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They looked up, and all of them waved. I stood there, smiling, leaning against the side of the trailer—which was going back to the rental agency today—and soaked up the sight of my men. Even Roz—though he was just a friend—all of them were family.
Waving for them to come in, I turned and headed back to the kitchen. I wanted to tell them my news, but it would be easier when everybody was gathered inside. And it wasn’t like I could run out in the next five minutes, find Gulakah, and gate him over to the Netherworld where we could…garrote him or whatever it was going to take to kill him. I forced myself to sit at the table while Hanna set a plate of waffles and bacon in front of me.
As I started to eat, caught up in my thoughts, I realized that Delilah, Iris, and Vanzir were all being oversolicitous. After about the third “How are you feeling?” I pushed back my plate and set down my fork.
“I’m not eating another bite until you tell me why you’re all being so nice. I’m not sick, so what gives? It’s not like I don’t appreciate your concern—because I do—but I’d like to know what the hell is going on.”
Iris and Hanna glanced at each other, then at Delilah, who blushed.
“I thought, with Leethe’s death, you might be…”
“Yeah, right. That.” I slowly went back to my waffle. “Leethe’s death hit me hard. But there’s nothing I can do about it. It was an accident. I’ve got to be focused for tonight, so I need to not dwell on it. I asked Father to send her family our condolences. By the way, Father…he said that he loves us and misses us. All of us.”
Delilah gave me a sharp look. “He said that?”
“Yeah, he did.”
“He never says—”
“Well, last night he did. Seriously, he was one second shy of crying. I think Leethe’s accident affected him a lot more than it did even me. She’s been looking after him since he first took Mother home to Otherworld. He said he thinks about us every day.”
Before she could make a big deal about it, and more for my sake than anybody else’s, I said, “Iris, can you gather everyone in here? I need to tell you something that relates to tonight.”
Iris gave me an odd look. “I’ll fetch them.”
“Good.” I attacked my waffle.
“I still don’t like it,” Delilah said. “You’re going in there alone, Camille. What if something happens? It won’t be like we’ll be right there to help you out. We’re going to keep close, of course. And I know you talked to the guys about it and somehow, you got them to agree. But close isn’t the same thing as there.”
Vanzir came wandering into the kitchen, where he straddled the chair next to me. “She’s right, babe. It’s a dangerous game you’re playing. With dangerous playmates. As we saw with the eggs, Gulakah’s followers are bewitched, ready to give up their lives at his command. They’ll do anything he asks, and that includes killing. Are you sure you want to take the chance?”
“There really isn’t a choice, is there?” I caught his gaze and held it.
Vanzir tilted his head to the side, a knowing look on his face. He reached out and, with his finger lightly tipping up my chin, nodded. “There’s always a choice. It just depends on what you choose to do.”
“True,” I said slowly. “But I’m not willing to take the safe route when I have such a good chance to find out some much-needed information.” And with that, I finished my breakfast as the others drifted in.
“What gives, wife?” Morio asked.
I pushed back my plate, really wanting another waffle. “Hanna, can you bring me another?” To the others, I said, “Okay, here’s the thing.”
As I finished telling them about my vision and the gate spell, the phone rang, and Shade went to answer it. “So, Pentangle told me we can kill Gulakah, but we need to do it in the land of the dead. The Netherworld.”
“Even the gods can die,” Smoky murmured. “She seems intent that we have to kill Gulakah and not just dispatch him.”
“Yes, she does. I don’t like it, but the more I think about it, the more I think she’s right. If we just send him packing, he’ll be back. We can’t banish him—we don’t have the power for that. Nor can we trap his soul.”
Delilah didn’t look too happy about the news. “Why does Pentangle think we can kill him easier in the Netherworld?”
“Because of the silver cord. Because without severing that cord, Gulakah still has access to all of his power. And we can only sever it in the Netherworld. No, the question isn’t why, but how we do it.”
“I can help with that.” Shade looked troubled, coming into the room. “I just got off the phone with Carter.” Before we could ask, he said, “Carter did some research for us. Here’s a little more information. Any attacks on Gulakah here are useless. They may disempower him briefly, but he can’t be harmed on this plane. So Pentangle is right—we have to do it in the Netherworld.”
Delilah frowned. “So we have to find out where he’s hiding, and then Camille slaps her hand on him and gates him to the Netherworld with her? And after that, we just mosey up and kill him? How the hell are we going to do that?”
Shade cleared his throat. “Carter says he’s pretty sure that a spell will work on him—a spell that you, Morio, might be able to cast, with Camille’s help.”
Morio paled. “I know what you’re talking about, and I’ve never tried to cast it, though I know the procedure. It’s dangerous.”
