The Price Guide to the Occult(46)

Gage and Charlie jumped out of the back of the truck. “You three should wait for us here,” Gage said, pointing at Savvy, Grayson, and Reed.

Savvy opened her mouth to protest, but Nor quickly cut her off. “He’s right,” she said lightly. “You should just stay put. We won’t be long.” Hopefully.

“But I have this,” Reed said, holding up a high-beam flashlight he’d dug out of the debris on the truck floor. “I imagine the Witching Hour can be pretty creepy in the dark.” He was teasing her, but when he saw the look on her face, he changed his tone. “Okay,” he said somberly, handing her the flashlight. “I’ll have Grayson park the truck in front of Willowbark. We’ll be there if you need us.”

Nor nodded. She glanced over at the stairs and saw a red smear on the handrail. She suspected that when all this was over, none of them would be able to stop associating her with pain. Including herself.

The plants in the front garden bristled as Charlie, Nor, and Gage walked by. The blossoms of a quince bush snapped and hissed. A hawthorn tree, its naked limbs covered in treacherous-looking thorns, loomed menacingly over the staircase. The once-purple blooms of a French lavender bush looked like the husks of dead bees.

“You said you had a bad feeling?” Gage said. “How bad?”

“Pretty bad,” Nor whispered.

Gage nodded thoughtfully. “Got it.”

Charlie unzipped her sweatshirt and took out a rolled leather bundle she had secured to her chest. Nor watched in awe as Charlie unfurled the bundle, revealing six gleaming knives of various shapes and sizes.

“Do you always carry an arsenal with you?” Nor asked.

Charlie adjusted a serrated blade tucked in her boot. “It’s a precaution.”

They climbed the stairs. Though the rain had washed some of them away, bloody footprints led down the steps. Nor’s heart beat wildly as Gage opened the door.

The dark purple walls seemed to absorb all the light from the flashlight. The air was dank, heavy with a familiar metallic odor. The velvet curtains had been torn to shreds. The floor crunched beneath their feet. Death masks and gargoyles hanging on the wall grinned down at them menacingly.

Something brushed up against Nor’s leg. She jumped and let out a stifled yelp.

“Oh shit,” she breathed. “It’s just Kikimora.” She put her hand on Gage’s arm to keep him from stabbing the cat.

Nor leaned down and stroked Kikimora’s fur. Her hand came away wet, sticky, and warm. Blood. And it wasn’t Kiki’s. The cat darted out the open door.

Nor scanned the room with her flashlight. Chaos, splattered blood, then finally —

Madge. Slumped on the floor behind the front counter.

“Nor —” Gage said.

Nor didn’t hear the rest of what he might have said. She stumbled across the room. Please don’t be dead, she thought. Please don’t be dead.

Madge’s face was bloated. Her skin was covered entirely with fern tattoos. Blood seeped from lacerations on her arms and legs and puncture wounds on her neck.

Madge emitted a gurgled cough, and Nor set the flashlight to the side and pulled the debased woman’s head onto her lap. Nor gasped at the waves of pain she picked up just from touching Madge’s fevered skin. Nor stroked her hair, and Madge’s agony filled the space between them like scalding steam.

But when Nor pulled her hand away, strands of Madge’s once-lustrous hair came with it. Nor swallowed a wave of nausea, wiped her hand clean, and resolutely pushed it against the wounds on Madge’s throat. Nor drew out Madge’s pain as two long quills. Madge’s wounds closed, and she took in a slow, ragged breath.

Nor sighed in relief. She ignored the shocked looks on Charlie’s and Gage’s faces, and quickly pulled the quills out of her hands. Each one left behind a deep, bloodied gouge. She’d hardly alleviated any of Madge’s pain, but she wasn’t sure if she could do much more. Pain couldn’t heal pain — at least that was what Judd had always said.

“Nor?” Madge rasped. She peered up at Nor, her eyes mad with fever. “Oh, Nor, I thought she was going to kill me,” she said, sobbing.

“You’re going to be okay,” Nor promised. She looked over at Gage and Charlie. “We need to get her to my grandmother,” she said. “And then —”

Madge suddenly sat up and pitched herself at Nor. Nor’s palms collided with the floor. Broken glass cut into her hands. Madge wedged a sharp knee into her side, and Nor screamed.

The rest came as a blur. Charlie charged at Madge and sent her flying off Nor with a teeth-rattling blow. Madge hit the counter with a grunt and knocked the cash register to the floor. It did nothing to slow her down. Charlie tackled Madge again, and Gage grabbed Nor from behind and pulled her out of the way.

“Get back!” Gage barked.

Nor scurried to hide behind a bookcase while Gage went to help Charlie. Someone kicked over the flashlight, and the room went dark. The sounds of a struggle continued.

Nor crawled out from behind the bookcase, sliding her hand across the floor in search of the flashlight. She found it, and the light quaked in her trembling hand. She turned it on and aimed it at the noise.

Madge had her hands around Gage’s throat. His face was red. His eyes were bulging. A strangled cry escaped his lips. Beside them, Charlie pulled herself to her knees, then slipped and fell. Blood covered the floor.