“What did you do?” I asked.
“I trusted. I taught Sawyer all that I knew, and he used that knowledge against me.”
There had to be more to it than that. But what if there wasn’t? What if Sawyer had learned all he could from the Old One then taken his home and his soul and banished him to Inyan Kara just because he could? Sawyer had done a lot of things that were borderline. His right-and-wrong radar was not exactly spot-on. I blamed his mother.
On the other hand—
“Who did you kill?” I whispered.
Sani lifted his lip and showed me his teeth again. “We do not ask such things.”
“Maybe you don’t.”
“Ask what you like. I will not answer.”
I decided it didn’t matter what Sani had done or even who he’d killed. I still had to do what I’d come here to do—raise Sawyer, get answers to my questions, then deal with the results. I could worry about the truth later. Or, since Sawyer was dead, not at all.
“I told him one day he’d need my help,” Sani murmured. “And the only way he’d get it would be to give me back myself.”
I held up the fetish again. “This is payment.”
“Now you need only tell me for what.”
“I want you to raise Sawyer’s ghost.”
“You can raise him yourself. All you must do is kill someone you love.”
“Already did.”
His eyes became shrewd. “Ruthie or Sawyer?”
Before I could point out that we didn’t ask such things, my mouth got the better of me and I snapped, “I’d never hurt Ruthie.”
The coyote’s mouth opened, a grin of sorts. “I’m beginning to like you for something other than your very nice breasts. Tell me more.”
“No,” I said shortly. One thing I would not discuss was Sawyer and how I’d killed him.
Sani emitted a disappointed sigh. “If you sacrificed someone you love, you’re a sorcerer and a shape-shifter, a true skinwalker. You can raise a ghost.”
“I tried. Couldn’t do it.”
“Odd,” Sani murmured.
“I’ve never raised anyone by myself before. I thought you could watch. Tell me if I’m doing something wrong.”
Sani cast me a quick glance. “You know that sometimes a boost of power is needed.”
I flinched. “Yes.”
“You’re willing to do whatever’s necessary to speak with him?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“You do love him.”
“If I didn’t I wouldn’t be what I am.”
“All right.” The coyote headed for the trees. “Come along.”
We climbed to the top of Inyan Kara. I was tempted several times to shift into a phoenix and meet him there, but it hardly seemed fair to let the old man-coyote clamber up alone.
At the apex lay a plateau. Rocky here, with dry brittle grass there, the only thing beautiful about the place was the view.
Devil’s Tower and Bear Butte loomed nearby, and the plains seemed to stretch on forever—brilliant green and dusty gold giving way to neon blue dotted with white. I was mesmerized.
“Do you have something that belonged to him?” Sani asked.
“Damn.”
“I thought you’d done this before.”
“I have.” Last time I’d used Sawyer’s toothbrush. When the spell didn’t work, I think I might have tossed it into the desert.
“Didn’t he ever give you anything, girl? Or was your love completely one-sided?”
More than likely it had been. Sawyer didn’t love. Not anymore. But he had given me something.
I lifted the turquoise from my neck. Then I laid the stone on the ground and drew a circle around it. Sani nodded his approval. “You never know where the dead have been, what they’ve done, who they’ve seen, or what they might have been offered.”
The circle would contain them. We couldn’t raise ghosts and let them wander through the earth like Jacob Marley.
“Now bring the storm,” Sani ordered.
“What if I need help? What if I don’t have enough power to do this alone?”
“I’ll help.” Desire flickered in his eyes.
I clenched my hands and forced myself not to run. Sex boosted my power, and if I needed more juice, Sani was eager to help. I didn’t like it, but I’d asked for it, and I couldn’t complain. I’d known that there’d come a day I’d have to do someone I did not want to do. Apparently that day was today.
Power surged through me along with frustration. I hated being forced to do anything. Fury sparked, and I went with it, throwing my hand toward the sky. The single bright white cloud opened and poured down rain. As the rain fell, the cloud turned from white, to gray, to black.
“Use both hands,” Sani ordered.
I shot the other up to match the first, and the wind whirled in, kicking around dust and dry grass, tugging clouds over the distant horizon and drawing them toward us at high speed. The sun became shadowed, and the mountain beneath our feet stirred.
“Thunder!” the Old One cried, and the earth shook.