Page 75 of Bad Medicine

ChapterThirty-Five

It was 4:30 a.m. when Aarondelivered me to the council. Ordinarily, I’d just be winding down after a longnight, and my two hour “nap” had energized me. The coffee, rich and strong,hadn’t hurt. As I strode down the echoing halls of the building, sandwichedbetween two very large vampire escorts, I was fully awake and ready to face theelders.

I was somewhat surprised to seeonly two of them present—the vampire elder, and Ti, the golden female who’dspoken inside my head. That had been rather creepy, come to think of it. Funnyhow when I was in their presence, nothing seemed strange.

“Kait,” the elder said, notrising from his throne chair. “You look well.”

“Thank you, sir,” I said. “You,as well.” Honestly, he was too ancient to “look well,” but I was nothing if notpolite. Sometimes.

Ti smiled at me. “We havesomething for you. Something that will help you bring us the shapeshifter myfellow council members so crave.”

“Ti,” the vampire elder said.“Please.”

“Bring it,” she said, and thetwo attendants behind her chair rushed to obey her.

“We have two things for you,”the vampire said, then watched as I was handed the items. One was a brownleather satchel, soft and buttery and old, and the other was a tiny blue boxwith a silver hinge.

I undid the clasp on the bagfirst and found a boatload of cash inside. I looked up at the elder. “We willtake care of you,” he said, “but will not always deposit money into youraccount. You will need cash at times. When you move to Huntersburg, purchase asafe, Ms. Silver. Eventually we will give you other things to secure insideit.” Then, “Open the box.”

I dropped the strap of the bagover my head, then opened the box.

There was a thin bracelet inside,twisted with silver vines and intermittently placed shiny black beads. It waselastic and stretched easily. “Silver and obsidian,” Ti told me. “And magic, ofcourse. All you need to do is blow a breath upon the bracelet, and it will beactivated to neutralize the shapeshifter.”

I eyed it somewhat doubtfully.“I breathe on it and then offer it to him as a gift? I’m not sure Sam is goingto want to wear such a…dainty piece of jewelry.”

“I’m afraid it won’t be thateasy,” Ti said.

“I had a feeling.” I slid thebracelet over my hand, and it settled snugly around my wrist. “So what do Ineed to do?”

“As soon as you activate theitem,” the old vampire told me, “he will be affected by the magic of it. Hewill be…repelled. Though he may not understand where the bad magic is comingfrom, he will be immediately suspicious. You must work fast. Youarefast, Ms. Silver. You can do this if anyone can.”

“Take his hand,” Ti said, hervoice smooth but her golden eyes dark, “and slide it onto his wrist. He will beimmediately immobilized, and you will have him.”

I frowned. “Seems overlycomplicated. Why didn’t you just create a spike I could have pushed into hisarm or a gun or—”

“Because this is what wasneeded,” the vampire elder said, a little impatient. “A shapeshifter’s weaknessis in his wrist. We retrieved some of his essence from one of the murdervictims and used it to create the magic that will seep into his system. Thisitem will tighten on his wrist, choking him, crippling him.” He leaned forward.“You must also choose the correct wrist.”

“And how am I to know which onethat is?”

“Watch him. See which wristpains him when you activate the magic. It will likely be that one, and you willhave him.”

“It is closer to the truth,” Tisaid, “to say you will have to be lucky.”

The elder glanced at her beforeputting his stare back on me. “There is only a short window to keep himcontrolled, I’m afraid—less than twenty minutes, depending on his strength. Youwill call Aaron and he will find you within minutes. Cunning is key. Trick him.Do whatever it takes to get this powerful shapeshifter into our hands. Forwhatever reason, he seems to have attached himself to you—therefore, there is acertain amount of trust.”

With every word he spoke, Ifelt worse.

I stared at the bracelet,seconds away from ripping it from my wrist and tossing it to the floor.

“He is dangerous, Kait,” theelder said gently. “And he is murdering the humans we seek to protect. He hastoo much power and he is abusing it greatly.”

“I know,” I said. “I know.” Andthough I didn’t say it, I also knew the shapeshifter wasn’t abusing is powernearly as much as he could have been. He thought he was protecting kids andpunishing their mothers. He wasn’t trying to take over the world. He wasn’teven trying to take over the city.

But I couldn’t think like that.

“You are doing the rightthing.”

But was I? How I wished I couldhave been sure. I didn’t ask him how Aaron would keep him contained once we puthim in the car. They would have their ways—and I was positive that all of themwould hurt.