The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines, #3)(24)

And just like that, I suddenly understood. Veronica wasn't sacrificing victims with knives and stone altars. She was conducting some kind of perverse magic on these girls that bent the rules of nature, putting them in this hideous state. My stomach twisted, and I gripped the table for support.

"This girl was one of Veronica's victims," confirmed Ms. Terwilliger. "That's how she maintains her youth and beauty - by taking it from others. When I read this, I thought - almost hoped - some other magic user was doing it. Not that I'd wish this on anyone. Your scrying spell confirmed she was in the area, however, which means it's my responsibility to deal with her."

I dared a look down at the article again and felt that nausea well up again. The girl was nineteen. What would it be like to have the life sucked out of you at so young an age? Maybe the coma was a blessing. And how corrupt and twisted would you have to be to do that to someone?

I didn't know how exactly Ms. Terwilliger would "deal with" her sister and wasn't sure I wanted to find out. And yet, if Veronica really was doing things like this to innocents, then yes, someone like Ms. Terwilliger needed to stop her. A magical attack of this magnitude was one of the most terrible things I could imagine. It brought back all my ingrained fears about the wrongness of magic. How could I justify using it when it was capable of such horror? Old Alchemist lessons came back to me: Part of what makes the Moroi particularly dangerous is their ability to work magic. No one should be able to twist the world in that way It's wrong and can easily run out of control.

I tuned back into the present. "How do I fit into this, ma'am? I already figured out where she is. Why am I in danger?"

"Sydney," Mrs. Terwilliger said, looking at me strangely. "There are few young women out there with your abilities. Along with youth and beauty, she intends to suck someone's magic away and use it to make herself that much more powerful. You, my dear, would be the ultimate coup for her."

"She's like Strigoi," I murmured, unable to repress a shiver. Although those undead vampires could feast on anyone, they preferred Moroi because they had magic in their blood. Drinking Moroi blood made Strigoi more powerful, and a chilling thought suddenly hit me. "Practically a human vampire."

"Something like that," Ms. Terwilliger agreed. "This amulet should hide your power, even from someone as strong as her. She shouldn't be able to find you."

A calico cat jumped up on the table, and I ran a hand over her sleek fur, taking comfort in the small contact. "The fact that you keep saying 'should' makes me a little nervous. Why would she even come looking in Palm Springs? Does she know about me yet?"

"No. But she knows I'm here, and she may check on me once in a while - so I need to hide you in case she does. I'm in a bind, however, because I need to find her but can't actively do the hunting. If she finds out I'm investigating, she'll know that I know she's here. I can't alert her. If I have the element of surprise on my side, I'm more likely to stop her." She frowned. "I'm honestly surprised she would come so close to me in California at all. Regardless, I need to keep a low profile until it's time to strike."

Ms. Terwilliger looked at me meaningfully, and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I began to put together what she was saying. "You want me to hunt her."

"It's not hunting so much as gathering some data. You're the only one I can trust to do this. She and I can sense each other if we're close, no matter how much we try to hide our magic. I know this is going to sound shocking, but I actually think it'd be best if you hunted her - even if you're the one she's after. You're one of the few I can trust completely and you're resourceful enough to pull something like this off."

"But I'd be putting myself out there. You just said I'd be a big catch for her." The twists and turns here were mindboggling.

"Yes. Which is why I gave you the amulet. She won't sense your magic, and if you're cautious in your investigation, she should have no reason to notice you."

I still wasn't following the logic here. "But why me? You have a coven. If you can't do it yourself, then there must be someone else - a stronger witch - who can do it."

"Two reasons," she said. "One is that you have excellent investigative skills - more so than others older than you. You're intelligent and resourceful. The other reason . . . well, if another witch goes after her, she might very well kill Veronica."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" I didn't like violence and killing by any means, but this might be a case where it was justified, if it could save other lives. "You said you were going to 'take care of her.'"

"If I have no choice . . . if I must kill her, then I will." She looked dejected, and I had a moment of empathy. I loved my two sisters. What would I do if I was ever in a deadly conflict with one of them? Of course, it was hard to imagine Zoe or Carly committing this kind of atrocity. "However, there are other ways of neutralizing and subduing a magic user. If there's any way - any way at all - I can do that, I will. My coven sisters won't feel that way, which is why I need your help."

"I can't." I pushed the stool back and stood up, nearly stepping on a cat in the process. "There must be some other way you can do this. You know I'm already bogged down in supernatural affairs." I actually couldn't bring myself to admit the real reason I wanted to dodge this. It was about more than just risking my life. So far, all my magical interactions had been with Ms. Terwilliger. If I signed on for this, I would be plunging into the world of witches, something I'd sworn I would never do.