Charms & Demons

by Kim Richardson

  “Right,” I said, my mind swirling with possibilities. “Then I need to hurry. Don’t I?”

  Heart thudding, I ran to my bookshelf at the far wall and pulled out an old, green leather-bound book, rushing it back to my table. With one hand, I cleared off some space in the middle, and then I dropped the large book with a heavy plop.

  The title of the book had been worn off over the years, but I didn’t need a title to know what it was.

  I flipped it open, the smell of musk hitting me, and I sneezed at the sudden puffs of dust. My fingers, shaking with excitement and adrenaline, never stopped fiddling through the thick yellowed pages.

  “I know what book that is,” grumbled my grandfather, appearing over my shoulder. He took a breath. “What are you doing, Sam? This is a very dangerous book.”

  “I know.”

  “This is not an Ars Goetia,” he proclaimed, his tone high, and I felt him fidget next to me. “The demons in here cannot be controlled.”

  I looked up at him. “I can control them.” God, I hoped so. Otherwise I was a very dead witch.

  His eyes narrowed, and he grimaced. “This is your aunt’s doing. Isn’t it? She gave you that damn book.”

  I pressed my lips together. I wasn’t about to get my aunt into trouble, not after I begged her to lend me the book.

  My grandfather frowned. “Stop doing that.”

  “What?”

  “That brain of yours is working again,” he added dryly. “Stop it. You just got back. You should be resting.”

  “Can’t,” I answered as I flipped another page.

  “What are you looking for?” questioned Poe as he walked over to get a better look at the book.

  “There,” I said and pointed my finger to the top right of the page next to a faded, black and white illustration. “He’s going to take me to Queens.”

  Poe whistled. He looked at the page and then up at me. “Pegasus? The horse demon?”

  “The flying horse demon,” I added proudly, seeing Poe’s nod of agreement. “Just look at him. Isn’t he glorious? Look at those wings. Those are some badass wings. And it says here he can fly up to a hundred miles per hour. He’s the Concorde of flying horses.”

  My grandfather slammed his empty glass on my table, making me jerk. “He’s wild. A feral beast. There’s a reason he’s not part of the Goetia demons. He’s reckless. He’s a loose cannon. Only a fool would risk her life like this.”

  I leaned back and pressed my hands against my hips. “If Harry Potter can ride a thestral, I can ride Pegasus,” I added smugly. Hell yes.

  My grandfather smacked his forehead in disbelief. “You can’t fly across town riding a flying demon horse,” he argued. “It’s a demon horse!”

  “Yes, I heard you the first time.”

  “The humans will see you.”

  “No, they won’t. I have the perfect glamour for that,” I added proudly. “Don’t worry. The humans will never see us.”

  “That’s it,” said my grandfather darkly. “She’s lost her witch mind.”

  Someone cleared their throat behind me and I turned to see Faris with a drink in his hand. His face was blood-free and clean. I could even smell the shea butter soap from where he stood. “Have you ever ridden a horse before?”

  “No.” Crap. Was that important?

  Faris smiled and settled into an empty chair. “That should be very interesting. You might want to bring a parachute. You know... in case you fall off.”

  I scowled. “I won’t fall off.”

  “Whatever you say, Sammy,” said the mid-demon and crossed his legs at the knee. He stared into his drink, his focus far away.

  My grandfather crossed his arms over his chest, clearly upset. “Well, you’re not summoning that thing in here. It’s too big. It’ll destroy my house.”

  “Our house,” I corrected, seeing as I was now paying the bills, not to mention putting the food on the table.

  “Have you seen the size of horse droppings?” he added, irritation crossing his face.

  I gave him a sidelong glance. “I’m going out back to do it.” My gaze flicked to the mid-demon. “Faris. My grandfather is going to stay here with you.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” said Faris as he lifted his eyes from his drink.

  “Yeah, you do. He’s going to help us with the spell to keep you here for a while. Right, Gordon?” I flicked my gaze to my grandfather.

  My grandfather made a face, moved towards his work table, grabbed a brown leather-bound book and began rummaging through it.

