Wayne slid behind the wheel. I’d given him the keys after I drove over from Jamie’s. Holding this much magic had made me twitchy.

  We headed west, but not exactly to Crazy Coins. Given that CJ had interacted with us twice on that side of the trees, we were heading for a park on the east side. It closed after dark, and hopefully he wouldn’t be expecting an ambush from this direction.

  The drive was silent. Personally, I kept going through the spell to make sure I wouldn’t forget part of it when it was time. On my fifth repetition, Wayne drove through the propped open gate and found a parking spot. He shut off the car, and the particular quiet that came with night pressed against the windows.

  My necromancy flexed, brushing against the rest of my magic. Along the road, I could feel a dead raccoon. Recently dead, too. Closing my eyes, I pushed my necromancy back to where it belonged. It had done its part and gotten us the information we needed to make this plan. Now was a time for magic... and a bit of wind.

  Wayne exhaled slowly. “Got it. The wind is blowing through the trees and then the park. We should be downwind of CJ while we’re working.”

  “Good.” I opened the door and climbed out. The temperature had dropped a few degrees from last night, and my breath clouded the air.

  I took the cloth out of the backpack, clipped the fanny pack of salt around my hips, and checked my wand for the ninth time before joining Wayne on the grass.

  “You’re up.”

  Under the glow of headlights, I drew my wand and pulled up a small strand of magic. Holding the sheet in my left hand, I started to cast. “Nazid e en ansu.”

  The sheet floated up and started to unfold. I kept the flow of power steady as it spread out to its full size and oriented itself so the seam holding in the salt was pointed at the ground. Satisfied with the position, I nudged it into motion.

  A single light was perched up on a pole overlooking the grass. On the side closest to us, where the light started to fade back to darkness, I stopped the sheet of spells. With a flick of my wand, it rose up until it was hovering fifteen feet off the ground.

  “Done.” With the spell in place, we moved to part two of the plan.

  Wayne popped the trunk, hefted out a haunch of beef, and carted it across the grass. He lined it up with the middle of the sheet and dumped it on the ground.

  If we’d been hunting a rational creature, I would’ve said it wouldn’t take the bait. A hunk of cow sitting in the crass was a clear trap, but as hungry as the slew of spells were making CJ, he wasn’t rational.

  Wayne returned to the car, stripped off his gloves, and dumped them in the trash bag before getting a giant dollop of hand sanitizer. Even my nose picked up the sharp alcohol. Hopefully, it would fade fast enough that there wouldn’t be any chance of CJ scenting it.

  Wand in hand, I did one more spell, enhancing the scent of the meat and encouraging it to spread into the woods. Even with the wind going the wrong way, the scent would reach the trees. Though, if we stuck to the plan, Wayne would adjust the wind in a few minutes.

  He closed the trunk and flipped off the car lights. I clicked on my flashlight.

  “This way.” Be it a macho man thing, an ex-military thing, or a sylph thing, Wayne didn’t use his flashlight.

  At the moment, this was my least favorite part. Depending on how the rest of the night went, I’d reevaluate.

  Wayne led me over to a row of over-sized trash and recycling bins. I picked out the least grimy bit of pavement and got comfortable. The flashlight went into my fanny pack for later. The wind sifted, pushing escaped hair across my face.

  Minutes ticked by. Wayne had told me not to move too much. I eased off the rock digging into my butt. Deer stands were more comfortable.

  On the bright side, the cold kept the trash from stinking too much.

  That bright side seemed significantly dimmer after an hour. Department-issue jackets weren’t really meant for this weather, and the cold was starting to seep through my gloves.

  A cloud drifted across the moon. Two hours ago, my eyes wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Now it looked like someone had turned off the sun. The streetlight by the trap didn’t illuminate much.

  The wind stilled. I hadn’t thought Harris would let that happen. Doing my best not to move, I scanned the park. When my eyes couldn’t spot anything, I switched my vision for magic. At the edge of the woods, a knot of blood magic that could only be CJ crouched.

