Wayne finished going through the plan. “Did I miss anything?”
“You were very clear on how we want this to go. Less so on what we do if it goes wrong.” We’d agreed not to call in backup. Smith would probably read us the riot act, but I for one didn’t have much confidence after watching how ineffective SWAT had been. Anyone else who came with us had a fair chance of ending up as cannon fodder.
He shrugged. “I force CJ into the spell area while you stay out of the way.”
“Deal.” Not like I was eager to wrestle CJ.
“Let’s roll out.”
I snagged a water bottle on the way out of the office and tucked it into a pocket on the backpack. The rest of my things had been transferred to a new car, since mine was somewhere between the evidence lockup and the repair shop.
Wayne slid behind the wheel. I’d given him the keys after I drove over from Jamie’s. Holding this much magic had made me twitchy.
We headed west, but not exactly to Crazy Coins. Given that CJ had interacted with us twice on that side of the trees, we were heading for a park on the east side. It closed after dark, and hopefully he wouldn’t be expecting an ambush from this direction.
The drive was silent. Personally, I kept going through the spell to make sure I wouldn’t forget part of it when it was time. On my fifth repetition, Wayne drove through the propped open gate and found a parking spot. He shut off the car, and the particular quiet that came with night pressed against the windows.
My necromancy flexed, brushing against the rest of my magic. Along the road, I could feel a dead raccoon. Recently dead, too. Closing my eyes, I pushed my necromancy back to where it belonged. It had done its part and gotten us the information we needed to make this plan. Now was a time for magic... and a bit of wind.
Wayne exhaled slowly. “Got it. The wind is blowing through the trees and then the park. We should be downwind of CJ while we’re working.”
“Good.” I opened the door and climbed out. The temperature had dropped a few degrees from last night, and my breath clouded the air.
I took the cloth out of the backpack, clipped the fanny pack of salt around my hips, and checked my wand for the ninth time before joining Wayne on the grass.
“You’re up.”
Under the glow of headlights, I drew my wand and pulled up a small strand of magic. Holding the sheet in my left hand, I started to cast. “Nazid e en ansu.”
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The sheet floated up and started to unfold. I kept the flow of power steady as it spread out to its full size and oriented itself so the seam holding in the salt was pointed at the ground. Satisfied with the position, I nudged it into motion.
A single light was perched up on a pole overlooking the grass. On the side closest to us, where the light started to fade back to darkness, I stopped the sheet of spells. With a flick of my wand, it rose up until it was hovering fifteen feet off the ground.
“Done.” With the spell in place, we moved to part two of the plan.
Wayne popped the trunk, hefted out a haunch of beef, and carted it across the grass. He lined it up with the middle of the sheet and dumped it on the ground.
If we’d been hunting a rational creature, I would’ve said it wouldn’t take the bait. A hunk of cow sitting in the grass was a clear trap, but as hungry as the slew of spells were making CJ, he wasn’t rational.
Wayne returned to the car, stripped off his gloves, and dumped them in the trash bag before getting a giant dollop of hand sanitizer. Even my nose picked up the sharp alcohol. Hopefully, it would fade fast enough that there wouldn’t be any chance of CJ scenting it.
Wand in hand, I did one more spell, enhancing the scent of the meat and encouraging it to spread into the woods. Even with the wind going the wrong way, the scent would reach the trees. Though, if we stuck to the plan, Wayne would adjust the wind in a few minutes.
He closed the trunk and flipped off the car lights. I clicked on my flashlight.
“This way.” Be it a macho man thing, an ex-military thing, or a sylph thing, Wayne didn’t use his flashlight.
At the moment, this was my least favorite part. Depending on how the rest of the night went, I’d reevaluate.
Wayne led me over to a row of over-sized trash and recycling bins. I picked out the least grimy bit of pavement and got comfortable. The flashlight went into my fanny pack for later. The wind sifted, pushing escaped hair across my face.
Minutes ticked by. Wayne had told me not to move too much. I eased off the rock digging into my butt. Deer stands were more comfortable.
On the bright side, the cold kept the trash from stinking too much.
That bright side seemed significantly dimmer after an hour. Department-issue jackets weren’t really meant for this weather, and the cold was starting to seep through my gloves.
A cloud drifted across the moon. Two hours ago, my eyes wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Now it looked like someone had turned off the sun. The streetlight by the trap didn’t illuminate much.
The wind stilled. I hadn’t thought Harris would let that happen. Doing my best not to move, I scanned the park. When my eyes couldn’t spot anything, I switched my vision for magic. At the edge of the woods, a knot of blood magic that could only be CJ crouched.
Magic sight was good, but it couldn’t give me body language. I did my best to breathe lightly. A minute later, CJ took a few steps toward the meat.
The wind shifted, blowing against the plastic bins and putting us down wind of the werewolf.
CJ halted, and I had to remind myself to breathe as I waited for him to move. Seconds ticked by before he crept a little closer.
I adjusted my grip on my wand.
CJ took off, moving so fast he was nothing more than a blur. He closed in on the meat, and I leaned around the trash bin to get a clear view. Magic pressed against me, ready to be released from its confines.
The meat vanished.
Scrambling to my feet, I pointed at a patch of ground in front of him. “Orzu.” The ground softened.
CJ veered around the soft earth like he knew it was there.