  “Please try and be civil to each other while I’m gone,” I told them. “I don’t want to come back here and find you both dead.”

  Faris blew out a breath. “For that—I’m going to need a lot more alcohol.”

  My eyebrows rose and I shook my head. I didn’t have time to stay here and babysit both of them. I had to go.

  I turned my attention back to the book. After I’d memorized Pegasus’s name in Latin and his unique sigil, I pulled open the top drawer from my work table, grabbed my spare golden sigil ring and slipped it on my finger.

  I reached out and grabbed the chalk. “Come on, Poe. Let’s go,” I said and crossed the room.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The clatter of wings rose, and then the raven zipped past me and flew down the stairs.

  Excitement rushed through my body as I ran down after him. I hit the bottom, ran across the kitchen, and moved out through the back door to the small paver patio area. I held the door open for Poe and he flew past me and into our backyard.

  Our backyard was the size of a large living room. But it was large enough to fit a horse.

  Yellow light spilled from Vera’s windows, but if the witch had heard me, she would have been out here by now. Still, I had to hurry.

  Moving fast, I knelt on the gray paver stone patio and quickly drew my summoning circle and triangle with Pegasus’s name in the center along with his sigil.

  “What happens if he eats you?” said the raven as he settled on the patio next to me.

  I stood up. “Horses don’t eat meat.”

  “Demon horses do.”

  Yikes. I tried not to think about it as I pulled on the energy from the circle and triangle, channeled the magic and recited the summoning spell in one breath.

  “I conjure you, Pegasus, demon of the Netherworld to be subject to the will of my soul. I bind you with unbreakable adamantine fetters, and I deliver you into the black chaos in perdition. I invoke you, Pegasus, in the space in front of me!”

  It happened a lot faster than I’d expected.

  There, standing on my backyard patio was Pegasus.

  My mouth fell open.

  This was not the cutsie, white horse with angelic wings. This was Hell’s version.

  He had a broad chest and four heavy hooves, and he was covered with a glistening black coat as sleek as silk. Large, black feathered wings were folded against his sides. A generous mane fell over his neck and a tail of long black tresses swooped the ground. He was huge. His back was taller than me. He was a giant, kingly horse and looked more like a Clydesdale than a thinner, more refined thoroughbred.

  He pricked his ears forward, yellow, intelligent eyes watching me. Pegasus was both terrifying and glorious. Hot damn. I was all giddy inside. I almost applauded.

  Pegasus neighed, and his lips pulled back, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. Now I got the meat part.

  If I’d been human, I would have run away screaming. As it was, I was a dark witch, so, of course I was grinning at this scary beast. He was spectacular. Hell’s steed. But I didn’t have time to drool over this magnificent creature. I needed a ride.

  “Pegasus,” I said, in way of greeting, meeting his eyes. “I need you to take me to 195th Street, corner of 73rd Avenue, in Queens,” I ordered, my heart pounding in my throat. And then I added, “Please.”

  Pegasus raised his right leg and pawed at the ground. He lifted his head, his ears swiveling.

  I l
ooked down at Poe. “What’s he saying?”

  “How the hell should I know?” said the raven. “I don’t speak horse.”

  I gritted my teeth. I’d done the summoning properly. Pegasus couldn’t hurt me. If he could, he would have done it by now.

  I took a breath. “I’m going to climb on your back now. Okay? So, please don’t eat me.”

  With my heart throbbing in my throat, I took a careful step toward the horse. My head came to the middle of its stomach. “I think I’m going to need a ladder.”

  Poe let out a cawing laugh. “There’s no saddle either. Faris was right, you should have brought a parachute.”

  “Don’t start,” I said, annoyed.

  But then Pegasus shifted and lowered himself down on his knees, low enough for me to climb up onto his back.

  “This is going to be fun.” Or this was going to be the death of me. With my hands gripped firmly around a mass of his mane, I swung my right leg over his back and pulled myself up. The scent of sulfur was strong, but so was the scent of earth and oil.

  Pegasus shifted his body and then stood.

