World of Lupi 10 - Ritual Magic Read Online Free PDF

her ring . . . which held
arguai
. Or so she’d been told. Her mouth twisted. “Not that I know what that means, but that’s what the elves call it. Some kind of power that isn’t magic. Magic can tell me it’s present, but can’t identify it.”
    “Arguai,”
he breathed. “Shit.”
    “You know what it is?”
    “Oh, yeah. I can tell you that much, at least. We have another word for it. Spirit.”
    “That’s just a word to me. What does it mean?”
    “It means,” he said grimly, “that you might need to find a holy man or woman, because I’m not going to be much help. Not any old monk or shaman or priest will do, either. If
arguai
was used on your mother, you need a truly holy person. A saint.”
    Lily wanted to grab her hair with both hands and yank. Or throw something. Or punch something. Her eyes welled up, and that infuriated her even more. “Any idea where I find a saint? They aren’t exactly listed in the Yellow Pages! Unless Miriam . . . she’ll be here soon, with the coven. Does it have to be, like, a Catholic saint?”
    “Holiness isn’t dependent on creed, but if you’re talking about Miriam Faircastle—”
    “You know another Miriam? She’s a Wiccan high priestess, so I thought maybe she’d do.”
    Cullen snorted. “Miriam’s no saint.”
    “You don’t like her?”
    “Woman completely lacks a sense of humor.”
    It figured that Cullen would see that as a prerequisite for sainthood. “She’s a bit intense, but . . .” Her voice trailed off as her eyes widened in shock.
    Cullen spun to face the spot she was staring at. “What is it?”
    “Mist.” White mist that rapidly pushed out blobs so it was shaped like a starfish with a stump where the top limb should be. Four of the blobs coalesced into arms and legs as the one on top became a head and everything sprang into focus. A lean man with slicked-back hair stood there, smirking at her. He was as translucent as the mist he’d formed himself out of.
    Al Drummond. Former FBI agent. Former bad guy, though he’d redeemed himself. Currently quite dead, but that didn’t keep him from smirking at her. “Surprise.”
    “Son of a bitch.”
    “Don’t get all soppy, now.”
    “Drummond—”
    “I can’t stay, but I wanted you to know, first, that Friar’s in this up to his grimy neck. Second, I’ll be working this one with you, but mostly from my side of things. I won’t be able to chat much.” Far faster than he’d come into focus, he winked out.
    Lily stared in disbelief at the empty space. “I need a saint, and
that’s
what I get?”

THREE

    L ILY had had plenty of experience dealing with a victim’s family members when they were in the grip of grief or anger. She’d thought she understood their feelings. She’d been wrong.
    Fury pulsed inside her like a second heart, driving her forward, but she could keep it in check. Use it. Over the next couple hours it flicked at her now and then, hot and raw like a flame licking up the side of a fire pit. But the job wrapped its constraints around her, telling her when to pause and take a breath, telling her not to respond to that sullen lash. As long as she could keep moving forward, she’d do okay.
    But it was a good thing Karonski would be here tomorrow. A damn good thing.
    At this point Lily knew pretty much exactly what she’d known two hours earlier. Her family had been questioned and turned loose; most of them had headed to the hospital. “Nothing,” Rickie had told her. “The Big A and I got nothing from them worth repeating. No one saw or heard anything unusual until Mrs. Yu started screaming.”
    The coven wasn’t here yet. Their head priestess had been in Mission Viejo, over an hour away, when Ida called her. CSI was still working the scene. Cullen was helping them by making sure everything they removed was magically inert. Ackleford and his people were interviewing the last of the restaurant’s patrons. Lily had told him that Friar was probably involved.