  Magic sight was good, but it couldn’t give me body language. I did my best to breathe lightly. A minute later, CJ took a few steps toward the meat.

  The wind shifted, blowing against the plastic bins and putting us down wind of the werewolf.

  CJ halted, and I had to remind myself to breathe as I waited for him to move. Seconds ticked by before he crept a little closer.

  I adjusted my grip on my wand.

  CJ took off, moving so fast he was nothing more than a blur. He closed in on the meat, and I leaned around the trash bin to get a clear view. Magic pressed against me, ready to be released from its confines.

  The meat vanished.

  Scrambling to my feet, I pointed at a patch of ground in front of him. “Orzu.” The ground softened.

  CJ veered around the soft earth like he knew it was there.

  “Narzel!” I took my eyes off him long enough to look for Wayne. The only things near me were the bins. Without any idea where he’d gone, I found the werewolf again. If I couldn’t get him to go through the soft earth, maybe I could herd him with it.

  Picking a spot between him and the woods, I repeated the spell. “Orzu.”

  As expected, CJ angled away from the spelled area.

  With my wand focused on another spot, I started to cast. “Or—”

  CJ toppled back, losing his grip on the meat. He came to his feet crouched and snarling. A faint shape squared off against him.

  “Nazid!” Thank the earth casting was part intent, because I could hardly see the meat. The spell pulled it into the air as CJ lunged for the outline I presumed was Wayne. Taking advantage of the distraction, I levitated the meat back to the circle. It touched down, and this time, it would stay. “Obala.”

  If CJ wanted to snack, he’d have to do it in the circle.

  From here, it was hard to tell how the fight was going. Ignoring Wayne’s warning, I crept forward, trying to stay in shadows. If I’d paid better attention back in school, maybe I’d remember how a werewolf’s sight worked and could pick the best hiding place.

  In another faster-than-the-eye-could-track motion, CJ pivoted and ran for the meat.

  Afraid to blink, I kept my eyes on him as he moved. Even before he crossed into the circle, I had the spell ready. My wand all but vibrated in my hand.

  CJ ran out of the spell area before I could cast it. A chunk was missing from the haunch, but CJ hadn’t slowed down to feed or wrestle with it. I needed a better way to capture him long enough to get the spell going.

  Wane intercepted him and started driving him back toward the circle, but getting him to go back for a third try wouldn’t be easy. CJ continued to avoid the soft ground, but Wayne traveled over it without slowing.

  There had to be a better plan. Until I could think of one, I started softening more of the ground, leaving a clear path into the circle.

  My necromancy pulsed.

  Oh, it was a bad idea. The worst of all worst ideas. And if I’d had a better one, I wouldn’t have done it. Pushing the magic back inside my skin, I let the shield around my necromancy down so it could flood through me. My wand drifted until it pointed in the direction of the dead raccoon. “Eair Deyr.”

  The raccoon scrambled to its feet. It hopped in my direction on three legs.

  Backing my orders with necromancy, I directed the raccoon to wait in the shadows by the circle. It would know the time to act.

  The soft ground that had scared CJ and that he was currently trying to escape while Harris blocked his exit hardly slowed the raccoon. With soft ground, weight mattered.

  “Are you ready?” Wayne’s voice whispered in my ear, carried by a twist of air.

  “Yes!” It would work. It had to.

  Wayne tackled CJ. The two of them rolled across the ground. As soon as the werewolf realized the earth was solid under him, he pushed to his feet and started to run. This time, he kept to the narrow path that led back to the circle.

  “Ready.” The command shivered with necromancy.

  The gap between CJ and the circle narrowed.

  I shoved my necromancy to the side and let my magic flow into my wand.

  As CJ took the last step that would put him in the circle, the raccoon darted forward. CJ’s foot caught, and he toppled to the ground.

  “Purisaz! Sowil en kannu! Alkaz!”

  The seam holding the salt opened up, letting it fall to the ground in a perfect circle. The magic flowed through the runes, letting them mold and shape the power, focusing it into a barrier the werewolf couldn’t cross and activating the purification spell.