  “Don’t let me fall,” I said. I tightened my grip around his mane, twisting my fingers along locks of his black hair, and squeezed my thighs around his muscular sides.

  The horse neighed and thrashed his powerful head back and forth. He spread his giant wings on either side, possessing a wingspan of about twenty feet.

  And then with a powerful thrust of his wings, he leaped into the air—and me with him.

  My head fell back and I screamed at the top of my lungs like a bloody banshee.

  If Vera hadn’t heard me before, that would do it.

  “Holy crap!” I shrilled as I hung on for dear life. Pegasus climbed higher and higher, the beating of his wings like giant drums, sending my hair in my eyes and mouth. I felt like I was on a roller coaster, rolling up to the highest peak without the protection of a seatbelt. I felt both fear and excitement all at once, adrenaline pounding through me.

  This had to be the stupidest thing I’d ever done.

  “Uh—Samantha?” came Poe’s voice as he flew next to me. “Shouldn’t you do the glamour spell? Unless you want to be splattered all over social media tomorrow morning.”

  Right. I’d forgotten.

  “Ut occultatum!” I breathed as I pulled on the magic from my sigil ring. A wash of energy rippled through me and out towards Pegasus. I felt the energy pull out and then settle, and I knew the glamour had snapped into place. The only indication that it was working was the constant tingling over my skin. If the horse demon felt anything, it didn’t show.

  Pegasus flapped his wings and banked hard, the world tilting and then shooting behind. He navigated expertly in the night sky, flying hard and fast. He let out a fierce, exuberant cry that reverberated over every bone in my body. I smiled. The demon horse was having fun.

  Flying on a winged horse made me feel a little reckless, a little wild. It made me do stupid things like howl and laugh out hysterically. The only thing left for me to do was look down.

  New York City’s lights blurred up at me, bright, alive. Wow, Pegasus was fast. I couldn’t recognize anything as I squinted, eyes watering at the wind tearing at my eyes. A chill wind brushed my face, clogging my nose.

  “Can you tell the beast to slow down,” shouted Poe, flapping wildly beside us. “I’m just a little bird!”

  I let out a hysterical laugh. “Maybe you should hitch a ride if you can’t keep up.” I laughed harder at the scowl on the raven’s face.

  Pegasus tucked in his wings, and we fell, my heart lurching to my throat as we dropped. I closed my eyes to keep from throwing up because I knew I would.

  The horse pulled back and my stomach bounced as we settled in a horizontal position. I opened my eyes. We were low enough now that I could clearly make out buildings and streets as we flew two hundred feet above ground, give or take.

  The sign for 195th Street came into view and my pulse rose. We were near. Houses and shops lined the streets. My eyes locked on to the nearest bodega. I scanned the dark alleys next to it, my eyes squinting in the wind. I should have brought goggles.

  And then I saw him.

  “There!” I shouted, pointing at the barely visible shape of a person looming over another in a dark alley. “Take me down right next to that alley behind that apartment building. But not too close. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” I’ve got you now, you sonofabitch.

  Pegasus did as I commanded, tucking his wings and diving for that alley. He landed in an expert canter, folded his wings and knelt. I slid off his back and fell to the ground. Yeah, not exactly the graceful landing I’d envisioned, but after squeezing my thighs like that for so long, I couldn’t feel my legs.

  Ignoring Poe’s laugh, I pushed myself to my feet. “You have until sunrise to return to the Netherworld,” I told the horse, rubbing my thighs to try and get the circulation back. “Unless you want me to send you back now?”

  Pegasus shook his head, gave a neigh that sounded a lot like a thank you, and then, with a great beat of his wings, he soared into the air like a giant black eagle and disappeared into the night sky.

  Pretty horse. I was definitely going to use him again.

  I whirled around and started running, pulling on my sigil ring as I shot towards the alley.

  “Gotcha, you filthy bloodsucker,” I cried, as I turned the corner and stumbled into the alley.

  The vampire was leaning over what I assumed was Charlotte’s granddaughter’s body. The pull of his dark magic was strong, and the air grew cooler the closer I got to him.

