A Perfect Blood (The Hollows #10)(71)
Author: Kim Harrison

I knew she was trying to be funny, and it made me all the more determined that she wasn’t going to end her life like this. "I promise," I said, but inside I was cringing. I promise? I can’t promise her anything. What am I doing?

"Okay." Taking a deep breath, Winona seemed to settle herself, as if taking on the burden of seeing a great task to the end. She hadn’t merely agreed to try to get us out, but agreed that she’d try to escape, to risk others seeing her like this, and find a way to get back to normal.

I gave her a hug, proud of her. She smelled different now that she’d gotten that protein out of her system. Meadowy and sunny. Nice.

Pulling back, I nodded once. "Okay." I thought as I looked at the door, knowing the lock was the weakest spot. "I’ve never taught anyone, but I’ve got a white ley-line charm that I use to warm water. I don’t know why it wouldn’t work on metal, too. If we can get the lock or hinges hot enough, maybe we can break the latch." Stretching, I gave the door a shove, and it gave slightly under my foot. "I’ll do it first, then you try. You sure you can see me?"

"I can see everything," she said, her big eyes blinking once. "I can see better now than when the lights are on."

Okay-y-y-y. "I’ll give you the words and finger motions together," I said as I scooted closer, and her head tilted down. "From candles’ burn and planets’ spin, friction is how it ends and begins," I said, feeling silly, but the rhyme helped me remember the finger motions, and Winona tried to mimic me, her thin lips moving.

I clapped my hands, saying, "Consimilis."

She jumped, and I added, "Cold to hot, harness within, calefacio!"

Winona looked at me, hesitated, and said, "Was something supposed to happen?"

I rocked back from her a little. "It would have if I had been connected to a ley line," I said sourly. It had felt weird doing the charm without being connected, like walking up the stairs in the dark to find that the last step isn’t there when your foot falls through space. "Let me show you the finger motions again," I said, and she nodded. "That’s what’s important. The rhyme is just to remember them. That and the Latin."

"What if I accidentally fry myself? Or you?"

I smiled, remembering thinking just about the same thing when Ceri had taught me. "It won’t work on anything with an aura," I said, and then my smile faded. I’d used it once to burn Kisten’s murderer to ash, but the vampire had been dead – really dead – for almost a year before I’d found him. "It’s really simple. You connect to a ley line, do the finger moves, and then say the Latin. Oh! And you need a focusing object."

My eyes had adapted somewhat, and I saw her screw her face up. "A focusing object?"

I reached over to the mesh and wiggled a stray wire back and forth, trying to work it free. "Sometimes I use one, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how, ah, focused you are."

The wire started moving more easily, and with a ping, it separated. The end was warm in my fingers, and I handed it to her, hesitating. It wasn’t as if she could hold it while she was doing the finger moves, and putting it in her mouth like I did when I warmed water wasn’t the best option.

"Uh, maybe you should just touch the bars with your foot," I said. "That’s a connection of a sort."

Winona took it from me, and I stared, shocked when she lifted her blouse and tucked the wire behind a fold of skin at her middle. "I, uh, have a pouch," she said, and I gaped at her, remembering to shut my mouth only when she began to look embarrassed.

"Does Gerald know?" I said, and she grinned.

"Nope."

"Well, if this doesn’t work, maybe you could smuggle something in here with us."

"Way ahead of you," she said, her head going down as she pulled out a paper clip and a sharp chunk of thin plastic. "Put these in your sock, will you? They’re making me itch like crazy."

"Winona," I said as I tucked them away. "Did anyone ever tell you that you’d make one hell of a runner?"

"I went to school to act," she said, the faint light shining on her teeth as she grinned.

The paper clip was warm from her body, and the plastic hard, but the sensations soon vanished. "With the focusing object, all you need to do is simply look at where you want the heat to go, and the charm will act there."

"I just have to look at it?" she said, her tone bordering on disbelief.

"You’ve never done anything like this, have you?" I asked, and she squirmed. "It’s not as hard as most witches make out. You can do this."

She nodded. "I forgot the words."

I stifled my sigh, wondering if I was going to make a more impatient teacher than Ceri. "We’ll do it together," I said. "Fire burns and planets spin. Friction is how it ends and begins. Consimilis!"

She mimicked me, and we clapped together. "Calefacio!" we both said simultaneously, our fingers moving as one. Winona jumped as the energy flowed through her, and I stifled a yelp when sparks burst from the door lock.

"You did it!" I cried, scrambling up to push on the door only to find that it was still latched. Disappointment brought my shoulders down, but Winona was delighted.

"It worked!" she said, not upset that it hadn’t snapped the lock. "It’s like putting a spoon in the microwave. All sparks! I’m going to try again."

"Hold on a sec," I said as I gingerly touched the metal to find it was barely warm. "Give it twice what you did, and I’ll kick it."

"What if it catches you on fire?" she said, and I balled up my hands and took a stance.

"Then put me out, but I’m kicking that lock the instant you say the last word."

Winona took a nervous breath, and I clenched my jaw, focusing on the door. This was really dumb. Why in hell had I ever abandoned my magic? Because I didn’t want to live in the ever-after the rest of my life? Because Al would be mad enough to lock me in a box? Okay, they were really good reasons, but it was time I accepted that my magic came with an awful price and just pay it, even if it left me alone and apart.

"You can do this, Winona," I said, deciding to worry about it later – if I had a later. "You’re a strong woman." That metal hadn’t been very hot. Maybe she didn’t have the fortitude to channel enough ley-line energy.

"Consimilis, calefacio!" Winona exclaimed, and I darted my foot out in a side kick. It hit the door the same time her charm did, and the mesh shook as the sparks flew. The scent of hot metal rose, but the door didn’t move.