  Eyes locked on CJ as he twitched and grunted, I fed more power to the spell. It used every bit of power I could give it to burn through the blood magic that had fused itself to every cell in CJ’s body.

  The blood magic went into overdrive, pulling more energy from CJ. He got to his feet, though I doubted CJ was making the decisions, and lunged for the barrier. A sharp crack sounded, and CJ was blown back into the center of the spell.

  Gritting my teeth at the pain of channeling this much magic this quickly, I added more power to the spell. A blackened swirl of magic lifted off of him. The purification was working. If I could hold it a bit longer, he’d be himself again.

  “Kelsey!” Wayne yelled.

  I ignored him. He should have known better. I’d told him this spell couldn’t be interrupted.

  “Kelsey, behind you!”

  Surprise had me reducing the flow of power to the spell and turning. A fist filled my vision before pain exploded on the side of my face.

  “You filthy witch. You ruined my career!”

  The chill of the asphalt seeped through my clothing. I opened my eyes, but it was all a blur.

  My ears though, they worked just fine. I turned enough to get my eyes to cooperate. Yup, that was Floyd standing over me. “No, you did that all on your own,” I said.

  Floyd’s face twisted into an ugly and hate-filled sneer. “You and your spells caused all of this.” He pulled his foot back.

  Nothing prepared me for that kick, right to my gut. I lost track of the spells on CJ.

  Floyd pulled his foot back again.

  Not able to speak, I willed a wall of magic between us.

  His foot hit the wall, and he cursed.

  One arm supporting my battered middle, I hissed with pain as I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Wayne should’ve been here by now, unless something was wrong.

  CJ. I fumbled for the magic as I scooted around. The spell was faltering. I tried to reestablish the connection, but it hadn’t been set up for me to drop it and return. Without me, it was failing, in no small part because CJ was beating against one section, slowly breaking it down.

  Wayne stood on the other side of the spell from CJ, one hand out. CJ slid back from the spell.

  I felt the wall separating Floyd from me shudder as he hit it again.

  Ignoring him, I fumbled for the purification spell. When I grabbed it, I rammed my magic into the spell. In a shower of sparks anyone could see, I reconnected to the purification spell. I poured power into it. The purification kicked into high gear, pulling more blood magic from CJ. He dropped to the ground again, and this time the corruption continued to pour off of him.

  “I should’ve done this before.” A gun slide chambering a round followed his words.

  Wayne jerked as if he heard it too, but even the wind wasn’t fast enough to save me.

  Floyd waited until I turned, and he smiled a terrible smile.

  I did the only thing I knew to do. “Ingwaz fehu kannu.” Mother Earth, let this work.

  “Kelsey!” The very wind screamed.

  The muzzle flashed.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The bullet hit the wall of magic, harder than iron, and as indestructible as the wind.

  Floyd’s eyes widened. “No.” He fired again.

  Ears ringing from the shots, I pushed myself to my feet, wand pointed at Floyd’s heart. “Algiz.”

  Magical ropes pulled Floyd’s arms to his side. He dropped the gun as he struggled with them, but he was human, and the ropes weren’t something he could escape that easily. The more he struggled, the more ropes I added, until he was tussled up like a mummy.

  A gust of wind knocked him to the ground and solidified into Wayne. Three heavy punches later, Floyd was unconscious. Wayne knocked his head into the ground one more time and got to his feet, disgust evident in his face. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “Not that—” The spell around CJ tugged at me. I fed it more power, but even with everything Jamie had given me, I was running low. The evening plan hadn’t included my former boss trying to murder me.

  The air around CJ shone with pure, golden light. Not a trace of the blood magic or any of the other spells remained. Dampening my magical vision, a human form solidified inside the spell. Not the between creature CJ had been trapped as, but a completely human body. I stopped the flow of power into the spell and dispersed everything but the spell holding him in place.

  “Kelsey, can you look at me?”