  I slowed my run to a walk. “It’s over, you sonofabitch,” I panted.

  The vampire turned around.

  I froze.

  Trouble was, he wasn’t a vampire at all. He was a witch.

  28

  “You!” I cried, shocked and pissed all at the same time. “No. It can’t be.” My mouth fell open, torn between fury and shock, and my face went cold.

  Darius stood very slowly and turned to face me. “Yes, it’s me,” said the elderly male witch as he straightened. His black robe swished around him, and his bald head was covered with a cowl.

  I frowned. His face looked different, smoother and younger somehow. His beard was dark and marked with silver, and he was taller than I remembered. Gone was the old, crippled man bent with age, and in his place stood a younger, stronger version of the head of the dark witch court.

  There was only one way he could have regenerated his body like that. He was consuming the witches’ magic and lifeforce.

  Somehow he had figured out how to suck the lifeforce out of the witches, just like a demon.

  My body shook as the realization dawned on me. “You twisted bastard. What have you done?” I raged. The flutter of wings sounded as Poe settled himself on a nearby post. My gaze moved to the witch who lay at his feet. Her face was pale, but smooth with fleshy cheeks. She was still alive. He hadn’t drained her yet.

  “What I must,” answered Darius, like that was supposed to mean something to me.

  A snarl escaped me. “I don’t know how you figured it out, but you must have made quite a deal with a powerful demon if they told you how to drain the lifeforce of a witch. That’s some serious twisted shit. And probably really forbidden.”

  Darius smiled like I’d just given him a compliment. “Our numbers are failing. But demons are on the rise. They’re coming for us. Don’t you understand? Soon they will break free from their world and destroy us all,” he said, a feverish gleam in his eyes. A bestial grunt jerked from his throat. “I won’t let them. They will not control our magic, and I will not be tethered to them. I will not be their slave.” He reached up and touched the scar on his face. “Never again.” He lowered his hand, his eyes meeting mine. “Once I had the spell, I took what was rightfully mine.”

  “I don’t care what happened to you in the past,” I growled, my head throbbing with rage. “Their lives were not for you to tak
e.” Disgust and adrenaline sparked through me. “You killed them. You evil sonofabitch. And for what? So you wouldn’t have to summon up some demon for more power? How demented is that? These witches had families who cared about them. They were daughters. Mothers. Wives. You had no right to take away their lives.”

  Darius smiled. It was an odd thing having a younger face but still the stained and worn teeth of an old man. “Yes. That is exactly right. I took their lives.” He blinked and then stared at me with yellow, glowing eyes—the eyes of a demon.

  Bile rose in the back of my throat. “You’re a sick, sick, little witch, and a fucking coward,” I said, and Poe cawed in approval. “It’s why you didn’t want the vampire court involved. Isn’t’ it?” I said. “Because they would have found you out. And they would have killed you.”

  I felt a cold pulse of magic rippling in the air, dark and powerful as it wove around us. He was trying to intimidate me with his magic. It wasn’t working.

  I took a step forward, challenging him while spindling my own magic from my ring. “Since we’re having this lovely chat. Tell me. Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance?”

  He watched me, and his smile became wider, more impish and demon-like.

  “Why only female witches?’ I pressed. “Why not the males?”

  “Because the young female witches are so easily persuaded to help—” he bent down, imitating his older self, “—poor old Darius.” He straightened, a dark laugh rumbling in his chest. “Naïve. But that’s in your nature. The females always are.”

  I cocked a brow. “It’s in my nature to kill your ass.”

  Darius gave me a wicked smile, his dark magic pulsing around us and coming toward me.

  My eyes flicked to a metal garbage bin to my left. “Rebis Tollunt!” I shouted and flung out my hand, sending the heavy metal bin straight for the old witch like a missile.

  With a simple flick of his wrist, Darius sent the bin crashing into the wall of the neighboring building. Impressive for a witch. But I was just getting started.

  Heart thrashing, I pulled on the magic of my sigil ring and cried, “Hasta Feuro!” A yellow-orange spear-like fire shot from my extended hand.