“Willow complains that the ‘whisper’ wakes her up at night. She claims to be able to see through the ghost’s eyes and hear what’s going on around the ghost, even when they aren’t in the same room. Her delusions are quite well thought out, which is remarkable. And suspicious.”
“Suspicious?” A harsh sob escapes my lips. “She thinks I made the whole thing up?”
“Shhh.” Hannah reaches across the table and covers my hand with hers. “We scrubbed your records from her files, and we’ll gentlysuggestthat she transfer out of the San Francisco Bay Area. We can be very persuasive when we want to be.”
I let that woman drug me. She was so certain I was making the whole thing up, and I let her drug me.
Hannah’s fingers are warm, and she gives my hand a gentle squeeze. “We can teach you how to protect yourself from your whisper’s…whims,” she says. She’s so confident. So calm, I can’t help but believe her. She gestures between herself and Isaac. “We’re both human, Willow. But we’ve studied magic for our entire careers. Half the techs out there are witches and warlocks. We employ a vampire and a shifter as consultants when we need them. Your talents? They can do so much good in the world.”
“I don’t understand how my whisper—my magic—can help anyone. She’s a ghost. She can’tdoanything but keep me up at night and pull me into her reality.”
Hannah shakes her head. “She’s not a ghost. She’s an extension of you, Willow. Non-corporeal—for now—but we think if you were to workwithher instead of fighting her all the time, she could one day affect the physical world around her. And if you can activate the full power of your gifts…” Hannah’s lightbrown eyes take on a sparkle, “we think you’ll be able to find the Blade of Liminal Transference.”
“The…what?” I try—unsuccessfully—to stifle my laugh. “That’s…not a thing.”
Isaac sits up straighter in his chair, and for a moment, I think he’s about to snap at me. But then he blows out a deep breath. “Until three weeks ago, you didn’t know anything about the world of theOther. How many different types of creatures can you name?”
“Uh…vampires, witches, werewolves, ghosts? Faeries? I have a Ph.D. in Mythology and the Occult. I know a lot about what the rest of the world thinks are…othercreatures. That doesn’t mean they’re all…real.” He’s testing me—baiting me—and frustration prickles over my skin.
“They are. All of them,” he says. “But so are centaurs, banshees, hydras, sirens, griffins, unicorns, every type of shifter you can imagine—including werewolves—dragons, even yetis and the Loch Ness monster.”
My jaw drops open. Until I remember what we were talking about in the first place. “Fine. But…the Blade of Liminal Transference? The BLT? That’s a sandwich.”
This was a mistake. I don’t care if my whisper keeps me up every night for the rest of my life. I can’t trust anyone who thinks BLT is a good name for some sort of magical artifact.
Hannah reaches for my hand before I can get to my feet. “Willow, the Blade was named centuries ago. Long before anyone decided bacon, lettuce, and tomato made a proper sandwich. And the device theOthermedical clinic used on you? What was that called again?”
“O.T.H.E.R. Point taken. I guess.” I drain the last sip of the now-cool cappuccino, then set the mug aside. “Why do you needmeto find this thing? Is it a weapon?”
With a tiny cough, Hannah sits back. “The last witch to possess the Blade—that we know of—died in 1879. Her sons built St. Mary’s Cathedral and they kept her spell book in the vault under the old church. But after the earthquake and fire in 1906, the vault was sealed shut.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you need me. You’re the NSA. Go down there with some sort of drill and break in.” I push my chair away from the table.
“We can’t. The vault is warded.” Isaac jerks up and starts to pace. “Six stone masons and two witches have died in the last fifty years trying to do just that. But the wards will open for you.Onlyfor you.”
I stand too quickly. My heart pounds so hard, it’s all I can feel. A soft roar fills my ears. Bracing my hands on my thighs, I force slow, deep breaths until Hannah wraps an arm around my waist and eases me back into the fancy chair.
“You’re special, Willow,” she says. “So is the Blade. Once you come into your full power, you’ll work miracles with it.”
I scoff. “Miracles? No one can work miracles.”
“You can. A hundred and fifty years ago, we didn’t have the medical technology we do now. We weren’tthisclose to curing cancer. Parkinson’s. Dementia. Shifters have a natural immunity to almost all human diseases—and manyOtherillnesses too. The Blade can transfer that immunity to anyone—or everyone. And it’s not just the big ones. Cancer. Heart disease. Renal failure. Vampire blood allergies will be a thing of the past. Wand Rot could be wiped out in a matter ofdays.”
This is all too much. Wand Rot. Vampire blood allergies. Miracles.
My head spins. Dark spots float all around me. Hannah sounds like she’s underwater. My blood pressure drops like the roller coaster just started its descent. I’m going to pass out. I can’t stop it. All I can do is give in.
SEVEN
Willow
I open my eyes to find my whisper staring down at me, concern knitting her brows. Her hand brushes mine, though I feel nothing from the touch.
“Go away. Please.”
She doesn’t respond. How can she without a voice?
Lying on my couch under my weighted blanket, I stare out the window at the city skyline. Until she glides over and distorts my view.
