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then had to call for help, so Paige took over."
Nast's face contorted. "This witch touched my grandson?"
"To help him," Sean said. "Bryce and I didn't know how. They were there and "
"Of course they were there. They killed him."
"No, Granddad, they didn't. Bryce and I followed them from the courthouse. We were right behind
them the whole time. They didn't do anything."
The door opened again and two men came in. The first waved a notepad our notepad dropped
in the parking lot.
"This is yours, isn't it?" he said to Lucas. "I saw you writing in it during the trial."
Lucas murmured an affirmation and reached for the pad, but the man snapped it out of his reach.
Sean Nast snatched the pad from behind and peered at it, then glanced up at us.
"You were preparing an appeal," Sean said. "You didn't think Weber did it."
By then all the Cabal CEOs, including Benicio, had crowded into the small room, and Lucas had to
admit we had questions about Weber's guilt, which led to the obvious question of why no one had been
apprised of our suspicions. Lucas would never lower himself to "I told you so" even when so richly
deserved. I might have filled in the blank had Benicio not done so himself. His admission won him no
brownie points for honesty, and the other Cabals jumped on him, accusations flying.
That only opened the floodgates to more finger-pointing. Within minutes, everyone had a theory on
who was behind the murders, and they all involved another Cabal. The Cortezes had covered up Weber's
innocence because the real killer was one of their own. The Nasts lived nearest to Weber, so they'd planted
evidence and launched the SWAT attack, again to hide the real killer in their midst. The Boyds were the
only Cabal the killer hadn't attacked, so they were obviously behind it. And the St. Cloud Cabal? Well, no
evidence pointed to them as the culprits, which was only proof that they were.
In the midst of all this, Lucas quietly retrieved our notepad and helped me sneak out the door. My
incision still felt as if it had been ripped open and stuffed with hot coals, so I had to lean heavily on Lucas,
and our progress was slow. Once again we made it halfway across the parking lot before someone hailed
us.
"Where do you think you're going?" William called.
"Don't stop," I murmured to Lucas.
"I wasn't going to."
William strode around and blocked our path. "You can't just run out on this."
"Sadly, no," I said. "But I can hobble, and believe me, I'm hobbling as fast as I can."
Lucas started to skirt his brother, but William stepped in front of us.
"Move," I said. "Now."
William glared at me. "Don't you "
"Don't you," I snarled back. "I just saw a boy die because you people executed the wrong man. I'm
mad as hell and my pain medication ran out hours ago, so get out of my way or I'll blast your ass back into
that courtroom."
A whoop of laughter, and Carlos sauntered over to us. "Whoo-hoo. You've got a real spitfire there,
Lucas. I gotta hand it to you. You done good."
"She's had a difficult day, William," Lucas said. "I'd get out of her way."
William strode toward me. "No little witch is going to "
I flicked my fingers and he stumbled backward.
Carlos laughed. "The girl knows sorcerer magic. Maybe you should listen to her, Will."
"Maybe Lucas shouldn't be teaching her tricks," William said, bearing down on me again. "Sorcerer
magic is for sorcerers."
"And witch magic is for witches," I said.
I recited an incantation and William inhaled sharply as the air was sucked from his lungs. His mouth
opened and closed, struggling to breathe. I mentally counted to twenty, then ended the spell. He doubled
over, gasping.
"Shit," Carlos said. "Never seen witch magic like that."
"And, on that note, we'll take our leave," Lucas said.
"Good night."
He led me around William and out of the courthouse parking lot.
***
"We need to stay on this case," I said as Lucas lowered me onto the hotel room bed. "Now more
than ever. If the Cabals keep bickering, the killer will have a heyday."
"Um-hmm."
Lucas bent to tug off my pumps. I pulled my leg back to do it myself, but he waved me away and
removed them, then folded back the covers. I started unbuttoning my blouse. He nudged my hands aside
and did it for me.
"Weber didn't just coincidentally create that list of potential victims," I said. "He did it for someone.
He had access to the files and knew how to extract the data. If we can contact his spirit, he should be able
to lead us to the killer . . . or point us in the right direction."
"Um-hmm." Lucas tugged off my skirt and folded it.
"I know a few good necros. We can call one in the morning."
Lucas tucked my legs under the covers. "Um-hmm."
"First thing we need to do is "
I crashed into sleep.
***
I was in a forest, doing a ceremony with Lucas. Someone banged on a door, which, of course,
seemed odd under the circumstances, but my brain, perhaps recognizing I was asleep, overlooked the illogic,
and my dream-self yelled at the intruder to leave us alone.
Another triple knock, louder this time. The forest evaporated and I clawed up from bed. Lucas's
arms went around me, gently restraining. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]