by K. F. Breene
Anger simmered within the being, but it held its impatience in check. It still needed these ridiculous humans. They needed to run interference until the being had the answer it sought about the heir. It couldn’t risk being banished from this world until then. A knowledgeable mage could make it nearly impossible for Agnon to come back on its own, which would result in its superiors stripping away its boons. If that came to pass, it would never rise in ranking. That was unacceptable.
It was time for Agnon to take a more active role. It needed the humans, but it could no longer solely rely on them.
It stepped forward until its webbed toes were barely touching the magical wall rising up from the drawn circle. A spicy blend of magic burned its leathery skin, more intricate than Agnon had expected. A level-four demon would assuredly be trapped by such a setup, forced to do its master’s bidding. What a disgraceful fate.
The being pushed forward slowly, pierced with the artful mix of spells. Three, he counted, adding security to a fundamental circle. Fire licked at the being’s power, threatening to tear the fabric of its essence. Bits of itself unraveled, tugging at its foundation. The mages backed away with wide eyes.
The being would need to take one of their bodies after it was through. Breaking through the circle would take too much energy for it to then create a form and exist on its own. Luckily, the one Agnon had identified as the most expendable of the group wasn’t running. Stupid human.
Fire filled the cracks within its being as it kept moving through the wall. Its power throbbed like a cold, deadened thing. Energy drained from its body.
“No,” the lead mage whispered. He dug into a bag at his side and extracted a cluster of herbs. The circle of mages began chanting with him, the air swirling with more spells intended to lock Agnon into their magical prison.
The being’s dry laugh rattled from its throat as it kept going, feeling the magic eat away its flesh without cutting it down. The humans should’ve done their homework. If they had, they would’ve known not to use their summons again. At least not until the being had returned to the underworld, where it could no longer intercept the spell.
Fire scored its face. The fabric of its self unraveled a bit more, tearing at its center. A moment later, the pain drifted away. Agnon was through.
“That’s impossible,” the leading mage shrieked, throwing a spell.
The being felt the magic wash over it. It shuddered, shedding the uncomfortable feeling. Its oily black features puffed out for a moment before settling. It twisted its hawklike head, focusing on the expendable human. With a burst of power, the little it had left after breaking the circle, it speared the center of the human and filled the living shell. The human’s screams cut off as the being took control. Fingers wiggled as it learned how the body worked. Feet danced. The head rolled, followed by the shoulders.
The being assumed control faster this time. It hadn’t been very long since Agnon had done it before.
“Jimmy!” one of the mages shouted.
“Jimmy is dead. You may call me Agnon.”
“How did you get through the circle? It was reinforced with the blood of the damned,” the leader sputtered.
“It was reinforced with the blood of a human. The tortured sacrifice gave you more power, but it did not compensate for the type of offering you made. A vampire would be needed for the blood of the damned. A highly powerful magical creature might’ve worked as well. You know little of our kind, insect.” Agnon pulled at its power in order to rise from the ground in a display of might, but the circle had too greatly weakened it. Instead, it bent back the fingers on its right hand, breaking the bones with loud cracks.
The mages grimaced. Pain flashed through Agnon’s human shell, the body still reacting to its nervous system. The being followed the chemical reaction before severing the connection. Pain was not a pleasant feeling when in one of these vessels. The being did not like experiencing it.
“Now,” Agnon said, taking a look around with its new eyes. The human had barely passable vision. What a nuisance. “We must put our plans into effect. I must see what the girl can do, which means we must test her.” The mages stared at him with fear-soaked eyes. They were frozen with barely contained panic. That would not do. “If you fulfill my wishes, I see no reason to harm any of you.”
“But I summoned a level-four demon. How did a higher level come to be in my circle?” the leader asked, standing rigid. He did not plan to let this go. Failure and the fear of humiliation pinged through his thoughts. It would cripple the situation.
“I do not need to be summoned to walk above,” the being said, mustering its patience. “But I desired willing human minions, and there was no easier way to find them than to answer a summons. Humans under the illusion of safety, and hungry for power, are foolhardy. Blind. I promised you the vast sources of the underworld’s power, and you rolled over like mongrels, begging for orders. You are shortsighted. It was only a matter of time before these games of yours backfired. Nevertheless, this has worked modestly well so far.”
“But we didn’t summon you,” another of the humans said.
Agnon rotated his head, hearing the loud pop of its shell’s neck bone breaking. As expected, the head became heavier as more effort rested on Agnon to keep it upright. The being shouldn’t have broken that bone so early. No matter—in a day, it wouldn’t be an issue.
A ruddy-faced female human shrank away from its notice, her eyes fearful.
“A demon of high power can intercept a summons once it can maintain a form on the surface,” Agnon said. “Your ignorance may seal your fate. We shall see. Now. I promised you power when first I met you. I will impart that to you now in anticipation of meeting the girl. If she is the rightful princess, you will need every ounce of my help in order to survive.”
Chapter Seventeen
After a day’s worth of fitful sleep, I woke up to a hovering vampire. At least I felt pretty good about our plan for the night, thanks to Lily.
