Page 72 of A Skirl of Sorcery
I prevaricated. ‘Nothing has been confirmed…’
‘I knew it! So I have more right to be here than you do.’ She looked around the uninspiring room. ‘And that’s saying something, given we’ve both broken in. This guy tookmyvoice. He stolemymagic soul.’
‘It’s dangerous, Keres.’
She shrugged. ‘I’ve got nothing else to do with my time apart from wait to die.’
I cursed to myself. Keres wasn’t trained, and there was every likelihood that she would get in my way and compromise my actions. Nothing about this was a good idea.
‘How did you know I was here?’ I would have noticed her following me – I hoped.
‘I saw you leave with the trow. By the time I’d grabbed my stuff and managed to sneak past Dave, there was no sign of you but I figured you hadn’t gone far. I saw the trow turn out of this street then I saw all the cats.’ She managed a tight smile. ‘Ta-da!’
For goodness’ sake. ‘Clever,’ I acknowledged. ‘But still not sensible.’
‘I’m not leaving.’
I exhaled loudly. ‘This could get very nasty.’
‘I hope it does,’ she said calmly.
I pinched off a headache. Nothing I said would change her mind; I could try knocking her out, but she was already halfway to death’s door. ‘Fine,’ I muttered. ‘But stay behind me and don’t get in my way.’
She bowed and I rolled my eyes. If this all went tits up, I’d only have myself to blame and Keres’ blood to mop up. But this wasn’t just about Keres, it was about Thane, too. I shook my head, then returned to the door.
I was almost certain that Jimmy Leighton wasn’t home; if he hadn’t noticed intruders in his house by now, he had cottonwool for brains and sludge in his ears. Even so I took my time,stepping carefully and keeping a close eye for any magic wards or booby traps.
The small bathroom opposite was clean, tidy and smelling faintly of bleach. Next to it was a cupboard containing neatly folded towels and sheets. Jimmy Leighton certainly wasn’t a slob.
I padded down the hallway with Keres on my heels. Although the kitchen was old-fashioned, with wooden cupboards stained an unnatural shade of brown that had gone out of fashion decades ago, it was also very clean. And empty. Next to it a set of stairs led both upwards and downwards. Given the choice of peeking into some neat bedrooms or venturing down to a creepy basement, there was no decision to make.
Keres found a light switch and flicked it on. ‘Behind me,’ I growled. ‘At all times.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
We descended. The stairs were carpeted, muffling the sound of our footsteps. I wondered if Jimmy Leighton’s house included a basement door that led to the underground vampire city – at that point it wouldn’t have surprised me – but the stairway took us into a large room lined with lots of shelves. There were no more doorways.
‘There are so many boxes,’ Keres breathed. ‘They look as if they’re made out of…’
‘Bone,’ I finished. Bin hadn’t been exaggerating: there were hundreds of them and many of them were labelled. I saw labels for numerous plants and animals but there were others, just as Bin had described. Oh God.
According to these labels, Jimmy Leighton had stolen the magic souls from about fifty people. With a sinking feeling, I realised that Thane’s box wouldn’t be here yet. If Leighton hadn’t been home all night, he would still be carrying it. We were too damned early.
Keres gave a strangled gasp. ‘Kit.’
I turned to see her reaching for one of the boxes. ‘Don’t touch anything until we’ve established there are no traps,’ I began but I was too late: she was already holding a box withBan sithprinted in neat cursive script on the side.
She turned it over and held it up, her eyes wide. ‘Is this it?’ she asked. ‘Is this me?’
‘I don’t know – but don’t open it,’ I warned her. ‘We don’t know what’s in there or how it is contained – and we certainly don’t know what will happen if we open it. I think we need to…’ I halted mid-sentence.
Keres opened her mouth to speak but I darted towards her and pressed a hand over her mouth. A moment later, we heard a creak from the staircase. I slowly withdrew my hand and Keres stepped back while I slid my dagger out for a second time.
The stairs creaked again. I cocked my head and listened hard: there was more than one person coming towards us. If Jimmy Leighton wasn’t working alone, this would be far, far harder. I stiffened.
Then an oddly familiar female voice called out. ‘Aha! I knew it!’
Chapter
