Mortal Sins, page 21
part #5 of World of the Lupi Series
“The stories about wraiths are consistent about a few things. The practitioner who creates one must feed it to maintain control. A wraith who feeds on its own has broken free of its creator.”
She absorbed that. “You think this wraith is no longer controlled by its creator?”
“It’s possible, even probable, given the sudden change in its feeding pattern. And if so, I have no idea how to stop it.”
“Mage fire burns anything. You’ve always said that.”
“Lily, even mage fire won’t kill someone who’s already dead.”
TWENTY-FIVE
LUNCH was lively. As Rule expected, Lily didn’t join them—he gave her some pizza to eat while she worked—but Toby’s friends did. So did Louise’s neighbor. Connie Milligan was a short, merry woman about Louise’s age with unlikely brown hair and a sly sense of humor. She and Cullen hit it off.
“Uh-oh,” Toby said when Louise invited her friend to join them for dinner.
Rule leaned closer and murmured, “I thought you liked Mrs. Milligan.”
“I do,” Toby whispered back, “but it’s growing. It started out just a dinner, and now it’s turning into a dinner party.”
“That’s a problem?”
Toby looked as if his faith in his father’s wisdom had been shaken. “I guess you haven’t ever seen Grammy when she has a party. She frenzies. We’re gonna clean everything.”
“Hmm.” Rule nodded knowingly. “Worse than Lily was at Christmas when her parents were coming?”
“Well … close. But Lily had decorating stuff to do, too,” Toby said in a fair-minded way, “only she didn’t have time because of all her work, so probably that was worse. Except that we did have a couple days for that cleaning, and now we’ve just got this afternoon.”
When the pizza was gone, Rule said he and Cullen would walk Justin and Talia home “as soon as we all clean up.” This prompted protests from Louise, who insisted on tidying up, and startled looks from Justin and Talia, who doubtless thought themselves able to walk the short distance on their own. Toby whispered something to Justin, who whispered to Talia, and both children looked at Cullen with questions in their eyes.
And Toby, of course, wanted to go along, so Rule reminded him of math. He grimaced, but accepted the necessity. Finally they set off.
Walking the children home was both necessary and useful. Obviously Rule couldn’t let them go alone, not with every person they saw a potential killer. Also, Cullen needed to help Talia gain some protection. Rule wasn’t entirely sure what a wraith was—Cullen’s description had been brief when they spoke on the phone, in part because Rule’s focus was fragmented. No doubt Lily had pulled more details from him. But the danger was obvious, after what happened yesterday.
And once they dropped the children off, he and Cullen would be able to talk where Toby couldn’t overhear.
Oh, God. Oh, Lady, let him say there is no chance of Toby developing the wild cancer.
As soon as Rule thought that, he knew it was foolish. There was always a chance. But the cancer was rare in Nokolai, very rare, and had barely crossed Rule’s mind before. Now it was lodged right in front, a sullen lump poisoning every other thought.
The air was sweating under a sullen sky hazed by clouds. Once more they took the alley, needing its relative privacy. They stayed on the grassy edges—the red clay was slick and full of puddles.
They were a few steps from the gate when Justin said, excited, “Toby says you can help Talia, Mr. Seabourne.”
“It’s more that I hope to show her how to help herself.” He smiled at Talia. “I understand that you’re a pretty good medium, but you have no control of your Gift.”
Talia’s eyes were large. “Are you a medium, too?”
“No, my skills lie in other areas. I can’t teach you specifics about controlling your Gift, but I can show you how to raise a protective circle.”
“That’s magic, right?” Talia exchanged a glance with her brother. “Daddy wouldn’t like it if I did magic. He thinks magic is wicked.”
“Normally I wouldn’t encourage a child to go against her parents’ wishes, but this is not a normal situation. You may be in danger.”
“What kind of danger?” Talia whispered.
“To your mind. I don’t know enough about how your Gift functions to say for certain, but those screaming ghosts worry me. I want you to have a way of protecting yourself from them, if necessary.”
