Brush With Death: A Sadie Salt Urban Fantasy (Sadie Salt Series)

by Ware Wilkins

  “Jesus, Uncle, it’s not like that. He’s gay!” I’m blushing too hard to look at Benji or my uncle, suddenly very uncomfortable with this entire night. Tracked by weres and dealing with family and knowing that someone out there is probably going to kill me in a bloody way is hard to absorb. I’m only holding it remotely together because I’m too exhausted to fall apart. But Oliver assuming I’m hooking up with Benji is just too much!

  “Sorry. None of my business. Are you going to tell the nest?”

  Benji stiffens next to me. Just a hint, barely perceptible. “Eventually.”

  I look at my watch. It’s getting close to nine. I haven’t eaten and I’m tired and I still have to work the half-day tomorrow. “Look, we came up here because the pack is following me. I guess they aren’t certain I didn’t kill Nash. And Benji wanted to verify he didn’t need to kill me, although he didn’t mention that was on the table.” I’m basically mad at everyone in the room and the world right now. “If I can’t do bone magic, I can’t protect myself. I don’t have any teeth left, even if I was able to. No juice, no spells.”

  “No spells, ever, Sadie. I’m not kidding. You won’t die peacefully or painlessly if anyone ever finds out.”

  “So how am I supposed to feel safe?”

  Without replying, Oliver leaves the room. He didn’t bring his tea-cup, though, so I wait, knowing he’ll return.

  “He seems pretty cool,” Benji says offhandedly.

  “I guess.”

  “This feels like I’m your date and you’re introducing me to the disapproving parent,” he mused. “I haven’t experienced anything like that in a long time.”

  “You don’t meet the guy’s parents and tell them you thought about killing them, but instead, you’ll help protect them?”

  “Don’t be like that,” he whispers. “The fact that I figured out you’re a bone witch and didn’t kill you on the spot shows how much affection I have for you, Sadie. If it had been anyone else, I’d have killed them without hesitation.”

  “That’s not comforting.”

  The corner of his mouth ticks up. “I know he didn’t explain much, so trust me. I’ve had run-ins with bone witches in the past.” The memory flickers in his green eyes and for once, I stay silent. The look is haunting. “They are worthy of this level of fear.”

  There isn’t an answer for that. Not a good one, anyway. Because I get what they’re saying. Even if they aren’t telling me all of the specifics, I know how good I feel when I’m casting with teeth. The part that’s worrisome is, now that I’ve used it and hear how dangerous it is, some part of me is wondering... just how powerful could I be?

  Oliver walks back into the room carrying a baseball bat. Even I can feel the crackle of magic that is coming off it. That is, until he hands it to me. The tooth fairy, bless that bitch, has made me resistant to most magics. The baseball bat, covered in runes from top to bottom, feels a little heavier than its wooden brother. That would be the pounds of pressure of the magic it’s holding. But even dampened by my magic resistance, it has some heft.

  “I brought you something,” Oliver says unnecessarily. I mean, duh. But also whee!

  “This is awesome!” I give the bat a swing. It feels good in my hands, like it’s meant to be there.

  “That’s not it. It’s part of it, but not the whole thing. I need Benji’s help for the second part.”

  Benji’s there in a flash. Oliver hands him pliers. “Pull one of my teeth.”

  My eyebrows press together. “No.”

  “You need to attune yourself to the bat. Then maybe your resistance won’t stifle it. You’re right—you need something to protect yourself. I can’t ward anything more than it’s warded. You’ll just null it. And Benji can’t be there during daylight. The pack makes me nervous. So just let me give you something, okay?”

  He says it like he’s never given me anything. Oliver was never a presents-and-zoo-trips kind of uncle. But he saved me from the foster care system. Gave me a home and reminded me I still had family. It’s crazy for him to think that doesn’t mean he’s given me much, when he’s given me everything. But we’re terrible at talking to each other, so I nod. “Do you want me to pull it? I’m kind of the professional in this department.”

  “One, no you aren’t. You are only slightly better than someone who has watched a dentist on the internet. Second, Benji’s strength means he’ll get it out fast, before I have time to regret this decision.”

