hammer’s handle died with him. Because Zell was dragged back into hell the day after he escaped.
“For our purposes, this tool can also transform and make clear what has been muddy for centuries. This could be most helpful to our research. However, the tool has been lost since 1923 when its carrier, Sister Yalida Turkova, went missing from her hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. We have been unable to locate it since.”
The hologram blanked. Astral yawned widely, giving the miniature projector ample room to reset itself within her jaw before she closed her mouth again.
“That was pretty amazing,” I said.
Bergman snorted.
“You don’t buy it?” I asked him.
“Well, for one thing, you can’t forge bone; it’s too brittle.” Cassandra put Astral down so carefully I realized she’d thought about throwing the cat at him. Through clenched teeth she asked, “Do you mean to tell me you’re stuck on semantics when souls are at stake here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t see how it’ll help us with Ky—” She raised her hand to stop him. “Your demon,” he finished.
“I’m not the only one with a problem here,” she informed him. She jerked her head at me. I sighed.
Might as well bring Miles into the loop too. Otherwise he’d be pretty stunned when I decided to take up the bagpipes.
“Don’t freak out, okay?”
Bergman drew his knees together like I’d threatened to kick him in the crotch. Aw crap, was that the worst thing I could’ve said? Yeah, probably.
“What?” he murmured.
“I’ve… kinda got some company… mentally speaking.”
“You mean… you’re schizophrenic?” He studied me carefully. “You seem pretty pulled together about the whole thing. Shouldn’t you be more paranoid than I am? You know”—he wiggled his fingers and rolled his eyes—“watchers in the woodwork and stuff like that?”
“I’m not—Bergman, I bit a Domytr during my last mission and now his spirit has possessed me. Not completely. But, uh, he’s making some headway. So we have to figure out how to boot him before I start acting the submissive little queen he’s been jonesing for since we met.”
“Geez, Jaz, Domytr’s are badass.”
“You’ve heard of them?” I couldn’t believe it. I had a pretty thorough education, Cassandra’s knowledge put that to shame, and neither one of us had heard of Brude’s kind before he’d shoved his tats in our faces.
“Well, you know, I’m signed with groups outside the CIA.” His teeth clicked shut and his face got that lemony-squish look that told me he’d done the I-know-nothing ass-clench.
Still I tried. “Come on, Bergman. What can you tell me about Domytrs? Knowledge is power, man.”
“They used to be human.”
“I already know that.”
“Like you.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Sensitives. Saved for something better. Who knows, maybe they even rose to Raoul’s status. That’s what my clients thought anyway. That they turned traitor sometime in the afterlife. Not sure how the, uh, people I worked for came to that conclusion, but they had some pretty good sources.” Sure, that made sense. Temptation was one of evil’s most effective weapons. And Brude struck me as a greedy creep.
“Bergman, were you able to fulfill your contract?” asked Vayl. None of us had even noticed my sverhamin slip into the room, we’d been so intent on the picture show and the talk that followed. Now I couldn’t believe I’d missed him. Only the cold bite of his power lifting the hairs on the back of my neck let me know how he’d pulled it off.
“What do you mean?” For a smart guy Bergman played dumb pretty well.
“Your clients would never have given you those details unless they had hired you to build a weapon that could defeat such a creature. Did you succeed?”
Miles pulled down the brim of his cap. “Not yet.”
Vayl nodded, unsurprised. He spun his cane, making the blue jewel on its tip glitter in the lamplight. “If we can find this
“For our purposes, this tool can also transform and make clear what has been muddy for centuries. This could be most helpful to our research. However, the tool has been lost since 1923 when its carrier, Sister Yalida Turkova, went missing from her hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. We have been unable to locate it since.”
The hologram blanked. Astral yawned widely, giving the miniature projector ample room to reset itself within her jaw before she closed her mouth again.
“That was pretty amazing,” I said.
Bergman snorted.
“You don’t buy it?” I asked him.
“Well, for one thing, you can’t forge bone; it’s too brittle.” Cassandra put Astral down so carefully I realized she’d thought about throwing the cat at him. Through clenched teeth she asked, “Do you mean to tell me you’re stuck on semantics when souls are at stake here?”
He shrugged. “I don’t see how it’ll help us with Ky—” She raised her hand to stop him. “Your demon,” he finished.
“I’m not the only one with a problem here,” she informed him. She jerked her head at me. I sighed.
Might as well bring Miles into the loop too. Otherwise he’d be pretty stunned when I decided to take up the bagpipes.
“Don’t freak out, okay?”
Bergman drew his knees together like I’d threatened to kick him in the crotch. Aw crap, was that the worst thing I could’ve said? Yeah, probably.
“What?” he murmured.
“I’ve… kinda got some company… mentally speaking.”
“You mean… you’re schizophrenic?” He studied me carefully. “You seem pretty pulled together about the whole thing. Shouldn’t you be more paranoid than I am? You know”—he wiggled his fingers and rolled his eyes—“watchers in the woodwork and stuff like that?”
“I’m not—Bergman, I bit a Domytr during my last mission and now his spirit has possessed me. Not completely. But, uh, he’s making some headway. So we have to figure out how to boot him before I start acting the submissive little queen he’s been jonesing for since we met.”
“Geez, Jaz, Domytr’s are badass.”
“You’ve heard of them?” I couldn’t believe it. I had a pretty thorough education, Cassandra’s knowledge put that to shame, and neither one of us had heard of Brude’s kind before he’d shoved his tats in our faces.
“Well, you know, I’m signed with groups outside the CIA.” His teeth clicked shut and his face got that lemony-squish look that told me he’d done the I-know-nothing ass-clench.
Still I tried. “Come on, Bergman. What can you tell me about Domytrs? Knowledge is power, man.”
“They used to be human.”
“I already know that.”
“Like you.”
“What… do you mean?”
“Sensitives. Saved for something better. Who knows, maybe they even rose to Raoul’s status. That’s what my clients thought anyway. That they turned traitor sometime in the afterlife. Not sure how the, uh, people I worked for came to that conclusion, but they had some pretty good sources.” Sure, that made sense. Temptation was one of evil’s most effective weapons. And Brude struck me as a greedy creep.
“Bergman, were you able to fulfill your contract?” asked Vayl. None of us had even noticed my sverhamin slip into the room, we’d been so intent on the picture show and the talk that followed. Now I couldn’t believe I’d missed him. Only the cold bite of his power lifting the hairs on the back of my neck let me know how he’d pulled it off.
“What do you mean?” For a smart guy Bergman played dumb pretty well.
“Your clients would never have given you those details unless they had hired you to build a weapon that could defeat such a creature. Did you succeed?”
Miles pulled down the brim of his cap. “Not yet.”
Vayl nodded, unsurprised. He spun his cane, making the blue jewel on its tip glitter in the lamplight. “If we can find this
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