Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,92

need us.” He zipped away to join Lucy.

My new cat-dragon seemed to have gone back to sleep. I set her basket on the driver’s seat and dug into one of the travel bags we’d brought from Hawthorne’s. It contained a large refillable bottle of water emblazoned with the roadhouse’s logo, several sandwiches wrapped in paper, an apple, an orange, and various snacks—some of which I recognized, and some I didn’t.

I ate a sandwich and an apple as Daisy and I watched Lucy and Malcolm investigate the wolves’ grave. Lucy’s gear bag included a camp shovel, which she used to unearth some of the remains. She and Malcolm studied what they’d uncovered, and she took pictures of the grave with her phone.

I unwrapped the other sandwich and ate it too while I waited. Despite the nausea caused by proximity to the grave, I was famished. When the sandwich was gone, I tore open a bag of chips.

Daisy nudged my shoulder. I patted her head. The growly snoring continued from the basket.

“I think I’ll have to name her Sleepy,” I told Daisy. “I wonder if she sleeps as much as a regular cat. Or maybe she sleeps as much as a regular dragon. I really have no idea what to expect from a cat-dragon. What do they eat? Will she need a litter box?”

Daisy snuffled.

“Hey, it’s a real question,” I protested. “Speaking of which, do you need to do your business? I’m not allowed in the crime scene, but I could at least stretch my legs.”

She walked to my side of the back seat and waited by the door. I took that as a yes.

I got out and opened Daisy’s door. She jumped out, gave herself a brisk shake, walked about ten feet away, and relieved herself in the grass near a large truck.

I ached all over, and my eyes burned with tiredness. Blast it, when had I gotten to the point where I couldn’t stay up for a measly thirty-six hours without feeling like death? I’d hoped the food would give me energy, but instead I just felt more hungry, and no less tired.

Maybe it was all the sitting I’d done today, stiffening up my muscles after the beating I took falling through the mirror and getting tossed around by the failed tracking spell. I walked around the jeep several times, then did some stretching even though it hurt. Daisy stayed next to me, alternating between scanning the darkness for potential threats and watching me as I tried to wake up without the benefit of coffee.

The back of my neck prickled. Since Caleb’s attack infected me with the shifter virus, my spidey senses had gotten sharper. My instincts told me someone was watching us. It might just be the people in the houses across the street, but if it wasn’t, we could be in trouble.

I rubbed the back of my neck and crouched next to Daisy. “Do you see anyone out there watching us?” I murmured.

Daisy studied our surroundings, her eyes golden and ears forward, but she seemed calm. If something was lurking around, she wasn’t aware of it. That should have made me feel better, but it didn’t.

I got up and leaned against the jeep. My thoughts went to Torryn’s pronouncement that I would have to cut the dark magic from my body. What blade or magic could do that? Magic wasn’t a tangible thing, like a tumor or bullet—even dark magic. The sorcerer Miraç had stolen my magic in a black magic ritual, but I couldn’t duplicate that feat even if I wanted to. Well, perhaps I could, if I studied the ritual, but I wouldn’t, because it required a human sacrifice. I would die a hundred horrible deaths and never consider committing that kind of atrocity.

Beyond the apparent impossibility of cutting the magic out, Sean’s suggestion the sorcerer power might be useful in killing Moses had stuck in my head. I knew better than anyone how difficult but necessary it was to kill my grandfather. If there was a way to use this blasted dark magic to get at Moses, I owed it to everyone to find out for sure before I tried to cut myself open, especially on the word of one little witch.

Finally, Lucy covered up what she and Malcolm had been looking at and re-packed her little spade. She stuck a flag in the ground to mark the spot for her colleagues, shouldered her gear bag, and headed back to the jeep, talking with Malcolm.