  They don’t wait for me to argue. Oliver mutters some words and chews a wad of herbs. I’m assuming it’s a numbing spell of sorts, or at least something to help him with the pain. His current magic calls on plants and the essence of the earth. It’s why he likes to live so far up the mountain and surrounded by flora and fauna. He can borrow heavily from it, and he does.

  He’s never told me much about it, but I know he used to dabble in dark magic. Possibly necromancy, based on a few of his books. But, like my parents, I’m sure if I pried he’d close me out.

  Benji takes the pliers, and Oliver opens his mouth and points to a bicuspid. It is fast, much quicker than I would have been. One minute, full smile. The next, a gap in his teeth and a loud curse. Benji hands the tooth to me. I stare at it, bloodied and gleaming in my palm. “What do I do with it?”

  Oliver doesn’t answer right away. He’s still cursing and dribbling blood, but he finds a jar of clay on a shelf. Pulling a pinch out, he begins to mold it, muttering his arcane words. Then he wedges it into the hole left by the tooth and it becomes almost like the real thing. A little discolored, but no one would know it wasn’t just a stained tooth if they hadn’t seen him magic it in. Once whole-ish and healed, he pops his neck.

  “No offense, Sadie, but I don’t know any bone magic. You clearly do. Just picture yourself connecting to the bat. Like it’s an extension of your arms. See if anything happens.”

  Well, okay. Closing my eyes, I grip the tooth in one hand and the bat in the other. When I begin to channel the tooth, though, I feel a jolt like the world’s biggest zap of static. The bat is fighting me. It’s the magic negation. Thanks a lot, Tee, you jerk. It hurts to hold on to it.

  But I want this. I want to feel like I have something of my own to protect myself. To fight back. A weapon feels right. I played softball in high school, and I’m sure that was on my Uncle’s mind when he picked the bat as his weapon of choice for me. Something that I’d be natural with.

  Gritting my teeth, I fight the bat. Pulling more power from Oliver’s tooth, there is a rush like nothing I’ve felt before. Holy hell, this is delicious. It surges through me, making me feel like a just-struck lightning rod. If I can’t make this attunement work, I’m a little worried about my uncle and Benji, because some of this will have to release somewhere.

  I picture the bat. In my mind, I’m swinging it at monsters. Snarling nosferatu, like the movies, and cheesy werewolves. Nothing like the real thing, but the imagery helps. The words come and I begin to speak, unaware of what I’m saying. It’s like coaxing a kitten out from under the house; slowly, the bat starts to open up. The bone magic is the bowl of cream, and it just has to wiggle under my magical resistance to get it.

  It’s vibrating so hard my hand is numb, but I clench my fingers harder, dig a little deeper. In my other palm, the tooth is dissolving, being absorbed into me. In a final push, I grab at the bat’s magic, snaring it before my resistance can push it away, and tuck it into me. There’s a huge sighing sensation between the bat and myself. Lingering sparks of power ping through me, but the big rush has been released into the bat. It feels alive in my hand.

  “Hello, baby,” I croon, like it’s a pet. Maybe it is, I don’t know. This innate magic doesn’t come with an instruction manual. “Welcome home.” I swear, it feels like it warms a bit in response. “That’s fucking cool.”

  “Yes it is,” Uncle Oliver says, more than a little awe in his tone. “I’ve never seen that kind of magic before. It felt... rich.”

  “You sho
uld see how it makes me feel,” I tease, but then wince because he’s my uncle. He wouldn’t buy me tampons when I was younger, so I doubt he wants to know the borderline orgasmic feel the teeth give me. His wry look tells me he doesn’t appreciate the joke, either.

  “Let me see it,” he says, holding out his hand for the bat. When I hand it over, though, he has to clasp it with both hands and the thick end hits the floor with a whomp. “Well, damn. Nice job, Sadie. This sucker is heavy as Thor’s hammer. That’ll pack a wallop for sure.” He sort of hands it back/rocks it toward me, and I pick it up again, marveling. To me, it’s perfectly weighted. I can use it with one or two hands. Knowing the attunement worked is giving me a boost of confidence I desperately need.

