by Jen Pretty
“Holy shit, Frankie,” I whispered as I dropped my bags and kicked off my shoes.
“You don’t have to take your shoes off,” he said from behind me.
I looked back and raised an eyebrow at him, then admired the plush beige carpet that covered every inch of the space, apart from the kitchen.
“Make yourself comfortable. I’ll order some food?” Frankie said.
“I could go for some moo shu pork,” Singh said before he transformed back into a lion, did a perfect downward facing dog stretch and leapt onto the sofa. He collapsed on his side, leaving his giant hairy feet hanging off the edge of the couch.
“Come on, Lark,” Frankie said, grabbing my bags.
I followed him down the hall past the washroom to a bedroom. It wasn’t decorated like the rest of the house. It was muted blues and pastel greens with flowers on the table.
“Whose room is this?” I asked as he set the bags on the bed.
“It’s yours,” he replied.
I touched the flowers. They were fresh cut.
“Did you do this?” I asked.
“You don’t like them?”
“I do. It’s just, when did you do this? I only just agreed to come.”
He gave me a sly smile. “Sometimes, I know things.”
“Like before they happen?” I asked, touching the delicate petals.
“Yeah, but never the things I wish I could know. Just random things, like that you would be here, in this room, today. Looking at those flowers. So, I went to the store and got them.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled and the silence that followed got a bit awkward. I shook my head to clear it and got back to business.
“I need to know all the things you guys can do. With magic, I mean.”
“Alright. Let me order dinner and then we can discuss it.” He walked back out of the room, pulling his phone out of his pocket. I checked out the en suite bathroom and unpacked our bags so our clothes wouldn’t be too crushed or wrinkled.
When I walked back out, the guys were playing a really violent video game where they basically just beat each other to a pulp. When one of them died, blood sprayed the screen. It was pretty dramatic. Singh’s cheer made it obvious that the lion had won the round.
The doorbell rang and Frankie left the game, then the apartment. He came back a few minutes later with a bag of Chinese food. Singh jumped up and found some plates and cutlery as Frankie set out the food. I sat down on the tall stool.
Once everyone was seated and eating, I looked over at Frankie as he finished the bite of food in his mouth. I raised my eyebrow and he began speaking.
“So, we can all do basic magic. Transform inanimate objects, do basic spells like a sleep spell or a spell to find a lost object, more difficult spells, like transferring locations or disappearing, can only be done by the most powerful witches or warlocks.”
“Your father, Bennet, can do all the difficult stuff?”
Frankie sighed like the weight of the world was pressing him down. “Yes, he can also do dark magic. That is the kind of magic that hurts people, collapsing houses, crushing vehicles, launching fireballs or lightening. He probably killed those people in the house without a weapon.”
“Whoa. He did that with magic?”
“Yes.” Frankie bit his lip.
That changed things. How were we supposed to stop him? I knew Durga made me pretty durable, but what about Frankie?
“He could kill you?” I asked.
“Maybe. He has been tormenting me since he was kicked out and I took over the coven. He wants his coven back, but so far isn’t willing to face me to do it. Now that he has killed humans, he will never be welcomed back. He has gone too far,” Frankie said, rubbing the back of his neck. This was obviously taking its toll on him. He looked tired. I had never seen his hair so messy and his clothes were rumpled like he had picked them up off the floor.
We ate in silence for a while. From the photos I had seen, Bennet was a good man, at one time. How does someone go from good to evil? I blanked my mind to keep my thoughts to myself.
When we had eaten all the food, Singh shifted and swaggered his lion ass down the hall. He nosed open the door to our room and I heard the bed groan as he grunted. Time for a cat nap.
Frankie and I moved to the couch. He brought a bottle of rum and two glasses. He poured the alcohol into the glasses and handed me one.
“So, anything else I should know about warlocks?” I asked, feeling strangely nervous now.
Frankie shifted closer. I purposely blanked my mind when his leg brushed up against mine. The heat from his thigh felt warm through my pants. He smelled like leather and a crisp fall night. I thought about birthday cake to keep my traitorous thoughts away from the warlock. Vincent had just professed his feelings for me. I am a terrible person.
“No, you aren’t,” Frankie whispered, bringing his hand up to brush my hair out of my face. I kept my eyes down until he tipped my chin up to look at him. “You are perfect.”
We sat for a moment looking at each other. There was too much unsaid in his eyes. I cleared my throat and changed the subject. Back to safer ground. I’m a chicken, so sue me.
“How do you usually hunt for your father?” I asked, taking a big gulp of my rum. It burned all the way down, making my eyes water, but I managed not to gag.
Frankie sighed.
“I have spells all over the city and in some other places. They can tell if he is near and they send a ping back to me. It’s hard to explain, but that is probably the best way to describe it; like cell towers.”
“Ok, so right now he is off your radar?”
“Yes, I can only have so many spells running at once, and they wear out so I have to replace them regularly. It’s not efficient. Hopefully, Durga can get me to him faster, and I can end this.”
