Lupi 08 - Death Magic

nerve endings are coming back online.”
    Lily glanced at Rule, who shook his head. “He needs to shut up and rest.”
    “I need,” Cullen said, his voice faint but adamant, “to see that damn grimoire.”
    “Does this have something to do with the dagger?”
    Blue eyes popped open. “That’s mostly Vodun work. I’ve got the reference I need for that. But there’s something else.”
    She waited. When he didn’t continue, she prodded. “What?”
    “Don’t know. It looks almost like elf work, though.”
    “Elf? As in Rethna?”
    “I’m probably wrong. I need to see that grimoire.” His eyes closed again.
    “We’ll work on that,” Lily said. “You called it a bomb. You didn’t see any magic involved?”
    “No. Purely physical stuff.”
    “Okay. Did you see or smell anything I need to know before things went boom?”
    “Two projectiles, one right after the other. First one broke the window. Second one lit everything on fire. Lots of nasty smoke. Smelled . . . sweet, for a second. Then nasty. Uh . . . like garlic, matches, and smog. Don’t know what else. I was busy.”
    A raspy baritone called from the other side of the wall. “Agent Yu! Ms. O’Shaunessy’s here.”
    The baritone belonged to the police sergeant who was handling crowd control. Lily shoved to her feet. If only she wasn’t so tired . . . tired of trying to do unofficially what she should be investigating with the full force of the Bureau. Tired of keeping secrets from her boss, from everyone. Tired of people she cared about being attacked, hurt, killed. Tired of clandestine organizations and war—God! The war had barely begun and she was so sick of it! Sick as hell, too, of mantles—stupid damn mantles that did what some stupid damn Old One wanted them to do, and never mind who got used up in the process and what that did to Rule.
    Anger smoldered in her at that last thought. It gave her the energy to head for the stupid damn wall.
    “Hey, Sherry,” she called as she drew near the earthen rampart. “Do you have what you’ll need for contacting it?”
    “Except for what only Fagin can provide, yes. I understand that’s on its way.”
    “Should be.”
    “Emily and Kirk are with me. Emily’s a strong Earth-Gifted. Kirk’s Earth Gift is minor, but he’s very skilled. They’ll be handling the contact under my supervision.”
    “Why—oh. Right.” Sherry’s Gift was Water. “The elemental isn’t crazy about water.”
    “I should never have been the one to deal with it in the first place,” Sherry said grimly. “Hubris and stupidity are a bad combination. Can you climb over the wall? Rule said Cullen’s out of commission, but I have some questions you might be able to help with. It would be better if I didn’t have to shout them where prying microphones might hear.”
    “Uh, the ward can’t affect me, but if the elemental decided to drop me in a pit and fling big rocks at me—well, my Gift doesn’t stop rocks.”
    “Of course. Sorry. I’m shook up,” Sherry admitted. “I can’t believe I missed how big this one is.”
    “Cullen missed it, too. He says most of it was asleep, and they—earth elementals—don’t sleep in our realm.”
    “He’s sure of that?” she called, her voice sharp.
    “Cullen’s always sure. He isn’t always right, but he’s always sure.”
    Sherry’s mutter was barely audible with all that dirt separating them. “He’s right a disagreeable amount of the time.”
    Lily had to grin. “We’d better talk over the phone,” she said, and took hers out. As soon as Sherry answered she went on, “I’m not sure what help I can be. Mostly I can only repeat what Cullen told me before . . .” She caught a glimpse of movement and turned. “Or maybe you can ask him your questions after all. Looks like the stubborn son of a bitch has talked Rule into bringing him over here for some reason. You’ll still need to talk to him by phone so he doesn’t have to raise his voice.” She paused. “I have some questions, too.”
    “I do need to talk to Cullen, but if you can make your questions quick, go ahead.”
    “You said you might have to negotiate a separate agreement to get us out of here. Why’s that?”
    Sherry’s voice was dry. “That’s not a quick question—or not one I can answer quickly. Basically, all I can do is remind the elemental of its agreement with Fagin, using his blood. The problem is that the agreement uses words, but earth elementals are