Skin Game
Page 12
She frowned, her eyes scanning the street, and didnt answer for a moment. When she did, I had the impression that she was choosing her words carefully. You know I have to be careful with them.
Theyre weapons, Karrin, I said. Theyre not glass figurines. Whats the point in having two genuine holy swords with which to fight evil if you dont, you know, fight evil with them occasionally?
Swords are funny, she replied. The most capable muscle-powered tool there is for killing a man. But theyre fragile, too. Use them the wrong way, and theyll break like glass.
The Denarians are on the field, I said. Theyre the people the Swords were meant to challenge.
The things inside the Coins are what the Swords were meant to fight. The ones holding the Coins are the people the Swords were meant to save, she said, her tone gently emphatic. And thats why Im not carrying one. I dont want to save those animals, Harry. And its not enough to use the Swords against the right foe. You have to use them for the right reasonsor they could be lost forever. I wont be the reason that happens.
So youll just let them sit and do nothing? I asked.
Ill give them to anyone I think will use them wisely and well, she said calmly. But people like that dont come along every day. Being a keeper of the Swords is a serious job, Harry. You know that.
I sighed. Yeah. I do. But Nicodemus and his girl are right over there in that buildingand we could use every advantage we can get.
Karrin suddenly smiled. It transformed her face, though her eyes never stopped sweeping the street. Youre just going to have to have a little faith, Harry.
Faith?
That if a Knight with a Sword needs to be here, one will be here. For all we know, Sanya will come walking down the street and get in the car with us.
I scowled at that, even though she was probably right. When a Knight of the Sword was meant to show up and intervene, one would damned well make an entrance and intervene, regardless of who or what stood in the way. Id seen it more than once. But . . . part of me hated to let go of the advantage the Swords would offer.
Of course, that was what faith was all about, wasnt itletting go and trusting Someone Else.
Maybe wizards just werent terribly predisposed to surrendering control. I mean, not when they have so much personal power available to them. Once youve had your hands on the primal forces that created the universe, its a little hard to relax and let them slip through your fingers. It would certainly explain why so few of the wizards I knew were even mildly religious.
Also,it illustrated pretty clearly why I was never, ever going to be a Knight. Aside from the fact that I was working for the queen of the wicked faeries and getting into bed with jerks like Nicodemus, I mean.
Karrins eyes flicked up to her rearview mirror and sharpened. Car, she said quietly.
In a spy movie, I would have watched them coolly in the rearview mirror, or perhaps in my specially mirrored sunglasses. But as I am neither cool nor a spy, nor did I feel any particular need for stealth, I twisted my upper body around and peered out the back window of Karrins car.
A white sedan with a rental agencys bumper sticker on it pulled up to the curb halfway down the block. It was shuddering as it did, as if it could barely get its engine to turn over, even though it was a brand-new vehicle. Before it had entirely stopped moving, the passenger door swung open and a woman stepped out onto the street as though she just couldnt stand to be stuck in one place.
She was strikingrangy and nearly six feet tall, with long and intensely curled dark hair that fell almost to her waist. She wore sunglasses, jeans, and a thick, tight scarlet sweater that she filled out more noticeably than most. Her cowboy boots struck the street decisively in long strides as she crossed it, heading toward the old slaughterhouse. Her sharp chin was thrust forward, her mouth set in a firm line, and she walked as though she felt certain that the way was clearor had better be.
Hot, Karrin said, her tone neutral, observational. Human?
I wasnt getting any kind of supernatural vibe off of her, but theres more than one way to identify a threat. Cant be sure, I said. But I think I know who she is.
Who?
A warlock, I said.
Thats a rogue wizard, right?
Yeah. When I was in the Wardens, they used to send out wanted posters for warlocks so the Wardens could recognize them. I didnt hunt warlocks. But I was on the mailing list.
Why didnt you? she asked. Word is that theyre dangerous.
Dangerous children, most of them, I said. Kids who no one ever taught or trained or told about the Laws of Magic. I nodded toward the woman. That ones name is Hannah Ascher. She was on the run longer than any other warlock on recent record. Shes supposed to have died in a fire in . . . Australia, I think, about six years ago.
You drowned once. How much pressure did the Council put on you after that?
Good point, I said.
