Perfect Love

by A.M. Burns

25

  The bricked-over doorway sang of magic. Opening my senses to it, I could tell that it’d been used recently. A lot of energy still arced around it. Unfortunately for us it was a dead end.

  “I have no way of knowing where it goes, even if the spell for it is in the black book. Portals aren’t something to mess with. If Lenny and Katie are in control of the naga, then odds are that it lets out somewhere in the area. Unless they have another portal nearby to get further away, then they should rendezvous with the naga at some point,” I lamented, my worry for Tiffany growing.

  “Do you have some kind of tracking spell that you can cast for Lenny or Katie?” Paul asked staring around the room for other possible clues.

  “We certainly have access to enough of their things here.” I started running through my mind what I’d need to find them. Here in their own magical room, I could use their own supplies against them.

  “Dusty, see if you can find a piece of hair. Check the bathroom for a hairbrush or something.” I went over to the shelves with the jars of stones and crystals. I found their last lodestone easily. Then I found several herbs that would be useful. I only pondered using their altar for a second, but the blood stains on it convinced me that using the hood of the car as a place to hold things while we cast the spell would be better. I handed a couple of things to Paul to carry for me and headed out of the house.

  Dusty caught up to us in the hallway. “You owe me big time making me go into that bathroom. This building should be condemned on that room alone.”

  “I’m sure Tiffany will appreciate your sacrifices in the effort to find her,” I said as we passed through the living room again.

  The air outside had changed. It seemed charged. Almost like the edge of a huge thunderstorm had passed recently. Somebody was doing magic nearby, big magic. I’d forgotten to check the phase of the moon. I couldn’t see one in the sky. I was pretty sure that if it weren’t a new moon, then we were pretty close. It was the perfect time for casting magic of new beginnings.

  “We need to hurry. I can feel them or someone starting to cast a spell, a really big spell,” I said as I lay the lodestone on the hood of the car. Dusty was already going to get the magic bag. Paul set the jars carefully next to the stone.

  “No time for formalities,” I muttered, as I called up a magical circle in my mind, enclosing the whole car in its protective field. I only hoped that nobody drove down the street before I finished, or the act of their car passing through the barrier would disrupt the circle and bring it crashing down around me, yet another reason to work fast.

  Dusty set the magic bag down on the hood. It was more of a doctor’s valance than anything else. “What do you need? “

  “Small cauldron, charcoal and lighter,” I replied as I began to arrange the bottles in the order I needed them.

  Paul watched as Dusty set the mini cauldron out on the hood, then took a small round piece of charcoal, lit it and dropped it into the cauldron once it was going good. Dusty stepped back in silence.

  “The hair?” I asked before I started working.

  Dusty handed me a couple of strands of short blonde hairs that felt greasy. They had to have come from Katie Crackles.

  I’d done this locator spell many times in the past. It was a quick and easy way to find a missing person. I placed one of the hairs on the lodestone with a bit of spit and hoped that it would stay. Then I set the lodestone down on the other hair so it would not blow away. I dropped the herbs onto the charcoal in the correct order getting a good billow of smoke flowing upwards. Taking up the hair-tied loadstone and the other strand of hair, I held them over the smoking cauldron and intoned my commands. As the last word left my lips I dropped the hair into the cauldron. There was a large flash of light and the fire in the cauldron went out. The light seemed to coalesce around the loadstone. I held the loadstone aloft with the barest of mental touches so it would move of its own accord. It swung briefly then pointed toward the south.

  “Got them,” I said as I collapsed the circle with a thought similar to the one that had created it.

  Dusty scooped up the cauldron and tossed the remains of the fire into the street so it would not ignite a fire. With practiced ease, Dusty repacked the stuff into my bag, careful to place the hot cauldron into the special fireproof spot where it wouldn’t catch the rest of the bag on fire.

  He handed the bag to Paul. “Time to roll.” He pulled out his keys and headed for the driver’s door.

