Spell Bound - Kelley Armstrong [8]
As Adam drove us back to the motel, I read through Amy’s application. For future reference only. Adam had already decided we could hold off on following up on the information. First, we needed to fix my power outage.
“You’ve got some crazy assassin chick hot on your trail,” he’d said. “Hell, yes, you need your spells.”
Getting in touch with the Fates isn’t easy. We aren’t supposed to know anything about them. I only do because Paige took a nosedive through a portal six years ago and had to deal with the Fates to get back.
From that, I knew they made deals, which is why I was sure they were responsible for my situation. The last time, though, the person who actually made the bargain was my mother. So that was whom we had to talk to. Not easy when she’s been dead for almost ten years. But I knew a way.
By evening, we were in Seattle, having left my bike and Adam’s Jeep at Lucas and Paige’s place, then caught a plane from Portland. It’s only a three-hour drive, but both our vehicles were still in rough shape from separate accidents in Columbus. Adam could have left his Jeep at his apartment, but he was hoping for Lucas’s help fixing it. Or at least his tools.
A drizzling rain started as we drove downtown in a rental car. Enough to be annoying. Not enough to actually make a pit stop to buy an umbrella.
The people lined up outside the theater weren’t happy about the weather either, not when they had another twenty minutes before the doors opened. The marquee read WORLD-RENOWNED SPIRITUALIST JAIME VEGAS. ONE NIGHT ONLY. A banner across it announced that the show was sold out.
Jaime always sold out. If she didn’t, she’d book herself into a smaller venue the next time. She figured that as long as people knew it wasn’t easy getting tickets to her show, they’d keep coming, and she’d have a reason to keep touring, which she loved.
We walked along the line. When we turned to head into the theater, a middle-aged woman stepped into my path.
“The line starts back there,” she said, pointing.
“No, actually, it starts right there.” I gestured to the front. “Which is where we’re going.”
As I circled past her, Adam whispered, “That’s why we’re supposed to go in the back door.”
“This makes me feel special. Right now, I really need to feel special.”
“You’ll feel really special when you’re fighting a lynch mob without your spells.”
“No, I’ll leave that to you. One spark, and with all that polyester, the whole mob will go up in flames.”
I walked to the glass doors and peered through. Inside I could see a few security guards.
Adam swung open the door and held it for me.
“Hey, Steve,” he said to a burly bald guy.
I didn’t recognize the guard, let alone know his name. Adam would say that’s why I needed to pay more attention. I’d point out that the guard didn’t recognize Adam either. His gaze had gone right to me, and he smiled.
“Savannah, right?” he said.
I nodded.
“I didn’t see you guys on the list,” Steve said, reaching for a clipboard on the podium.
“We aren’t,” I said. “It’s a surprise visit.”
“Sure. I’ll buzz Kat and have her take you to Jaime.”
I could have said that Jaime’s assistant really didn’t need to be playing guide an hour before curtain time. But this was a polite way of saying he needed confirmation before letting us in.
A few minutes later, a young woman with a clipboard, earpiece, and cotton-candy pink hair zoomed through the auditorium door.
“Hey, guys,” she said. “Good to see you. Come on through.”
We picked our way through a hive of buzzing workers. Kat alternated between barking orders and chatting with us. She knew Jaime had popped down to Portland to visit us, so she wasn’t surprised to see us here.
Actually, Jaime had come to check on me in the hospital, and relay her side of the events that had played out in Columbus. My mother had been hunting Leah from the afterlife, with Jaime helping out on this side. Leah