Though still fuzzy, she could see the human-like features of the face and the shape of the body, the mannerisms, the clothes. For Annie, the demon just didn’t add up. Nothing seemed to fit.
A hybrid? Where does that come from?
She shuddered at the thought.
While the demon remained preoccupied with his own amusement, Annie pressed herself against the wall and pushed up. Weak and trembling, she twisted her palms outward, took whatever energy she had left, and let the jinx fly from her hands. Large green sparks flew from her palm and landed in the demon’s mouth. His eyes widened, and his body sputtered and jerked violently. Annie watched in amazement as smoke billowed from his mouth, like a volcano about to erupt. The demon howled as the spell ripped him apart. Annie ducked low, covering her head with her arms as creature parts flew across the hallway and bedroom.
When she looked up again, she saw slimy remains covering the ceiling, walls, and carpeting. Blood and sinew hung from the hallway light. Wet pieces plopped to the carpet and slid down the walls. When she felt monster guts run down her cheek, Annie blanched and wiped away the gore. She pulled parts from her thick hair, flinging them to the ground in disgust. Again, Annie’s phone buzzed. She raised her eyebrows, surprised the phone hadn’t broken in her fall, and answered the call.
“Yeah,” she breathed heavily. It hurt to take in the air.
“It’s me. Where are you?” Spencer asked with an anxious tone.
She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
“I got it,” she wheezed, trying to take a deep breath. “Demon parts everywhere.” She lips curled in disgust when a demon finger plopped in her lap.
“I thought it was a retrieval, not a kill,” he said.
“A little change in plans. Sorry.” She threw the demon finger on the floor.
Spencer repeated, “So, where are you?”
“I’m at the end of Keeney Street near the trees. It’s the only house that looks abandoned,” she answered.
Demon parts continued to fall to the floor.
Ugh.
“Did you catch that man?” she wheezed.
“No. He got away. I’m coming for you. You sound horrible,” he said.
She couldn’t argue as she pushed back against the wall and pulled herself up. “I’m going to collect samples,” she said as she limped down the hall. “And figure out what the hell he was searching for when I found it. I’ll see you soon.” She slipped in a pile of demon slime. “Ooooff. Shit!” she said as she grabbed the door jamb.
“Are you okay?” Spencer asked. “You sound hurt.”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you later. Okay?” She entered the room and headed to the hole in the wall.
“On my way now,” he said.
She directed the flashlight between the studs and stuck her head inside the hole.
“Oh,” she said.
“Annie? What’s happening?”
“Later,” she said and placed the phone in her back pocket without saying goodbye.
A white object was nestled between the studs at the floor. She summoned it and let the object hang in the air above her palm. She trained her flashlight on the four-inch-long artifact that appeared to be a hand-carved piece of…
Bone?
The design was old, grotesque, a human shape with an ugly face and a long beard, carved to a point. A triangle-shaped hat sat on top of wild hair. Someone over time had drilled an uneven hole through the top point of the hat.
A necklace? Amulet?
She ran a palm across the small totem and chanted a reveal spell. The statue radiated a shimmering white light.
At least it’s good magic.
The statue vibrated against her skin. When she held it to her ear, it hummed softly and tickled her skin. She quickly realized it was a talisman —an object strong enough to create magic or conjure an object or possibly even a demon.
“So where did you come from and how did my demon know you were in the wall?” Annie asked aloud. She placed it back to her ear as if it could reveal its secrets.
Her attention shifted when she noticed unusual noises around her. When she turned around, she saw demon parts roll across the floor and slosh and plop from the ceiling. Slimy and oddly colored muscle and sinew slid across the carpet, carrying with them bits of dirt and carpet fibers. Wet muscles, organs, fingers, and legs found each other as if they were magic. They reformed, taking their original shapes. Slowly, a body grew. Arms and legs sprouted from its massive trunk. Feet and hands shot out from the end of the limbs.
Confused, agitated, frustrated, the demon thrashed about on the floor, flaying and jerking, his thick hands feeling for a missing head.
