape-shifter Morgan, was with me all night after I brought her home. Why didn’t she just kill me while I slept?”
“Well, that might have been tricky for it,” said Eli. “It takes a while for it to change, does it not? It can’t just revert back to form instantly?”
“Apparently not.”
“And where was Lou?”
“On the end of the bed.”
“He would have given warning at the first sign, don’t you think? And you were on your own territory, where you’re strongest. And one of the few advantages we have is that it’s vulnerable itself. It’s strong and powerful, but without the element of surprise, it can be killed. As we’ve seen.”
“It’s simpler than that,” Victor put in. “You called me, remember? So I knew she was there with you. If anything had happened to you, we would have known just where to look. I imagine it thought the Morgan persona, with its connection to all of us, was too useful to abandon. So that call may have inadvertently saved your life.”
“Gee, thanks,” I said. “I guess that makes up for your trying to kill me tonight. But why didn’t she stay, hang out with me, wait for a better opportunity?”
“I can’t say for sure,” Eli said, “but I think it must be quite a strain to keep up the deception, even if it’s almost perfect. The longer she hung around with you, the more chance there was of you catching on. The longest Ruby was ever around any of us was a few hours that day you fought the other one at Morgan’s house, and she looked exhausted by the time she left.”
Eli was right; I remembered how tired she’d looked that same day when I’d run into her coming out of Victor’s.
“So what now?” asked Sherwood. “Do we go after it?”
Victor gave it his usual careful consideration.
“No, I don’t think so, not right now at least. There’s no big rush this time; it hasn’t the slightest idea we’re onto it. I think the best way is to set up a trap for it.” He turned to me. “Can you call Morgan, have her meet you?”
“I could if I wasn’t supposed to think she’s out of town. Or if she were answering her cell.”
“Hmm, too bad. I’ll have to think on this awhile.”
I was glad to hear him say that. I needed a night’s sleep more than anything. And I definitely wanted Lou healthy and ready to go. I didn’t feel comfortable without him.
I got up slowly, giving a Maggie a chance to jump down unhurriedly. Unlike Lou, she wasn’t a forgiving creature and if I’d rudely spilled her off my lap, she wouldn’t forget it.
I drove home in a dazed stupor and stumbled around when I got home, waking up Campbell and Lou. Lou sank back into sleep immediately. Campbell sat up in bed and turned on the bedside lamp.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Peachy. Go back to sleep.” For a moment it looked like she was going to pursue it, but instead she just gave me a long enough look so that I could change my mind if I wanted to talk, and then turned the light off again.
As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, but I wouldn’t really call it sleep. I had one of those nights where I woke up every half hour or so, thinking morning had come, and then dropped off again in relief when I realized I still had plenty of night to go. It wasn’t very restful.
In the morning, Lou was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for breakfast, with no indication anything had ever been wrong with him. Campbell made pancakes, which was a tradition of sorts with us, and Lou was in hog heaven. Or dog heaven.
I discussed the night’s events with Campbell over coffee and pancakes. She ate slowly and carefully, listening all the while. Lou of course had finished his and was looking up hopefully for more.
“This is quite a mess, isn’t it?” she finally said.
“You could say that.” She poured herself another cup of coffee.
“I feel I should stay and help out.”
“No need,” I said. “Hopefully it will all be straightened out before long.”
I knew she didn’t really want to get involved with any of this. She was a healer, and killing things, even bad things, was not her karmic mission in life. Mine, on the other hand, seemed to be just that, which was another reason why we hadn’t lasted. Even standing on the sidelines acting as a medic made her a participant, at least in her eyes. Of course, if anyone did get hurt and we needed her, she’d be there in a second.