Chapters (50)
- Cover
- Roc Books by Jacqueline Carey
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
“You bear a weapon capable of killing the immortal undead, Daisy Johanssen,” Hel said to me in a dry tone. “If the dead rise from their graves, I suggest you use it.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Is there aught else?”
I shook my head. “No, my lady.”
“Have you aught to report on the other matter?” she asked. “The person of interest?”
“The . . . oh. The hell-spawn lawyer. No, I haven’t. There hasn’t been any sign of him, and I’ve had no luck trying to contact him.” It occurred to me that tracking down an elusive lawyer might be a good job for a computer genius like Lee. “Do you, um, want me to make it a priority?”
“No.” It was a definitive “no,” accompanied by a blazing left eye. “The Winter Nights will be upon us soon, Daisy Johanssen,” Hel said grimly. “The unleashing of this spirit has opened a gate between the world of the living and the dead in my demesne. If the dead are not laid to rest by the time your All Hallows Eve has passed, I fear the gate may never be closed.”
“I see.” Okay, so this was a more serious business than I’d realized. I cleared my throat. “I’ll make sure it’s done.”
Hel inclined her head. “That is well.”
With that, I was dismissed. Mikill began escorting me back to the dune buggy. But as we reached the big doors of the sawmill, Hel addressed me once more.
“Daisy Johanssen.”
I turned back. She had her blue eye open, and although her gaze was stern, it wasn’t disappointed. “You did well to gain the sorceress’s oath.”
That was all she said, but it was enough. I took a sharp breath, my eyes stinging a little. “Thank you, my lady. I’m sorry about the rest.”
Hel inclined her head. A mortal in this situation would have said, “Just see that it doesn’t happen again,” or something like that. Hel didn’t need to. She was a goddess. And she didn’t say I’d be stripped of my authority and dismissed as her liaison if I screwed this up a second time. Again, she didn’t need to.
That, I’d figured out myself.
Thirty-six
Although it felt like it should be the wee hours of the night when Mikill dropped me off at the cemetery to retrieve my car, it was only eleven o’clock. I drove in a slow circuit around the winding two-track, the spirit lantern nestled carefully in the front passenger seat. I was prepared to jump out of my skin if a zombie came shambling into the headlights, but everything was quiet.