“That leaves…”
At the same time they glanced out Morgaine’s door and said, “Gwyneth.”
Morgaine left her apartment, marched across the hall, and banged on Gwyneth’s door. A moment later, Gwyneth opened it and said, “What’s got you upset now? Did they cancel American Idol?”
Morgaine jammed her fists on her hips. “Did you buzz someone in tonight? Someone you didn’t know?”
Gwyneth paused before she answered. “You mean the guy who came to see Jules about the vacant apartment?”
“Oh no! Gwyneth, that was no potential renter. You let in Sly’s maker, and he’s still after him. Sly wants nothing to do with him.”
Gwyneth gasped and put both hands over her mouth. “Well, snap my Granny’s garters! I let in a vampire?”
“Yes, and now we have to find a way to reseal the building and keep him out. Or, more specifically,youdo.”
“Look, I had no idea he was a vampire…anyone could have done—”
“I’m not blaming you, cousin. It’s just more apt to work if the one who invited him in reseals the door.”
“Oh, all right. I’ll do whatever I need to. Just tell me what that is.”
Morgaine let out a deep breath. “I was hoping you’d say that. I think you’re going to have to make a trip to Salem.”
“Salem? Nuts. That’s an hour bus ride, and…” She looked at Sly’s face and didn’t finish her sentence. “Of course I’ll go. What do we need that we don’t have here?”
“We need the Cabot witches.”
Gwyneth had called the shop Laurie Cabot, the powerful Salem witch, used to own and was granted a personal consultation with the new owner. Thank the Goddess Sly’s confrontation with his maker happened several days after Samhain and this new woman had time to see her. She’d head to the bus station early the next day, but meanwhile she and Morgaine had to do a locator spell to find Sly’s maker—and later they’d devise a way to get rid of the slippery bastard—for good.
“It will have to be during the day, so we’ll have the advantage,” Morgaine said.
“I can do the astral projection thing you taught me to get inside and figure out what his lair is like afore we go bustin’ in.”
“That’s a good idea. But first we have to find it. Hopefully he’s there now and I’ll astral project tomorrow when he won’t see me.”
“It’s a good thing you can travel by astral projection. Otherwise you’d never see nothin’ but the apartments and hallways of this here buildin’ due to that agra…angora…well, hell. That thing what makes you afraid of going outside.”
Morgaine didn’t want to respond to that. “I’ll grab my map and compass.”
“I have mine right here…”
“No, I’ll need to cleanse the tools after we expose them to evil energy. It’s better if we use mine.”
“How do y’all know he’s evil?”
“Well, he sounds like a psychopath at the very least—the way he didn’t care if Sly’s wife and baby died. That’s evil enough for me.”
“Yeah. Now that you mention it…”
Gwyneth waited for Morgaine to gather the items for the locator spell, then followed her down to Sly’s apartment.
“Sly said he knocked on his door,” Morgaine thought out loud. “So right outside his apartment we should find the largest concentration of the evil vampire’s energy.”
“Better warn him that we’re out here. Y’all don’t want to spook him. For all we know, he’s got a loaded shotgun full of silver buckshot on the other side of that door.”
Morgaine chuckled. “I doubt it.”
“Iwould.”
