speech so I could give that lout a piece of my mind. But just then a minivan veered onto the Street and skidded to a stop near the ambulance. A gray-haired woman in a denim dress and a teenage boy in a Blue Jackets hockey jersey jumped out of the van. The woman smelled like chocolate and cherries, and the boy smelled of goaty sweat and peanut butter. He lagged behind, looking scared, but the woman hurried up to the men.
“What are you doing to her?” the woman demanded.
“We’re taking her to Riverside Hospital,” Cold replied smoothly.
“No you’re not. That ambulance is empty. You don’t even have a stretcher. Who are you?”
The first man frowned and made a small motion with his fingers; I recognized it as a common memory-wipe spell.
The woman countered it effortlessly with a wave of her hand. “Tell me who you are, or I’m calling the governing circle!”
“We are the governing circle, ma’am. Benedict Jordan wants this girl brought in for questioning—”
“Questioning? Look at her, she’s nearly dead!”
“This is none of your concern—”
“It is very much my concern! I’m her master’s proxy, and I’m a licensed healer. I hereby invoke my rights and I’m taking her with me! You two can just.. . just shove on back to whatever hole you crawled out of!” Her voice was shrill with fear, but she wasn’t backing down.
Cold stepped toward her, then stopped, looking irritated and baffled. “Mr. Jordan won’t be happy about this.”
“He can be unhappy as he wants to be, but he’s not so much as talking to this girl on the phone until she’s out of danger.”
“You’re the witch with the foster kids, right?” Cold said, eyeing the teenager. “You should really think about what might happen to your kids if you weren’t around to take care of them.”
“Get out of here!”
“Suit yourself.” Cold shrugged, and then smiled as if he’d suddenly realized that this annoying interruption in his assignment meant he’d get off work early that night. He gestured for his assistant to follow him back to the ambulance.
Once the men were gone, the woman quickly cast a stasis spell on Jessie. The bleeding instantly stopped, thank Goddess, but I decided it was prudent to stay right where I was on her chest, just in case her heart started to fail.
“Jimmy, please help me put her in the car,” the woman said, picking up Jessie’s cell phone. She closed it and slipped it into a pocket of her dress.
“Yes, Mother Karen,” the boy replied.
Karen looked at me curiously as she and the boy pulled off Jessie’s bandolier and then carefully lifted her body. “I didn’t know Jessica had a familiar. Are you new?”
I nodded.
“Good thing you were around tonight, little fellow. I didn’t realize what you were trying to do until after I hung up, but . . . well, I got here. Just in time, it looks like.”
Karen and Jimmy laid my mistress across the backseat of the minivan. Karen looked down at Jessie’s burned face and bitten-off arm and shook her head.
“What on Earth did you get yourself into tonight, Jessica?”
chapter five
Palimpsest: Virtus
I stayed curled on Jessie’s chest as Karen drove north on High Street. Under the stasis spell, the girl’s heartbeat bad slowed to maybe ten beats a minute, and her blood oozed through her veins like syrup.
“Jimmy, please cast that stealth charm of yours on the car.”
“But you said I wasn’t supposed to—” the boy began.
“I said you were not to use it for racing your friends on the freeway,” Karen said sharply. “This is different. We need to hurry.”
“Okay.” The boy closed his eyes and began to recite a Japanese racing charm.
The car shimmered around us, then went translucently blue.
Mother Karen stomped down on the accelerator. We sped up the street at ninety miles per hour, zipping right through slower vehicles. I caught quick glimpses of the interiors of tall vans and SUVs as we passed through them, the
“What are you doing to her?” the woman demanded.
“We’re taking her to Riverside Hospital,” Cold replied smoothly.
“No you’re not. That ambulance is empty. You don’t even have a stretcher. Who are you?”
The first man frowned and made a small motion with his fingers; I recognized it as a common memory-wipe spell.
The woman countered it effortlessly with a wave of her hand. “Tell me who you are, or I’m calling the governing circle!”
“We are the governing circle, ma’am. Benedict Jordan wants this girl brought in for questioning—”
“Questioning? Look at her, she’s nearly dead!”
“This is none of your concern—”
“It is very much my concern! I’m her master’s proxy, and I’m a licensed healer. I hereby invoke my rights and I’m taking her with me! You two can just.. . just shove on back to whatever hole you crawled out of!” Her voice was shrill with fear, but she wasn’t backing down.
Cold stepped toward her, then stopped, looking irritated and baffled. “Mr. Jordan won’t be happy about this.”
“He can be unhappy as he wants to be, but he’s not so much as talking to this girl on the phone until she’s out of danger.”
“You’re the witch with the foster kids, right?” Cold said, eyeing the teenager. “You should really think about what might happen to your kids if you weren’t around to take care of them.”
“Get out of here!”
“Suit yourself.” Cold shrugged, and then smiled as if he’d suddenly realized that this annoying interruption in his assignment meant he’d get off work early that night. He gestured for his assistant to follow him back to the ambulance.
Once the men were gone, the woman quickly cast a stasis spell on Jessie. The bleeding instantly stopped, thank Goddess, but I decided it was prudent to stay right where I was on her chest, just in case her heart started to fail.
“Jimmy, please help me put her in the car,” the woman said, picking up Jessie’s cell phone. She closed it and slipped it into a pocket of her dress.
“Yes, Mother Karen,” the boy replied.
Karen looked at me curiously as she and the boy pulled off Jessie’s bandolier and then carefully lifted her body. “I didn’t know Jessica had a familiar. Are you new?”
I nodded.
“Good thing you were around tonight, little fellow. I didn’t realize what you were trying to do until after I hung up, but . . . well, I got here. Just in time, it looks like.”
Karen and Jimmy laid my mistress across the backseat of the minivan. Karen looked down at Jessie’s burned face and bitten-off arm and shook her head.
“What on Earth did you get yourself into tonight, Jessica?”
chapter five
Palimpsest: Virtus
I stayed curled on Jessie’s chest as Karen drove north on High Street. Under the stasis spell, the girl’s heartbeat bad slowed to maybe ten beats a minute, and her blood oozed through her veins like syrup.
“Jimmy, please cast that stealth charm of yours on the car.”
“But you said I wasn’t supposed to—” the boy began.
“I said you were not to use it for racing your friends on the freeway,” Karen said sharply. “This is different. We need to hurry.”
“Okay.” The boy closed his eyes and began to recite a Japanese racing charm.
The car shimmered around us, then went translucently blue.
Mother Karen stomped down on the accelerator. We sped up the street at ninety miles per hour, zipping right through slower vehicles. I caught quick glimpses of the interiors of tall vans and SUVs as we passed through them, the
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