“Are you sure you can take him out? Your own father? Durga is eager, she keeps showing me different ways to kill him,” I said. Durga flashed me an image of Bennet hanging from a tree with a noose around his neck. That was a new one.
“My magic is stronger than his. Unless he uses dark magic, then he could be stronger than me. I just have to take him down fast, before he can get the upper hand. I have to do this, I have no choice. The fact he is my father makes it more important that I do it,” Frankie’s expression closed off as if he could hide the sadness from himself and me.
My glass was empty so I set it on the table. I was feeling warm, tucked in beside Frankie. I leaned my head back on the couch and Frankie shifted, sliding an arm under my legs and another behind my back. He lifted me, pulling me into his chest so I was curled up in his lap, my head tucked under his chin. His strong arms circled me and his delicious scent wrapped around me. I thought about protesting, but I was worn out and so was Frankie.
I hadn’t had a lot of physical contact since my parents died. It wasn’t even on my radar until Frankie hugged me in Vincent’s office. Now I was a bit of a glutton for it and Frankie could read my mind. I let myself think about how nice he smelled and how warm he was and then went back to thinking about his father and our chances of catching him. Durga seemed pretty excited about it. She was nearly dancing at the idea of killing the warlock.
“Do you think Durga will let me kill him myself?” he whispered. “He is my responsibility.”
“I don’t know.” Durga flashed me an image of Frankie lying dead beside his father. “Jesus.”
“Shit, is that a threat from the goddess or from you, Lark?”
“I don’t think it was a threat, I think it was a warning.”
“She doesn’t think I can do it?”
“I don’t know. She doesn’t talk to me. She just started showing me things.” Maybe I needed to talk to her. I hadn’t figured out how, but I could talk to Shiva and he could talk to her.
I slid out of Frankie’s lap and onto the floor. Sitting cross legged, in my usual pose for meditation, I cleared my mind and dropped all my focus to my breathing. O
nce I had steadied the rate of my heart, I let my body slip away into another place.
“Hello, to whom am I speaking?” Shiva said staring at me cautiously.
“It’s Lark,” I replied with a chuckle. He had figured out how to keep us straight.
“Oh, Lark. It’s good of you to come. What can I do for you today?”
That was an unexpected greeting. He usually seemed bored or indifferent, today he seemed almost happy to see me.
“I wondered if you had spoken to Durga.”
“Yes, she is always speaking to me,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Ok, well I’m wondering if she knows anything about Frankie’s father. The dark warlock.”
“She knows only what you know. We do not keep track of the magic people, unless they become a problem. Durga has eliminated several that I can recall. You can trust her to defeat him.” His snake slithered out of the neck of his shirt. “Isn’t that right, precious?” he said to his snake in a silly baby voice.
I shivered as the thing came further out of his shirt and slid around his arm, curling back up to press its face close to his. Its tongue lapped at the air. I swear it had grown since the last time I had seen it.
“Why didn’t you tell me that Durga was taking over while I was sleeping?” His face dropped and he looked back at me, taking his eyes off the snake which moved up the side of his face like a cat rubbing against him.
“I felt it was not my place to interfere. I have not had to advise Durga in many centuries. I am sorry for your suffering caused by my negligence. Now, I must go. I have much to do; very busy god.”
“Later,” I said, shaking my head at the strange god, then I was shoved out of the meditation.
I opened my eyes to Singh’s bright yellow ones. His lion head was tipped sideways like a dog trying to understand something.
‘Where did Frankie go?” I asked, looking around for him.
Singh shifted back into human form, crouched in front of me. “He went to settle some dispute in the warehouse. Did you know you whisper when you meditate?”
“Really? No one ever mentioned that before.” I thought of the times I came out of meditation to find Vincent in front of me. Great. “What was I saying?”
“I believe it was a prayer, in Sanskrit, but I have never heard that one before.”
“That’s weird,” I said. He nodded.
I got up and went to find Frankie. I hoped the trouble didn’t involve his father.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I followed the sound of voices down the stairs and through another door into the big warehouse with the dragons on the ceiling.
Hundreds of candles lit the room; on tables, the floor, and in wall sconces. The painting on the ceiling was visible except this time, it moved. The faded dragons flapped their wings in slow motion. Some had shoots of red fire blasting from their open jaws, and others had smoke curling from their scaly nostrils. The warriors carried spears across the walls launching their sharp weapons into the sky, but they always fell short of the flying monsters.
In the middle of the room, there were two groups of witches and warlocks, facing off like two football teams. They were divided. One group stood behind Cindy, the witch who had dreams of marrying Frankie. The other group was obviously on ‘team Frankie’ and stood around him like a group of bodyguards. They were tense and ready to go to war at the least word.
“You lied to us!” Cindy hollered.
“It was the will of the council. I had no say in it,” Frankie returned.
“Your father is a good man. He didn’t deserve this!” Cindy yelled. “You made him what he is. This is all your fault.”
“You better shut it, Cindy.” One of the other warlocks said.
“Or what, Aaron? You are not strong enough to take me on.” Cindy disappeared and reappeared in front of the warlock, Aaron, who had called her out. She held up her hand and electricity shot from her palm, striking the man in the chest. He fell to the ground and the room erupted in violence and magic.
