of the three silver stakes, the belt they were attached to lying quiescent. The spirit inside would wake after sunset, the same spirit that hated all things Other. Whoever it had been, it had once hunted creatures of the night. Years of practice added to information collected from all who had worn it resulted in a formidable and deadly weapon, as it passed all that anger and experience on to the current wearer.
Maybe it would have some advice for me.
Chapter 26
After showering and bandaging my hand, I took what I intended to be a short nap. Instead, I ended up sleeping the remainder of the afternoon and most of the night away, and woke up to my message machine blinking. I’d slept right through someone’s trying to call me. With a groan, instead of snuggling under the covers as the rain pattering against my window urged me to do, I rolled out of bed. I had no idea what time the sun would rise. Panic drove me to move fast, hurrying to the dresser in the desperate hope that I hadn’t missed my opportunity to speak to the belt before dawn.
With shaking fingers, I pressed my hand to the coil of leather, praying the buzz of life was still in it. I was rewarded with a mental blast of impatience; I hadn’t taken it out in weeks, and it was not happy that I’d been ignoring it.
With no little trepidation, I picked the belt up and settled the side imprinted with the swirling brand of magic runes against my skin. The tongue adhered to the rest of the black leather, sealing it to me until sunrise. The voice of the spirit inside instantly berated me, and I took the lashing in silence.
‘Why have you been ignoring me? Do you have any idea how boring it is to have no one to talk to for so long? Your panties aren’t great conversationalists, I’ll have you know!’
“Hey, I never stuck you in with my underwear,” I protested, settling down on the bed. The belt didn’t want me to sit; it wanted me to move, to run, to let it feel all the glorious sensations of having a body again. It radiated eager agreement at my absent thought of making some coffee. It loved my morning staple almost as much as I did. “I need your advice.”
‘As long as you drink some coffee, I’m all ears.’
I complied, heading to the kitchen and letting all my angry thoughts return. The sensation of the belt examining and absorbing the memories of my time with the Sunstrikers this past weekend was not unlike the dainty prickle of a spider creeping along my skin. Except that this spider was crawling around inside my skull. Talk about creepy.
“Do you see?” I asked, taking a sip of java heavily medicated with cream and sugar.
After a blissful wash of pleasure, the belt spoke. ‘I’ll talk. Keep drinking.’
I did what it asked, rolling the drink over my tongue, enjoying the artifact’s reaction almost as much as my much-needed caffeine fix.
‘You have a right to be angry. Perhaps you’re starting to understand why I’ve always been so eager to rid the earth of these monsters. Now you are seeing them as they truly are.’
“They’re not all evil,” I said, obligingly quieting when it broadcast a scolding wave at me.
‘I don’t have much time before the sun rises, so let me speak. You have every right to wish a plague upon these monsters, particularly if they have made you into one of their own. I do not have the power to tell you; I’d only sense it once the disease has progressed to the point of no return. If you are one of the moon-chasers, once you turn you won’t be able to use me again. I don’t work for anything other than humans or magi. If you are serious about your desire for revenge, you’ve only got a limited amount of time to use me for that purpose.’
“Okay. Let’s say I do want to do it. Let’s say I want to use you to do something to the people who did this to me. What’s your advice?”
The belt was quiet for a long time, collecting its thoughts. It was still there; I could feel the occasional burst of emotion from it as odd reflections of my own. It could make me move when it needed to, but only when I was frozen by indecision or not carrying out a necessary action to