“What the hell,” Xlina demanded cautiously, stepping out from behind the stairs and gently putting Amber down.
“Thanks,” Amber whispered, still clutching the fire poker.
“Nice swing,” Xlina replied with a pat on the shoulder before approaching the still gasping gothic witch on the floor. She looked down on the poor thing, still clutching her stomach and whimpering in pain, her head tilted in curiosity as she examined the witch. Her muscles ached, and she could still feel the pulling on her shoulders. She kicked the prone witch hard in the torso, striking at her ribs with her heel in a stomping motion. Amber rushed to her side for the first time, dropping the poker and hugging Xlina from behind, trying in vain to pull the woman away from delivering multiple stomps and kicks on the fallen witch, who merely grunted and groaned under the weight of Xlina’s blows. Her anger quenched, Xlina finally relented, putting her hand up to signal her surrender as Amber finally managed to pull her away.
“That’s not going to help,” Amber managed to blurt out between heavy breaths.
“Really?” Xlina spat back. “Because I feel better.”
“Seriously,” Amber sighed, releasing her hug on Xlina and backing away cautiously.
“What the hell, Burglecut,” Xlina repeated, turning in frustration on the burly chef, who had moved back to the table and held the spider in his hand before his face. He whispered something before gently placing the spider down near the kitchen door. He watched intently as the spider scurried under the door and out of sight before turning to respond to her.
“What, boss?” he asked with a shrug, looking around as Brick curled up and lay before the hearth. The playful wolf seemed happy just resting contentedly before the hearth.
“That guy was marked,” Xlina demanded. “And you knew him!”
“Aye, boss.” He nodded again with a shrug.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” she demanded, flinging her hands to her sides in exasperation. “All this time... I have been searching for answers.”
“He’s not marked like you,” Burglecut shrugged again, as if that answered all her questions.
“Hey, give him a break, Xlina,” Amber chimed in. “They did just save our behinds.”
“I’m grateful,” Xlina sighed. “I really am, but I am tired of these half-truths, Burglecut. I need answers.”
“You need patience,” Penny scolded, pushing her way in through the kitchen door, once more looking like her charming old self. She limped slightly when she walked, and her arm hung limply at her side, but she was a far cry from the monster that had consumed the stone witch. Xlina shuddered, remembering the multifaceted eyes and the eager fangs plunging into the witch.
“Penny,” Burgle cooed, wrapping the woman in a gentle hug.
“Are you daft, girl?” Penny asked sincerely, brushing Burglecut back with her good hand. “Unleashing your energy like that. Why, you must hardly have anything left. How are ya to be rescuing Oxy if you’re done tuckered out, my girl?”
“Rescue Oxivius?” Xlina chuckled, looking around for someone who understood what in the nine hells was going on, only to see Amber nod in agreement with Penny. “Oxivius is dead.”
“Boy is he,” Burglecut chuckled, examining the damage to his beloved Heart’s Hearth. “Didn’t think that coven had the balls to strike at the Hearth.”
“Come, girl,” Penny said, righting a knocked over chair before plopping down with a deep exhale. “They aren’t going to kill him if they are working with a demon. He is too valuable.”
“How so?” Xlina asked, curiosity overtaking her frustration as she moved closer to Penny, ready to finally gain some insight on the reclusive necromancer.
“Why, for the souls he carries,” she answered as if it was obvious. “Why else?”
“Souls?” Amber asked, eyeing the sleeping Brick by the hearth. “He has more than one?”
“Many,” Penny nodded. “Stores ‘em up like a battery. Takes a piece from every meal, and they all stay rumbling down in his belly. Oxivius Soulstealer, that’s what they called him back during the purge.”
“The purge?” Xlina questioned.
“The Spanish Inquisition, deary,” Penny clarified with a scolding voice. “Stop interrupting if you want to hear the story.”
“Sorry,” Amber and Xlina said almost in unison.
