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

by Ware Wilkins

  “Are you flirting with me because of our impending doom?”

  “Not flirting,” I growl enough to make him smile. “Just clearing the air.”

  “You’re trying to tell me you like me.”

  I nod. “Since high school. I’ve had a major, major crush on you for years. So now you know. I’m about to die and I’ve just found out my entire life has been a lie, so you’re basically obligated to not crush my heart.”

  He tries to toss some hair from his eyes. I realize that, with arms broken, it hurts too much to just brush the strands out of the way. “That’s easy, Salty. Once I figured out you and Ingrid really were just friends—”

  “Was that in question?”

  “The two of you are close and, uh, sort of physical. And we’re in the South. So I assumed—”

  I let out a thin giggle. “Oh, Lord. Nope. Just friends. And for the record, I’m not doing anything kinky for money, either.”

  “That’s disappointing. I had this idea you, me, Ingrid, some string cheese, a cowbell, a ball gag, and—”

  My glare cuts him short. “Not funny. More to the point. Once you realized that Ingrid and I were just friends—” I make a rolling motion with my hand. Confess your love, Abe. Do it. Give me one spark of happiness before we’re obliterated by a witch.

  He blushes hard enough I can see it in the low light. “I was thinking of asking you out. I tried to when I wrote that ticket, but then I figured you wouldn’t say yes right after that.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. Next time don’t write the ticket.”

  He gives a weak grin. “You shouldn’t break the law. And you still haven’t paid that ticket.” he jokes, but his words are too filled with stress to be convincing.

  “Since we’re going to die, I guess I die in debt.” And not just to you. Tee will never get...

  The Tooth Fairy. I didn’t need the bone magic to summon her. “I have an idea.”

  I don’t have anything to write with, no sand or anything malleable. I need a circle on the floor to be in. According to my Uncle’s book, it helps channel the summoning magic. Finally, frustrated, I start taking off my shirt.

  “Um, Salty, I know we said we liked each other, but—”

  “Hush. I’m going to try some magic.”

  “You have to be naked to do magic?”

  “No, but I need a circle and I’m going to make one with my clothes.”

  “Oh. Is this magic to free us? Because if you free us and we don’t die, I’m going to kiss you.”

  Heat finds its way into a chest that had been eviscerated by fear and anger. My lips tingle, like they’re already anticipating the press of his mouth on mine. “Buster, you’ve got a deal.”

  My pants come off next and holy shit, my first lucky break in what feels like forever: I'm wearing my sexy panties. It's not as much a blessing as say, not being in a cage, but I know not to look gift underwear in the mouth.

  Trying not to look at Abe while I make a circle with my clothes, I sit cross legged in the middle and hope this works, because otherwise I've just stripped in front of Abe for nothing.

  The words have been seared in my mind since I first said them, but I make sure to focus on the image of Tee with my mind. As I chant, I pull magic from myself. Not bone magic, but the minor bit of innate magic that most people have and never know how to channel. It feels cold and slippery like it wants to fall through my fingers, but let me tell you something, I've got a lot of motivation to get it right.

  The fire of the magic blooms inside of me, puffing up and out. This kind of magic takes so much effort and offers none of the euphoria that bone magic does. Perhaps this is why I can feel a small part of myself rejecting it, pleading for the good stuff.

  There’s a pop, like a balloon, and it jerks me from the spell.

  “It’s dangerous to call me, Sadie,” Tee’s growl echoes through the room.

  “What... what is that thing?” Abe’s pressed to the back of his cage and maybe I should have warned him what I was up to, because Tee can be a little sensitive about her appearance.

  The large, fluffy pink skirt stands out against the industrial, poorly-lit grayness of the basement. Her skin, though, usually mahogany, becomes an almost ebony hue in the low yellow glow. It looks like weathered stone, ominous and beautiful. Tee’s black eyes find Abe, and I can tell she doesn’t think much of what she sees. “Don’t be rude, human.” And with that, she flashes her signature wide smile, full of sharp, menacing teeth. Abe cowers further and I don’t blame him.

  “Tee, I need your help.”

  “People who owe debts can’t ask for favors,” Tee responds while looking around. Of course she wants to play this game. It irritates me. I start to get dressed again.

  “Well, if I’m dead I can’t pay.”

  “This isn’t where you die, Sadie, I don’t think.” She says it so flippantly that I almost don’t catch it.

  “H-how... do you know how I die?”

  She pins me with her dark eyes. “Not like this, because you are better than this.”

  Huh. “Will you at least let me out of the cage?”

  “Can’t do it, sweetcheeks. Those bars are iron, and older fae and iron, don’t mix so great.” Of course. I should have thought about that. I know these things! But between the stress, the danger, the fear, and the heartbreak, not to mention for the love of all that is holy, can’t a girl get some sleep? My mind isn’t firing at full capacity.

