"I do hope you'll forgive my being tardy," Daria said, with an affected formality. Her voice was so adult, she almost sounded British. "I meant to be here before, but my sister was eaten by a snake."
He shot a glance at the woman. That's the kind of thing we hear all the time. But the FBI agent was fixed on Daria, the pale eyes suddenly soft and friendly, the smile warm and gentle. She knelt a little to put herself at Daria's height. Daria's smile and posture kept their formality, but he saw the girl's eyes flicker.
"Can I ask you a question, Daria?" the woman said.
"But of course."
"The snake. The one that ate your sister? What color was it?"
The shock on Daria's face was startling. The false air of sophistication vanished; her eyes went round and her skin ashen. The teacher stepped forward with the sense that something dangerous had happened, but didn't know who he should protect or from what. The FBI agent's expression was soft and reassuring and maternal. Her pale eyes had the hint of a smile at the corners.
"It's okay," the woman said. "You're okay. You can tell me."
"It was shiny," Daria said. She sounded terribly young.
The woman nodded, as if the two of them had said aloud something they both already knew. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, the sound of it loud enough to carry. It was a trick, breathing like that, he thought. She's trying to keep the girl from panicking.
"Okay," the woman said. "I need to ask you something else, honey. And it's very very important that you tell me the truth, all right? It's okay. No one's going to hurt you. It's okay to tell me the truth. You understand?"
There was a pause. He could see Daria's pulse racing in the hollow of her neck. She nodded.
"Do you believe me?" the woman asked gently.
Daria nodded again. The woman reached out and took the girl's small, dark hand in both of her pale ones. Daria's breath was fast, her face bloodless. He almost spoke to break the unbearable tension in the air, but something held him back.
"These things that you're telling me," the woman said. "Have they happened yet?"
The teacher leaned forward.
"No," Daria whispered.
The woman rose to her feet, her expression closed and tight. Where a moment before she had been soft and gentle and welcoming, now she was solid and businesslike. Daria took a step backward, biting her lip as if she could take the word back.
"I have to go," the woman said.
"What-" the teacher began.
"I have to go right now."
Chapter 1
ONE
"Hey," my dead uncle said. "You've got a call."
I rolled over in bed, disoriented. A dream about meeting Leonard Cohen in a perfume factory was still about as immediate as reality. My previous day's clothes were piled in the corner of the tile floor along with the leather backpack I used as a purse. The pack's side pocket was open and glowing. My uncle Eric's voice came again.
"Hey. You've got a call."
I untangled myself from the sheets and stumbled over, promising myself for the thousandth time that I would change the ringtone. The bedroom was still unfamiliar. The cell phone flashed a number I didn't recognize, but there was a name-Karen Black- associated with it, so she must have been in his contacts list someplace. I accepted the call.
"Unh?" I grunted into the receiver.
"Eric, it's Karen. I've found it!" a woman said. "It's in New Orleans, and I know where it's going next. There's a little girl with Sight, and she says her sister is the next target. I don't know how long I've got. I need you."
It was a lot to take in. I hesitated, and the woman misinterpreted my silence.
"Okay, what's it going to take?" she demanded. "Name your price, Heller."
It was Karen Black's turn to be silent. I gave her a moment to let it sink in. I skipped the parts about how he'd been murdered by an evil wizard and how several of Eric's old friends, along with a policeman who owed me a favor and a vampire with a grudge against the same wizard, had teamed up to mete out summary roadside justice. I could get back to that later if I needed to.