“So can you swing by the bakers on the way over?”
“Fine,” I said. “But I don’t know what they’ll have.”
“Anything will do. Just pick something nice.” She hung up.
I put my phone in my pocket and slammed the till float down on the office desk. If it wasn’t for Sam…
I shook my head and got my keys back out to unlock the safe. I’d need to cash up tomorrow since I wouldn’t get time now. I put the money away and locked the safe. I could practically count the day’s takings in my head, anyway. There was about fifty quid there, which wasn’t great but since I didn’t have rent to pay and I kept on top of the other costs it wasn’t so bad for a weekday. If the weekends got slow I’d need to think about price hiking, but right now that was at the bottom of my list of problems.
I grabbed my handbag from the chair and Sam’s present from the desk. I’d already taken the cakes out the fridge in the bar. My make-up could probably use freshening up, but I didn’t have time to check so I just headed out, locking the office door behind me. I ended up putting the cake box inside the gift bag. I had no idea how I was going to carry everything otherwise, especially once I got the new cake. I might have tried fobbing her off with the cupcakes, but I knew Kat wouldn’t go for that and there probably weren’t enough of them anyway.
I turned to the front door, keys in hand. A shadow was cast outside. The warped glass of the door couldn’t show me who was out there, but there was definitely someone darkening my doorstep. “Damn,” I whispered. The chill I felt reminded me of coming home to the feeling that someone was lurking in the bar. Britton Rocks is dead. I had to keep telling myself that.
The knock when it came made me jump. It was slow, measured. Another followed, and another.
“Damn it,” I hissed, stalking over to the door. Being afraid wouldn’t do me any favours. It was probably one of the regulars thinking he’d left behind a glove or a betting slip. My hand shook slightly as I unlocked the door. I had the strangest feeling as I did it. Whoever was on the other side of the door was like Britt, a User.
Don’t ask me how I knew, I just did. My healing ability had kicked in when I was young, and I could usually sense magic whenever it was close. I’d kept my ability quiet, not wanting to be pushed into one of the healing professions just because I was one of that tiny percentage of the population who could use magic to heal. It wasn’t like I could bring anyone back from the dead. I wasn’t a miracle worker.
I pulled back the door. It wasn’t Britt, which should have been a relief. Nick smiled at me, hand raised as if he’d been ready to knock again. His hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in a week and he was wearing a ripped t-shirt under his leather jacket and, oh god, he had a pierced nipple sticking out. I forced back a shudder as I stared at him. “Can you move?”
He stepped back after a few seconds of creepy staring. I hauled the door shut as I stepped out into the brisk night. The cloudy sky promised rain. I swore as I remembered the bakers would be closed. I’d need to try someplace else. I was going to be late, and Katrina would probably be unreasonable about it too.
“What do you want?” I asked Nick as I shoved my keys into my bag and gave the door a push to make sure it was locked.
“You to go out with me,” he said.
This again? I thought I’d made it obvious how much he disgusted me. I never should have hugged him after he saved my life. That was my one big mistake. I wasn’t about to make another. “Well, dream on because that’s not happening.”
He was still smiling when I turned to punctuate my point with a nasty look. “You look hot when you’re pissed.”
“Get away from me,” I said, walking away. I’d have to go to St James Mall and just hope there were cakes in the confectioners today.
“You don’t mean that.”
Was he seriously following me? I turned and frowned. “I mean it, and if you don’t get away I’m going to get pissed off and do something you really won’t like.”
He laughed. What a creep.
I kept walking. I didn’t want to be too late. That cake wasn’t going to find itself.
“Hey,” he said. “Take this.”
God, I had to be an idiot to turn around. He was probably going to have something in his hand that I really didn’t want to see. I got ready to blast him out one last time and make good on my promise. He was holding a cake box. I almost dropped Sam’s present. I was shaking with anger, ready to explode. How dare he? If I hadn’t been sure he was a creep before I was certain of it now. When I took a step forward something strange happened. My anger fizzled. I felt it melt away, replaced by a warming sensation. Intense heat burned through my body.
