Trail of Dead (Scarlett Bernard #2)(53)

“Is it…alive?”

“I’ve never seen one—as far as I know, no witch has created a golem since the sixteenth century. But think of it more like a windup toy. The witch builds a humanoid statue out of clay and funnels magic into it. That’s the windup. She then gives it a task, usually something simple, like ‘take this heavy box and carry it until I tell you to put it down.’”

“Just to play devil’s advocate here, how do you know that’s what this is? Aside from the bits of clay we found at the scenes?”

She shrugged. “It just fits. Clay is very heavy, and I understand the weight of the spell makes a golem heavier yet. It could easily have crushed Erin to death.” She straightened up in the seat, as if she’d just thought of something. “And in dim lighting, with a long coat and hat, it could pass for human for a few minutes. If the witch and the golem surprised Denise at her car, the golem could easily have carried her to the end of the pier and thrown her over. They’re incredibly strong.”

Jesse tried to picture it. A shadowy figure in a long coat and fedora, marching straight down the pier with a struggling woman…it didn’t fit. “The Santa Monica Pier is crawling with homeless people,” he objected. “Wouldn’t someone have noticed?”

“I told you, there are spells for taking away a few seconds of memory. Or for creating a small distraction, or helping people to sleep…”

Jesse held up a hand, a little frustrated. “Okay, okay, I believe you.” He was beginning to understand why witches made Scarlett a little uneasy. At least with the other Old World creatures, you knew what they wanted and what they could do. He wished Kirsten could just hand over trading cards with all the witches’ stats. “We operate under the conclusion that it’s a golem. But what exactly could you do if you had a golem, the Book of Mirrors, and Lilith’s amulet, all at once?”

“Oh, God.” Kirsten said. “I hadn’t even gotten that far. I have no idea; there are too many variables, and it depends a lot on what kind of witch you are…death magics,” she said suddenly, paling in the midday sun.

“What?”

“A golem to be your henchman, and possibly take the lightning strike if something goes wrong. The Transruah, which collects the energy of life.” Jesse got the feeling Kirsten wasn’t entirely aware of his presence anymore, and fought the urge to hurry her along. “With the right magics, the right specialty, you could live forever, like I said before…kill someone remotely…even bring someone back from the dead…”

“Slow down,” Jesse said, before she could speculate any further. “This is getting too big, and there’s too much we still don’t know about what Olivia and this witch are planning, or when. What do we focus on first?”

“The golem,” Kirsten said immediately. “That’s their muscle. If we could dismantle the golem right away, it would cripple them and make the witch much more hesitant to begin the Transruah spell.”

“Okay, how do we kill the golem?” Jesse asked, feeling like an idiot as the words left his mouth.

He looked across at Kirsten, who was frowning. “I’m not sure…I need to consult some texts. A golem is one of those creatures that has many different legends and stories. Most of it is folklore, some of it is truth.”

Jesse couldn’t resist. “You mean like witches?”

She smiled. “Touché.” The smile faded from her face as quickly as it came, and she gasped with a sudden realization.

“Kirsten?”

“It’s tonight,” she said solemnly, turning in her seat to face him. “Whatever Olivia and her witch are doing, it’s going to happen tonight.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the winter solstice,” she said, as if that explained everything.

“The longest night of the year, right? What does that have to do with anything?”

Kirsten gave him an incredulous look. “You don’t…the solstice is a holy night for many religions and pagan rituals. I usually have a big party for all the witches, sort of like a multi-holiday party. I canceled this year because of Denise and Erin.”

What did a canceled party have to do with the bad guys’ plan? “Does that really matter for Olivia and her partner?”

“It could,” Kirsten said, excitement in her voice. “The solstice has particular relevance for Lilith, and for the connection between life and death, though I don’t know all of the specifics. Jewish magic has never been a specialty of mine. But if I were summoning power for a big spell, using Lilith’s amulet, involving the dead, and I didn’t have a coven to back me up…yes, this is the night I’d do it.”

Jesse tried to follow this line of thought. “You’re saying it’ll make the witch even more powerful?”

“Yes,” she said simply.

“Can you narrow down the time frame any, based on those rituals?”

Kirsten chewed on her lower lip as she considered his question. “If she were worried about us finding her, she’d go a little early, like ten o’clock, to throw us off. But I’m guessing this witch wants every bit of power she can grab. She’ll cast at midnight.”

Jesse checked the dashboard clock. It was barely noon. “So we’ve got twelve hours.” He restarted the car and turned it back toward the freeway. “Does knowing it’s a golem help us find the witch who made it?” he asked.