  Not to mention I’m still buzzing from my uncle’s tooth. I’m guessing because he’s a powerful warlock, it gave me major juice. It’s a shame I can’t get one for Tee—one of Oliver’s teeth would put a major dent in the debt I have left. But I’m surprised and touched he offered me one for this in the first place. And I’m not going to go asking friends and family for teeth just to get myself out of the trouble I got myself into. That would be like asking for money from them to pay off a bank loan. You take out a loan, money or not, and paying it back is squarely on you.

  “This is great, Uncle. Thank you.”

  Benji is curious. I can see his gaze tracking the bat. “You want to hold it?” I offer the end to him.

  “No... I kind of want you to hit me with it,” he replies, looking as sheepish as a vampire can look.

  “That sounds kinky.” I laugh.

  “You’re in a better mood,” Oliver observes.

  “It’s the magic. It’s what I did earlier, too. I haven’t really slept in days and with all the shit that’s been happening, I can use it for a boost. Like caffeine pills but better. I feel amazing and it kind of... dampens? Yes. It dampens my stress. Makes it easier to focus if I’m not wrapped up in fear and guilt.”

  “Hmm.” It’s noncommittal, but because I’m feeling so good, it doesn’t faze me.

  “So will you hit me with it?” Benji prods.

  “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “I’m old, Sadie, I can take a hit. Plus I just drank the blood your uncle kindly offered, so I’m at peak performance. I’ll heal right up.”

  It made sense. I can’t lie—I’m excited for a chance to see what the bat can do. So I raise it into place, setting my feet wide like I did in softball.

  “Not in the house, idiots.”

  Oh, right. Benji and I rush outside, eager to play with my new toy. The trees block a lot of the moon and it is dark. Oliver flips on his porch light and, with a quick wave of his hands, casts a spell. Fairy-like lights blink up around us, illuminating the yard. Ben stands, feet wide and braced. The ferns are up to his thighs and he smiles viciously, baring his teeth. “Give me all you got, Sadie.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair. I’m hopped up on tooth juice and I have a magic bat.”

  “Now it really does sound kinky. You know you want to,” he goads me. “Just do it. Let the pack see, too.”

  I’d forgotten that they’d followed us and were probably watching. Vaguely I wondered if I should be worried about the magic I’d done. That spell had been my largest yet, and the power was still rippling through me. If they could sense it, there’d be little hope of convincing Alec that I wasn’t the one who murdered Nash.

  Maybe Benji is on to something. If the wolves are cautious, it will buy some time. For what? The answer feels obvious, though. It’s deep-seated inside of me. As soon as Uncle Oliver mentioned that my parents’ teeth had been missing, too, the connection was made. The killer is here. I can actually, finally, find out who they are. Why they did it. And I can make them pay. For Nash, too. So I’ll need time because, despite Oliver and Benji insisting I can’t go looking into this, they don’t have as much at stake as I do. I want answers, including why a bone witch is targeting me. And with all the warnings they’ve given about going up against a bone witch, it’s like they’ve forgotten that I’m one, too.

  Who better to fight fire with fire, am I right?

  I give the bat a practiced swing, feeling the smooth tug from shoulder to wrist as the weight transfers to the end, whiffing through the air. So, so satisfying. Benji’s smile grows even more feral. His green eyes are bright with excitement and I wonder if mine match his. Wide and wild.

  Stepping in front, I put the bat up in place. He nods. I swing.

  The connection is jarring. Enough so that I drop the bat, my elbows and chest tingling from impact.

  Benji is nowhere to be seen. The black of the woods beyond Oliver’s magically created lights becomes darker to me. Like it’s swallowed Benji whole.

  Fear grips my heart and I wonder, for one horrible moment, if the bat has the power to wipe someone from existence. But then there’s a wind rustling through the trees and ferns and Benji appears in front of me, rubbing his chest. The front is caved in, like I crushed his sternum. It’s upsetting to look at, so I focus on his face instead.

  He’s still smiling, so that’s good.

  “That really hurts. It pushed me back farther than I expected, too.”

  “Did it break anything?”

  “Oh, yes. Most definitely. Though it would take a few more hits to really incapacitate me. The problem is it knocked me so far back I was able to start healing on my return. So, heaven forbid you should ever need to use it, but I wouldn’t strike for the core. I’d aim for legs and arms. If you knock your opponent down instead of out, you’d do some major damage.”

