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The doorbell rang again and this time it was Samuel. He accepted Ashworth’s offer of a coffee, then stopped at the counter and slid a large evidence bag across to me. Inside were a variety of separately bagged personal items, from jewelry and watches to a few smaller bits of clothing, and even a toothbrush.
“I wasn’t sure what would work best, so I gathered everything I could.” He reached for a Tim Tam. “I was gloved while collecting them, so my imprint shouldn’t be on anything.”
“Excellent. Thank you.”
As I opened the larger bag and tipped them all out to examine, Samuel said, “Mrs. Marlowe, the high council wish me to pass on their disapproval of your current course of action.”
“The high council,” she replied evenly, “can disapprove all they want, because there is little else they can do. All must be present to ratify a course of action against a sitting member, and they are currently one down.”
Meaning Dad. Juli might have been Dad’s successor for the high council role, but he hadn’t yet stepped into his shoes. And it made me wonder what they would do now—name a cousin, or wait and see what sort of power Juli’s children developed as they grew up.
“Which is no doubt why your husband so unexpectedly agreed to full and complete isolation,” Samuel commented.
Mom’s smile was cool. “As has been recently noted, we’ve been playing in the power pool for a very long time now and are very aware of the currents and its dangers.”
“Hmm” was all Samuel said to that.
There was nothing useful amongst the contents of the larger bag, so I spread the rest out, then opened the psychometry gates and carefully ran my left hand over the top of them. It wasn’t until I neared the last few that I got a response.
I picked up one containing an expensive-looking gold watch. “This holds enough of his essence to track him.”
“Is it strong enough to give me an approximate location?” Samuel asked. “It might be beneficial for us all to have a team ready to hit the place the minute you’ve summoned the demon.”
“No guarantees, but I can try.”
It really depended on two things—the first being whether my psychometry had mutated to the point where a map was a viable option. The second, of course, was whether Belle needed to pull on my strength at any stage during the summoning. What we were about to attempt was very dangerous, and I didn’t need to be distracted, however briefly. It could mean the difference between Belle and her parents being safe or in deadly danger.
Ashworth glanced at the clock and then said, “We had best get moving. It’s going to take a good twenty minutes to reach our location.”
“And bring your raincoats,” Eli said. “Fifteen of those minutes will be spent in a less than pristine abandoned tunnel. It might not be raining tonight but there’s no guarantee the tunnel won’t be leaking like a sieve.”
“What’s our destination?” Samuel said, “I’ll need to notify our protection detail—”
“No, you won’t,” Ashworth said. “If the wraith is going to hit us, he’ll hit this place, not the summoning circle.”
“You can’t be sure—”
“Oh,” Ashworth said softly, “I certainly can.”
Meaning some sort of spell had been set to ensure the wraith’s attention would be drawn here rather than our summoning location.
Samuel studied the two older men for several seconds, then nodded. “I do hope you know what you’re doing.”
“This is our field of expertise, remember,” Eli said. “And I would add that in the past year, both Lizzie and Belle have gained more familiarity with demons and their foibles than you or most others here in Canberra would ever get in a lifetime.”
A smile tugged at Samuel’s lips, but he didn’t dispute the claim. “I’ll tell the team we’re headed down to the basement and under no circumstances are they to come inside.”
Eli nodded. “No demon will easily get past the protection barriers this place is laden with, so it is more likely a physical attack they’ll be faced with.”
“Do warn them our wraith has shown a liking for using undead werewolves,” I added.
Samuel made the call to his people while the four of us gathered everything we needed. When that was done, I slung one of the backpacks over my shoulders and then glanced at Mom.
“I don’t suppose you brought your spell stones along?”
“While I was not aware that a demon summoning was in the offering, I thought they might come in handy while you were attempting to track him psychically.” She paused. “My knowledge of you and your skills is shockingly light.”
“Perhaps one day we could remedy the former.”
