Her eyes widened; she stared at Lupita now, focusing. Waiting. It shouldnt be possible. Lupita hadnt been Hosting when she was arrestedthey would have caught that immediately when she was brought inand there was no way in hell she would have been able to pick up and bond with a spirit in the Church prisons. It simply wasnt possible.
The flash didnt reappear. No. She was imagining things. All the stress, the tension of her personal lifewhat there was of itand the overbearing sympathy of the Elders and the other Debunkers, crushing her beneath their concern for her leg and their good intentions. Add to that a few extra Cepts and a Panda, and half a Nip to keep her awake No wonder she was seeing things. What was next, pink elephants?
Elder Griffin stood before the guillotine, cleared his throat.
Irene Lowe, also known as Madame Lupita, thou hast been found guilty by the Church of the crime of summoning spirits to earth. Further, thou hast been found guilty of the attempted murder of Church Debunker Cesaria Putnam. Cesaria, is this woman responsible for those crimes?
Chess stood up, despite the protests of her right thigh and Elder Griffins slight frown. Yes, Elder.
Thou testifiest this based on what?
I saw this woman commit those crimes, Elder.
And thou swearest thy word to be Fact, and Truth?
Yes, Elder. I do.
Elder Griffin gave her a curt nod, turned next to Dana Wright while Chess sank back onto her chair. A woman was about to die based on her word. When her wordthe word of a junkie and a liar, the word of someone whod betrayed her only real friend in the worldwasnt worth shit.
He was never going to speak to her again. Shed given up calling the week before. Shed given up hoping she might see him out at Tricksters or Chucks, given up hanging around the Market in the cold, waiting to see if he turned up. He was still out there, of course. People had seen him.
People who werent her. Shed never known anyone could avoid another person so thoroughly. It was like he could sense her coming.
Shifting movement in the standing crowd drew her attention back to the proceedings. The execution itself was about to take place.
The room thrummed with power now, beating like a heart around them, steady and slow and thick. No need for a circle; the room itself was a circle, a fortress with iron sandwiched into the cement walls.
Elder Griffin started pounding the drum, letting his hand stay in the air for so long between beats that Chess felt herself waiting, breathless, unable to move or allow her lungs to fill until the next heavy thump. The rooms magic slid into her, finding those empty spaces and filling them, making her something more than she was. It felt good. So good she wanted to close her eyes and give herself to it completely, to forget everything and everyone and do nothing but exist in the energy.
She couldnt, of course. She knew she couldnt. So instead she watched as the executioners psychopomp formed, the dog growing out of the skull, flowing like a river from a mountain peak to become legs, a tail, hair sprouting glossy and black over the bare skin and bones.
The drum beat faster. Drums there had been drums at Lupitas séance that night, played by a duo of speed-freaks with eyes like ball bearings. Now the drums again, keeping monotonous, dragging time under Elder Murrays voice.
Irene Lowe, thou art found guilty and sentenced to die by a tribunal of Church Elders, and this sentence shall now be carried out. If thou hast any last words to speak, speak them now.
Lupita shook her head, staring at the floor. Chess reached out with her own power, trying to get some sense of something from the woman. Some fear, some anger. Anything. Lupita was too quiet. Too calm. This didnt feel right.
The executioner helped Lupita to her knees, placed her neck on the divot. The drum beat harder, louder even than Chesss blood in her veins or the thick sweet magic air rasping in her lungs. Louder than her own thoughts.
She reached out farther, letting her power caress Lupitas skin, trying to find something
Oh, fuck!
Her leg gave when she leapt to her feet, almost falling over. No! No, dont
Too late. The blade fell, its metallic shnik slicing the air as cleanly as it did Irenes neck, thudding into place like the slamming of a prison door.
Irenes head tumbled into the basket. Blood erupted from the stump of her neck, poured over her head, over the dull cement floor.
Her spirit rose; her spirit, the spirit that had been Madame Lupita. The dog lunged for it, ready to drag it below the earth, into the prisons outside the City of Eternity.
The other spirit rose as well. The spirit Lupitad been Hosting. The one there was no psychopomp to take care of, no graveyard dust to subdue. The one an entire roomful of Church employees were helpless against in that room with its iron walls and locked door.
Chesss scream finally escaped, bursting into the air. It was drowned out by the others, the shouts of surprise and fear.
Elder Griffin dropped the drum. The dog grabbed Lupitas spiritshe had a passport on her arm, she was the one hed been summoned to retrieveand dove into the patch of wavering air behind the wall. The last thing Chess saw of Lupita was her mouth stretched into a horrible grin as she left them all to die.