Justin frowned. “We’re all in danger, aren’t we? Something is making people kill people. That’s a lot bigger danger than ghosts. Ghosts don’t hurt people. Will your circle protect her from whatever wants people to kill?”
“Hmm. How to put this? You two are good at keeping secrets, I’m told.” They both nodded seriously. “Well, for now this part has to be secret. The thing that’s making some people kill is called a wraith. When this wraith possesses someone, it takes over the body and uses that body to kill. A circle won’t protect you from bullets.”
Justin’s eyes were large. “Can this wraith possess anyone ?”
“We don’t know yet. Probably not, but we don’t know the parameters it operates under. Talia, you have an advantage the rest of us lack. You’d be able to see the wraith. If you see something that … hmm. Tell me what ghosts look like to you.”
“Like people, only not as solid. You can kind of see through them even when they’re real present. They’re not all bloody or scary or anything. The older they get, the more bleached-out and wispy-looking, and finally they just fade away. Except for the tall man. He’s wispy sometimes; almost solid, others. I think it’s up to him how solid he looks.” She frowned unhappily. “But the newest ones, the ones this wraith made, they’re all wispy like they’re really old.”
“Do these new ghosts look exactly like the old, wispy ones? Think about it a minute. This may be important.”
She did as he asked, looking at her feet as they walked along the dirt and ruts of the alley. “They’ve got holes in them,” she said after a moment’s contemplation. “Or not holes, exactly, but they aren’t the same see-through everywhere. Parts of them are a lot thinner than others.”
“That helps. Thank you. Well, this wraith probably won’t look like a person. It will be see-through the way ghosts are, but it might be just a blob, or a mixed-up version of a person, or something that isn’t shaped like a human at all. I suspect it will be dark and murky, not pale, and it may be thinner in places, the way the damaged ghosts are. If you see something like that, Talia, I want you to get away quick. As fast as you can.”
“You don’t think I should make a circle?”
“No. If you see the wraith, you run. Period. If you get away and can’t see it anymore, you call Lily and let her know where you saw it. The circle is to protect you from the screaming ghosts.”
Talia sighed heavily. “I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all.”
“Well, duh,” said her sympathetic brother. “At least you’ll see this wraith if it comes around.”
Cullen switched his focus to the boy, his voice and smile light. “One thing that may help the rest of us is that this wraith is not good at acting like a person. If someone you know acts a little bit funny, well, he’s probably okay. If he were possessed, he’d be acting a whole bunch funny.”
The kids giggled, as much from pent-up feelings as humor. Cullen began describing the casting of a circle to Talia. And Rule’s thoughts went back to the sodden lump of fear squatting at the front of his mind.
He’d had time to think … or perhaps had at last begun to think instead of obsessing over the lump or denying it existed. Cullen had assured him that the anecdotal evidence of a link between a too-young sensing of the Change and the wild cancer was highly exaggerated. Very well. But Rule could see no connection between that assurance and Cullen’s sudden need to fly here and speak to him in person.
Unless Cullen could see the early appearance of the cancer. That was possible. The cancer was magically wrought. Cullen saw magic. Maybe the assurances he’d offered were true, but he still wanted to check Toby out.
Wouldn’t he have told Rule that, though? Why would he—
“Mr. Turner?”
Rule dragged himself back to the present. They’d reached the gate to Justin and Talia’s yard, and it was just as well his protection hadn’t been needed. He’d been too deep in thought-circles to notice anything less than a machine gun fusillade.
At the moment Cullen was handing Talia a piece of chalk and talking about the need for a physical component. Rule looked down at her brother’s worried face. “Yes?”
“Do you believe in God?”
Oh, God, Rule thought—and noticed the irony of his irreverence, but didn’t smile. “Yes.” Probably not the human-like deity the boy had been taught to believe in, but there was certainly a Source.
“Why does He let bad things happen? I asked Mom and she said everything happens by His will, but I don’t see why He’d want those people to get killed or Mr. Hodge to get possessed. Daddy said we’re not supposed to question, but have faith, but that doesn’t help.”