  I’d already opened the passenger door. Keeping the lodestone dangling in front of me, I settled into the seat as Paul got into the back. Dusty started the car.

  I went into an almost trance-like state, with the lodestone following the path to Katie and directing Dusty where to drive. Dusty’d done this several times in the couple of years that we’d been together. Tiffany had more experience doing it with me. She was good enough at it that at times, I don’t even have to tell her were to go. She sensed where I wanted her to go before I told her. It would’ve been easier if I had something of Tiffany’s to home in on her. I resolved to add pieces of hair from Tiffany and Dusty to my magic bag so that I’d be able to find them if anything like this ever happened again, and it had better not.

  The trail led us out onto the loop around Fort Worth and south. I felt a pull to head slightly east, but it wasn’t time yet. Then we went east on I 20, heading into south Arlington.

  “Are we going back to the park where the naga came through last night?” Dusty asked softly as he realized where we were.

  “Feels that way,” I said. I almost did not recognize my own voice it sounded so dreamy and far away.

  Neither of us was surprised, when the lodestone swung toward the park when we reached the exit. I have to admit, particularly for folks who need that sort of thing, the park and its monuments had some great energy for magic. The building storm would help as well. As we turned west down the access road to get back to the park, I could see lightning dancing across the sky in the distance. I was pretty sure that the thunderstorm was already drenching south Fort Worth and was heading our way.

  “We need to end this before the storm gets here,” I said.

  “Do we need to scout the park?” Paul asked as Dusty pulled into the parking lot that held only a blue van.

  “We’ll just follow the lodestone,” I said. Dusty turned off the car.

  “How do you prefer to do this?” Paul asked from the back seat. “By gun or fang and claw?”

  “Dusty stays human. We don’t know if they have anymore of the Packrider Fae with them. You go with what you think is best for you,” I said opening the door. “Dusty, grab one of the big guns out of the back and the crossbow too. Unfortunately we aren’t sure what it will take to bring down the naga, but we may need a combination of things. We’ll go for him first, unless Tiffany and Tech are in a situation where we need to get them away before that. But I’d like Tiffany’s help if she is in any shape to provide it.”

  A soft growl emerged from the other side of the car, as Paul changed to his Jaguar monster form. Well at least we could talk if need be. Dusty softly closed the back of the car and turned toward the park with a large rifle over one shoulder, a crossbow over the other and a monstrous bastard sword strapped to his hip. I hoped we wouldn’t have to run. The sword was long enough that if we did, it’d get in his way. I needed to get him a shoulder scabbard for the thing for ease of carry.

  The locator spell pulled me north, toward the stones where they cast the original gate spell. It wasn’t that far. They had to have heard the car pull up. I hoped the naga would not feel the little bit of magic from the locator spell.

  “Tiffany’s nearby,” said Paul, his voice soft and gravelly in his monster form.

  We topped a small hill. Looking down toward the creek that ran through the park, a circle of candles glowed along the short-cropped grass. The looming shape of the naga curled up across the top of the monument, but I couldn’t make out details in the dim light of the candles
many feet below it. Two people moved around the circle. From a distance in the bad light, I was pretty sure it was Lenny and Katie. An idea hit me. It was a simple spell and would have unknown results, but if it worked right, it would at least provide us with a distraction that could help even the odds a bit. I’d only used this spell once before, and then, Tiffany was helping but it was worth the try.

  I motioned for Dusty and Paul to fall back down the rise a bit with me.

  “I want to try something. It might work and it might not, but any help with the naga would be welcome. Just give me a moment of silence.” As I dropped the lodestone into my pocket, I made a mental note to show Alexia how to do this if I got the opportunity. With her spiritual sensitivity she’d get great results with it.

