The reporter vanished and a grainy black-and-white image appeared on the screen. It took me a moment to recognize the museum from the Magic Quarter, but as soon as I did, the muffin I’d eaten turned leaden in my guts. The angle was focused on the entryway, and as the museum’s door opened, I wasn’t surprised to see my own figure appear. I’d barely stepped inside when a middle-aged man barreled into me and we both froze, caught in the security spell. Lines appeared in the image, as if it had been recorded in analog and was being fast-forwarded. An effect added by the studio to indicate time, no doubt. People moved faster than life around the edges of the screen. I hadn’t even noticed them at the time, and they were moving too fast to follow closely in this rendition. Then the lines disappeared and normal speed took over again. A crowd was gathered around the two frozen figures. A witch removed the spell, and the man in the video collapsed, clearly dead.
A buffering symbol popped up in the center of my phone screen and I cursed. The video Holly had sent me was only half finished. I paced as I waited for the phone to finish buffering, and fidgeted with the hem of my sweater until I noticed several strings fraying at the hemline. I didn’t have the budget for new sweaters right now, so I forced myself still, willing the phone to load faster.
Finally the clip began playing again. A new image loaded on the screen. This time I recognized the location immediately. The bank. It was one of the security videos the police had shown me. This clip was shorter. Just a few seconds of the three robbers in the bank before all three simultaneously collapsed. Then Xandra was back on the screen.
“Police have confirmed that they do not yet know the cause of death for these four people, but as you can see, this woman was present at both of these events.” Small, superimposed boxes appeared on either side of the reporter, framing her red curls with two close-up images of me. The one from the museum in the Quarter was terrible quality, and the one in the bank caught me with glowing eyes and hair whipping around my face, but they were still very identifiably me.
Which proved to be a moot point a moment later as Xandra continued her report.
“The pictured woman is believed to be local grave witch Alex Craft.” As she spoke, the two black-and-white security close-ups vanished, and the full-color headshot from my driver’s license appeared. “Police ask anyone who has information about the whereabouts of Alex Craft to contact the number on the screen.”
The camera panned out, revealing that Xandra sat at a table with several other reporters. The man to her left shuffled the papers in front of him and said, “This isn’t the first time Alex Craft has ended up news in Nekros. Do the police suspect her of being involved in the deaths?”
Xandra turned, not completely toward the other reporter, but enough that it was clear she was addressing him while still smiling into the camera. “Well, Chad, currently the police are only saying that NCPD and the MCIB wish to question Ms. Craft about the events that occurred. No one has currently been named as a suspect in the deaths.”
The man nodded. “One has to question if magic was involved in the deaths. And if so, how? Has a new type of magic emerged? Something deadlier than we’ve seen before? And on that subject, the Humans First Party has made headlines again—”
The clip ended. The screen of my phone went blank as the video shrank.
I stared at the phone, too shocked to process what I’d just seen. Holly had warned me it was bad. I could have never guessed it would be this. Why would John have released those clips and statement? Not only had he questioned me about it already, but the shades’ testimonies had cleared me. Plus he knew exactly where to find me. If he’d been looking for me, he would have called. Or shown up at my house or work. I wasn’t hiding from the authorities. Hell, I’d been with Briar most of the day.
Briar.
Anger bled through my shock. The only thing that plastering those videos and my name over the media did was destroy my reputation. Oh, and let whoever had actually killed those people know who I was. That report wasn’t John’s style, but Briar? I wouldn’t put it past Briar to try to stir up a reaction from the real killer by letting him know who had been breaking his toys. She’d just painted a target on my head.
Fuck.
I closed out of the browser app on my phone and pulled up the recent call list. The number Briar had called me from yesterday morning was second down on my incoming calls, and I tapped it. The first time the call failed. The second time, it rang three times before she picked up.
“What the hell is your problem?” I all but yelled into the phone.
“Craft, I take it you saw the afternoon news?”
“You just made me a target.” Now I was yelling. She’d also damaged my credibility and probably my business. I didn’t add that yet. Right now I was more worried that the guy who ripped out souls so that other ghosts could navigate the bodies now knew who I was.
I could almost hear Briar’s shrug through the phone as she said, “We had no leads. The clearing where we found those monstrosities is being watched, but since the necromancer responsible didn’t show up immediately after we tripped his wards, it is unlikely he plans to show at all. But you’ve been breaking his puppets. The easiest way to flush someone out is to give them someone to blame.”
The phone chirped, alerting me to another call coming in. I didn’t recognize the number, so I sent it to voice mail before saying, “So you thought you’d just throw me to the wolves. Zombie wolves in this case. Are you insane?”
“What are you worried about, Craft? I’m on the case with you, so I’ll likely be around if they come after you during the day, and you’re sleeping with an FIB agent who looks more than capable of watching your back. Like I said earlier today, it’s a lot easier to hunt someone who comes to you.”
Great. Just great. I sank down in a chair and buried my head in my arms. Unfortunately, that didn’t solve the problem.
“You could have at least asked,” I muttered.
“But you wouldn’t have said yes. This was easier. If you feel like you need extra protection, I can see if the NCPD can spare some extra bodies to watch your place, but for now I have to go. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She disconnected.
Chapter 16
I stared at the phone in my hands. Briar had just painted a bull’s-eye on my back, but it was already done. What could I do now? Turn myself over to the police? They weren’t actually looking for me, so that wasn’t going to help. Unless I wanted to hide in my castle, I was just going to have to find the necromancer before he found me.
My phone buzzed and began playing “When you’re a stranger.” Another caller not saved to my contact list. I hadn’t even had time yet to listen to the voice mail I’d received while on the phone with Briar. From experience, I knew I was probably about to get very popular. That happens when you make the news in a less than good way.
I didn’t want to answer, but I did. Might as well get it over with.
“Alex Craft, it looks like you’ve stepped in it again,” a vaguely familiar female voice said from the other side of the line.
I frowned. “Who is calling?”
“I’m hurt,” the woman said, the words so overdramatic that I imagined her pressing a hand to her chest as if I’d actually wounded her by not recognizing her voice. “This is Lusa Duncan from Witch Watch. I just saw that hatchet job they did on you over at Channel Six. Why, they didn’t even mention that those people you killed were robbing the bank at gunpoint. Promise me an exclusive at Witch Watch and I guarantee the coverage will be much less defamatory.”