Read Online No Humans Involved by Kelley Armstrong - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kelley Armstrong
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy, Thrillers, Horror, Paranormal, Occult fiction, Fantasy - General, Science Fiction And Fantasy, Psychics, Magicians, Werewolves, Romance - Paranormal, Reality Television Programs, Spiritualists, Mediums, English Canadian Novel And Short Story
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happy. But even if a Druid was performing human sacrifice, it doesn't explain damaged souls. It's the act that matters. A show of respect for the Druidic deity."
I drank more coffee. Hoped the caffeine would help my brain work faster.
"What you have are damaged souls," Lucas said. "Somehow they've been fragmented or drained, and there's no magic we know of that works that way. That doesn't mean such a thing cannot exist— simply that it defies the basic principles of sacrifice. We'll look into it further after we get through tomorrow."
"That's fine. In the meantime maybe you can steer in the right direction and I can run with it. Paige has the council records, right? I can search those, see whether I find anything similar."
"You could, but they're, uh, on a disk, which is… somewhere in this mess. I decided they'd be more secure here than at home. I'll find it for you after tomorrow, though."
"Oh. Well… is there someone I can speak to, then? A contact in dark magic?"
Lucas shook his head. "One needs to be careful with this sort of thing. Expressing excessive interest in dark magic can be extremely dangerous. You should leave this to us."
Even when I showed up on their doorstep, I couldn't get anywhere. Just give us the details, Jaime, and let us do the work. I argued for a while, but it was clear they weren't giving me anything that could get me into any trouble.
SAVANNAH CALLED me a cab, then stepped outside to wait with me. "So, you need to talk to someone about dark magic."
"Eavesdropping?"
"Beats working. I might be able to help."
"Oh? What would you—" I stopped. "Your mom, of course."
"Nah, Mom didn't teach me that sort of stuff. Nothing darker than a chaos spell—and even then, only to protect myself. She kept that part of her life separate."
"I should have guessed that."
"Doesn't mean she was ashamed of it. It's just not the kind of stuff she'd talk about around her kid. But I know someone who will talk about it." She took out a BlackBerry. "A dark witch my mom knew. She tracked me down last year, saying she wanted to talk, share some stories about Mom."
"That was nice of her."
Savannah gave me a look. "You think I bought that shit? She just wanted to make contact with Eve Levine's daughter before her competition did. That's one thing my mom did teach me. Someone like that always wants something."
"So you didn't meet with her."
She smiled. "Never said that. The corollary lesson from Mom? People like this might want something from me, but I can use that— turn it around and get something from them." She glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. "We've been in e-mail contact, and met a couple of times. She's useful. Paige and Lucas can't get information from someone like this. But me? I just pull some 'confused teenager' bullshit and she's putty in my hands. She'd tell me anything in hopes of winning Eve Levine's daughter as an ally. An idiot, but a useful idiot."
The look in her eyes chilled me.
"So, yeah, I've used her," Savannah continued. "Just to get stuff for Paige and Lucas. Without them knowing, of course. If they found out I was even talking to someone like this, they'd shit bricks… then use them to wall me up in my room for life."
"In that case, I'd better not wave your name around to get access to this woman."
Savannah hesitated. "You're right. But you can use Mom's. Tell Molly you'll grant her an exclusive audience with Eve Levine and she'll give you anything you want."
I shook my head. "Not without asking your mom first, and she's out of contact right now."
"Huh." Savannah fingered her BlackBerry, toying with it as she thought. Then she smiled. "Molly's boyfriend died last winter. Half-demon. They'd lived together for years and when I saw her this sum-mer, she was still really broken up. Let's say you offer to put her in touch with him…"
I hesitated.
"You can offer to try . She'll still have some of his belongings and can even take you to his grave, so that
I drank more coffee. Hoped the caffeine would help my brain work faster.
"What you have are damaged souls," Lucas said. "Somehow they've been fragmented or drained, and there's no magic we know of that works that way. That doesn't mean such a thing cannot exist— simply that it defies the basic principles of sacrifice. We'll look into it further after we get through tomorrow."
"That's fine. In the meantime maybe you can steer in the right direction and I can run with it. Paige has the council records, right? I can search those, see whether I find anything similar."
"You could, but they're, uh, on a disk, which is… somewhere in this mess. I decided they'd be more secure here than at home. I'll find it for you after tomorrow, though."
"Oh. Well… is there someone I can speak to, then? A contact in dark magic?"
Lucas shook his head. "One needs to be careful with this sort of thing. Expressing excessive interest in dark magic can be extremely dangerous. You should leave this to us."
Even when I showed up on their doorstep, I couldn't get anywhere. Just give us the details, Jaime, and let us do the work. I argued for a while, but it was clear they weren't giving me anything that could get me into any trouble.
SAVANNAH CALLED me a cab, then stepped outside to wait with me. "So, you need to talk to someone about dark magic."
"Eavesdropping?"
"Beats working. I might be able to help."
"Oh? What would you—" I stopped. "Your mom, of course."
"Nah, Mom didn't teach me that sort of stuff. Nothing darker than a chaos spell—and even then, only to protect myself. She kept that part of her life separate."
"I should have guessed that."
"Doesn't mean she was ashamed of it. It's just not the kind of stuff she'd talk about around her kid. But I know someone who will talk about it." She took out a BlackBerry. "A dark witch my mom knew. She tracked me down last year, saying she wanted to talk, share some stories about Mom."
"That was nice of her."
Savannah gave me a look. "You think I bought that shit? She just wanted to make contact with Eve Levine's daughter before her competition did. That's one thing my mom did teach me. Someone like that always wants something."
"So you didn't meet with her."
She smiled. "Never said that. The corollary lesson from Mom? People like this might want something from me, but I can use that— turn it around and get something from them." She glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. "We've been in e-mail contact, and met a couple of times. She's useful. Paige and Lucas can't get information from someone like this. But me? I just pull some 'confused teenager' bullshit and she's putty in my hands. She'd tell me anything in hopes of winning Eve Levine's daughter as an ally. An idiot, but a useful idiot."
The look in her eyes chilled me.
"So, yeah, I've used her," Savannah continued. "Just to get stuff for Paige and Lucas. Without them knowing, of course. If they found out I was even talking to someone like this, they'd shit bricks… then use them to wall me up in my room for life."
"In that case, I'd better not wave your name around to get access to this woman."
Savannah hesitated. "You're right. But you can use Mom's. Tell Molly you'll grant her an exclusive audience with Eve Levine and she'll give you anything you want."
I shook my head. "Not without asking your mom first, and she's out of contact right now."
"Huh." Savannah fingered her BlackBerry, toying with it as she thought. Then she smiled. "Molly's boyfriend died last winter. Half-demon. They'd lived together for years and when I saw her this sum-mer, she was still really broken up. Let's say you offer to put her in touch with him…"
I hesitated.
"You can offer to try . She'll still have some of his belongings and can even take you to his grave, so that
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