I strained, trying to access Anzu magics the way I did Beast’s, but all I saw was the snow mounded in human shapes. “Not sure how to do that, Enforcer. Why don’t you tell me. Are the bodies skinned? Are these the handiwork of the Flayer of Mithrans?”
Quietly, Gee said, “Perhaps it is best you not see this, my queen. Yes. They are. Six humans who show signs of torture. Six Mithrans who have been flayed and beheaded. Much power was expended within this circle and little is left. Its working has been completed.”
I remembered what Moll had said about the kind of location a time circle might need. “It should have been set up underground, out of the elements, where the power that built wouldn’t disintegrate quickly. This is a bad circle, not one made by a mature, capable witch.” When Gee didn’t respond I said, “We saw thesenza onorein the illusions. She would be a very powerful witch, and I had assumed she was with the Flayer. But no way an experienced witch created this circle.
“Alex. Contact all the Asheville witches. Make sure no witches have gone missing.”
“None are missing. I just got in a call with them. All the witches in Asheville are safe and accounted for.”
“The energies are not proper for a witch circle,” Gee said. “I do not know what it is. Unless...” He stopped speaking and we sat as sleet peppered us hard and an icy wind cut through my feathers.
Worry and fear were just as cold, freezing my heart. The elation of finding EJ alive was gone. Where was he? Where had thatthingtaken him? Visions of EJ dead in horrible ways made my gorge rise, sick and hot. I shivered. “Don’t keep me in suspense just for kicks. I’m freezing my butt off here.” Shimon still had not appeared and the dinging was still piercing to my Anzu ears.
“What if it is a time circle, but not awitchtime circle,” Gee said, his tone pensive. “For two thousand years, Shimon killed all the witches he came across, perhaps thinking to rise above other magics out of jealousy and anger, to kill all rivals for power.” He gave a human-type shrug with his shoulders and wings, uncertain. Gee continued, his words slow, hesitant, like a deer in open land. “Perhaps his knowledge is finite, knowing only that a time circle is possible. Perhaps he even learned this from spies in Natchez, but no one could tell him how to create one. Perhaps that incomplete knowledge is not sufficient to accomplish his ends. Faulty knowledge of time circles might result in a circle built with the energies of other paranormal creatures. That could be why Shimon wantsle breloque, the crown of the Dark Queen, to help power a circle that is weak at best.”
I stared out at the circle, glowing palely through the snow, trying to fit things together, like puzzle pieces. “So we think this is a version of a time circle. Can you tell which body died last? And if that body is a vampire? And if it has white hair? And if it was flayed alive?”
“Yes, little goddess. To all of those things. That one.” He extended his wing, pointing. “That Mithran, died true-dead, last. He had white hair.”
Sooo. Legolas was dead. That meant... “When Edmund was—” I stopped, remembering the bloody body of my friend, and had to force myself to go on.“When Edmund was being used as interpreter, we know he was possessed. Ed said the Flayer had access to the far reaches of his mind.”
“Yes, my queen. He was able to keep little in reserve.”
And the FOM had flayed Legolas. “Lego knew a lot about me, about my people, and most importantly, he had known how to time-jump, using the crystal with the trapped mer-form, Soul. Not a smooth walk like I did, maybe a training version, or a version that used the mer-form instead of the dragon-form, but it served the same purpose.”
Gee threw another wrench into my thoughts. “What if... My mistress, there are no known missing witches. Perhaps the circle is composed of vampires who have been flayed? Perhaps humans who have been spelled?”
“Humans who have...” I remembered the bright witch circle over the Shookers’ place. I opened my mouth, sucking in air through nose holes and across my tongue, as Beast might do when scenting, double-checking for witch scent. But there was nothing. “Alex,” I said, over the open phone line, “what if the Shookers were spelling and powering humans and giving them to the vamps? To be used in this circle. Some witches have a lot of built-up anger over the way they’ve been treated. Would they—”
“No,” Evan said over the connection. I gave a bird grin. Hearing his voice meant that the crew was all back at the inn and safe. “George and I went by there on the way home, the morning we were stuck in town at the church. The Shookers hate fangheads. It was almost palpable in their voices.”
“We’ll check them out again,” Molly said, “but I don’t believe it.”
“Even if the Flayer has one of their children like he has yours?” Molly fell silent. Evan said, “We saw three adult witches. All there. But we’ll check again.”
“Okay. I’m trusting your read on them, but something’s wrong here. We’re missing something.”
“The Flayer has a time circle but it’s nearly empty of power,” Molly mused.
“What if he has another time circle somewhere,” I said. “What if he not only learned how to time-jump from Legobut he learned everything Leo knew.” A slow fear began to bloom in the back of my mind. The softdingfrom the tracker marble sent a shock of relief through me.
“What’s the helo ETA?” I asked Alex.
“Ten minutes. They’re flying above the storm but you should be able to hear it soon.”
“Sleet just stopped. Tell them to step on it. Gee, let’s fly so we can keep an eye on everything.” I leaped from my tree and into the air, straining my tired bird body, searching for height. Gee stayed off my tail this time, for which I was grateful. Moments later, as I circled low over the arboretum grounds, I heard the helo. I needed to shift to half-form. We’d attack the building as soon as the helo landed.
Before I could act on that, the insectoid Flayer of Mithrans stepped from the door into the snow. He was carrying a pack on his back and EJ was draped over his shoulder. Unlike his brother, Shimon was well nourished and strong enough to go outside before dusk, at least when there was sufficient cloud cover, without burning. We hadn’t seen him daywalk, but here he was. “Ahhh,” I whispered to myself. That was why he had wanted a carapace, so he could gain the light of full day. I circled, losing sight of the Flayer for a half second.
Between one bell tone and the next, the tracker marble fell silent.
I looked back to the ground. The Flayer of Mithrans and EJ were—“What? What happened?” I demanded. “Where are they?”
“I do not know how he did it, little goddess,” Gee said, “but... I believe he is gone. EJ and the Flayer of Mithrans.”
“How? We’re right here. No cars got by us. No trucks, no helo, nothing.” Shivering, beak suddenly clattering with cold, I understood. “Oh crap. He timewalked. He took EJ with him and he timewalked right out of here. Right under our wings. EJ’s gone.” But where? Where had the Flayer taken him?
CHAPTER 20
