I drink again from the bottle until it comes up empty. Shit. Setting it back on the end table where I found it, I turn to go, then catch my reflection in the gilt-edged mirror on the wall. My cheeks are pink, and my eyes are a dark sky blue, almost as if I were home again, back in my world andat full power. I glance at the woman in alarm. What has Maeve Gowdie sent into my path? I need answers.
A fluffy pink bathrobe lies in a heap beside the woman. On a whim, I fold it and gently put it under her head. The candle has snuffed itself out now that the deal has been struck. I toss it into the box along with the knife and place it all on the mantel. I’m procrastinating. I can hardly bring myself to leave her, which is exactly why I must.
With a growl, I sift into shadows and travel the web of darkness.
I manifest in Maeve Gowdie’s living room only seconds later. She’s waiting for me, a floral teacup in hand.
“Advocate,” she says by way of greeting.
“You had no right giving her the candle,” I snarl. “My obligation is to you, not your human friend.” I make no effort to disguise my anger even though Maeve has the power to hurt me if she chooses. Gowdie magic is formidable.
That wicked smile of hers stretches wider. “Then, I take it, you agreed to help her.”
I snort. “You made certain of that. Why was she naked, Maeve? In all the centuries your ancestors have called upon me, never were any of them naked.”
She leans back and crosses her legs. “I thought it would increase her chances of enlisting your support.”
“You baited me with her beauty and her—” I swallow, remembering, “—blood.”
“Yes, I did.” She brushes lint from the arm of her black T-shirt.
“Why?” I snap. “You already keep me like some sort of genie in a bottle. Why bind me to her? What is she?”
“You noticed her tattoo?”
“Of course Inoticed it.”
“Then you’ve never seen it before, either?”
“No! Why are you asking me? You’re a witch. If anyone would know it would be you. Look in the book.”
“I have, Advocate.” She levels a hard, unsettling stare at me. “There is no record of a family with that sigil. As far as I know, she’s human. Although, I admit, I’ve wondered about the tattoo.”
I ball my hands into fists. “You allowed a woman who you suspected might have latent magical abilities to call on me?”
She brushes her dark bangs out of her eyes and blinks behind her glasses. “I gave her the candle because her husband is a truly awful human being who needs to die, and she is my best friend. I would do anything for her. But as for allowing her to call on you directly, I admit, I did hope you’d be able to solve the mystery of that tattoo.”
I sniff the air, scenting genuine feelings of friendship toward the human. Interesting. And rare. Witches don’t normally associate with other species, especially not the Gowdie witches.
“Her blood was… unusual,” I offer.
“Unusual how?”
“Exceptional.”
“Exceptional, but human?”
“As far as I could tell, it did not hold the flavor of elemental power.”
“As I expected. She’s human,” she says more confidently, then sips her tea.
I take some comfort in Maeve’s confirmation that her friend is non-magical. Exchanging blood with other magical creatures is a danger to my kind. It’s how I was captured by the Gowdies to begin with.
“Now that that’s settled, you have a plan to solve her problem, I presume.”
I flash my most insouciant grin. “Never fear, Gowdie, her husband will be dead by this time tomorrow, and your human friend will be free to go on with her life.”
“Good.”