  The thought of bludgeoning someone to death is not appealing. My mind keeps flashing to the images of Nash’s and my parents’ bodies, flipping in and out as the residual magic in me rushes to keep me comfortably numb. Bat or not, I don’t think I could do that to anyone... except maybe the killer.

  “Well, now we know.”

  He nods. “Yes. And so do the wolves.”

  Belatedly, I wonder if our show was as smart as it seemed. I want them to see me as less guilty. Going to a warlock who is known for being shady, with an un-nested rogue vampire, and acquiring a magical weapon are not points in favor of “Sadie is innocent.”

  Then again, I’ve been viewed as a measly human encroaching on the paranormals turf for a long time. I’m tired of fighting for respect.

  That’s my bat’s name, I realize.

  Respect.

  Oh, yes. For the first time in years, I feel like I’m on the right track.

  Chapter Ten

  I am not on the right track.

  This is the hangover from hell. Everything aches, everything is blurry, and I am going to get through my half-day at work, but it’s going to be a freaking struggle. As I get in my car, cranking the heat up and hoping it stays warmish for just a bit longer, I wonder if this is a side effect of all magic, or just my bone-based kind. I don’t remember Oliver ever acting poorly after large spells, but he’s remarkably good at hiding things.

  Like how to teach magic or that my parents’ killer took their teeth.

  No, me, don’t be bitter. I’m grumpy because I feel like gum that was chewed, stepped on, and then scraped off. Oliver had good reasons, even if I think he’s an idiot for not sharing with me. I’d be a lot better off if we’d been more open from the beginning. Nope. There you are, assigning blame again. For once, it would be nice if my subconscious would just let me be hateful for a while.

  As I drive, I see Abe in his patrol car. I give him a little wave, but all I get in return is a nod. It stings. I mean, I guess if I thought some nice person I’d gone to high school with (that I thought was cute because he most definitely said I was cute) was, in fact, a night worker with extreme fetishes, I’d probably be distant, too. Still, not that I was kidding myself, but there goes my chance at normalcy. Or, at least, the fantasy of it.

  Seeing as I am suffering heavily for the magic I’ve used and I have a baseball bat that can send a vampire flying in my back seat,
normal isn’t in the cards. Oh well.

  Thankfully I reach work in time to make coffee, ignoring Dr. Winston’s comments about “weak” and “like water.” It takes effort, but I don’t let myself sag or slow down. He said I could go home after lunch and damn it, I am not losing that opportunity.

  We’ve got three cleanings scheduled. That’s all. It should be a breeze, although one is a toddler and they are always a bit tricky. If I remember, this toddler is particularly fun because he likes to try to bite Doug’s fingers. This makes Dr. Winston angry, and the toddler finds that funny, and a vicious circle of cruelty begins that will one day end in a hospital bill or a lawsuit. Good times.

  It’s the first cleaning that lets me know the day will have one additional challenge.

  As soon as Hank from the deli opens his mouth, I fixate on his teeth. Over and over I picture grabbing for the extraction forceps and pulling out a tooth. Some of his back ones aren’t in good shape, so surely I’d be helping, right? Wrong, Sadie. Very, very wrong. My body is starved for them, despite some part revolting because these are just human teeth. Okay, okay, I get it. Bone Magic is too much like addiction for comfort. It isn’t hard to visualize the steps. First, taking teeth. Then, when that’s not enough, maybe you dig up skeletons. Gross, but you aren’t hurting anyone. Except that I bet the juice isn’t as good as a fresh bone...

  We all know where this is going. I can feel it in my own bones. Like a siren call in the weirdest, anatomical way. Rely on bat, not teeth.

  I just need to get some sleep, first.

  The plan is simple. Rest up so I’m not a sleep-deprived drone. Pester Benji into at least giving me hints of what they’re doing to search for the witch. Avoid the pack.

  I haven’t scheduled anyone since Nash’s death for my own practice. I don’t know how much the paranormals talk amongst themselves, but I know how much they like to talk in my dental chair. If I can get some clients in, I might get more information than I would through Benji and Oliver.