  But...

  “If I can pay you a large chunk, would you tell me how I can get out? Or find a way to get me out?”

  She thinks, tapping a long, gnarled claw against her chin. “How will you pay me if you’re in a cage?”

  “Look in the top desk drawer.”

  Tee pulls it open and smiles. “Oh, my. Sadie Salt, you impress me.” She picks up the bag and jostles it around, feeling the teeth shifting against each other within. “This is quite the payment. Perhaps even more than owed. Here,” she says, extracting ten teeth and putting them on the desk. “These are for you.”

  For once I’m able to anticipate being exposed to the teeth. No jumping and reaching pathetically this time. But my gaze locks onto them, all the same, and I’m reminded of a powerful truth. The journal had verified David’s claims.

  “Wait, I don’t believe those do belong to you,” I say.

  Tee’s frown is enormous and scary. “How’s that?”

  “Our bargain was for you to give me the means to find my parents’ killer. I thought you gave me bone magic, but it’s inherited. So you didn’t really help.”

  She sighs. “You humans are always so greedy. I get one tooth at a time from you, when I’d prefer all at once. Do I complain? No. Do I ask for more? Never. I fulfilled my bargain. No, I didn’t give you the magic. But I unlocked its history within you. You have spells someone would have had to teach you already in there. In fact, you have more knowledge stored in that silly human skull than most bone witches. Add to that the magic resistance, and I’d say you are the only thing holding you back from finding the murderer.”

  “You really like to leave things up to interpretation, don’t you?”

  Tee smiles again and puts the bag into the folds of her skirt, where it disappears. “I do, I do. Speaking of which, Ingrid gets you out of this scrape. Well, it’s been quite the visit. The next time you call on me, be prepared to make another deal. I doubt I’ll be as generous as I was this time.”

  In a swirl of dust, Tee’s gone before I can argue.

  All that work for that? Ingrid is going to get me out of this? Unbelievable. Ingrid won’t even know where I am. Much less how to fight an Ex Hunter like David. At least you die paid off. Except I believe Tee, to a degree, about knowing this isn’t where I die. Was she just trying to cheer me on in her own, twisted, fae way? Or does she have some insight that I don’t?

  And, because she’s a spiteful old coot, she left the teeth out of reach.

  “What was that?” Abe squeaks out.
<
br />   “The Tooth Fairy,” I answer absentmindedly. My focus is on what Tee said. She openly admitted that she likes to bend the rules and the truth. Does that mean Ingrid literally gets me out of this? Or figuratively?

  “That’s not funny,” Abe argues, shifting and wincing. “That was not a fairy.”

  “Definitely was, Abe. Shut up, I’m thinking.”

  If I was Tee, I’d be giving the most frustrating advice ever. Something obscure. Ingrid’s visions are obscure. The storm. Her “big break” that one time that was not a talent agent but she broke her toe... her lotto ticket that didn’t win...

  Hope bursts in me. She was so fixated on those numbers. They weren’t a lottery ticket. But...

  The locks on our cages are combination locks. Three numbers needed to unlock. Two locks. Six numbers total. My nose scrunches as I try to remember. Thank God Ingrid repeated them. My fingers grab the lock and I begin to turn clockwise. “Twenty one,” I find it, then flip counter clockwise. “Eleven.” I’m sweating, feeling my shirt stick damp to my armpits. Straining, I try to remember the order. “Thirty... five.” The lock pops free and my breath rushes from my lungs.

  Ingrid, you magical, wonderful psychic.

  The door squeals as it swings open and I wait for the inevitable sound of David coming down the stairs to find me. But nothing happens.

  “What did you do?” Abe asks. “Can you do it here, too?”

  “Ingrid had a vision about this, sort of.” I hurry over to his cage and grab his lock. “She thought the numbers were lottery numbers.” I turn the dial—four, forty, twelve. It falls open. I could cry with relief. With care, I help Abe out.

  “What do you mean, ‘Ingrid had a vision?’ Is she a witch, too? Or a fairy?”

  “She’s almost a psychic. But her father’s the real deal.”

  This close, I can see that David was rougher on Abe than I thought. Both arms hang listlessly at his side. There’s a scrape on his cheek and finger-sized bruising on his neck. “I owe you a kiss,” he says, staring at my mouth. There’s something unbelievably flattering about his level of focus when it comes to this kiss. I mean, he could be screaming his head off from the amount of crazy and pain he’s just been exposed to.

  “Let’s wait until we’re free of danger and you’ve been to a hospital.” The sentiment is still nice and I feel a rush of adrenaline spiked with those crush-butterflies that come from being so close to the person you like.

  “I can’t help you fight,” Abe admits. “It’s hard enough to move on my own.” He nods to his arms.

  “Give me a sec,” I say. “And keep an eye out on the door upstairs.”

