The Spook's Blood by Joseph Delaney

Author:Joseph Delaney
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House UK
Published: 2012-06-07T04:00:00+00:00

‘SO WE NEED to find a way to stop Siscoi,’ I said.

Judd gave me a humourless grin. ‘There’s nothing I’d like better. At this time of year it’s about four and a half hours from midnight to dawn. He could do a lot of damage in that time. But all my training in Romania doesn’t give me the slightest inkling of how it could be done. And even if we had the means, the witches would be there within seconds.’

‘Not if we do it during daylight hours. They’ll be sleeping then. If warned, could they still project their souls from their bodies when the sun is shining?’

‘I’ve never heard of such a thing – though it might be possible. I assume you’re thinking of attacking Siscoi while he’s still forming in the pit. What have you in mind, Tom?’

‘I’d like to try one of the oldest tricks in a spook’s repertoire – salt and iron,’ I said.

Judd shook his head. ‘We’d most likely be wasting our time. Salt and iron don’t work against Romanian witches, elementals or daemons.’

‘They don’t usually work against the Old Gods, either. But that’s when they are fully awake and ready to rend the flesh from your bones. Siscoi is still growing his body from the blood and offal in the pit. I’m sure salt could burn that vulnerable half-formed body, and iron might bleed away its strength. They might not stop him, but they could slow him down and give us a chance to search for my master. What do you say? Isn’t it worth a try? Let’s do it now while the sun’s still shining! We can tip salt and iron into the offal pit and then deal with the sleeping witches one by one.’

‘But there’s one other danger to consider, Tom,’ Judd warned me. ‘The strigoica will be awake now, guarding their partners. Even if the witch orbs don’t threaten us, they certainly will. And they are as fast and dangerous as the strigoii.’

‘I have speed too. And I have the sword,’ I pointed out.

Judd frowned. ‘If I’m to be any help at all, I need a weapon of my own.’

Tucked into my belt beneath my cloak hung Bone Cutter, the dagger I’d been given by Slake. But I wasn’t going to lend it to Judd – it was one of the three sacred objects, and I couldn’t risk losing it. So I kept quiet about it. I wasn’t sure if we’d find a blacksmith to help in Todmorden. Judging from what we’d experienced so far I didn’t expect much cooperation. Then I remembered the village. I glanced up at the sun. ‘We’ve about seven hours of daylight left,’ I told him. ‘Remember the village we passed through on our way here. It had a blacksmith and a grocer’s and it’s less than an hour away. We could get large bags of salt from the shop – we’ll need more than just pocketfuls – and all the iron filings we need from the smith.

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