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“Gee, I love you too.” I took a sip of the coffee, burning my tongue and nearly dropping the cup.
She plopped down in the overstuffed chair across from me, dug a muffin out of a paper bag, and handed it to me. “I heard you were in the botanical gardens last night.”
I peeled the lining paper off the muffin, giving it my full attention. “And where did you hear that?”
“Tom Helmsworth stopped by my house this morning to have a chat.”
My gaze jerked up to meet hers.
Claire watched me for several seconds and when I didn’t answer, she continued. “He said it wasn’t the first time.”
I took a bite. “He’s watching me.”
“Why?”
“He knows that all those deaths are connected to me.”
Her eyebrows rose. “He thinks you killed those people?”
“No, but he heard me shouting to Okeus and Ahone, and he’s studied the symbols on my door. I’m pretty sure he knows something’s up.”
“How does he know about the symbols?”
“He says he’s part Lumbee. He asked his great uncle.”
Claire shook her head. “It doesn’t mean hereallyknows anything. How could he?”
I ran my hand through my dirty hair and looked up at her. “My dreams are getting worse.”
“What did you see?”
“When Tom brought me home, I heard a call come over the radio. The dispatcher said a mutilated dog had been found. I don’t think it was the first one.” I groaned. “I mean, I know hundreds of animals have already died—in fact, it’s a wonder there are any left—but this time, they’ve been tortured.”
“What does it have to do with your dreams?”
“Last night, the creature in my dreams ripped a dog apart in front of me.”
The color drained from her face; then she sat back in the chair and tucked her feet underneath her. “Maybe it was the power of suggestion, Ellie. It could have just been a dream.”
I shook my head. “No, this was real. And the thing talked to me. It told me that I had to make a decision soon, that Okeus was coming for me.”
“You’re okay as long as you have the symbols on the door, right?”
“For now, sure. But the spirits are growing stronger. Soon they’ll be strong enough to show themselves in the daylight. I’m no closer to finding Ahone’s symbol for my back. What am I supposed to do?”
Her eyes widened in fear. “I don’t know.”
I crossed my legs and leaned forward. “I’m not going to sit here and wait for them to come and get me, Claire. I need to learn how to protect myself. And I have to figure out how to protect everyone else too. Sure, it’s dogs now, but it won’t be long before the spirits move on to people.”
“How are you going to do that? We’ve looked at every resource we can find, both at the library and online. Are you going to visit the Lumbees or something?”
Pressing my lips together, I considered my options. I needed an expert who knew more about Native American spirits than anyone else. Someone who’d studied these religions in depth. Then an idea struck—one so perfect I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. I grabbed my laptop and searched for universities that offered Native American studies. “If you want an expert, who else knows more than a professor teaching the subject, right?”
Claire considered it. “You might be on to something there. What are you going to do?”
It looked like the closest university with a strong program was the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Digging into the faculty page, I pointed to the screen. “Here, Dr. David Preston. He’s the head of the American Studies Department and it says he’s an expert on North Carolinian Indians. That means he might have the information I need, right?”
She looked doubtful. “I guess…”