The dragons on the ceiling started flapping violently now. The battle raged on the walls and ceiling, matching the one on the floor. Durga wasn’t too interested in the fighting until Cindy’s eyes fell on me and her magic pulsed in my direction. Durga went from asleep to raging vengeance between one breath and the next. Our blade flew across the room, end over end, until it sunk into the witch’s stomach, hilt deep. It flashed back into my hand as Cindy dropped to the ground. Durga flashed an image of our blade slicing Cindy’s throat, but I wasn’t sure I could do it. Cindy wasn’t a vampire.
Durga flashed the image again and kicked me in the stomach. I started to move towards the witch. The rest of the witches and warlocks were in battle, and some of them blocked my way. Some witches on Frankie’s side used magic to create forcefields. Some of the opposing warlocks had knives or other weapons and some, like Cindy, were using flames and electricity to attack. Based on Frankie’s description of dark magic, I knew they were using that now. Durga shoved at me. Trying to make me go faster and end the witch’s life. Cindy was laying on the ground with her hands on her stomach, blood oozing out between her fingers.
A sudden roar caused me to spin. Singh, in lion form, leapt across the room and ripped the head off one of the warlocks who had been using fire to try and burn through a forcefield. Everyone stopped fighting, Singh dropped the warlock’s head and it rolled sloppily across the floor.
The dark-magic users turned on my lion and magic came pouring out of them. I threw myself into the battle --my lion was off limits.
My blade flashed in the flickering candlelight. I only had experience fighting vampires, so when I sliced a warlock across the chest, and he fell to the ground, I was surprised. Then I quickly moved on as a witch started aiming fire and lightning at me. It bounced off an invisible force field. When I turned around, I saw Frankie chanting and holding his hand in my direction. I kept fighting alongside Singh until there were only Frankie and his loyal witches and warlocks left.
I surveyed the injured and dead, trying to find Cindy, but she was gone. Shit.
Frankie took out his phone and made a call. A moment later two grey-haired men and a woman popped up beside Frankie.
“Frankford, what has happened here?” one of the men asked.
“Thank you for coming, Counsel,” Frankie said with a bow.
The grey-haired man’s eyes shifted and locked on me and Singh, who was leaning against me, still in lion form. Bright red blood and other stringy bits covered his white fur.
“My God,” the man whispered. “Durga.” He breathed her name so softly it was like he hadn’t even spoken.
Durga pushed at me, so I let her speak. “You did not cut out the rot. Now it has spread to this coven and infected these witches and warlocks. Now the rot leaches to the human world, and I must step in to clean up your mess.” Her angry goddess tone left no room for argument.
The three members of the council bowed their heads.
“Apologies, Durga. This will not happen again. I assure you.”
“Your assurances mean little when there are several dead humans. Assurances cannot bring them back. The old laws are in place for a reason,” Durga said, making me wonder what the old laws were exactly. “I will leave you to this. My body needs rest if we are to hunt the leader of this evil.”
With that, she turned and pushed me towards the door as she relinquished control to me and I walked back out. She was great at speeches. From now on I decided to let her do all the big talking.
Singh followed behind me until we entered Frankie’s apartment. Singh walked into the washroom and I heard the shower flick on. A shower was a great idea. The sun had risen and I could feel the tiredness creeping in.
I wasn’t sure how much hot water the apartment had so I waited till I heard Singh flick off the water before I walked into the en-suite and took a shower too.
When I came back out, clean and in pyjamas, I wasn’t shocked to find Singh taking up half my
bed. The lion was sparkling white again and mostly dry. What I was surprised to see was Frankie, sitting at the end of my bed.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I hoped I could take care of my father on my own before anyone found out.”
“It’s ok, Frankie.” He stood and walked over to me, wrapping me in his arms and burying his face in my shoulder. The embrace was more for him than for me. Frankie talked a good game about killing his father, but it was honestly eating him up inside. How could it not?
“Cindy got away,” I said. He straightened and brushed my damp hair back from my face.
“I think my father might have introduced her to the dark magic. There is no way she figured out all of that on her own.”
“You think they are working together now?”
“Maybe. She has been acting strange lately. I should have known something was coming. She has always been volatile and when I informed the council that I wasn’t going to marry her last week, she stormed out and hadn’t spoken to me since.”
“Durga wanted me to slit her throat, so she might be a tad pissed that I let her get away.” Durga sent me an image of fire. It was a bit vague, but I got the feeling that was her anger. Creative.
I was having trouble keeping my eyes open now. They kept shutting against my will.
Frankie took my hand and led me to the bed. He tucked me in and kissed my forehead before he left and shut the door.
I tugged at the blankets pinned under Singh, but gave up and moved up next to his giant fluffy lion body. His mane kept tickling my nose, so I buried my face in the pillow. His warmth had me pushing the blankets back again a little while later. I slept restlessly all day. I would wake up and the clock would say I had only slept an hour or so. I had never had so much trouble sleeping during the day.