“Take it,” he said softly.
I took the box from him, gratitude filling me. “Thanks.”
“Where are you going? I’ll take you.”
I thought of my sister’s house and before I could say anything we were there, standing out front. He brushed my hair back, the touch of his fingers sending a spark of excitement through me. Why had I never noticed how perfectly sculpted his face was before?
“I’m not trying to push you,” he said, gazing into my eyes. “But I won’t let you write me off. I know how you see me, and you’re wrong. I’ll prove it.”
He stepped back and vanished. It didn’t take long for the calming warmth to fade. I felt sick. He’d read my mind and then he’d used magic to make me pliable. I was about to throw the cake he’d forced me to take on the ground, with a mind to stomp all over it, when Katrina came out of the front door. Her eyes lit up from across the garden as she rushed over. “Oh, thank god! You got one. That was fast, too.” She grabbed it out of my hands before I could protest. I had no idea what he’d put in that box. It was probably just a cake; I couldn’t sense any magic from it. I fought off shivers as I followed my sister into the house. All I could think about was what Nick had just done to me; if he could do that once, he’d do it again. I couldn’t stand the thought of it. I’d almost wanted him to kiss me! If I didn’t stop thinking about it, I was liable to throw up all over Katrina’s front porch. There had to be a way to stop him doing that again. I’d heard there were charms to protect against magic, but they had to be bought from a vampire to guarantee authenticity. I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to let a vampire bite me to protect myself, but I’d have to consider it if I couldn’t figure out where else to get a charm from. If all else failed, what he was doing wasn’t legal. I could have him arrested.
I followed Katrina into the house. “Where’s the party?”
She motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen. The dress she was wearing was completely over the top, as usual. A body-con cocktail dress in a deep-red ruffled fabric; she looked more like she was ready to go out to dinner than host a party for a five-year-old. We were both wearing heels, but hers had two inches on mine and she didn’t falter in the slightest as she walked forward in them.
“When did you go blonde?” I had to ask. She didn’t usually change her hair unless there was a new man on the scene. She’d gone from long and dark to bobbed and blonde, which was pretty drastic, even for Katrina.
She smiled secretively. “I felt like a change.”
“So what’s the news about Mum and Dad?” I couldn’t wait any longer. If I hadn’t been screwed with by Nick before I came over I would have asked the second she stepped out of the house. As it was I was still shaken, and I doubted I’d stop feeling sick anytime soon.
“Oh, that,” she said, putting the cake down on the big mahogany kitchen table. She’d inherited the house; I’d gotten left with the bar. Considering it saved me looking for a new job, I couldn’t really complain.
“Well?”
She opened the box first. I was relieved to see an actual cake inside, and it was a chocolate one too. He’d swiped it from a real bakery, the one Kat had talked about on Rose Street; I recognised the logo on the inside of the box. “Where are the kids?”
“Upstairs playing
the Wii. I can’t get Sam away from the damn thing.” She sniffed the cake and nodded. “Okay, this’ll do.”
“Mum and Dad?”
“Oh, yeah. They’ll be in Madrid on the first of December if we want to visit.”
I couldn’t believe it. “Mum’s passport is okay?”
“I don’t know, but that’s the plan. She said she’ll call once they get there in case we want to wait and make sure.”
It had been so long. “I’ll book flights tomorrow.”
Katrina frowned at me. “I can’t go.”
“What? You’re kidding me.”
“I have plans. They did kind of spring this on us.”
“They’re doing the best they can.” Of course, Katrina wasn’t bothered about going. Why would she be? She spoke to them every week. She wouldn’t even tell me when they were supposed to be calling so I could talk to them too. “Can you look after the pub for a week then?”
She made an irritable noise. “I told you, I have plans.” Subject closed.