“Very well,” Penny declared with authority, enjoying the audience hanging on her words. She straightened up like a classic bard of old, preparing her tale. “Burgle and I were just wed; it was a beautiful Sunday, right here in the Hearth. It wasn’t the Hearth then of course, but it didn’t matter. Humans were young, they still believed in magic, and the new world seemed a safe place for our kind.”
Burgle emerged with flagons of hot cider and apple biscuits, placing them on the table with a smile before turning on the fallen pair of gothic witches. He eyed them threateningly and proceeded to nod to the snoozing Brick with a low whistle. Brick’s ears sprung up, and he sat up, looking at Burglecut intently. Without a word between them, the flaming wolf changed position to stare at the two wounded witches.
“They came that spring,” Penny continued between bites of the apple-flavored biscuits. “The puritans from across the pond. See, lots of folks feared the new world would become a magic refuge for our kind. That Otherworlders would claim the continent for themselves and finally stand on their own. So they came to do what humans do when they are scared. They came to wipe us out.”
“‘Twas a real bad time, boss,” Burglecut added, pushing a flagon of hot cider to Amber and Xlina.
“Among those coming from across the pond was dear Oxy,” Penny cooed fondly. “He wasn’t very dear back then of course. Much more feral in his youth, I’d say.”
“Bloody right,” Burglecut nodded. “Like a locust eating everything in sight.”
“The souls, you see,” Penny clarified. “They take their toll. He eats and claims a piece, but they are all in there, still rattling around inside him. In his head, whispering, begging to be free. He was in terrible shape when Burgle found him.”
“A right mess,” Burglecut added, pushing the plate of biscuits to the pair of girls. “Eat ‘fore it goes stone cold.”
“Aye,” Penny agreed. “But I couldn’t turn him away. Not with the puritans out there burning witches at the stakes and crushing them under rocks. So we did what we could, but all those souls bouncing around in his body...‘twas not good for him.”
“Like your nightmares,” Burglecut chimed in. “He needed release. Needed control. So filled with rage was the boss.”
“Aye. So we did the unthinkable,” Penny stated flatly. “We took him to the Otherworld, to the Nekromantía.”
“The Witch of Endor,” Burgle added. “For you Bible types, the bone-conjurer who aided King Saul and was thanked with exile to the Otherworld for her efforts.”
“Indeed,” Penny added. “Was a crazy idea, black magic; it consumes the soul. Makes you rotten within, but poor Oxy had him souls to burn.”
“In spades,” Burglecut chuckled.
“He’s a font of souls,” Penny added. “Been roaming the Otherworld since. I was so glad to see him back.”
“With friends to boot,” Burglecut agreed, taking a long draw from his flagon of cider before slamming it down on the table with a heavy belch.
“So they’ll not kill him,” Penny explained carefully. “They’ll feed him to the demon.”
“Aye. That’s what I would do if I were working with a soul-sucking demon,” Burgle nodded.
“What are we waiting for?” Xlina asked impatiently. “If there is a chance he is alive, we must go now.”
“You need to rest,” Penny stated flatly.
“I need to save him,” Xlina declared defiantly.
“You don’t know where he is,” Burglecut added, gesturing to the pair of gothic witches under Brick’s heavy stare. “They might, but we’ll need to break them into talking.”
“I know how to find them,
” Xlina answered firmly, her hand floating to the polished red stone held tight to her throat by the black choker. Touching the stone, she could still feel Valeria, calling for her to come to her.
“You need strength,” Penny added. “Burgle and I are old, deary; we can’t go help you out there.”
“We need the lines,” Burglecut clarified. “Without them, Penny can’t stay in her human form.”
“Won’t be much help as a twenty-foot spider monster lumbering through downtown,” Penny continued.
“I’ll go with you,” Amber stated firmly. “We’ll save him together.”
“Amber,” Xlina answered, turning to look at the girl. “No, you can’t; you can’t fight these things with me.”
“I did well enough with sparkles down there,” Amber retorted, pointing to the witch she had laid out with the fire poker.
