“And Loriann possibly inked you with a Blood Tarot?” T. Laine asked.
“Her grandmother was the owner of a very old, very special deck of tarot, used in my inking, in the spell Loriann cast to try to bind me to Isleen.”
I said, “Clementine. Stop recording.” The mic light went off. “Boss, I know you have a right to privacy, but if we had known about the brother, we could have raided the homeless tent camp the night I found the circle and maybe caught him.”
“Yes.” The word was rough, full of regret and pain. He rubbed his shoulder as if it ached. “Yes. I know. I should have told everyone. But... I—” His words stopped as if cut by a knife.
“Son of a witch on a switch,” T. Laine cursed. “That’s what I’m seeing. Loriann included a nondisclosure spell in your inking.”
Rick’s whole body tightened. “Is that what this is?” He gripped his shoulder. “I thought it was PTSD... a heart attack. That’s the reason my chest and shoulder and arm ache when I try to talk about it?”
“Coercion spell,” Occam said, “keeping you from understanding or speaking about it.”
“Witch bitch,” T. Laine said, her own face hard and cold.
Rick’s eyes went wide and greenish as he considered the effects of this revelation on his security clearance and his future in law enforcement. “That’s why you shut down Clementine,” he said, his voice easier.
“Yes. Oh,” I said, as something occurred to me. “That was why you weren’t spell-called the night I was behind Walmart.The witch was still setting it up. He heard me arrive and he grabbed what he could and took off. If he had stayed around and seen you—” I stopped.
Rick nodded, the motion jerky, sending silver-black strands flying.
“A coven of two is better than none,” I quoted. “She was talking about her brother and her. Loriann taught him all she knew about spell casting and he refined it. Now he’s coming for you. Why?”
Rick said, “I honestly don’t know. I let his sister ink a bonding into my flesh to keep him safe. There’s no reason for him to hate me.”
“He may not know the true story,” I said. “Sometimes people leave things out, thinking that it will be easier for the victim to be kept in the dark.”
“Personal experience?” Rick asked, his lips twisted into a wounded smile.
“Yes.” I thought about the welfare fraud and the money paid to John for my dowry. “Secrets are stupid and evil.”Except my own, of course.I refrained from saying that.
Rick nodded. “Yes.” He looked up at the screen. “Loriann is here. Are we all agreed? The null room?”
“Yes,” T. Laine said, grim. “Loriann’s been holding out on us to protect her brother. That’s gone on long enough. If we can’t find him, we can’t help him. And if wecanhelp her brother, she might help get rid of the messed up spells in your tattoos.”
Rick sent her a quick, fierce smile, all teeth, like a snarling cat. He gave quick directions and we moved into place. “JoJo,” he said when we were all in position, “get her computer. Crack it. See if she has photos of witch circles on it.”
“And photos of Jason,” I suggested.
“Yes,” Rick said, sounding more like the boss I knew. “Photos of the little bugger would be nice.”
FOURTEEN
I stood out of the way, in the opening of my cubicle, watching. Holding a plant, my fingers in the soil of Soulwood. Not that I had any idea what to do if Loriann started throwing aroundwyrdsof power or hitting people with magic.
Tandy led Loriann up the stairs, their feet muffled and yet sharp in the enclosed space. Rick stood in the hallway, the open null room door between the witch and him, the cold, deadening energies spilling from the room. T. Laine stood down the hall, hidden by the open stairway door, her null pens ready to throw and awyrdspell of sleep, ready to speak. JoJo was in the conference room, monitoring everything on the screens. Tandy reached the top and stepped to the side, as if waiting on Loriann.
I watched as the pale woman reached the hallway and stepped toward Tandy.
Occam shut the stairway door and leaned against it. Loriann came to a complete stop, looking around fast. Seeing the trap. Some emotion combined of numbness and terror carved its way onto her expression. Her hands rose as if to grab something at her waist.
Rick said, “Wait. Please.” Loriann hesitated and he went on. “I have approval from NOPD CLE for you to work with us on this case. But we need to talk, one on one, about your personal involvement. About Jason.”
“Dear God,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and her hands fell to her sides. “I knew you were going to figure it out. I knew it. I had to be here to keep you from... from hurting him.”
“I’d never hurt Jason, Lori. You know that. You made sureof that, didn’t you? You inked his survival into my flesh. You put something in my tattoos to force me to protect him. And to make it difficult for me to talk about him.”
She opened her dark eyes and said fiercely, “You won’t hurt him. I made sure of that. But your team is a different matter.” Lori looked at T. Laine and then to the null room. “I guess this isn’t a weak threat. That you’ve contacted the U.S. witch enclave for permission to put me in a null room.”
