Persephone Alcmedi 00 - Wicked Circle

wolves hunted and killed only to eat.
    Since meeting Toni, most of the factors that affected both sides of his nature had been quiet. With the exception of the moments in the den parking garage with Aury and Gregor, he’d felt more in control of himself than he had in days. But in the garage, it had been lust and anger—both very much human territory—that had sought to rule him. Even at the church, it had been his anger and fear that had made him aggressive.
    So, emotion could numb him. Could damn near immobilize the bestial side of him, if he was able to be vigilant with his feelings. His emotions could buoy him above the wolf in all the ways that man was meant to be more than an animal, like courage and compassion, and in none of the ways that man’s superiority became man’s shortcoming, like rage and greed.
    It was just after ten o’clock when they picked up I-81 north at Syracuse.
    Toni awoke. They agreed on a burger joint for a food and facilities break, then were back on the road. Johnny kept the speedometer at seventy-five.
    “What’s he like?” Johnny asked.
    Toni smiled. “He’s all boy. He can’t sit still. His mind is on anything but his schoolwork. He climbs everything. He catches frogs and digs up worms. He’s full of energy and he’s . . . he’s just vibrant!”
    Johnny realized he was smiling.
    “He’s got a mouth on him, though. I should be tougher on him than I have been, but . . . he lost his mother. I lost my daughter. Spoiling him helped us both get through it.”
    “Does he remember her?”
    “Oh, yes. There’s a picture of her beside his bed and he . . .” Her voice thickened, cracked. “He kisses Mommy good night every night.”
    Johnny didn’t have to see her tears to know she was crying.
    “Where is he now?”
    “With some family friends. I’ll call them in the morning and go get him.” She resituated herself in the seat. “I was thinking, once we get to Saranac Lake, I’ll show you where the house is and you can drop me off. I’m sorry, but I don’t have a guest room. I don’t even have a couch, just a short love seat—”
    “I don’t mind staying at a hotel.”
    She sighed gratefully. “Thank you.”
    “No, Toni. Thank you.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

    I studied the necklace dangling from Liyliy’s fist. It was a reasonable guess that since she wanted it gone, it represented either some danger to her, prohibited her from something, or had some power over her. Testing my theories, I reached my bound hands up to accept the necklace.
    She lurched away, then tromped angrily around me, saying, “You will not touch it!”
    It has some power over her.
    Liyliy was kicking granules of salt all over me. I rolled to my back, blinked repeatedly and shielded my face to try and keep it out of my eyes. “How am I supposed to destroy it without touching it?” I demanded.
    “Destroy? I did not say destroy!” She kicked me in the shoulder and I rolled, screaming in pain. Staring down at me, she growled, “I said unmake.”
    Panting, I laid my head on the mound and concentrated on getting this salt-flavored air in and out of my lungs. Correction, that thing must provide the bearer some control over her. Thinking back, I recalled that when I’d accepted the scroll from the advisor Mero, I had glimpsed something around his neck; I’d wondered then if he’d been wearing a magical amulet or pendant.
    Aha.
    So she needed the Lustrata to unmake the necklace.
    “I trust you know the difference.”
    “I do,” I said. Simply destroying a magical item could either break whatever spell it housed or seal it, depending on the item. The stake I’d burned in my hearth— just over six weeks ago! —had been made of wood and blood and mud. The spellwork attached had not been able to hold onto ash. As the wood had been consumed, the magic had evaporated, released in fiery transmutation.
    Magic in metal was not so easy. Metal didn’t transmute when superheated; it could become molten, but it was still metal and the spell wouldn’t release. Unmaking a necklace of what appeared to be gold would be no small feat.
    Or maybe the spell wasn’t attached to the metal.
    The pouch would burn, but I was betting the important stuff was within. If it had stones, crushing them would seal the magic in place. A major counter-spell would then be required to undo the magic—with no guarantee of success, let alone permanence. “I have to know what I’m dealing with. Are there stones inside