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There was no other word for it.
Timothy Deerling had been standing in front of me, and then with one word, I’d turned him to ashes and bad memories. I’d done it with nothing but my hand and a mind full of ill-intention.
I could kill someone with a word.
That was a jarring thing to know about yourself. I thought about what La Sorciere had told me, that the only way to rid myself of the curse would be to put them down or let them kill me. I guess I’d learned how to put them down.
Lucas saw us emerge, and must have been surprised by the coating of grey ash over all of us. Secret and Wilder were totally silent, but Wilder kept one hand on the small of my back as we climbed the stairs. At least he wasn’t afraid to touch me.
“Where is he?” Lucas asked.
Secret shook out her hair and chunks of grit fell to the carpet. “There. There. A little over there. I think his right hand might be in my ear. I don’t even want to know what part of him will come out when I blow my nose.”
Lucas looked to me for an explanation, not quite processing Secret’s snark, You’d think he would have a snark-translator for her by now.
I mimicked something blowing up.
“You…”
“Yeah,” I said. “Not sure you want a throwback memory to the hotel, but a little like that.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah,” Wilder said. “It was something.”
“I knew you had it in you, brujita,” Santiago said from one of the pews in the front row.
“I’m so thrilled you saw my murderous potential,” I sighed.
“So much raw power. I knew you’d figure it out when you needed to.”
He was laying face down on the bench, and Lucas had wrapped a sweater around the knife wound. The hilt of the weapon was still sticking out of his back, Santiago he seemed lucid.
“We need to get you to a hospital,” I told him.
“Yes,” he agreed. “That would be very nice, thank you.”
“Turns out I didn’t need you here anyway.”
“Looks that way.”
I crouched down beside him and pressed my palm to his cheek. Santiago smiled softly and looked as if he might pass out. “Don’t you go dying on me, you idiot. I’d feel pretty bad about it,” I warned.
“Then you could just bring me back. It’d be fine.”
“Shut your stupid face.”
“Okay.”
I leaned over and pressed a kiss on his forehead. “You stick around, you annoying asshole, are you listening to me?”
“Mmhmm.” He closed his eyes, and I stayed near him long enough to make sure he was still breathing.
“We need to take him to a hospital.”
“I knew you idiots would need an ambulance.”
I stood up and saw Bryce standing at the back of the auditorium near the lobby doors. “Don’t look so surprised to see me, Genie, I told you I’d be back in forty minutes. It’s been forty-five.”