Annie jumped back in horror as the regenerated, headless demon thrashed about. She gawked as a tiny head developed from the stocky tree trunk of a neck. Gradually, the head blew up like a balloon. The same ugly face appeared; long, stringy hair sprouted from the scalp and down to the shoulders.
The demon’s eyes, wild with anger, darted back and forth until they found Annie. With the talisman in hand, she teleported from the room. The demon grunted, pulled himself up, and stumbled as he lumbered out the door.
Halfway down the stairs, the demon, seeing Annie in the front room, slipped and dove for her. She lunged out of the way; the demon hit the floor, which shook at the crash.
Panicked, Annie cast a strong jinx, hitting the demon in the chest. Weakened from being blown apart, the demon fell through the bay window, shattering the glass across the overgrown bushes beneath the window.
Annie ran outside and cast another jinx. She missed the escaping demon, instead hitting the dry bushes which began to smoke.
“Damn.” She conjured a water bottle, dousing the small fire.
The demon rushed her. Both fell against the hand railing. All of the demon’s weight pinned Annie against the weakening wood. When she cast another spell, she sent them both through the front door.
Propelled by adrenaline, Annie rolled away as the demon clambered up and lunged for her. She teleported to the end of the hallway, which was just dark enough to keep her hidden from the creature. She pressed against the wall. With her palm out, she lifted the spindly chair and threw it at the demon. The creature looked around, still unable to see Annie, and stomped on the chair, breaking it into smaller bits.
The demon grew angry and growled loudly. He sniffed several times before walking to the hallway. Annie cast the next spell, lifting the end table. It only grazed the beast in the chest and fell to the floor. The demon stomped it to pieces.
Annie stepped further into the shadows toward the kitchen. She could smell both the demon’s stench and her own. It smelled like fear.
With one more spell, she directed the sofa toward the demon, knocking it to its knees. Nearly out of energy, she stepped in front of the demon and launched another attack with successive spells, not letting up until the creature keeled over, unconscious.
Exhausted, she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor, wincing with pain.
“What the hell?” Spencer said as he entered the house. He glanced around the room at the broken window and the oddly placed, broken furniture. “Annie?” he shouted.
“Here!” Her voice was small; she had difficulty breathing.
Spencer shined the light in the room and ran for Annie, sidestepping the unconscious demon.
“What the hell happened?” He knelt beside her.
“The demon regenerated. Did you know demons could do that?” Her breathing was shallow. She winced.
“I need to get you out of here.” He offered his hand. She waved him away.
“No. He’s strong and dangerous. You need to get him to Tartarus. I can wait.”
He shined his light in her eyes. She turned away. “No, you can’t,” Spencer said.
Spencer pulled out his phone and explained the situation to the voice on the other end. Annie knew it must be Graham Lightner, manager of the Vampire Attack Unit. A team would be here soon.
“I’m going to secure the demon and then get you the hell out of here.” He assessed the sleeping creature, lifted a heavy eyelid, and placed a finger under the demon’s nose to feel the air rush in and out. Certain that he was only knocked out, Spencer started tying the demon’s feet with magical rope, ensuring he couldn’t escape.
“Clothes and no shoes?” Spencer pulled on the rope to make sure he couldn’t make it budge and began to tie the demon’s hands behind his back. “Has he said anything? He doesn’t seem to be of the talking and thought type,” Spencer said as he continued to tie the demon with magical rope.
“No. He’s only grunted and howled. This is the most bizarre demon.” Annie stopped to take a shallow breath. She watched Spencer finish securing the demon; quickly and efficiently, the large beast was bound in magical rope that nothing could escape. “I watched him act like an animal, digging through the garbage, and sniffing the air. Plus, he stinks. But then I swear he was thinking and working out a problem.” She coughed. Pain seized her body, and she shuddered.
As the successive spells to the demon began to wear off, he growled a low guttural sound.
“And he doesn’t speak,” Annie added.
