Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

poorly."
    Rule went to Nettie. Up close, she gave off the faint, acrid scent of exhaustion. He dropped a hand on the back of her neck, using his fingers to unknot some of the tension. "Maybe because you're exhausted, drained, and scared. Cullen's not in good shape, is he?"
    Nettie leaned her head back, her eyes closing. "Do that for another hour or so. No, he isn't. He's been through open heart surgery, and that - that intrusion is still there, still affecting him. Not as strongly as it was, thank the Mother, or he'd be dead, but I have no idea what his prognosis is."
    Lily spoke with quiet urgency. "Could this be like that demon poison that kept Rule's leg from healing? Is it like that?"
    God, he hoped not. Rule kept rubbing Nettie's neck, but tension overtook his own muscles. His body hadn't been able to throw that off, and if such a poison was in Cullen's heart...
    "I don't think so." Nettie frowned, opening her eyes. "I didn't examine Rule when he was infected with that, so I can't truly compare the two. That was localized at first, though, wasn't it? This is, too, but it isn't completely preventing healing." She hesitated. "It reminds me of a Vodun curse."
    "How so?"
    Nettie lifted a hand vaguely. "The feel of it. A Vodun curse uses something from the victim's body - nail clippings, hair, or blood - to focus an ill-wishing. This has the same feel. Not identical, but similar. The spell or intrusion has Cullen's body fighting his healing magic." She sighed. "I nearly killed him before I figured that out. I kept trying to heal his body, but giving his body energy fed the ill magic, too. I had to switch to feeding his natural magic."
    Rule squeezed Nettie's nape gently. "You've emptied yourself. You need rest."
    "I won't argue with that. I plan to kick one of the residents out of the bunk they use."
    "Do you want to use my apartment instead? Or a hotel? There's a Sheraton nearby."
    She shook her head. "I can't be that far from him. At the moment, Cullen's magic is winning the fight, but the balance is... iffy. "
    "Before you go," Lily said, "could you take a minute to describe the wound? I need to know what the dimensions of the blade were, where it entered, the angle."
    "Thin blade," Nettie said promptly. "Maybe half an inch wide and extremely thin. It was inserted between the fifth and sixth ribs and angled up to enter the left ventricle - "
    "Wait, wait. Show me." Lily grabbed Rule and turned him so his back was to Nettie. "Show me where it went in, what kind of angle we're talking about."
    His eyebrows rose, but he complied. With his back to the women, he had a good view of the Parwanis, who watched in silent alarm as Nettie probed his back slightly to the left of his spine.
    "Here," she said. "The blade entered between these ribs. The angle was about like this."
    He looked over his shoulder to see her miming a thrust.
    "That looked awkward," Lily said. "Maybe our perp was shorter than you are, relative to Rule." She moved directly behind Rule and made the same thrusting motion with her fist. "Not this much shorter, though. I can't get the right angle. Rule, crouch down a bit."
    Obediently he bent his knees. The Parwanis were perturbed. The young husband said something to the matriarch. Rule heard it, but couldn't translate - Urdu wasn't one of his languages. "I can tell you that the attacker was shorter than Cullen," he said. "Nettie, are you sure the blade was only a half inch wide?"
    "It might be less. It's not more."
    Lily said, "Nettie, see if you can achieve the same angle and entry point."
    Again Nettie mimed a blow to his back.
    "Still doesn't look smooth," Lily observed. "Crouch a bit more, Rule, and let's try it again."
    He did. Nettie tapped his back again.
    "That looks right," Lily said.
    The Parwanis had had enough. The matriarch issued instructions, and the lot of them gathered their things and scurried from the room.
    "What's wrong with them?" Lily asked.
    "I believe they misunderstood." He wondered if they would summon security. "Lily, an assassin who's as tall or taller than his target would have used a different strike, coming down from about here... " He used Nettie to demonstrate. "He'd drive into the heart from above in an attempt to sever the artery as well as pierce the heart. It's a quick kill."
    "Hmm." Lily tapped her fingers on her thigh. "Nettie, you're five-eight or -nine?"
    "Five-nine in my stocking feet."
    "So you're five inches under Rule, who's two inches taller than Cullen." Lily