“Well.” If there was a God—the sort of personal, got-a-plan-for-you God so many people believed in—Rule felt sure She was having a good laugh at him right now. “As I said, I believe in God. I don’t try to define Her.”
“Her?” Justin was shocked.
“A personal bias,” Rule explained. “I tend to think of deity in the feminine, which I’m sure is no more accurate than defining deity in the masculine.”
“I have no idea what you just said.”
Rule grinned and tousled the boy’s hair. “I used fancy words to say that I don’t know why bad things happen.”
“Oh. Me, neither. Do you believe in prayer?”
“Ah…”
“Daddy says God always answers prayers, but sometimes the answer is ‘no.’ I think,” Justin confided, “the answer is mostly no, ’cause God hardly ever does what I ask Him to. But Mr. Seabourne told Talia to pray when she sets her circle. He said God always helps if you ask Him to when you’re making a circle.”
Rule managed not to shoot Cullen a startled look, but it was a near thing. “I wouldn’t turn to Cullen for spiritual advice, but he knows magic. If he says prayer will help her, it will.”
“Oh. Okay.” Frown and worry faded. “I didn’t know if he—wow!”
Cullen was turning in a quick circle, pointing at the ground—and drawing a thin ring of fire with that pointing finger. “There. Come closer, and don’t be distracted by the fire—that’s just the quickest way for me to set a circle. Concentrate on the air around me. What’s different about it?”
Talia squinted at what looked like perfectly ordinary air to Rule. “I don’t see anything,” she said, disappointed.
“Different Gifts respond to a circle different ways. You might hear it, or feel warmth or discomfort, or just sense a different energy.”
“Oh—you mean that humming? I can barely hear it. That’s your circle?”
“Yes. Now put your hand through the air above the circle.”
She stretched out a tentative hand. The fire vanished. “It’s gone!”
“Very few circles can withstand anything physical, and once something crosses a circle, the magic dissipates. But now you know how to tell when you’ve set your circle correctly. That’s your goal—to set a circle that hums to you.”
She looked dubious. “Okay.”
“You won’t set your circle the way I did. I draw on Fire. Your element is spirit.” He smiled. “I want you to try it now. Draw your circle … Wait.” He grabbed a stick from the ground and handed it to her. “Use this. Draw your circle, sit in its center, close your eyes, and ask for help. Then imagine that humming sound coming from you, surrounding you, protecting you.”
Talia did as he said, scraping the outline of a circle in the dirt, then folding thin, caramel-colored legs to sit tailor-fashion in the red dirt. She closed her eyes. To Rule’s vision, absolutely nothing happened.
Justin frowned, fidgeted, and said, “What’s she doing?” “Hey!” Talia’s eyes snapped open. “You ruined it. I had it—at least, I think I did …” Her voice trailed off.
“You cast a circle.” Cullen was as certain as the girl wasn’t. Of course, he’d have seen it. “It was thin and dissipated quickly, but to get one on the first try is excellent. Now all it takes is practice.”
“Why do I need to practice if God’s helping me?”
“Didn’t say God would do it for you, did I? Do you know how to ride a bicycle?”
“Of course I can!”
“You weren’t born knowing, though. I’ll bet someone taught you, helped you. Your mom? Your dad?” She nodded to the second guess. “He didn’t help by hopping on your bike and riding it himself. What did he do?”
“Ran along behind me and pushed until I could balance and pedal at the same time.” Her eyebrows squinched down. “You mean that’s how God will help, too. I have to get on the bike—I mean, cast the circle—myself, but He’ll push.”
“More or less. For now, I want you to work on balance, not worry about pedaling.” He gave her the easy smile that charmed females of every age. “The good news is that it doesn’t take much pedaling to keep out a ghost. They’re weak.”
“Even the screaming ones?”
“Even them. I told you, Talia, the ghosts are using your Gift to speak to you—even when they scream instead of talking. With a circle you deny them access to your Gift. Without it, they can’t do much.”
