to have a child for years. So far, I've failed. Bozydar was the only relative I had. Now he's dead and his baby is my only family. Do you have any family, Kate?"
Now there was a loaded question. "No."
She leaned forward, her eyes wide and desperate. "This unborn baby is everything to me. I can't protect Christine. Even if I give her money and send her away, Ghastek will find her. He can be so single-minded, it's terrifying."
I finally put two and two together. "So you went to the witches." "Yes," Rowena murmured. "Yes, I did. My family has roots in that world. So I went and offered the covens anything they wanted to hide Christine."
She must've been truly desperate. "What's the price?"
Rowena looked up at me. "Three years of service. To you."
"Excuse me?"
"They bound me to you for three years. I swore a blood oath. I will do whatever you require, and I am sworn to never speak of it." She raised her hand. A fresh scar cleaved her palm. "I don't understand any of it, and if Ghastek finds out that I helped Christine or that I came here, I am dead. So." Rowena leaned on the table. "What service can I perform for you?"
I rested my elbow on the table, leaned against my hand, and exhaled. To have access to a qualified necromancer was akin to finding a case of ammo in the middle of a gunfight. Here was my chance to learn and train. I needed her desperately. Unfortunately, I trusted her about as far as I could throw her. I was strong and she was small, but it still wasn't very far.
"The problem is, I don't trust you," I said.
"I don't trust you either," she said. "But if I don't do as they say, Christine's life is forfeit."
"They actually made you swear to it."
She nodded. "She was right there. She stood right there when I swore. She heard every word. If they kill her, she will know it's because I failed."
Note to self: avoid being in debt to the witches like the plague.
"Whatever it is you want, Kate, I will do it. No matter how foul. Even if it means debasing and humiliating myself ..."
Fantastic. Who did she think I was, exactly? "I guess we will start with humiliation, move onto debasing, and perhaps do some torture for a spiffy finish." I glanced at Jezebel. "Is our Torturer in residence?"
Rowena opened her mouth, looking as if she were about to say something sharp, and must've thought better of it, because she clamped it shut.
"How accomplished are you in necromancy?"
She gathered herself. "I'm rated as Master of the Dead of the Third Caliber, Level Two, which means I can simultaneously hold three vampires and effectively pilot two at the time. I've passed all the prerequisite examinations. I rank third in finesse and fourth in power in Atlanta and seventy-first overall among the People. That rank is misleading, as when you're that high up, the differences between the ranks are minute. For example, the range of the person above me is only twenty inches longer than mine. I hold the shield of the Silver Legion. The Gold Legion is--"
"Roland's top fifty," I finished. "You had to climb the Ladder, correct?" The Ladder was Roland's way of promoting education among the People. Each step of the ladder consisted of a work on magic, necromancy, or philosophy. Some steps were books, some scrolls. Once you mastered a step, you took a test to prove your knowledge. The more steps, the higher the pay.
Rowena's eyes narrowed. "Yes, the Ladder of Knowledge. You have to complete ten to be rated as a Second Caliber Journeyman, and twenty-five to obtain the title of Master. How do you know this?"
"How many steps did you complete?"
"Eighty-nine," she said.
"And Ghastek?"
"One hundred and sixty-five." She grimaced. "The man is a machine. As I've said, Ghastek can be extremely single-minded. If you are considering using me against him, I will obey, of course, but you should understand that though I can injure him, he'll win this fight."
"When Roland made Arez, he used a ritual to purge him of loupism. The technique involves withdrawing a person's blood and purifying it. Are you familiar with it? Rowena?"
Rowena decided it would be a good time to close her mouth. "Yes."
"Tell me about it?"
"It's the same process he uses to create his Chosen," she said. "You receive a gift of his blood and power, but in return you're bound to him