Callie and Dizzy soon headed off to a watering hole that Lily had heard harbored some of the more powerful mages in the area. Members of the guild were among that crew, something that had hardened Callie’s already hard bulldog expression. She wasn’t a fan of that corrupt governing body. I really hoped she didn’t mention that to them. Or get into a magic duel. I’d told her and Dizzy to keep a low profile. I didn’t want news of my presence spreading around. That made people ask questions, and questions were bad for business.
The first item on my checklist found me and, of course, Darius outside a condo that belonged to a man Lily was nearly certain was involved with the case. She’d overheard him conversing with someone about victims and screaming. It had unnerved her enough that she’d taken his name from his credit card and put it in a little book of disreputable characters. Normally, she would’ve banned him, but she’d wanted to keep her eye on him. Except he hadn’t come back in since.
What she’d heard was good enough for me. If he wasn’t involved directly, he probably knew something about it.
“Okay,” I whispered as I walked slowly up to the clean white door. My hands were out, feeling for spells. So far I hadn’t encountered any. “We’re just going to walk right in and get the jump on him. I’ll lob a few questions and we’ll see how we get along.”
“Don’t kill him or you’ll put us back at square one.” Darius drifted along behind me, calm and serene. He was using me as a shield for any magic that might unexpectedly come. Mr. Bodyguard, indeed.
“I will try my best not to kill him, yes.” I reached out near the wood. A hum of magic infused my palm. I pushed my hand closer until it was actually touching the door, reading the magical current. “It’s a pretty common security spell, I think, designed to trigger some sort of alarm if we cross the threshold. It’s using the wood as an anchor, but it also runs along the inside. Which means…”
I blew out a breath and looked behind me at the darkened street. The streetlight closest was out, the glass broken. Som
eone had busted it, and I had a pretty good hunch as to who. A car rolled past, followed by another in the opposite direction. At the far end of the street I could just make out a shape wandering along. It wasn’t late enough to go mostly unnoticed.
“Which means what?” Darius asked, now standing beside me. His spicy cologne mixed deliciously with his masculine scent. Unlike mermaids, vampires—thankfully—didn’t smell like their other forms.
I shook my head. “Unless I use my fire to burn away the door and the spell attached to it. If there is one thing people notice, though, it’s fire. Humans are drawn to it. They’d come to check it out, realize I was up to no good, then call the cops. That kind of racket would alert the mage. All bad things.” I took out my sword.
“He must have heard us by now if he’s home.”
“We’re being quiet, and he doesn’t have excellent hearing like you do. We’re fine. He’ll hear me kicking down the door, though. As would the whole neighborhood. How annoying. I would really like to bust it in.”
“I have never understood your infatuation with kicking things in.”
“We all have our vices.” I twisted my mouth to the side, thinking. “Trying to cut through the door would also be heard. This street is too quiet. There’s no way I can get through without triggering the spell. As soon as I open the door, no matter how quickly I cut out that spell, it’ll go off.”
“Then after you get in, you best hurry and find him.”
“Boy, you’re Mr. Obvious tonight, huh? Thank goodness I brought you.” I grabbed the door handle, twisted, and pushed. It didn’t budge. “Can you unlock it, please?”
“Yes. And in keeping with my obvious assertions, I can also unlock windows.”
I hesitated with my hand on the knob, tilting my head in thought. I hadn’t considered that route because I’d figured we would have to break a window—and the sound of shattering glass would be an immediate giveaway.
“I’m not sure I realized you could do that,” I muttered.
“Which was why I mentioned it,” he said patiently. “Things are only obvious when you already know them. With you, there is no telling what knocks around in your head.”
The window beside the door wasn’t capable of sliding open. The next nearest window was off to the side with the curtains drawn.
I stepped off the stoop and threaded my way through the plants. “Opening it won’t break the plane,” I muttered. “The alarm won’t trigger unless someone goes through it. There is an additional spell one can apply to address that issue, of course. Did our mage take the extra precaution?”
I felt the vibrations of the spell through the glass, not anchored well because of the difference in material.
“No, he did not,” I whispered. “He thinks he’s at the top of the food chain. These spells are nothing more than precautionary. He’s probably thinking of human burglars. Little does he know that his safety is an illusion. What a horrible surprise he’ll have tonight.”
I glanced back at Darius, who still waited near the door. A moment later, he nodded. The lock was ready to go.
The window squealed as I pushed it up. I ground my teeth, stopping when it was halfway open, and listened. A truck rumbled by. In the distance, a dog barked. Silence hung heavy inside the house.
I passed my sword through the open space, splitting the security spell and unraveling it. The magic winked out, leaving residue that would soon start to deteriorate. I returned to the door and eased it open, thankful it didn’t also creak. Darkness greeted me, lacking even a distant glow from any light sources elsewhere in the house.
The screen of my phone said 9:08. It was much too early for him to have gone to bed, and normal people didn’t sit around in the dark. There was always the chance he was upstairs, though.
There was also the chance that he’d noticed us loitering outside his house, and was currently lying in wait, using the stillness, quiet, and darkness as cover. I didn’t need a magical jack-in-the-box popping out at me. I hated those things. Even though I knew it was coming, it still scared me. It could only be worse in human form.