I sighed, stepping out of my shoes and leaving them on the floor next to my usual chair. I held up the present. “I’m taking this up to Sam.”
She set about putting candles on the cake. “Tell them to come down, would you? It’s only a couple of hours until Sam’s bedtime. I don’t want him up all night from too much sugar.”
I ignored the rest of her on-going whine as I headed out the room and up the stairs. The sounds of Mario Kart hit my ears when I got to the landing. Sam’s door was open, and I could hear his voice as he talked with his friends. I stopped at the family picture hung up in between his room and his mum’s. We’d looked so alike as kids, Kat and me. She was older so she was always taller in the pictures but aside from that we could practically have been twins. We hadn’t hit the same height until I’d finished high school. By then she already had Sam. She’d dropped out of college and married the guy who knocked her up, but one look at Sam’s sweet face took away all the thoughts of ruined futures. He’d changed everything for Katrina. I touched the picture. Mum and Dad looked so happy. I hadn’t seen them in so long.
I hoped Katrina was right about the holiday. I hoped they’d make it.
Eight – Mickey
The second we left the house Pete started up like a broken record who didn’t know CD’s had been invented. I tried ignoring him as we headed back into town. My neck had started to itch. I wondered if Trish would be up yet. She never turned down a free snack.
“I mean it,” Pete went on, “she needs to know. You can’t keep stringing her along like this.”
“I’m not stringing her along,” I snapped. Oh, yeah, my closed puncture wounds were really starting to itch.
“She thinks she’s got a chance with you,” he insisted.
“No she doesn’t,” I said. Kit was a friend; she’d always been a friend. That wasn’t changing anytime soon, and she knew it. It wasn’t like she’d ever made a move on me.
“Open your eyes. She’s practically in love with you.”
“What are you on about? Why do you even care? I thought you didn’t like her.”
“She doesn’t like me, but that has nothing to do with this.” He had shoved his hands in his pockets and was glowering at me like I’d committed a crime.
“I don’t get it,” I said, shaking my head. “What’s…you like her, don’t you?” It didn’t seem likely, but it did make a weird kind of sense. Why else would he care? I knew by the way he clenched his jaw that I’d hit the nail on the head.
“Don’t be stupid.”
“This is why it pissed you off so bad when Mum started talking about her.”
“Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I thought you weren’t a chubby-chaser.”
He took the bait as I held my breath. His evil eyes got that little bit eviler, giving him a feral appearance. He was scarier than any horror-movie zombie I’d ever seen and that was without him being after my brains. My mean-spirited comment had hit its mark with spectacular results.
“She’s not fat. Talk about her like that again and I’ll smash your face right in.” He spoke slowly and with weight behind his words.
“Holy shit, I was right. You do like her. When the hell did this happen?” I tried to think. It didn’t make sense. He’d been all suspicious of her when he stayed at her flat. It had to be some time during the whole mess with Britt. Had they actually bonded somehow? Wait: did she like him back?
“Nothing happened. Shut up before I bite you.”
I snorted.
He put on a smile that vanished quickly. “I have to go look for a job now. Talk to Kit.” He headed off down North Bridge. A woman scurried away from him as he got close, fear darkening her features. Mostly he went unnoticed in the crowd.
I could see Kit’s pub was closed; the lights were out. Rain started to pelt down suddenly and with vicious force. I was in for a soaking if I didn’t get out of it. I headed to Pete’s flat, not in the mood for going back to his mum’s to face more questions and not in the mood to hit the Casino either. I groaned as I remembered Pete’s lack of beer. I texted Trish on my way to the off-licence; she agreed to suck on my neck whether I was steeped in rainwater or not. My second text message wasn’t going to be as much fun. I started on it when I walked into the office. My phone was slightly damp. I found a dryish spot on my jeans and wiped the screen so I could type. Kit had texted back by the time I had a blue plastic bag full of beer and crisps in my hand. I checked the message. She’d agreed to me coming over to see her later. I swallowed, hoping I’d be drunk enough to tell her what I needed to. If Pete didn’t like her I wouldn’t be doing this.
