Wanted: Undead or Alive

Another Bad Day for Moose

Nick shook his head. "It only sort of makes sense. We're missing a piece of the puzzle."

"Does it matter?" Mx. Landry asked. "If we know where he's lurking, we can collar him."

"I think I should go talk to the witch again," I said.

Worry exploded from Nick. "No."

"We still haven't recovered Moose," Mx. Landry informed me.

"Where is he?"

"If we knew that, we would have recovered him," they said.

Right. "But, look, now we know what she's capable of. You can ward me against possession by covering me in crucifixes, right? And..." Something told me not to mention the coin in my pocket. "There are other kinds of warding, too, right? This place is protected. Give me something that makes the magic blue powder useless."

Nick rubbed his fingers against his chin.

Mx. Landry gaped at him. "You can't be considering this."

"We don't have many options." Anxious energy poured out of him. The dark hunger rolled over everything else. "I can't go," he said.

The urge to find Sathanas and tear him limb from limb with my bare hands consumed me. "Let me do this."

He nodded. "Ward her."

Mx. Landry tossed their pen down on the table. "Just because you—"

"Ward her!" Nick shouted.

Two of the fluorescent lightbulbs popped and went out.

Mx. Landry stood without another word and left.

Nick turned his sparking eyes on me. "Go. Catch him."

I would catch him and wrench him limb from limb, savoring the sound of his screams. Panting, heart pounding, I pushed away from the table and followed Mx. Landry into the hallway. The door latched shut between me, and the urge to murder and maim ebbed to a manageable level. By the time I reached Mx. Landry's desk, I barely wanted to chase Sathanas at all. I had to remind myself of the fat paycheck.

"Nick has strong feelings about this." I used my sleeve to wipe the sweat from my face.

"Nick has strong feelings about everything."

"He does an admirable job of managing them." If I felt the way he felt all the time, someone would definitely have to lock me up.

"He is special," they said. "Turn around."

I turned my back on them and they lifted my shirt and drew across my skin with a sharpie. "That will hold against spell work for a time. Not forever. And not if it gets damaged."

"Thank you." Not sure what else to say, I headed toward the door.

"Nowicki?"

I looked back at them.

They lit a cigarette with their fingertip and took a long drag. "Try to find Moose, okay?"

Were those tears in their eyes?

I promised I'd try and returned to the Honda.

The sun hung low in the western sky as I drove across town. I couldn't remember a time when my days were so confused and mixed up. I neither knew nor particularly cared what day it was anymore.

The witch  met me on the first porch step.

"You've got to be kidding."

"I'm warded. You can't blast me across the world again."