What did she do? Karrin asked.
Originally? Ascher burned three men to death from the inside out, I said.
Theyre weapons, Karrin, I said. Theyre not glass figurines. Whats the point in having two genuine holy swords with which to fight evil if you dont, you know, fight evil with them occasionally?
Swords are funny, she replied. The most capable muscle-powered tool there is for killing a man. But theyre fragile, too. Use them the wrong way, and theyll break like glass.
The Denarians are on the field, I said. Theyre the people the Swords were meant to challenge.
The things inside the Coins are what the Swords were meant to fight. The ones holding the Coins are the people the Swords were meant to save, she said, her tone gently emphatic. And thats why Im not carrying one. I dont want to save those animals, Harry. And its not enough to use the Swords against the right foe. You have to use them for the right reasonsor they could be lost forever. I wont be the reason that happens.
So youll just let them sit and do nothing? I asked.
Ill give them to anyone I think will use them wisely and well, she said calmly. But people like that dont come along every day. Being a keeper of the Swords is a serious job, Harry. You know that.
I sighed. Yeah. I do. But Nicodemus and his girl are right over there in that buildingand we could use every advantage we can get.
Karrin suddenly smiled. It transformed her face, though her eyes never stopped sweeping the street. Youre just going to have to have a little faith, Harry.
Faith?
That if a Knight with a Sword needs to be here, one will be here. For all we know, Sanya will come walking down the street and get in the car with us.
I scowled at that, even though she was probably right. When a Knight of the Sword was meant to show up and intervene, one would damned well make an entrance and intervene, regardless of who or what stood in the way. Id seen it more than once. But . . . part of me hated to let go of the advantage the Swords would offer.
Of course, that was what faith was all about, wasnt itletting go and trusting Someone Else.
Maybe wizards just werent terribly predisposed to surrendering control. I mean, not when they have so much personal power available to them. Once youve had your hands on the primal forces that created the universe, its a little hard to relax and let them slip through your fingers. It would certainly explain why so few of the wizards I knew were even mildly religious.
Also,it illustrated pretty clearly why I was never, ever going to be a Knight. Aside from the fact that I was working for the queen of the wicked faeries and getting into bed with jerks like Nicodemus, I mean.
Karrins eyes flicked up to her rearview mirror and sharpened. Car, she said quietly.
In a spy movie, I would have watched them coolly in the rearview mirror, or perhaps in my specially mirrored sunglasses. But as I am neither cool nor a spy, nor did I feel any particular need for stealth, I twisted my upper body around and peered out the back window of Karrins car.
A white sedan with a rental agencys bumper sticker on it pulled up to the curb halfway down the block. It was shuddering as it did, as if it could barely get its engine to turn over, even though it was a brand-new vehicle. Before it had entirely stopped moving, the passenger door swung open and a woman stepped out onto the street as though she just couldnt stand to be stuck in one place.
She was strikingrangy and nearly six feet tall, with long and intensely curled dark hair that fell almost to her waist. She wore sunglasses, jeans, and a thick, tight scarlet sweater that she filled out more noticeably than most. Her cowboy boots struck the street decisively in long strides as she crossed it, heading toward the old slaughterhouse. Her sharp chin was thrust forward, her mouth set in a firm line, and she walked as though she felt certain that the way was clearor had better be.
Hot, Karrin said, her tone neutral, observational. Human?
I wasnt getting any kind of supernatural vibe off of her, but theres more than one way to identify a threat. Cant be sure, I said. But I think I know who she is.
Who?
A warlock, I said.
Thats a rogue wizard, right?
Yeah. When I was in the Wardens, they used to send out wanted posters for warlocks so the Wardens could recognize them. I didnt hunt warlocks. But I was on the mailing list.
Why didnt you? she asked. Word is that theyre dangerous.
Dangerous children, most of them, I said. Kids who no one ever taught or trained or told about the Laws of Magic. I nodded toward the woman. That ones name is Hannah Ascher. She was on the run longer than any other warlock on recent record. Shes supposed to have died in a fire in . . . Australia, I think, about six years ago.
You drowned once. How much pressure did the Council put on you after that?
Good point, I said.
What did she do? Karrin asked.
Originally? Ascher burned three men to death from the inside out, I said.