“Was darn brave too, girl,” Burglecut agreed, motioning for a toast with his flagon before remembering it was empty, which brought a sour look to his face as he eyed the untouched flagons before Amber and Xlina. With a quick swap of his hands like a street magician, he replaced his empty flagon with Amber’s and proceeded to take a hefty swig.
“It’s too dangerous,” Xlina refused, shaking her head and pushing herself away from the table. “You were almost incinerated by the warlock. I can’t save Oxivius and protect you, Amber. I’m just not strong enough.”
“Brick protected me,” Amber replied, looking once more to the flaming wolf. “It’s what friends do, Xlina, and I protected you. We’ll protect Oxivius. Together.”
“Aye,” Cheered Burglecut, draining his flagon and slamming it down on the table once more. “It’s settled then. Xlina, Amber, and Brick are going after Oxivius.”
“I hardly think a giant wolf made of fire is going to be any different than a monster spider strolling down main street,” Xlina replied skeptically.
“Ole Brick hasn’t been out in a dog’s age,” Burglecut added, cutting her off. “And he likes the way Amber clunked that witch with the poker.”
“Good boy,” Amber called to Brick, whose ears seemed to perk up.
“It’s settled then,” Penny agreed, and Burglecut began whistling his dirge once more. Brick pranced around the room with a wag of his fiery tail, growing smaller and smaller until he was but an ember floating back and forth. He flew like a will-o’-the-wisp around the room, erratic and free, but instead of returning to the fire of the hearth, he landed on Amber’s exposed shoulder, and she flinched as a wisp of smoke puffed up. Xlina rose to her feet and circled the sitting Amber to see the spot where Brick had landed. Amber’s exposed shoulder remained pristine, save for a red tattoo of a wolf now traced on her skin. Amber looked back at Xlina with a curious expression.
“He’s here,” Amber stated with a giggle, rubbing her stomach. “Inside me. I can feel him all over.”
“Aye,” Burglecut said, ending his dirge. “Brick’s the ghost of fire, the first fire, lit by the titan Prometheus. When Prometheus stole the fire from the gods, it was ole Brick here they were talking about. He can travel as a spirit within a willing host. Careful though, as having all that elemental fire riding shotgun might loosen your... inhibitions. He’ll keep you safe though.”
Xlina shook her head in awe as Amber rose from the table, smiling. Her skin seemed to glow. She seemed stronger and healthier. It was a transformation that was subtle, but tangible. Her platinum-blonde hair had a streak of red that hung down on the left side of her bangs, and her nails, painted a pink tone before, were dark red, longer, and slightly pointed instead of the well-manicured, rounded edges from before. Her green eyes flared with confidence as she brushed her hair aside with a wicked smile.
“Let’s get ready,” Amber said, taking powerful strides toward the stairs. Even her voice had changed, becoming husky and a couple of octaves deeper. She was still Amber, but she was something more at the same time. She was a vessel for the fire, and Xlina grew worried for her friend.
Chapter Sixteen
The Darkest Hour
Xlina rummaged through her things, not knowing quite what to wear for the planned rescue mission. Penny had begun cleaning up the Heart’s Hearth main foyer, while Burglecut had dragged the snake witch’s corpse downstairs, mumbling something about Oxivius being hungry when he got back. That left her and Amber in their respective rooms to prepare to wade into the hornet’s nest. She felt like she should be preparing battle armor instead of flicking through her drawers filled with athletic wear and t-shirts. The image of the head of the snake witch exploding still flickered in her subconscious, and she shuddered at the sight in her mind.
She had killed him, a human, with scarcely a thought. True, he had intended to kill her, but when she had unleashed the full power of her Baku power, she had become lost in it. Her humanity had faded into the recesses of her thoughts. She could have disabled him, she could have spared him, but she had mercilessly executed the witch. It was in moments like these, the quiet moments of contemplation, when her fears of the mark corrupting her sank in. She had used the energy Valeria had given to her to smite her foes. Was she taking yet one more step down the path to her own damnation?
