Tempt the Stars

tried to sneak up on him.”
    That sounded like Tony.
    “We managed to reverse much of the damage, but it requires upkeep to maintain. And more now,” he said dryly, pulling down a couple of brightly colored pottery mugs.
    “Then the potions . . ”
    “Were fertilizer, yes.”
    “Some fertilizer!”
    He frowned and slopped water in a teapot that matched the mugs. “It functions perfectly well in the correct amount. Maybe next time you should take a moment to find out what you’re attacking!”
    “We didn’t attack anything,” I said, remembered fear sharpening my voice. “Why did you tell it to target us? You had to have recognized me!”
    “I wasn’t there,” he said, setting the teapot down on a tray, harder than necessary.
    “Then you’re telling me that creature did all that on its own?”
    “That’s the point of a homunculus—it has a will of its own. Too much sometimes.” He shot a look at Daisy.
    “I was just trying to trap you,” she told me, looking sheepish.
    “That was . . . wait.” I took the mug I was offered, because my throat was full of cookie crumbs, and I could barely talk. But as soon as I gulped down some truly scalding tea, I put it down. “That was
you
?”
    “Well, it wasn’t me,” the colonel said. “A good soldier knows when to act, and when to ask for instructions!”
    “Too bad I’m not a soldier,” Daisy huffed.
    “As you continually demonstrate.”
    “And I wasn’t expecting you,” she told me, ignoring him. “I was just doing a little pruning, tidying up and such, and then the alarms went off and practically scared me to—well, not death, but you know what I—”
    “You lost your head!” the colonel accused.
    “I don’t have a head, old man, and neither do you!” she said snippily. “And I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody, just to hold them until I could find out who they were. But then those horrid vampires arrived and blew me up. And by the time I came back here and got my other body and got back out there—”
    “We were there, remember?” the colonel demanded.
    “Then stop blaming me,” she huffed.
    “But you’re a
ghost
,” I said, stating the obvious. “And ghosts can’t move things. Well, maybe a piece of paper, or a paper clip. But nothing like . . ” I gestured at the metal suit she was wearing, which was more intricate than the Tin Man outfit, almost like an old-fashioned diving suit. “No way you’re lifting that.”
    “Well, no, of course not,” she agreed. “I’m only directing it, dear.”
    “Then how—”
    “Can we discuss why you’re here?” Roger broke in.
    “No,” I said, and not just because I needed to stall until my mother joined the party. I’d thought I knew everything about ghosts, but this was a new one. “Are you telling me you just . . . made them new bodies?”
    “I like to think of it as a whole body prosthesis,” the colonel said.
    I looked from him to Roger. “You—how does that work? Because I don’t—”
    He made an irritated sound. “Does it matter? It was an experiment, one that never quite panned out. But that’s not—”
    “What kind of experiment?” I looked around at the ungainly creatures. I could see a bit of Big Red outside, through a window by the door. Maybe because it was even larger than the green one and took up too much room, so had to be left in the drive like the family car. Only there was no such thing as a car for a ghost. “Who
does
this?”
    “The Black Circle,” Pritkin said harshly, from behind us.

Chapter Ten
    Pritkin’s voice was strong, but it looked like that was the only thing that was. He needed an arm underneath himself in order to sit up, and it was trembling slightly. Bruises had blossomed all along his rib cage, he had a good start on a black eye, and his skin tone was a grayish white that I didn’t like at all. But he didn’t appear to be interested in his health. He appeared to be interested in my father.
    “You’re Roger Palmer,” he said flatly.
    It wasn’t a question. He’d had plenty of time to figure out who we were visiting, and no one had ever accused Pritkin of being slow. Including to anger, judging by his expression.
    “Does he always state the obvious?” Roger asked me, pushing a fall of limp blond hair out of his face.
    I didn’t answer. I was too busy tensing up. I wasn’t sure what happened when high-ranking light and dark mages met each other, but I didn’t think it was likely to be fun. Even