He nodded. The fringe on his jacket trembled, and he turned on one heel. “Sounds like a busy night.”

“Aren’t they all.” I followed him out, past other curtained enclosures. Some were open, the machinery of saving lives standing by for the next high-adrenaline emergency. Some were closed, the curtains drawn to grant a sliver of privacy. Someone groaned from one, and a murmur of doctor’s voices came from another. Mercy General’s ER was always hopping.

The nurse at the desk just gave me a nod and pushed the phone over, then went back to questioning a blank-eyed man in Spanish through the sheet of bulletproof glass as she filled out a sheet of paperwork with neat precise scratches. The patient swayed and cradled his swollen, messily bandaged hand; he was pale under his coloring and smelled of burnt metal and cocaine. I kept half an eye on him while I punched 9 and my own number.

He picked up on the first ring. Slightly nasal boy’s voice. “Bruja?”

“Gilberto. This better be good.” I regretted it as soon as I said it. He wasn’t the type to call me for nothing.

As usual, he didn’t take it personally. A slight, wheezing laugh. “Package for you, mi profesora. Wrapped up with a pretty bow.”

What? “A package?” My mouth went dry. “Gilberto—”

“Man who delivered it still here. Uno rubio, in a suit. Says he’ll wait for you.”

A blond, in a suit? The dryness poured down, invaded my throat. “Gilberto, listen to me very carefully—”

A slight sound as the phone was taken from my apprentice. I knew, from the very first breath, who was waiting for me at home.

“My darling Kiss.” Perry’s voice was smooth as silk, and full of nasty amusement. “He’s quite a winning elf, your new houseboy. And so polite.”