She stripped out of her athletic top, discarding it into her laundry hamper and peeling out of her shorts, standing in front of her dresser in nothing but her bikini briefs, pondering the appropriate attire for invading the Burnished Rose’s coven and wishing she had an enchanted suit like the warlock instead of a collection of discount-store spandex.
“Hiya, X.” Amber’s voice startled her from her thoughts, and she spun to see Amber standing next to her. In her new hybrid form, she had entered Xlina’s room and approached without a sound. Her hair was tied back, save for the sole strip of red hair that hung over her left eye. She seemed on edge, anxious even, with her hands on her hips. She had chosen a pair of hip-hugging blue jeans for battle with a red tank top and a pair of black ankle boots that were adorned with a small gold chain on the outside that was more fashion than function.
“Shit, Amber,” Xlina cursed, becoming conscious of her exposed body and covering her breasts with her folded arms. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“It’s okay, Xlina,” she answered. “We are going to protect you.”
“Okay,” Xlina answered cautiously, backing up a step. “How about my privacy? I’m not ready to go.”
Amber reached out, grabbing Xlina roughly by the shoulders and flinging her effortlessly onto her pullout bed. With a single bound, she prowled toward the bed, and climbed up with a seductive grace straddling Xlina and lowering her face until their noses almost touched. Xlina stared back blankly, taken aback by the sudden force and power Amber wielded in this hybrid form.
“Shhh,” Amber whispered in a husky growl as she leaned in and kissed Xlina firmly and strongly on the mouth. Xlina struggled, confused and shocked by the sudden move as Amber’s tongue probed her mouth. Xlina reached up, clamped her hands on Amber’s thighs, and pushed firmly, causing Amber to roll off the bed and thump onto the floor giggling.
“What the hell?” Xlina asked, scampering to an upright position. “We need to be saving Oxivius.”
“I know, I know,” Amber said, calming herself and popping back up to her feet. “But we had to let you know how she feels while she is still brave enough to do it. We’ll be waiting for you downstairs.”
Amber turned and walked confidently out of the room, making a deliberate show of closing the door firmly until the lock latched, leaving Xlina alone and very confused. She thought back to Burglecut’s warning about loosened inhibition. She shook her head, clearing the thoughts away. She was confused, but it was Brick spurring Amber’s actions and not Amber herself. Her friend was riding shotgun with the ghost of fire. They had been warned there would be side effects.
She went to her drawers once more, grabbing a pair of yoga pants with sheer cutout panels on the thighs and a tight-fitting blue athletic top that came up into a V pattern and clasped behind her neck
. She was unsure if it was wise to leave her bare shoulders and back exposed around the Amber–Brick hybrid, which seemed thoroughly charged, sexually speaking. The freedom of movement, however, was worth the risk as she threw a quick combination of lefts and rights. She grabbed her best fighting sneakers, still stained with the blood of the cephalopod, and headed down to the foyer.
“Bout time,” Amber cooed from a table piled high with an assortment of items. She straddled a chair that had been spun around. Her elbow rested on the back of the chair, and she wore a bored expression. The signs of Brick’s alterations to her personality were both tangible and jarring.
“Xlina, come here, girl,” Penny called, limping to the table and gesturing broadly to the items piled high. “Spoils of war.”
“Dibs,” Amber called, pulling a silver and black bracelet from the pile and examining it closely.
“Oh boy,” Xlina sighed, looking at the pile. She recognized the coat from the snake witch, as well as a dozen scattered charms and assorted trinkets.
“Mostly hedgewitch junk,” Penny started, pawing at the collected loot. “Should be able to get a few items in trade to help patch the place up.”
“That sounds great,” Xlina replied, turning her back on the pile of belongings from the coven’s death squad.
“Don’t be like that,” Amber scoffed, picking through the pile. “Oxivius robs graves for a living, and you were fine wearing those clothes back from the Necropolis.”
“I didn’t kill those folks,” Xlina retorted, starting to dislike hybrid Amber’s personality. It was as if Brick was amping up her quirks a hundred fold.
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