  I opened myself to the energy currents around me. In my mind, I envisioned Justice as she appears in the courts, blindfolded, with her sword and her scales. I began a simple chant and started calling names of those who could seek Justice in the coming conflict. Magee Reyes appeared first, her spectral face ferocious. Barry Crabtree showed again in his long black duster looking for a fight. The absence of Madeline Fort and Xan Landron didn’t surprise me. There were several people that I didn’t recognize. I presumed as they kept changing from human to animal that they were some of the wers that had been killed over the past couple of weeks. As I stopped chanting, there were almost a dozen ghosts standing there with us. Their ability to affect the world would be limited. Most magical people would know this, but I was hoping that Lenny and Katie didn’t. That’d buy Paul, Dusty and I time to deal with the naga before having to turn our attention to its summoners.

  “Over the rise,” I whispered, “are the people who’re responsible for your deaths. I need to you to distract them while we free our friends and deal with the naga they have summoned.”

  “Just give us the chance,” Barry said, cracking his knuckles.

  The wers nodded. Magee sneered. “Right behind ya, Barry.”

  “Good, Paul, give Dusty and me the chance to hit the naga from a distance first. Then if need be, we’ll go hand to hand. See if you can find Tiffany, her help would be appreciated,” I said as I started up the hill.

  Beside me, Dusty readied the crossbow and shot me a dazzling smile. He never questioned my lead. He was always there for me. I loved him like no one else who had ever been part of my life. After this was over, I promised myself that I would make sure he knew that.

  We topped the hill and I reached out for the energy of the brewing storm. It came easily and I forced it down toward the towering monument, blowing out the candles in the circle and dropping the area into darkness.

  My ghostly allies cast their own eerie light as they swarmed down toward Lenny and Katie. Several of the wers howled long wicked howls that rent the night, raising the hairs on my arms. Having called forth a vicious-looking motorcycle and sword, Barry led the charge with Magee running behind him screaming her own indistinguishable battle cry.

  I heard Dusty’s crossbow go off, followed closely by a roar that I couldn’t tell whether it came from pain or anger. I paused in my downhill charge, and keeping a mental picture of the naga in my mind since my night vision was nowhere near as keen as Dusty’s, I threw a large leven bolt. I wouldn’t be able to cast many of those without tapping a lot of power from the oncoming storm. The light from the energy bolt blazed blue across the park before striking the naga. The serpent rose up, its arms working in an intricate pattern which could only be the casting of some kind of spell. The leven bolt struck before the OD completed the pattern and it screamed as the light that had gathered around its hands exploded in its face. Its leven bolt arrived before I thought the naga could have recovered, flashing red as it flew toward my face.

  I raised a shield just in time, but the impact still pushed me back a couple of feet, the heels of my boots leaving lines in the grass. I heard Dusty’s rifle go off as I hit it with another leven bolt. It was ready for me this time, and although the bolt struck true, it didn’t cry out. Instead, it slid gracefully off the monument.

  Then the lightning showed up in earnest, seemingly drawn to the naga. From the look on its scaly face, this wasn’t the serpent mage’s effort to recharge. Lightning lit up the park as bolt after bolt struck the naga.

  “The lightning will dry it out.” Tiffany called out. I turned and she was standing near where the circle had been. Her hands upraised as she called forth the power of the storm. “The dryer it gets, the weaker it will become,” she screamed over the thunder that rolled through the park as the lighting continued to streak down upon the stricken naga. It was trying to escape to the creek that ran through the park.

  Dusty continued to fire at the OD until he was out of bullets. He tossed the gun aside and pulled out his sword. “Now Paul,” he called as he ran toward the naga.

  I watched in horror as Dusty and Paul ran toward the naga. They got nearer and the lightning danced ever closer to them. They seemed to dance with the lightning. Somehow, it never struck them, not even with Dusty carrying that huge sword. The naga seemed to fall in on itself. Dusty delivered a powerful blow with the sword while Paul sank dagger-long claws into its back and began climbing the thing. Tiffany’s lightning continued a relentless assault and still managed to avoid Dusty and Paul. Dusty’s sword cut deep and he retched upward, bathing in the reptilian guts. It collapsed even further as Paul tore great chunks out of it.