She got up, dusting off the seat of her shorts—a useless effort, since the damp red clay stuck like glue. “I can do this.”
“Certainly. You started up a circle right away. You’re a natural.” He bent and whispered something in her ear. She grinned.
Rule watched his friend talk with the girl. He’d made her comfortable with her Gift, comfortable enough to cast a spell she’d need for protection. He would, Rule thought, make a good father when the time came. With children, the notoriously impatient sorcerer had endless patience.
Normally Rule did, too. Today he wanted to drag Cullen away. The girl needed instruction, but it could wait until after Rule spoke to Cullen and heard … whatever it was he had to hear.
He didn’t grimace. The habit of concealment went deep enough to prevent that, but he gave himself a mental bitch-slap. Sure, Talia could wait, and Cullen could come back here later … knock on her parents’ door and explain that he needed to see their eleven-year-old daughter alone for a while. Yes, that would work.
Rule took a slow breath. And waited.
At last Cullen told the kids to go in before their parents wondered what was keeping them. The second the gate closed behind them, Rule strode down the alley, heading away from the Appletons’ house.
He knew he couldn’t run away, not figuratively or literally, but movement helped. Still, the first question he asked was, “You didn’t want the girl to try casting a circle to protect her from the wraith. Would it be capable of crossing circles, then?”
“Any she could cast, yes. I could set one it couldn’t cross, but to be sure of that, I’d want prep time. Spur-of-the-moment circles wouldn’t be strong enough.” He glanced at Rule, easily keeping up. “Are we going somewhere in particular?”
“No. You told Talia to pray before setting her circle.”
“Certainly. First, it helps her accept that her Gift isn’t evil, and neither is the circle she’ll cast. Second, there’s my original training. Wiccans believe mediumship is a Gift connected to the spirit element, so prayer should help her connect with her Gift. Third, with a new practitioner, confidence is half the battle. If she believes God is helping her set her circle, she’s a lot more likely to do it.”
“Did you lie to me about the risk to Toby?”
“More or less.”
Rule stopped and swung. Cullen—damn him—ducked and danced back, ending up several feet away. Rule stood, chest heaving, hands clenched.
Cullen’s face was as carefully blank as his voice. “You need to scrap a bit before we can talk?”
“No.” It took another minute, though, to fight back the need to attack something. Anything. “Maybe afterward. It’s a good thing you’re fast.”
“I think so, too. Are you able to listen?”
Rule nodded once.
“First, the part I lied about. Lupus boys who feel the pull of the Change well before puberty do have a much greater chance of incurring the cancer when they reach First Change.”
Rule’s lips were numb. “How much greater?”
Cullen shook his head. “Insufficient data. Back when I was researching the cancer, I did find two adult lupi from different clans who’d experienced an early pull but did not go on to develop the cancer. No doubt there are others I didn’t find, but there’s no way of telling how many. But among the young lupi who did develop the cancer, the correlation seems to be one to one. I spoke with the families of thirty youngsters who developed the cancer. All of them said the boy had experienced an early pull.”
He paused. “You know that Etorri are especially prone to the wild cancer, but the bump in occurrence at adolescence is very small.”
Rule nodded. It was all he could manage.
“There’s a reason for that. Before I tell you, I’ll have your promise not to repeat this to anyone. That includes Isen.”
“What?!” Rule stared at his friend. Cullen’s face was stony. He meant it, meant that he’d go no further without Rule’s word to keep this from their Rho. Why would …
Because it was an Etorri secret, of course. A secret that Cullen had kept all these years, even as a lone wolf rejected by the clan. “Does Isen know you’ve held back Etorri secrets from him?”
Cullen nodded stiffly. “Before the gens amplexi, I told him there was an Etorri matter I was honor-pledged to withhold from him, but that it posed no threat or trouble to Nokolai. He allowed it.” A very small smile. “He did ask me not to go out of my way to reassure Etorri. He was amused by the notion they would be wondering if their secret was out.”
