“What’s happening?” Rook whispers, his features stark in the low light.
“It’s really important that you don’t freak out.”
He glares at me, little glimmers of red in his pupils. “Why? Is there something about which for me tofreak out?”
“I told you not to freak out, and now it kind of seems like you’re freaking out.”
“I wouldn’t be freaking out if you hadn’t told me not to freak out!” His whispers grow panicked.
I frown. “That makes no sense. Why would you do the opposite of what I told you to do?”
We’re still hissing at each other when a woman in a guard’s uniform appears in the doorway. Her walkie beeps.
“Two in the temple,” a garbled voice says.
The guard doesn’t break eye contact as she speaks into the walkie. “Got ’em.”
Rook looks like he’s about to make a break for it, but I circle my fingers around his wrist.
“Let’s go,” the guard says.
After a brief shared look, Rook and I follow.
Sixteen
Rook and I are led outside to the amphitheater, where all the guests have been gathered, sitting anxiously on the curved concrete benches in their ridiculous evening wear and ostentatious human bones. Members of the Coven surround the outdoor space, guarding the exits and anything that could possibly be turned into an exit.
We’re taken to one of the top rows and asked to sit between a person in an oversize suit with bits of bone sewn throughout like sequins and a woman whose face is covered by a veil.
“This is ridiculous,” she hisses under her breath. “Don’t they know who I am?” She taps her fingers against her purse, and I notice a patella-ornamented ring on her finger.
I turn to the person in the suit. “Do you know what happened?”
They shake their head. “Something about intruders.” They nod down to the front of the amphitheater where a group of the Coven stands, and I swallow as I see Hecate among them. “They’ll be checking everyone’s tickets.”
I nod, fingering the ticket in my pocket.
“And,” they add, “ID’ing our bones.”
I share a look with Rook. The fear in his face has a feral edge, and while I have to stop myself from fidgeting or bouncing my leg, Rook has gone preternaturally still.
Youcannotfreak out on a job, no matter how bad things get, because those are the times you need to be quick and decisive andsmart, and freaking out takes all of those qualities and shoves their metaphorical heads underwater. I put my hand on Rook’s knee and squeeze hard, not in comfort but in warning.
The soft chatter falls away as Hecate appears center stage, her dark hair and gown fluttering in the breeze. Next to her stands a much smaller woman with a poof of gray hair that I realize with a lurch I’ve seen before.
Thea Melinas.
My blood runs cold.
The woman’s presence here is disturbing for several reasons.
First, she’s a Phantom, meaning she’s a telepath. Meaning she can literally read people’s minds.
Second, what is a Phantom doing with the Coven?
Last, and honestly, I probably should have led with this: She’s CJ’s aunt.
A quick Google of “how to get rid of a dead body” will suggest interring the corpse under a dead animal. The strategy relies on the assumption that if a cadaver dog locates the body and the searchers dig up an animal, they’ll give up before finding the human underneath, thinking the dog made a mistake.