“Just the growling? Grunting?” Spencer pulled the last of the rope taut around the demon’s wrist.
“Just sounds. No words,” she said and took as deep of a breath as she could. Spots popped out before her eyes.
“Regeneration is new.” He pulled the demon’s chin to study the face and cast a sleeping spell over the creature.
“I blew him up. Pieces flew everywhere. But everything regrew in the time I talked to you,” Annie explained.
To be sure the demon was contained, Spencer summoned additional magical rope, and tied the demon’s arms to his very thick body. Even he couldn’t release the magical knots. “I think it’s secure,” he said and pulled the demon in the air, letting him float.
At a sound from behind them, Spencer and Annie both turned around to see Graham Lightner approaching.
“Hey, Graham,” Spencer said.
“What a mess.” Graham walked to the demon and saw Annie still sitting on the floor. “You need the hospital,” he said as he touched the demon, assessing his condition.
“Yeah. In a minute. I blasted a spell, but the demon blew up and regenerated,” Annie informed him.
“You used multiple spells?” Graham said as he noted the number of spell marks across the creature’s face and arms.
“He was pock marked prior to my spells. It looks like he’s seen a lot of battles,” Annie said.
Skye Starling, another member of the VAU entered the room and nodded at the small group.
“Take Annie to the hospital,” Graham told Spencer, waving Skye over.
“Hi, Spencer. Well, get a look at this demon. Tried to take it yourself did you, Annie?” Skye joked. “Wow. Go to the hospital. We’ve got this.”
Annie stumbled as Spencer helped her up. “On our way. When you get the demon to Tartarus, can you take DNA and have Perkins Abernathy try and date the demon…” Annie touched his shirt; roughly woven, nearly gray from dirt and out of place. “And the clothes? The demon didn’t get these from a garbage can. They’re odd to say the least.”
“Almost looks like what my man wore. Though without shoes and a weapon,” Spencer said.
“We have no idea what the demon is or where he came from. Blowing him up didn’t work.” Annie faltered with her first step, nearly falling in Spencer’s arms.
“Annie, go. We’ll take care of this and let you know what we find,” Graham said patiently. “Go.” He and Skye watched as Spencer teleported Annie to the hospital.
Chapter 3
“So I can leave when you’re done?” Annie asked Dr. Christine Andrews, head of the Black Magic Medicine Department.
The doctor was well familiar with the wizard guards, having treated all of them at least once. She ignored Annie’s question as she took her blood pressure and recorded the results in Annie’s chart on the electronic tablet. She bit her lower lip and looked at Annie quizzically. “Seriously? Have you looked at yourself? You’re a mess!” She placed the tablet on the long rolling table that crossed the end of Annie’s bed. Whether Annie liked it or not, she would be using that table later that evening for her dinner. “That’s the second concussion you’ve had in three months, and now you have at least one broken rib. I’m grounding you,” Dr. Christine advised.
“I can’t get any work done here,” Annie grumbled.
Dr. Christine placed her hands on either side of Annie’s head and chanted a healing spell to reduce the swelling to Annie’s brain. Annie closed her eyes; the warm tingly sensation spread across her forehead and to the back of her head, easing the pain and nausea. When the spell was complete, Dr. Christine lifted Annie’s eyelids and checked her sight. “How does that feel?”
“Better. I’m fine. Just put that in the chart and let me go. Please.”
The doctor laughed as the door to the room opened. Cham entered cautiously, taking a seat beside Annie.
“Hey, babe. Hi, Dr. Christine.” He sat patiently beside the bed as the doctor finished her assessment.
Annie closed her eyes again, feeling the warmth of the spell as it continued to work the magic. “What did Spencer say about his target?”
“I said no work,” Dr. Christine reminded her as she returned to fiddling with Annie’s chart, making adjustments to the course of treatment.
Annie rolled her eyes.
“The man you saw got away. We’ll do another sweep of the area tonight,” Cham told her. He began rubbing her palm with his thumb. The simple motion always comforted her. “He said they knew each other.”