  “Hmm? Yes.” I turned away from CJ, lightheaded from the magic output.

  Harris reached for me but hesitated. His shirt and pants were torn and slightly bloody. “How badly are you injured?”

  My ears ached, as did my gut. The rest of me would be one big bruise in the morning. “I’ll be fine.” I switched my vision and checked him over. The charm had worked, and he was free of any blood magic. Good. One less thing that needed a spell.

  “Can you take down the wall of magic?”

  “Oh, sure.” With a flick of my wand, the spell shattered, a trickle of magic coming back to me and the rest going into the earth.

  Wayne looked me over from head to toe and nodded. “How long will the ropes on Floyd last?”

  “A few hours.”

  “Can you let me through the spell around CJ so I can cuff him?”

  “I’d have to take the spell down completely.”

  He thought for a moment. “Can you maintain it a little longer?”

  “Sure.” It had the power it needed and wouldn’t drain more from me unless it needed to last past dawn.

  While he carefully guided me around Floyd and the evidence littering the ground, I realized I wasn’t processing well. The emotions I should’ve felt were gone. I was empty inside, and if nothing else, there should’ve been fear.

  Wayne found more flashlights in the car and handed one to me.

  “Shouldn’t we be calling this in?” Distantly, I knew that was the right thing to do.

  “Yes, but we have a TBI problem. I told Smith and the chain of command what we were doing. They notified locals. Between the TBI and the local police, someone told Floyd, but how did he get here?”

  “He didn’t fly.”

  Wayne nodded. “Exactly. Where’s his car?”

  When we’d come in, the road had split, part of it heading in this direction and the rest going to the other part of the park. We hadn’t searched it because we were trying to be stealthy. Nothing like going through an entire park and forcing people to leave to cause a ruckus that could’ve scared away CJ.

  “And we’re doing this search on foot?”

  “Do you want to call this in without finding his car?”

  “No, but...” I sighed. “Fine, but it’s your ass if things go wrong here or when the case is reviewed.”

  “Fine. Do you still have your gun?” He asked.

  My fingers brushed the butt of my gun. “Yup. I should’ve used it before.”

  “You survived. That’s the important part.” He started walking.

  I took two jogging steps and dropped to a walk. He had a good point, but Smith might not feel the same way when he reviewed my actions.

  Thinking increasingly unkind thoughts about Floyd, I swept my flashlight across the road. We followed the split and found a parking lot not too far down. Its sole occupant: a car with Nashville Police in big letters on the side.

  I traded my wand for my gun.

  Wayne motioned for me to stop, then pointed to himself and the car.

  Signaling my agreement, I got into place to back him up.

  He approached the car without making a sound, not even kicking a stray rock. Maybe it was military training, or maybe he floated as only a sylph could. In one quick motion, he pulled the door open.

  The interior light came on. An officer sat in the driver’s seat with his head leaning oddly. It took a moment for my brain to catch up. It wasn’t a shadow across his neck, but a deep slice. His front was covered in a dark wash of blood.

  Wayne checked the back seat and closed the car.

  We both stood there for a moment. I holstered my gun. Today we’d been trying to save lives, including those of our fellow law enforcement officers.

  “Not our fault,” Wayne said.

  I shivered. “Maybe not, but it was done to get to me.”

  “And for this, Floyd will see the inside of President Eldrin’s gut.”

  “It doesn’t seem like enough. It doesn’t seem like justice.” I shivered again.

  “It never does.” Wayne sounded tired. “Come on. We have to call this in, and you’re going into shock.”

  “Am no—” My next shiver interrupted my words.

  Wane gently turned me away from the car and started us back to Floyd and CJ. From there, he was a marvel of efficiency. I took down the spell around CJ, who was out cold. After cuffing him, Wayne carried him into the back seat of our car.

  Floyd, well, I adjusted the spells so Wayne could add cuffs in addition to the magical bindings. Under the flashlight, his nose was at an angle, no doubt a token from Wayne’s fists. We left him on the pavement.