Nine – Tim
Britt’s replacement called her clones to her suite. Copies one through eight stood before us, slipping terrified glances at the body behind us on the floor. We’d taken our time setting this up. I’d worked with Nine until she could use a less obvious method of calling magic to her. She used her hands now, as I was told Britt had at times. I’d witnessed her hair-flipping as a more favoured method but there would be time to practice that later. For now, it would do. I was covered by an invisibility spell and ready to step in if I had to. It was down to Nine now. I wondered just how much she wanted this. I got the feeling I was about to find out.
The clones were, perhaps unsurprisingly, all virtually identical to Britton Rocks. The robot stood out as being stockier, but I assumed that was because of the hardware needed to power her or perhaps the synthetic skin had turned out thicker than expected. I didn’t know. I only knew this was make-or-break time. These women would decide my fate. Nine’s portrayal had to be flawless.
She stood staring her copies down, cold fire in her eyes. “Does anyone know what Nine did to deserve this?”
The answers fired from their mouths in a quick-fire barrage.
“She had a boob job?” One sounded vaguely apologetic. She stood with her hair hanging in her face, shoulders hunched and body covered up from head to toe in dark loose fabrics.
“She said meat was evil!” Two gasped her answer, flipping her highlighted hair back from her bare shoulders.
“She was a necro.” Three muttered, glowering at the others. Her black gothic-styled dress and dark make-up seemed odd compared to even One. Her hair was still blonde but tied back in a tight bun.
“She was a bitch,” Four said, arms folded. Her look seemed modelled on Nine’s. The low-slung jeans and cropped t-shirt were practically identical.
“She didn’t break in that Animate like she was supposed to. She let Catherine Chase get away.” Robo-Britt was going to be a problem. I could tell already.
“What Five said,” Six jumped on the band-wagon, eyes wide. She was in a sparkly dress and had her hands clasped in front of her. She looked deathly-afraid when she grinned.
“Who cares?” Seven said, sighing. “You don’t have to worry about any of us doing the same.” She was in a black bikini and looked a little more tanned than the oth
ers. The sun screen in her hand made me wonder where she’d been when Nine had called on them. Particularly considering it was the middle of the night in Vegas. I checked and sure enough her magic seemed stronger than any of the others. She was at least two levels more powerful than Nine. This was not good.
“She was my friend,” Eight said, choking back a sob. Like Four she was in similar clothes to the dead body.
Nine blinked at the last reaction but held her face impassive. She was doing great. She glanced towards me momentarily and back at the girls. “She was incompetent, and she died for it. If you don’t want to see the same fate, you should learn a lesson from this.”
Eight started crying silently.
Seven looked at her fellow clone, rolled her eyes, and put a hand on her hip. “Can we go now?”
Nine shook her head. “The others can go. You stay right here.”
Seven blew out an irritable breath. The others started to leave. Six put an arm around Eight and led her out of the room, sobs still issuing from the grieving clone. Robo-Britt took her time, her gaze taking in each of the clones as they left the room ahead of her. I wondered if Britt had instructed her to watch the others closely.
“Wait,” Nine said. “Five. Stay.”
Five came back, practically bouncing and with a sunny smile on her face. The door closed behind the others. I stayed beside Nine, holding my cover. The invisibility spell had hidden me from them, and I wasn’t going to break it until her fellow clones were out of sight. Chances were Seven could sense me. Five wouldn’t have a clue. I’d already instructed Nine on the dual points to getting the clones together like this. They’d believed her as Britt. That part had gone well. Weeding out any problems was the second part. I’d told her to check their abilities. Anyone stronger than her was a threat. Seven was her biggest problem and she knew it. She was going to make a good User.
“Five, hold Seven down, would you?” She smiled sweetly at the robot.
Death Magic Rules Page 4