When Dr. Christine finished adding to Annie’s medical chart, she continued the examination by poking Annie’s ribs. “How does it feel?”
Annie winced and sucked in air, holding it in her lungs. “Hurts.” She slowly let out her breath.
“I think you have two broken ribs. I’m ordering an X-ray.” Dr. Christine tapped the end of the pen against the tablet before making notes. She exited the room. Annie could hear her low voice mumbling to someone in the hallway, but she was too tired to figure out what Dr. Christine was saying about her.
“You look like hell, by the way,” Cham said. He kissed her hand.
“Every girl likes to hear that from her boyfriend,” Annie mumbled.
“The point is you need rest. Stay tonight. Let them take care of you,” he offered.
“I’d rather go home and let you take care of me.” But Annie knew the broken ribs and concussion meant she’d be stuck here for the night.
Dr. Christine returned, picked up the chart again and made additional notes.
“If you know, can’t you just heal them?” Annie asked.
Dr. Christine smiled and patted Annie’s hand as a portable X-ray machine was wheeled into her room. While it was being set up, Dr. Christine said, “You know I can’t just do that. I need to know exactly where it’s cracked. You need rest. It’ll take a lot of magical energy to heal.”
Annie sighed as the bed was laid flat and the X-ray machine placed above her. Cham hid in the hallway as they took several pictures of her ribs.
When they finished, Cham returned and the X-ray machine was wheeled out.
Cham handed her a scroll. It was sealed with the Wizard Guard seal, a triangle with a wand at the center. Annie knew what it was and tossed it in her lap.
“Tired?” he asked.
“You have no idea. This isn’t what I expected today,” Annie said. She played with the functions on the bed and raised herself to a more or less comfortable sitting position.
“Not gonna read that?” he asked.
Annie chuckled. “Don’t make me laugh. I’m off. I figured as much.” For his sake, she pulled apart the scroll and read the order, signed by Milo Rawley, Wizard Guard Department Manager, giving her the next week off.
“The demon’s at Tartarus. Gibbs and I
will go off and find the other man that you saw. All your other cases can wait,” he reminded her. She began to drum her fingers against the safety railing on the bed. “You really can’t sit still, can you?” Cham asked. He took her right hand and held it.
“If I can’t do anything anyway, I’d rather do nothing at home.”
Dr. Christine entered. “Two ribs. I’ll start the healing spell now. You’re staying overnight and I really hope you don’t work while you’re here,” she said. She handed Annie her X-ray and, as Annie reviewed the cracks on her two ribs, the healing spell warmed and tingled and knitted her bones back together. Absorbing the magical energy and using her own to heal was an exhausting experience. Annie held her breath as the doctor held her hand above Annie’s ribs and cast the spell.
“So this round is complete. The pain should ease in a few minutes. I’ll, come back later for more healing and, in the meantime, no magic, no work. I’m serious about that,” Dr. Christine fervently reminded Annie.
“I’m too tired now anyway.” Annie yawned and pulled the blankets to her chin.
After scratching notes on Annie’s chart, Dr. Christine left them alone in the sterile, white-walled room. Her soft voice discussed patients with someone in the hall. A soft comfortable din wafted to Annie.
“You should go home, too,” she told Cham. “I’ll be fine.”
“Really? I’m staying until they kick me out. Besides, you’ll be getting calls soon, I’d like to know what’s going on.”
Annie nodded. “The man spoke a language I didn’t recognize.” She stifled another yawn just as her phone buzzed beside her on the table, vibrating against the metal top. She summoned the phone and turned to him. “And you knew that how?”
Cham shrugged and offered a smile as she answered the call from Bucky and put it on speaker. “Hi, Bucky. Find out about the house?”
“Firstly, how are you feeling?” he asked.
“Eh. You know. Concussion and two broken ribs. The usual,” she said. Bucky offered a friendly chuckle.
“Good to know. Feel better. And as to your question, that house was recently purchased by a Gila Donaldson.”
Wizard Hall Chronicles Box Set Page 107