  I’am constantly amazed at the amount of damage some Other-Dimensionals can take. Most of the creatures from this plane of reality would have been dead by now from just the wounds that Dusty had inflicted, but still the naga tried to stay upright. Still it struggled to get away to the life-giving power of the stream. Finally, it dropped its head to the point that Dusty could reach it with the sword. With a heavy blow that lifted my lover off his feet, Dusty severed the naga’s head from its neck. The beast’s great body shook wildly and Paul gracefully rolled away from the thrashing form. A great stream of bodily fluids washed out of the headless naga’s neck covering Dusty with another layer of goo. Silently, I hoped none of those fluids were poisonous to wers.

  Tiffany’s lightning attack stopped as soon as the naga’s head bounced on the short-cut grass. But now the storm was upon us. In the last moments of the naga’s life, a little trickle of rain had begun to fall. Now, it was rapidly becoming a downpour. The plus side I thought as I rushed toward Dusty, who was sheathing his sword, was that it would wash off the naga guts and fluids that covered him.

  “Thank the Gods, you’re okay.” I hugged him tightly to me. He wrapped his arms around me, returning my embrace.

  “Hey it takes more than an over grown extra-dimensional snake to take me out.” He laughed softly as the rain pelted heavier. “I think we still have the evil witches to deal with.” He whispered giving my ear a playful nip.

  I sighed. “A hero’s work is never done. Let’s see what’s going on there.”

  I curved an arm around his waist and we headed back toward the area the circle had been minutes before.

  A flash of lightning showed Tech sitting on Lenny, while the specter of Magee Reyes screamed at him. As we got closer we could make out her words. “What did you mean by killing me, or rather summoning something to kill me? Don’t you know that summoning is evil? Lenny, I trusted you and you betrayed me!” Every few words her voice rose to a higher pitch. Dusty flinched a couple of times as she hit notes only dogs and werewolves could hear.

  “Your vision for Perfect Love was too narrow. I knew you’d never listen. It was a means to control the sheeple. If you’d listened to me we could’ve been great.” Lenny spoke so freely I wondered if someone had cast a truth spell on him. I was not sure if Magee could have done that in her spirit form or not.

  “You knew I had no need to be great. I just wanted people to be happy. That was the goal of Perfect Love, to show people how to be happy.” Magee railed on him.

  “Have you got this under control Tech?” Tech looked comfortable e
nough to me. Lenny wasn’t squirming or anything.

  “Sure, I even called Carmine to send a cleanup crew and pickup car for this trash. You might want to see what happened to Katie. Right after Paul got Tiffany and I free, she took off screaming and the rest of the ghosts were chasing her down. For some reason, the big guy on the motorcycle really scared her.”

  “I’ve got her scent.” Dusty said as another bolt of lightning struck close by. “Need to hurry though before the rain washes it away, although I doubt the ghost will let her get away.”

  “Lead on, my faithful huswolf,” I said with my arm still around Dusty’s waist.

  Dusty led me past where Tiffany and Paul were making sure that none of the naga’s blood washed into the creek using Tiffany’s magic to build a small wall around the thing until the clean-up crew arrived. We walked past several of the other monuments and almost back toward the car before I spotted the ethereal light from the ghosts. They were standing by the creek where Katie Crackles lay face down in the shallow water with the rain pounding into her messed-up hair.

  I looked at Barry Crabtree still sitting on his spectral cycle. He shrugged. “She just tripped and fell in. Honest.”

  I pulled Dusty back toward the parking lot, where the first of the Council’s clean-up crew was just pulling up. “Let’s go home.” I was tired and ready for some much needed rest. I didn’t even want to worry about dismissing the ghosts. They’d leave with the rising sun. We paused long enough to gather up Tiffany, Tech and Paul. The backseat of the car was a bit cramped, but everyone was safe and sound.