Chapter Twenty-Four
“The Sandman is also a demon called to a mark for assassination,” Amelia said loudly as she dropped an open book onto the desk in front of Hunter.
Hunter glanced up at her questioningly before devouring the page in front of her. As he read along, he grew more visibly excited, picking up the book and moving his face ever closer to the pages. “Quite right,” he murmured, then set it down, as if thinking.
Shanna watched the exchange from a nearby chair and got up to move closer. “What does it mean?”
“That Trivillis and The Sandman were both sent after us,” Amelia turned to her. “And for some reason, most of us were targeted by Trivillis, while you and Rachel were targeted by The Sandman.”
“Why? How?”
Hunter ran his finger over the text in front of him. “It says here that The Sandman’s mark is placed on a victim by combining Basilisk saliva with Gur’tich powder.”
“Gur’tich powder?” Amelia perked up, then frowned, looking in Cameron’s direction, who sat at a window across the library.
“What was used to summon Trivillis?” Hunter asked, looking up at Amelia expectantly.
Amelia glanced back at him. “What?”
“Trivillis. What ingredients were used to mark the targets for him?”
“Oh,” Amelia bit her lip. “I’m not sure where…oh, I know.” She jogged over to a pile of books at the foot of the chair she’s been sitting in for the past few hours, and pulled out the thickest book of the bunch. She began paging through it rapidly until she stopped on a dog-eared yellow page. Scanning it silently, she walked toward them as she read, then said aloud “For Trivillis to assassinate an enemy, one must synch the ingredients to his magickal signature, which is a combination of Arcadian Witch Dust and…and Gur’tich powder.” She met Hunter’s gaze and something seemed to be communicated between them in that look.
“Well, how does Gur’tich powder work, if that’s the common denominator?” Shanna asked.
“It’s inhaled by the victim, then anyone he or she comes into close contact with over the next few days is marked as well. It’s a way to mark targets and anyone they may be communicating with, effectively wiping out a spy or assassin and others who may be involved in the conspiracy, including any potential moles.”
“Sounds effective.”
“Yes,” Amelia agreed. “Know of anyone who had dust blown into their face in the past few months?”
Shanna’s jaw dropped as she recalled just such an instance. “Right before we flew out to Greece,” Shanna said, turning pale. “Lupe blew dust into my face. Nothing harmful, just to take me out of the fight for a minute.” She shook her head. “No way. Jade checked me out. I was fine.”
“Physically, maybe you were,” Amelia acknowledged. “But this is magick we’re talking about. It adheres to different laws.”
“So I infected everybody over the next couple of days? All of you?” She looked from Amelia to Hunter. “My god, I’m responsible for everything that’s happened. I’m responsible for…for Felicia.”
“Come now,” Hunter scoffed. “Lupe is the responsible party. You had no way of knowing what you were carrying around with you.”
“What I would like to know,” Amelia said carefully, “is how the marks were finished. And by whom.”
“Apparently when a certain body of you were in one location, then another elsewhere,” Hunter shrugged. “That would explain the different marks perhaps.”
“Perhaps,” Amelia pursed her lips suspiciously, staring off into the distance. “Only one way to find out for sure.”
“And as The Sandman is a creature that doesn’t live in the physical world, our only option may be to have the original spell casters cancel out the order for the mark.”
“You mean we have to find Lupe?” Shanna asked incredulously. “How the hell are we going to locate that loon?”
Amelia shrugged. “We can go back to the last place we saw them and look for clues.”
Shanna nodded. “The paper mill is right in Lime Bay. But they would have moved on weeks ago, after we confronted them.”
“More than likely,” Hunter agreed. “Unless they stuck around to finish their marks and watch the assassinations take place.”
“Lupe does seem sadistic enough to want front row seats.”
“Exactly. And who would think to return to a place already exposed by us? We certainly didn’t. It’s like hiding in plain sight. Think of how ironic it would be for Lupe to watch us die off with her lying low right under our noses?”
“We should go immediately,” Amelia said, standing.
“What’s going on?” Jordan asked, suddenly in their midst. The small group quickly attracted most of the rest of the hunters as well, and Hunter explained the situation all over again.
“But we’re losing precious time here,” Amelia said impatiently. “We should go now.”
“I think it would be wise if only a small group of us set out for the warehouse,” Natalia suggested. “Some of us should continue to scour the books with the scholars. Just in case the outing proves fruitless.”
“I want to go,” Shanna said. “Me and…I mean, I was there at the warehouse with Lupe and Rocquele last time. Plus, I’m the…incubator?”
Cameron smirked. “I’ll go too. No way am I letting Shanna out of my sight again.”
“I could help,” Krystal offered, looking hopeful.
“Absolutely not,” Hunter rebuffed. “You haven’t much training and would only get in the way. You’re much better suited for research.”
Krystal grumbled, but conceded.
“I’ll hit the books,” Amelia said. “I’m kind of tired, to be honest. I’m still recovering from the power I used against Trivillis. And frankly, I could use a shower.”
Brett caught Shanna’s eye and grinned. “I’ll help Amelia with that.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I meant with the research.”
Amelia smiled wickedly.
“I’ll join the hunters who are actually hunting,” Quinn said. “I’m feeling pretty restless here.”
“Alright, I think that’s a big enough group,” Natalia said in a no-nonsense tone. “Let’s go.” She led Cameron, Shanna and Quinn to a waiting van, where she immediately took the wheel and drove the way Cameron indicated.
As they pulled away, Shanna looked back at the mansion, recalling the first day she’d arrived. It seemed so long ago, so much had happened since then. And the very first hunter she’d ever met had been Felicia. What had happened to Jade in Greece was bad enough, and now this... It made her feel vulnerable. Afraid. She turned to find herself face-to-face with Quinn, who was watching her, as Cameron sat up front with Natalia, making light conversation between directions.
“I’m sorry about your friend,” Quinn said softly. “She seemed very nice.”
“She was,” Shanna agreed, not trusting herself to say anymore. She fought back the tears that were threatening to spill, and Quinn seemed to read her well enough to sit back and give her some space.