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In case it’s escaped your notice, neither of us are exactly powerful.
Perhaps not, but one of you commands the power of this land and the other can be a vessel through which I can move and act.
A chill went through me. No, Belle—
Let’s not discount anything until we know more. To the spirit, she added, Meaning what? Now is not the time to speak in riddles.
The Empusae are aware of my presence. I have not been able to trace them since I bound and drowned the younger—
Which suggests, Belle cut in, they might have simply left.
They have not.
How can you be so sure? Belle’s grip tightened on mine as she spoke, and strength began to flow from me to her. It was little more than a trickle, but the longer this went, the more help she’d need. Communicating with spirits didn’t normally drain her so quickly, but this was
a very different type of spirit to the ones we usually dealt with.
Because it ends here. I have foreseen it.
Have you also foreseen how that end will be achieved?
First you must trap and restrain them. Then you must stab them through the heart with blessed silver.
Which explained the needle Monty and I had found in the shifter’s body. It hadn’t been used to pin her to the owl form—it had been the means by which her soul had been evicted from her flesh.
And have you any ideas how we’re going to trap them, given we can’t even find them?
Most Empusae cannot be active during the day. They tend to hide in deep forest, in places well-protected from sunlight.
Why then was the one you killed in a cottage rather than a cave with the others?
She was foolish, as I said. But the Empusae do not roost together, only hunt. It is a means of ensuring the line goes on if one is caught.
That suggests the younger are the offspring of the elder.
They are. Many spirits are capable of reproduction, even if the means is very different to that of humans.
The breeding habit of demonic spirits was not something I wanted to think about. Ever.
This entire reservation is littered with mines, which gives them ample places in which to hide, Belle said. It’d be helpful if you could provide a little more information about their roosting habits.
Belle’s pull on my strength grew; we’d have to end this soon before it became dangerous.
You will not find them in mines, unless they are the type that goes horizontally rather than vertically into the ground. They are not comfortable in deep earth, our spirit said. And their roosts have a distinct aroma—one that is a combination of rotting meat and sickly perfume.
Which was exactly what I’d smelled in the tree cave where we’d found the second lot of feathers—and that meant we needed to go back there and place a trap rather than just an alert.
And if we do find and trap them? Belle asked. What then? What exactly do you want of me?
You may kill the remaining younger creature, but I wish to inhabit your body while you stab the elder through the heart. I want to feel her blood pulse over my fingers. I want to watch as the light dies in her eyes and the realization of oblivion claims her. Only then can I rest in peace.
Belle’s inner shudder once again echoed through me. Allowing a spirit to claim his or her flesh is something every spirit talker is warned against.
I guarantee, on my eternal soul, that I will not overstay or seek to claim what is not mine.
Your eternal soul was damned the minute you forsook moving on in favor of vengeance.
The White Lady’s form shimmered, and her agitation sung through the air.
