Read Napier's Bones for Free Online Page B

either.”
    “True enough,
although all sorts of powerful artefacts have somehow slipped the bonds of the
British Isles.”
    “Well, there
were plenty that started out away from Britain in the first place, right?”
    Billy nodded his
head. “Yes, but by far the majority came from there. Something there has always
been conducive to the creation of all this mojo.” In the passenger seat Jenna
snorted in her sleep and turned her head. Billy chuckled. “There are plenty of
items still sprinkled throughout the world, Dom. As a matter of fact, the way
I’ve seen things play out in the time I can remember, I’m pretty sure that
there are still a dozen or more of my own still lying around, even, ones
without my essence, but still fairly powerful artefacts.”
    Dom cocked an
eyebrow. “If you found one do you suppose it would kick-start your memory?”
    Billy made a
face, scrunched up his mouth as he cocked an eyebrow. The feeling Dom got from
the face was
consternation
, even though he wasn’t looking in a mirror.
“I hadn’t thought about that. The odds would be extremely long against finding
anything, but it might be a reason to go looking some day.”
    Dom blinked.
“Must be hell knowing more about your host than yourself.”
    Billy shrugged
again. “I live with it. And in the meantime, I even have a theory about why I’m
like this.”
    “Which is?”
    “Being numerate
doesn’t preclude anyone making a tiny mistake in the numbers, Dom.” Billy
turned the music down to a distant background whisper. “Think of the numbers I
laid out as the equivalent of DNA.”
    “Um, okay.” It
occurred to Dom that he was now having a discussion about genetics with someone
who had died long before that particular science had come into existence.
    “When Watson and
Crick first announced their discovery, my host did a fair amount of reading on
the subject, searching for more numerate possibilities in the building blocks
of life. Since then I have made an effort to keep up with the field, as a
layman, in case anything rears its head.
    “Not long ago it
struck me that perhaps the reason I can’t remember who I am is the same reason
some people are born with genetic defects; a switch is thrown in the wrong
place or, more aptly, information is translated incorrectly. It’s there, but
for whatever reason it does not come across as intended. A birth defect, a handicap,
or in my case, numbers that either mean nothing or else mean something other
than intended.”
    Dom chewed on
this for a minute. “So what you’re saying is that it’s possible that other
people made the same mistake in processing their numbers.”
    “Probable, even.”
    “Okay, probable.
And so there’s lots of shit lying around that no one has any idea where it is.”
    “Indeed,”
replied Billy. “Certainly some of it has been destroyed over the decades or
centuries or even millennia, in wars, even in hunts for witches, but much of it
has just been . . . misplaced. And there’s no accounting for those unfortunate
souls whose numbers were wrong and whose shadows ended up either lost forever
or else mistranslated worse than my own were.”
    “What happens
then?”
    Billy grimaced.
“Empty husk without a spark is the description that has been used.”
    Dom shuddered,
then squinted his eyes at an upcoming sign. Bozeman was soon. He leaned over
and tapped Jenna on the shoulder. “Hey. Time to wake up.”
    She grunted and
stretched her arms as best she could in the car. “There yet?”
    “Soon. I just
wanna stop and gas up in case we have to blow town as fast as last time.” He
signalled and hit an exit way too fast, kicking up rocks and grabbing hard at
the steering wheel to correct as he tapped the brakes. “Plus, I have to make a
call, considering how early we are. See if we can get in before things open.”
    “I’ll fill it
up,” said Jenna as they pulled up to the gas pumps. “You make the call.”
    “Right.” Dom got
out, thought about