You Slay Me
Page 60

"Who said it was common? Only those mortals who have the ability to control the dark powers can recognize beings who originate in the Otherworld. Same goes with those beings themselves, like the dragons."
"Ah. So Amelie as a healer and O and P as Wiccans can't see you as you really are?"
"Yes. Are you done with the questions? Because it's past time for my spit bath, and it's going to take me at least half an hour to take care of my package."
I "Ew, ew, ew!"ed my way out of the room and left him to his grooming. I spent a few minutes making up a list of things I'd need for the demon summoning in be-tween watching Perdita as she puttered around on a good-size balcony. Most of the space was taken up by flower boxes and containers filled with various plants—herbs, she'd told me earlier as she walked by with a watering can.
"Finished already?" she asked as she came in with a handful of something green and leafy.
I nodded. "I think I'm going to have to go out. I need a couple of books that I know Amelie has, as well as dead man's ash."
"You're welcome to check our library," Perdita said as she rubbed a stalk of plant between her hands. "I'm sure I saw some dead man's ash in the workroom."
"Really?" That was a surprise. I'd thought I read somewhere that dead man's ash was only used in sum-moning ghosts and demons. "Thanks, I'll go look… er… in a few minutes." After Jim was done with its groin washing.
Perdita set her bruised leaves in a wooden bowl. "Dill," she explained as I watched her crush them with a pestle.
"Something for lunch?" I asked.
She frowned. "No, dill is a great protector against demons. I thought that as you were bringing one into the house, I would use it to protect every room but the work-room, just in case."
"Er…" Dill was demon's bane? I thought briefly of Jim. How on earth was I going to explain my dog's sud-den inability to leave my bedroom? "How exactly does the dill protect you from a demon?"
"Demons hate it," she answered, still grinding away with the pestle. "They can't stand to be in the same room with it."
The door to my bedroom, which I'd left cracked so Jim wouldn't have to get the doorknob all slobbery, opened and my demon on four legs strolled into the room, making a beeline to me as it dropped its leash at my feet.
I watched closely for a moment, but Jim didn't seem to be disturbed by the dill Perdita was setting around the apartment in little pots. In fact, I doubt if it even noticed. So much for protection.
"I'll just go see if you have any dead man's ash, then be out of your hair for a little bit."
Perdita made polite noises about not minding me un-derfoot. I shot Jim a warning look to behave himself, and went back into my sunny bedroom, stopping in front of a glass-fronted bookcase. There were a lot of Wiccan books, a couple of Herbal s, books on magick, books on the origins of witchcraft, and the like. "Nothing I can use," I said to Jim as it followed me back into the room. "Which doesn't surprise me because … Hmmm."
"It doesn't surprise you why?" Jim asked, sharking the bed to rub itself along the edge of the mattress.
Jim, I had discovered, loved to have its back scratched.
"Because they don't have anything to do with the dark arts. Is this what I think it is?" I pulled out a tiny volume, about the size of my palm, that had been tucked behind a larger book. "TheSteganographia. Well, I'll be."
"Oh, that. Yeah, I saw that yesterday," Jim said, sound-ing bored as it continued sharking the bed. "I thought you preferred theLiber Juratus. Isn't that what you used to call me?"
"Yes," I said slowly, flipping through the book. "But it's odd that Wiccans should have a book of this sort."
"Not if they had anything to do with the Venediger," Jim said, still rubbing itself along the bed. "Think you could get me a brush? I want to look my best if we're going to see Cecile."
"The Venediger…" I'd almost forgotten that Perdita worked for him. "Of course, if she worked for him, she must have had some skills with the dark powers, don't you think? Hence theSteganographia."
"What I think is that I need brushing," Jim said point-edly. '
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I suppose you do. You're looking a bit ratty." I slid the book back into its spot and make a quick check of the shelving holding the various pots of herbs and such. No dead man's ash.
"Come on," I said, snapping on Jim's leash and grab-bing my purse. "Let's make this fast. The least amount of . time I have to spend out on the streets, the happier I'll be."
"Call Rene," Jim suggested.
I was about to say I wouldn't bother Rene for some-thing so trivial, but rethought my strategy. With Rene serving as my driver, he'd keep his eye peeled for the po-lice … that was assuming he'd want to drive a fugitive around Paris while she did her shopping. "Maybe I shouldn't get him involved."
"Are you kidding? He'd love it," Jim said softly as I opened the door. I signaled for it to be quiet, then pulled Rene's card out, explaining quickly to Perdita that I was going to use a friend to drive me around. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as I dialed the number, won-dering just how deep in the Venediger's business she had become. A Wiccan who had a well-used copy of theSteganographia was definitely an oxymoron.
Kind of like a Guardian who was also a demon lord.
Fifteen minutes later Jim and I descended the stairs, peering up and down the street for signs the apartment was being watched before dashing into Rene's waiting taxi.
"Bonjour,"I said breathlessly, grunting when Jim jumped into the taxi and landed on me. "Get off me!"
"Sorry."
Rene twisted around in his seat and glared at me. "Be-fore we go, I must first lecture you."
"Um—"
"You said on the phone you did not wish to derange me if I believed those stories in the paper about you. Me, I am offended you would think that!"
I fluttered a hand at the window. "Rene, I'm sorry, the last thing I want to do is offend you, but I wanted to give you an out if you were uncomfortable with the thought of driving around someone who is wanted by the police."
Rene snorted. "You do not have faith in me, eh?"