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There was chanting now as Chas led Mirium around the circle, as she was turned by hands after hands in a playful child’s game of dizziness and disorientation. A bell rang three times.
It was Chas who knelt, speaking, then kissing the postulant’s feet, her knees, her belly just above the pubis, her breasts, then her lips.
She’d thought it would be sexual, Eve mused. But it had been more…loving than that.
“Impressions?” She murmured to Roarke.
“Charming and powerful. Religious.” He slid his hand up and covered the one that still curled around her weapon, gently tugging it away. “And harmless. Sexual, certainly, but in a very balanced and respectful sense. And yes, I see one or two people I recognize.”
“I’ll want names.”
As the rite continued, she reached up absently to rub her throat. She found the skin smooth, unbroken, and free of pain.
As she dropped her hand, Chas looked at her, met her eyes. And smiled again.
chapter sixteen
Spirit Quest wasn’t open for business when Eve arrived with Peabody. But Chas was there, waiting on the sidewalk, sipping something that steamed out of a recycle cup.
“Good morning.” The air was just chilled enough to have slapped color into his cheek. “I wonder if we could talk upstairs, in our apartment, rather than in the shop.”
“Cops bad for business?” Eve asked.
“Well, we could say that the early customers might be disconcerted. And we do open in half an hour. I assume you don’t need Isis.”
“Not at the moment.”
“I appreciate it. If you could, ah, give me just a moment.” He shot her a sheepish look. “Isis prefers not to have caffeine in the house. I’m weak,” he said, taking another sip. “She knows I sneak off every morning to feed my addiction and pretends not to. It’s foolish, but it makes us happy.”
“Take your time. You get that across the street?”
“That would be a little too close to home. And to be honest, the coffee’s filthy there. They make a decent cup down at the corner deli.” He sipped again with obvious pleasure. “I gave up cigarettes years
ago, even herbals, but I can’t quite do without a cup of coffee. Did you enjoy the ceremony last night?”
“It was interesting.” Since the morning air was sharp, she tucked her ungloved hands in her pockets. Traffic, both street and air, was beginning to thin a little with the first commuter rush passing. “Getting a little brisk to run around naked in the woods, isn’t it?”
“Yes. We probably won’t hold any more outdoor ceremonies this year. Certainly not skyclad. But Mirium had her heart set on being initiated to first-degree witch before Samhain.”
“Samhain.”
“Halloween,” he and Peabody said together. She shuffled her feet as he smiled at her. “Free-Ager,” she muttered.
“Ah, there are some basic similarities.” He finished off his coffee, stepped over to a recycling bin, and neatly slipped the cup in the slot. “You have a cold, Officer.”
“Yes, sir.” Peabody sniffled, determinedly blocked a sneeze.
“I have something that should ease that. One of our members recognized you, Lieutenant. She said she’d given you a reading lately. On the night, actually, that Alice died.”
“That’s right.”
“Cassandra is very skilled and very sweet-natured,” Chas began as he started up the steps. “She feels she should have been able to see more clearly, to tell you that Alice was in danger. She believes you are.” He paused, looked back. “She hoped that you’re still carrying the stone she gave you.”
“It’s around somewhere.”
He let out a sound that might have been a sigh. “How’s your neck?”
“Good as new.”
