Waking the Witch (Otherworld 11)

AS I WALKED, I got another call. "Ship of Fools," meaning it was someone in my secondary address book--the hidden one for contacts Paige and Lucas wouldn't want to know about.

"Druid," Molly announced when I answered.

"What?"

She sighed, and said, more slowly. "Druid. That ritual you sent. A pewter ingot in the hand is part of very ancient druidic sacrificial rituals. My source tells me they fell out of use centuries ago."

"You said rituals. Multiple ones then?"

"Right. My source can't narrow it down. You're looking for a druid, though, one who still practices human sacrifice."

"Nasty habit."

She made a noise that could be taken as agreement, but almost certainly wasn't. Molly had likely sacrificed people in protection rituals for her daughters.

I thanked her, hung up, and started hitting speed dial to call Adam and ask him to renew the search, narrowing it down to druidic rituals--

I stopped. I stood there, finger poised over the screen for at least a minute. Then I pocketed the phone and kept walking.

THE ADDRESS TIFFANY had given me led to the town's abandoned newspaper building, three blocks from Main Street. It was ugly--shit brown and squat with tiny windows, as if the reporters knew nothing newsworthy would be happening outside and didn't want to depress themselves by looking.

I tried the front door. Locked. I hit the buzzer, but didn't hear anything. Disconnected, I guessed. I knocked. No answer.

I walked around the side. A door opened and a slender hand gestured frantically.

"I said to be careful," Tiffany hissed as she pulled me inside. "That means not using the front door."

"There's no one around," I said. "And even if there was, they just saw me trying to get into an empty building. Typical PI work."

"Did you tell anyone you were coming here?"

"No."

"Good."

The electricity must have been completely disconnected, because the only light filtered in through tiny windows.

"Go left," she said. "Then we'll head downstairs to the presses."

"Who's going to hear us up here?"

"There's something down there I want to show you."

Yeah, right. I only nodded, though, and played along. At the top of the stairs, I paused.

"It's awfully dark down there," I said. "Did you bring a flashlight?"

"There's a lantern down there."

"Huh." I peered into the darkness as I teetered on the top of the steps. Behind me, she cast a binding spell under her breath. Exactly what I expected.

"I can barely see--" I began, then wheeled and hit her with a knockback spell. Or I tried. It failed and as I launched another, she finished hers and I froze in place. I mentally struggled to get free, but the spell held and all I could do was stand there as she ran at me, hands out, and gave me a tremendous shove.

I toppled like a statue, hitting the stairs hard. Pain screamed through me, jolting me out of the spell, and my arms flew out to brace myself before I hit the concrete floor headfirst. I staggered up and wheeled. Tiffany stood at the top of the stairs, casting aloud now, trying to lock me in another binding spell.

I leaped aside and cast an energy bolt. It went off course and hit the wall beside her head with barely a pop.

I raced into the dark basement. I'm sure my battered body complained, but I didn't feel it. All I could think was: Two failed spells in a row? No way. No fucking way.