“Okay, let’s split up,” I whispered, the sound barely leaving my mouth. That was the great thing about vampires. Darius could still hear me. “I’ll take the—”
“No. We stay together. There is no telling what we might run into.”
Arguing would just eat into time.
I started forward slowly, quietly, clearing my mind and slipping into my inner battle zone. If he was home, I couldn’t afford any mistakes. One loud bang and some nervous neighbors could call in the cops. This guy was a somewhat advanced mage, so he surely had more than one loud spell in his arsenal that he would liberally throw if his life was in danger.
A floorboard creaked below my boot. Deep shadow draped down the furniture and across the floor. There were papers on the dining room table, along with a half-empty cup of clear liquid. Water, probably. People who drank vodka out of a pint glass didn’t usually leave it behind unless they were passed out next to it.
A few crumbs littered the countertop. The deep hum of the fridge reverberated in the silence. A soft touch landed on my shoulder.
I jumped. I couldn’t help it. I really did hate jack-in-the-boxes.
Darius took his hand away and silently pointed at the microwave sitting on a side counter.
A lone casing looked like it had been forgotten there, resting against the salt and pepper shakers. Footfalls still quiet even though my heart had lurched at the possibility of a clue, I crossed that way and let my hand hover over the orb, a half-inch in diameter. The magic in it felt zesty and packed a hefty dose of power. It wouldn’t rot your foot off, but it would cause some damage. With so little evidence, I couldn’t even guess what kind of spell it was, but I did know it would be useful in my arsenal if I didn’t need an incantation to get it to work. It was worth a shot.
I moved to swipe the ball off the microwave, but there was a quick flash of a hand. Darius had gotten there first.
“This is no time to be greedy,” I told him. “You have plenty. Let the little guy have a new spell once in a while.”
“I apologize. That was not intended.” He studied the casing for a moment before holding his hand out flat.
I plucked the orb off his palm. “You need to get that protective thing looked at, dude. You’re falling apart.”
“I need blood.”
A wash of shivers coated my body. I cocked my head and forced my heart to calm down. Playing it cool, and ignoring his comment, I studied the casing. “It’s bigger than the one we found on the way to the unicorn paddock, right?”
“Yes. Similar style casing, able to hold more robust spells, but definitely larger.”
“These guys were in New Orleans for a time. I wonder if Tamara, the mage also calling demons, caught wind of their activities and tried to duplicate them on her own terms? It would explain some things.”
“Either that or she used the same casing supplier. I can have my people check it out.”
“It’s worth a shot.” I dropped the casing into my pouch. “Either way, it looks like we have our guy.”
“You are jumping to conclusions.”
“Nah, I’d already jumped to that conclusion. This just makes his guilt more legit.”
“It is a wonder people employ you.”
“Not at all. I get the job done. Plus a little extra if I end up at the wrong villain’s house.” I moved to the door off the side of the kitchen. A quick peek inside told me it was the garage, and the minimal empty space not stuffed with shelves and boxes said a car couldn’t fit. Neither could a bunch of mages, a guy without skin, and a demon. This couldn’t be the scene of the crime, and not just because there was no blood.
I quickly left the kitchen and angled toward the stairs. Behind us, the fridge clicked off, dosing the space in liquid, gooey silence. As I moved, the faint sound of a ticking clock reached my ears. My breath came out in rhythmic, even puffs.
I hated creep
ing around. Running at a madman with a sword or spell? I was in. But this slow, deliberate mumbo jumbo when someone I couldn’t see was possibly lying in wait? Good gracious, no. It was a heart racer.
The empty staircase beckoned, closed in by walls. If someone at the top started throwing down spells, this would be a bad situation for me.
I waved Darius back, knowing he’d be in my way if I had to retreat. Also knowing that, in his current state, he’d be more likely to put himself in harm’s way in a futile attempt to protect me.
He probably hated this strange situation in which he found himself.
A loud pop made me flinch. I clutched my sword tighter, ready. A few more pops burst forth like gunfire, followed by a painful groan. Just the house shifting.
Breath now coming in fast pants, I increased my pace lest I suffer cardiac arrest. Nearly to the top, and the roar of a Harley thundered past the house and up the street. I paused, wondering if someone would pop out under the cover of the noise. I would’ve.
All was still.
I was starting to suspect he wasn’t home.
I stepped onto the top step and paused. Four doors awaited me on the second floor, two standing open. One of the closed doors was narrower than the others, denoting a hall closet or something similar. Being that I saw the edge of a toilet through one of the open doors, I suspected this place was a two-bedroom.
Ignoring the bathroom, I walked slowly toward the other open room. I needed to keep my calm and not blast his face with fire. Given that my split-second reactions were always incredibly violent, which had kept me alive so far, my goal of composure was easier made than kept.
I brushed my fingers against the wood, pushing the door open slowly. It swung on well-oiled hinges. A bed came into view, neatly made. A dresser stood against the wall, its top bare. The nightstand next to the bed had a bare top as well. This was a guest room, and clearly not lived in.
The last door awaited me. So did the vampire standing next to it, looking at me like I was going into the snake pit and he did not approve.