White Witch, Black Curse

"No. And you can't come over. I'm in my pajamas," I lied. God, I couldn't believe he had tried to use revenge to get me to do what he wanted. Thing was, last year, it might have worked.

"You are not. It's only midnight."

I leaned to look at the clock. By golly, he's right. "I took a bath," I lied again. Tired, I turned to look at my reflection in the black window. "Remus is a psychotic murderer, but Mia is a power-hungry psychotic murderer who is also an Inderlander. She thinks she owns this city, built it, even, and she's been alive longer than most undead vampires. Edden, she said if you don't back off, she's going to start picking targets according to her political agenda instead of thinning the herd. You need to slow down and think. I know people are dying, but bringing her in is going to take a lot of finesse and luck, and I'm fresh out of both."

Apart from a slow breath, there was silence on the other end. "Her threatening the FIB doesn't surprise me. It goes along with the profilers' report."

I rolled my eyes. Damned profilers' report. Upset, I put my back to the window and leaned against the sink. I am not going to do this. It is too risky. "Mia is not your average psychotic killer. She doesn't need to go to a party," I said, tired. "If she goes out at all, it will be to a private party where she already knows the victim, and the poor guy will probably die of a heart attack or choke on an olive."

He said nothing, and I blurted, "Look, I agree, we have to get her, but staking out parties isn't going to do it! You can't catch her! The I.S. can't catch her. She keeps slipping your lines because she knows the city better than you, and she's like a poisonous snake you can't get within ten feet of. You've got to get her to come in voluntarily." Frustrated, I looked at my demon books beside Ivy's maps and charts. "I've done the research, and there's nothing I can do to protect your auras from her, so short of gunning her down, you don't have a chance."

"Then we'll dart the bitch with an animal sedative," he said grimly. "Don't you guys do that with Weres?"

"No. We don't," I said tightly, thinking it was barbaric to even suggest it. "Listen to me. You cannot risk alienating this woman. Even if I do hit her with a sleepy-time potion and down her for you, in about eighteen years, you're going to have another one of these women on the street, and you won't be able to distinguish her kills from natural causes. You saw Remus. He's alive because of some stupid wish, and from watching Holly interact with him, Mia learned how to push energy into people, not just take it."

"So," the FIB officer prompted. "That sounds good to me."

"So like every good thing we can think up to make our lives better, it can be turned into a weapon. Mia goes in, makes some poor sap think she's in love with him, and because she's feeding him emotion, he believes it. His guard goes down, and he dies without a whimper or an emotional stain. Of natural causes."

"Like Glenn's friend," he said, and I picked up the bottle of wine, looking at it. No, Rachel. You'll have a migraine in the morning.

"Exactly," I said, filling the graduated cylinder right to the top. Not looking at Jenks, I drank half of it, then topped it off to get to the right mark. Who would have thought that so much trouble could come from one lousy wish? No wonder Ivy felt responsible.

Edden was silent, and I let him stew while I dropped another leaf of holly and some ivy roots into the mortar and started working them over. "I have to get this woman," he finally said. "Will you just come with me to the party?"

Frustrated, I shifted the phone to the other ear. He wasn't getting it. "Mia is not afraid of you," I said. "The only thing you have to bargain with is Holly, and that's pretty thin. The woman doesn't want The Walker to have her. If you can promise me that there will be no wards of the court, no temporary custody, and that you can keep Holly with Mia all the time, she might come in just so she can impress you with how low and scummy you are."

"I will not promise that woman anything," Edden said, his anger so deep that Jenks clattered his wings in concern. "She left my son to die. Her child is social service's problem, not mine."

Angry, I huffed, "That's right. You'll be retired by the time Holly is out on her own." Me, I'll probably be just coming into my own—if I am still alive. "Come on," I coaxed when he was silent. "Look at the bigger picture. You tell me Mia's daughter can stay with her, and maybe I can get Mia to come in as a gesture of goodwill. Everyone wins, and you look like a benevolent human being allowing a helpless woman in jail to keep her baby. She'll do her time for beating up Glenn, and then peacefully reenter society, promising to be good. You'll have a handle on her, and better yet, one on Holly."

"What about the Tilsons?" he asked, and I made a face he couldn't see. Oh yeah. I forgot about them.