I didn’t like where this was going.
“It’s not those,” she said firmly. “It worked because he knows how much I hate that he has Delaney’s soul. He wants to watch me squirm.”
Rossi studied Myra, a slightly quizzical look on his face. “One could assume so.”
Which was about as vague an agreement as I’d ever heard. I looked at Myra, trying to see what Rossi saw in her, what he suspected.
She looked satisfied, like a cat who had just finished a bucket of cream. She also looked a little flushed, her eyes glittery. All I saw was that my sister was happy. And victorious. She had enjoyed pulling that little trick. She had enjoyed tossing that smug know-it-all out on his ear.
“How long will he be gone?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Long enough for us to finish our plans. Rossi, is there some way we can use Delaney’s tie to Lavius to our advantage? If not to kill Lavius to trap him? Trick him?”
“Nothing that wouldn’t kill her. And that,” Rossi said, giving me both barrels of his attention, “is what I promised your father. That I would protect you and not willingly allow your death by any hand.”
“Oh,” I said, because that was all I could come up with. If I could still feel emotions, I was pretty sure I’d be touched and overwhelmed. “Thank you.”
“So we stick with the original plan?” Ryder asked. He’d retrieved his gun from the table and secured it in his holster.
“The original plan is wholly uninspired,” Aaron grumbled.
“It is clean and concise,” Rossi said.
“Tonight at moonrise we summon Lavius by breaking the ward on the book and casting the spell on Ben?” I asked.
“At the Party Putt Putt,” Rossi said.
“The mini golf course?” It was such a weird request. That little indoor mini-golf course and party space was, well, well-used was the most polite term I could come up with. It had been in Ordinary for years, and hadn’t had an upgrade since opening day. “Why there?”
Old Rossi looked a little exasperated, but Myra was nodding.
“Because,” Rossi said, “The magic void which will hamper his ability to access the power stored in theRauðskinnais deep beneath the sand trap.” Rossi said that like he was explaining that the sun rose, the moon set, and evil vampires always had a backup plan.
“Right,” I said. “Of course it is. Than, will you be there?”
Death had been silent through most of the conversation, watching us with that calm attentive manner. He didn’t get worked up over the dramatics of the living, which I supposed made sense. He did seem interested in this particular scuffle with Lavius, and had readily agreed to be a part of this meeting.
He sipped his hot cocoa, which I knew was so delicious, it could make angels trade their wings in for whips. The cup looked delicate in his long fingered hands.
Than looked, well, not at ease, but like he was getting the hang of both the being mortal and vacationing thing. He seemed well-rested and comfortable in his Hawaiian shirt that featured pink flamingos melted à la Salvador Dali surrounded by bubbles so numerous and small, the remaining shirt looked like it was covered in googly eyes.
His shirt was staring at me.
Creepy with a tropical flair.
“Do you want me to be at the Party Putt Putt?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“You understand better than any that my power is at rest, Reed Daughter. Vampires linger in the gray places outside of Death’s reach. It has always been so.”
“I don’t want you to kill anyone.” Well, I did, but I understood he wouldn’t. Not without having to leave Ordinary and stay away for a year.
“I just…when we kill Lavius, which is the only acceptable outcome of this plan, I don’t want any surprises. I want him to be dead-dead. Declared dead by Death. All the way dead and not to rise again like some kind of nightmare in a striped shirt and fedora.”
“Did you marathon Friday the 13thmovies again?” Myra asked.
“No.”
