“No charge,” Izabela said, rising to walk him to the door. “If I find anything, anything at all, I will call you.”
“Thanks.” Outside, he stood on her porch staring into the distance. What if becoming human again was the only answer? He muttered an oath, thinking he’d rather be dead.
When he reached the road in front of Izabela’s house, Jake materialized beside him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Saintcrow asked.
“Just checking up on an old friend. So, how are you, old friend?”
“How do you think?”
“Not good, if you’re thinking about becoming human again, if it’s even possible for someone as old as you are. Things are that bad, huh?”
“Worse. I’m losing control. I left Kadie.”
Kincaid stared at him. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. She’s not safe with me.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t believe that, either. I’ve known you for centuries. You’d never hurt her, no matter what. You’d die first.”
“It’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”
Jake clapped Saintcrow on the shoulder. “We’ve been to hell and back together,” he said. “Dispatched a necromancer. Took down an ancient vampire. Hell, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
Saintcrow laughed in spite of himself. “I hope you’re right, old friend. I hope to hell you’re right.”
They walked in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts.
“Jake, do you know any other witches, or warlocks? Any other powerful vampires besides the ones we contacted during the plague?”
“I don’t know any vampires more powerful than you. As for warlocks, what about Izabela’s boyfriend. What was his name?”
“Romar?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think he knows much more than Izabela,” Saintcrow said, with a shrug.
Kincaid frowned. “There was this one witch I met when I was first turned. She was scary as hell. She did things....” Jake shook his head. “She scared the crap out of me.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“Last time I saw her she was cheating people out of their life’s saving by raising the dead.”
“No shit?”
“It was just a trick. The dead rose, all right, but only for about half an hour, just long enough for her to get paid and get out of town.”
“Can you find her again?” Saintcrow asked. “Dammit, Jake, she sounds like a necromancer. Maybe that’s just what we need!”
“Well, damn. I never thought of that. But she can’t be the real thing. The dead went back to being dead.”
“Maybe some of them stayed alive. It doesn’t matter. She might know the answer to Luca’s curse, if that’s what it is. Atleast she might be able to tell us if itisa curse or it’s something else.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“When am I ever wrong?”