Esus’s voice had lost its orator boom and settled into an odd blend of Scottish and American idiom—the speech of an ancient spirit who liked to keep up with the times.
Jaime eased up beside us. “So you’re a…”
“A druid deity,” I said. “Esus, god of woodland and water.”
“I like the witch,” Esus said. “I’ll talk to the witch.”
“And we’ll talk to Everett Weber,” Lucas said.
“No, you willnae. I gave you a chance to speak to Everett and what did you do? Nearly got the poor bastard shot by a bunch of Cabal cowboys. But did I interfere? Nae. I stood down and let my acolyte be taken into custody, because I trusted you to get him out of there.” The corpse threw up its hands. “But, och, he’s out of there now. After he’s dead!”
“That’s true.” I sidled as close to the reanimated corpse as I dared. “But, being all-knowing, you also know that wasn’t our fault. We did our best with the information we had.”
Esus’s sigh blew bits of withered flesh out the corpse’s torn neck. “I know. But I still cannae let you talk to Everett. He’s a wee bit traumatized right now, being suddenly dead and all.”
“Understandable,” I said. “But we really do need to speak to him, and now is the best time.”
“Nae can do, lassie. Ask all you want, but I’m nae changing my mind. Of course, whatever Everett knows, I know, so you could ask me. It’ll cost you, thocht.”
“Nuh-uh,” Jaime said. “No deals with the devil. I’ve learned my lesson on that one.”
The corpse glowered at her. “I am nae the devil. Or a demon. Or some skittering spook. I am…” Esus crossed his arms. “A god.”
“Very well, then,” Lucas said. “What would you like?”
“What do you think I’d like? What do all gods like? Sacrifice, of course.”
“I’ll give up booze for a week,” Jaime said.
“Ha-ha. You could use a wee bit of that humor in your show. Far too much of that touchy-feely stuff for me. A good corpse joke now and then would liven things up. As a druid god, I demand true sacrifice. Human sacrifice.” He looked at Lucas. “You’d do.”
“I’m sure I would. No human sacrifices.”
“A goat, then. I’ll take a goat.”
Jaime looked around. “Would you settle for a gator?”
“No live sacrifices,” Lucas said. “Of any kind. In return for clear and comprehensible answers to our questions, I will offer you a half-pint of blood.”
“Yours?”
“Of course.”
Esus pursed his lips. “A full pint.”
“Half before and half after.”
“Agreed.”
Esus dictated instructions for setting up the sacrificial circle. Then I helped Lucas draw the blood. Not for the squeamish. I’d put in plenty of volunteer hours at blood donor clinics, but our methods that night were, shall we say, a tad more primitive, involving a penknife and a bra. As a tourniquet, there’s no better suited item of clothing, nor one that is less likely to be missed. And if it got bloodstained, well, I never turn down an opportunity to freshen my lingerie wardrobe.
Once the blood was drawn, I untied the makeshift tourniquet and repositioned it over the wound. Lucas held his arm up to slow the flow, then turned to Esus.
“Sufficient?” Lucas said.
“Red silk,” Esus said. “Bonny. Dare I assume there are matching panties?” His gaze slid down me, grin turning to a leer, which, considering he was in the shriveled corpse of an old woman, was less than flattering. “Maybe I asked for the wrong sacrifice.”
“Sorry, no virgins here,” I said.
“Ne’er been that keen on virgins myself. And I’ll take red silk over white lace any day. Tell you what, dump sorcerer-laddie here, and you and I—”
Lucas cleared his throat. “What can you tell us about the killer?”
“Afraid of a wee competition, señor?”
Lucas raked a pointed look over Esus’s current corporeal form. “No, not really.”
“Och, I’ll find a better body, of course.” Esus turned to me. “Blond or brunette?”
“I kinda like what I’ve got,” I said. “Sorry.”
“Oh, I can do that, too. Dinnae see the attraction, but—”
“We had a deal,” Lucas said. “Now, we found records of Cabal children on Everett’s computer and a program that selected potential victims. What we want to know is—”
“Who bought the data,” Esus said. He closed his eyes and intoned a low hum, dragging the note out for a few seconds. “That which you seek can be found in a land inhabited by neither the dead nor the ever-living. Like you, yet nae like you.