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Even before the men agreed, I knew they would. Why not? In return for a few minutes' forbearance, I offered the possibility of a miracle. Who could refuse that?
Are you nuts? my brain screamed. Have you forgotten the minor fact that you can't do this without your equipment?
But I could try. At the very least, I'd stall them for a while. Maybe Hope would wake. Or Jeremy would find my trail.
And if that's all I hoped to do, that's all I'd accomplish. Forget stalling. My only option--the only one I'd accept--was success.
Just yesterday, raising Rachel Skye, I'd theorized that the power lay not with the instruments, but within me. If I truly believed that, then it was time to put it to the test. Under the worst possible circumstances, but maybe that was just what I needed. Last year, in Toronto with the werewolves, I'd controlled zombies raised by someone else--a feat I'd said was impossible. But when I saw Elena's life at stake, I'd found the will and the power to do it.
Now there was another life at stake. Mine. And, for once, I was going to be the one to save it.
I closed my eyes and recited the incantation to call the dead back to their nearby bodies. In my mind, I pictured the ritual setup, envisioned myself kneeling before the symbols.
When the chant was finished, I didn't open my eyes to see whether it worked. Didn't even take a breath. Just repeated it. Then repeated it. Then--
"Oh, my God."
The reaction I'd been waiting for. I looked up to see the bat still perched there, motionless. But on an adjacent shelf, the crow's wing twitched.
"It's a trick," Tina sneered. "Even I can do that--like making a pencil levitate."
"Rawr!"
The crow had managed to push itself upright. Its head wobbled, as if its neck was broken. It threw back its head and let out another strangled caw.
"Mother of God," one of the men breathed.
Even Tina stared. Then she wheeled on me. "It's a trick. Somehow--"
A dog yipped. The terrier. Its head whipped from side to side, ears flapping, eyes wild as it tried to stand on legs it no longer had. I fought the urge to release it, sent up a silent apology, and started the invocation again.
The dog convulsed and twisted, its cries turned shrill with panic. On the adjoining shelf, the crow flapped its wings, its head still lolling, beak snapping.
A shriek. Four sets of eyes turned to see a raccoon dragging itself toward the edge...
"Oh, God, no," someone said. "Not that. It isn't--"
The raccoon toppled from the shelf as one of the men dove out of the way. It hit with a bone-crunching thud. For a moment, I blinked, certain I'd misidentified the creature. It was too small to be a--
The beast pulled itself onto its front legs, and I realized it was indeed a raccoon. Half of one. The rear quarters had been removed and a plastic shield had been affixed to the severed end, like an anatomy display.
The raccoon gnashed its teeth and rolled back onto its torso, claws waving as it struggled to get up. Above it, the dog twisted, snapping and snarling, frenzied now.
"Oh, God, what have you done?" one of the men breathed.
"Why, I've brought the dead back to life. I've performed a miracle."
The raccoon fell forward and started pulling itself along on its front legs. It snarled at Tina. When she fell back with a scream, it advanced on Don. He backpedaled out of the way.
"M-miracle?" Don said. "Th-this is an abomination. Stop it right now."
"Stop?" I smiled. "I'm just getting started."
I looked across their faces. In their terror, I saw my true power. The darkest power. The greatest power.
I closed my eyes and shouted the invocation, calling the dead back to their bodies. Someone yelled for Don to cast the weakening spell. Fingers wrapped around my arm. As I yanked away, my attacker reeled backward, grip loosening.
A black blur flashed over his head. The crow, swooping. Then another blur and a high-pitched shriek a
