Eli followed me from the SUV, our feet silent on the sidewalk, our shadows long and diffuse in the light of the moon that appeared to be falling off the edge of the world. The magics of the first full-moon night were more muted now, many witch circles closed after the witching hour, others just closing down as dawn approached. There was a strange smell on the air, like burned hair and hide and odd chemicals, but it was old and faint, and I couldn’t place it. When we were close enough to be heard without raising our voices, I said, “Hey, Eli. How come I think our little experiment is gonna be way more dangerous than they expected?”
“Maybe because they look like death warmed over themselves,” he said. “What’s up, guys?”
Soul examined me. It was a way more intense examination than I’d ever gotten from her before, and it made me feel the way I used to when a schoolteacher suspected that I had done something wrong in class behind her back. I’d learned to stare back, mostly expressionless, a little curious and a lot bored—a look teenagers master early—and I used it on her now. She gave me a small, unamused smile. “Are you willing to risk death to possibly help your friend, who may not be inside?”
I thought about that, tucking my thumbs into my leathers, fingers hanging down as I came to a stop at the small group. “No. But I’m willing to risk it for her daughter. I promised Charly I’d get her mother back.”
Rick growled at that stupidity. Bruiser chuckled. Soul’s expression didn’t change, but I felt the tingle of magics as something happened to her or in the air around her. Her dress wafted and swirled before settling again. “I can’t make a magic that will survive a fall through a hedge that strong. I tried. The charm failed.” More softly, Soul said, “But I am a magic that will survive it.”
I looked over the guys, estimating their weight and Soul’s, and put two and two together, hoping I wasn’t coming up with four. “Sooo, I’m guessing that you want me to carry you on a zip line to the middle of the house, hoping that your magics will protect us from the magical seepage at the top of the hedge, and then drop us both through. And I’m guessing that it’s got to be us, because the boys weigh too much.”
“Yes,” she said, watching me like I was an interesting experiment.
“The pitch of the roof is steep,” Bruiser said. “When you land, you risk tumbling off the house. Once you are stabilized, you have to catch Soul. Then shift into your cat, or, even better, a big snake, slither down a chimney, and figure out how to turn off the ward so we can come inside. All without disturbing whatever biological deterrents are waiting inside.”
“Biological deterrents?” Eli asked. “Like the spidey vamps we’ve been killing?”
“Soul says there are at least four undead guardians inside,” Rick said, his voice less growly now that the night was nearly gone. “One in every room. The witch magics are so strong, she can’t pinpoint the location of any of them. If you shift on your fall through the opening to the hedge, you might die. If you slide off the roof when you land, you will die. If you can’t get inside through the chimneys and get stuck up there, you might die. And if you can’t fight off the things inside, you might die.”
“We don’t want you dead,” Bruiser said.
“And yet you’ve strung the line,” I mused.
“Because we had hoped that Soul and I could do the job. Or Soul and Rick.”
I placed the odd smell and started laughing. I couldn’t help it. And it only got worse when I saw the sour look on Rick’s and Bruiser’s faces and the confusion on Eli’s. Soul didn’t react, but her very nonreaction was funny. “How bad did you get burned when you tried it?” I asked them.
“I was unharmed,” Soul said, “and was able to heal the wounds of the others.”
“But I bet it hurt. Didn’t it? Still trying to protect the little woman?” I said, less kindly, shooting my anger at the two men.
“I refuse to apologize,” Bruiser said.
“We were afraid you’d shift when you hit the ward’s energies,” Rick said. “We’re still afraid you’ll shift. And if you do, you’ll probably die.”
It was interesting to see the two men on the same side of an argument for once. Even more interesting to see Rick siding with any male this close to the full moon. “Only one way to find out,” I said.
I began to divest myself of weapons and put them into a go-bag I had brought for that very purpose. I hadn’t been able to sleep back at the house, but had spent the time sitting with Eli in the breakfast room, him binging on coffee, me binging on strong tea, brainstorming, coming up with a plan, talking through the equipment we might need and gathering it all up. I’d have felt better if Eli had brought a shoulder-held rocket launcher, but he didn’t have one handy. That was his reply when I mentioned it. I was relatively certain that meant he had one somewhere. My partner was scary. In a totally cool, macho, U.S. Ranger kinda way.
“Eli, you want to tell them what we have planned?” I asked.
“I’ll plant explosive devices at every corner of the building, right up against the ward. Jane and Soul will move over the opening, shielded by the dead-thing charm on Soul. If Jane shifts, Soul will open the harness and let Jane’s cat fall through the opening. Then drop her clothes. Then drop her weapons. The cat will snag everything with her claws, prop them in the cleft of the roof and chimney, jump up on the chimney, and look down to see if the chimneys are open passageways or sealed, which they could be. If they are open, Jane will gauge the size, shift back to human, and eat to restore her energies, and catch you as you drop.”
He looked at Soul. “If she doesn’t shift, she’ll catch her equipment and you, when you fall through the ward opening.”
“And then?” Bruiser asked.
“Then I’ll drop an explosive device or three into the chimney,” I said, “and Soul and I will hide on the far side of the roof. Eli will set off the devices at the corners of the building to attract the attention of the guardians, and three seconds later, I’ll set off the ones in the chimney. Hopefully it will blow a hole in the roof big enough for me to get through, and disrupt the ward long enough for Soul to get you guys through the opening and onto the roof. While she’s doing that, I’ll drop inside, and you guys will follow as fast as you can. If we time it right, the sun will be rising and will scorch some bad guys. We’ll kill us some guardians and save the witches. And hopefully find out where the leaders of the Naturaleza are.”
Bruiser smiled that quirky smile I liked so much. Rick snarled. Soul tilted her head, considering. “It might work,” she said. “I can make my clothing part of my death charm and extend a scarf, so that as you fall, the charm will extend with you. However, I put the chances of us all surviving at forty percent. The chances of us escaping unscathed at less than twenty percent. Are these acceptable to you all?”
“I put them much higher,” Eli said. We shared a smile. Eli was really, really good at setting explosives. And he’d brought enough to do the job.
I just hoped he had calculated the necessary explosives with the age and construction condition of the old building and didn’t blow it up around me. “Yeah. I think we’re looking at a seventy percent chance of survival.” To Bruiser, I said, “I saw a fire escape on the back of that building,” I pointed to the one on the right. “That the best way up?” At his nod, I said, “Meet you on the roof, Soul.”