  While Abe goes to stand guard, I begin searching. The boxes only contain old papers. But there are the ten teeth that Tee left me. They go in my pocket, but not before I hold them, fighting the urge to consume their power and bring this whole factory down with my anger.

  Besides the teeth, there is the bag he’s been sleeping in (when he hasn’t been sleeping in my apartment) and a small utility closet which contains...

  Respect! I squeal as I pick up the bat. My hand feels warm, pulsing with magic, and it gives the impression Respect is just as happy to see me as I am to see it. Now I’m ready to try and get the hell out of here.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “I’d offer to carry something, but—”

  “Just stay close and let me know if you need help.”

  Abe nods. I can see it’s hard for him to be protected by someone a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than him. “You’re a witch, too?”

  “Only when people screw with my friends and me.” There’s flint in my soul and it is striking hard now. If we encounter David, I’m pretty sure I’ll ignite on him. My mother’s journal validated the things that Benji and Oliver tried to tell me: Bone witches? We’re badass. Tee has unlocked the spells.

  Best case scenario is avoiding David entirely, telling the pack and the nest about him, and letting them tear that asshole to pieces. Worst case, though, I’ll need to use magic to get out of here. I don’t want to, mostly, because of the addiction. Even now, with each step, I’m painfully aware of the teeth in my pocket. They’re powerful teeth, too. Not human. The essence radiating off of them feels juicy and alive.

  It would be dumb to use that power, but I’m frazzled and my life is on the line. If I’m honest, I’m a little eager to lash out, too. The hurt caused by David’s reveal and my mother’s journal has wounded me deeply and I don’t want to hide and nurture the pain, I want to inflict it on someone else.

  Which is why I stop at the top of the stairs and listen carefully.

  Because I know I’m not at my best, and I need to think of Abe more than any revenge that seems shiny in the moment. Pressing my ear to the door, I listen. There’s nothing. Slowly, with care, I turn the knob and push.

  It’s locked. Of course it’s locked. David, while a horrible human who has helped ruin my life, is not stupid. It’s not just locked in one spot, too. I count two other deadbolts.

  “We’re locked in,” I hiss.

  “Can you do some magic? Wizard us out of this?”

  “Wizards aren’t real.”

  “Oh, well, excuse my naivete, Sadie.” He sounds testy and I want to spar back, but I hold it in. “Sorry,” he whispers. “It’s been a long day.”

  “It’s not over yet.” I turn and lean against the door, hoping I feel any vibrations if David returns to open it. “So my magic isn’t something I’m supposed to use.”

  “But that thing—”

  “You really don’t want to cross the Tooth Fairy, Abe.”

  “I’ve already lost all my teeth.”

  “Yes, and she has them. Teeth and bones hold a person’s essence. Kind of like their soul. She can take that power and use it against you. With your teeth, she can control you.”

  “What, like voodoo?”

  “Yes, like voodoo.”

  “Fucking hell.”

  “Yes. And I’m a bone witch. I use them, too. But whenever I do, it’s like... two fold. One, it marks my body and slowly devours me, I guess, turning me into a mindless killing machine. I need to learn more about that. Two, it creates a hunger in me for more. That hunger... it gets insatiable, Abe.” I choke a bit on this final admission, feeling how true it is. “You have no idea how bad I’m jonesing for some enamel.”

  “So no magic then?”

  “Oh, I’m going to use magic. I’m just really going to regret it tomorrow, if we live that long.”

  “Well, maybe I can do some things to distract you from the hunger. There are other appetites, you know.” He waggles his eyebrows and oh, isn’t that just so Abe? Just released from a cage, two broken arms, entire world view changed, and he’s making a joke. I was already swimming in love for him, but this makes me hopeless. Completely lost in love.

  “Is that an innuendo?”

  “You bet your bony witch ass it is.”

  The humor is like a balm, a medicine for me. My rage lowers to a manageable anger and my existential-crisis and crippling anxiety are squeezed into a tight little box inside of me that says ‘not today.’

  My fingers brush against the teeth in my pocket and they sort of hum. One gives a tiny zap and I know it, like instinct. It’s the one. Pulling it out, I almost laugh. I’m going to live through this so Benji and Uncle Oliver can lecture me. A lecture is easier to accept when it comes from escaping near-death.

  The words float in my head and I disassemble the tooth, absorbing its essence. The power rushes through me, whitewater strength that makes each cell burst with life. It’s so, so good. Glorious, really, an ecstatic surge that almost wipes away my purpose. If I could, I’d just lie down and relish the feeling, but I can’t.

  Now that my veins are pulsing with the magic needed, the words come effortlessly. A few mumbled words that I’m beginning to recognize as something almost Russian tumble out and Abe and I both hear the locks click open. I try the knob again and this time it o
pens with ease.

  “That’s handy,” he mumbles, but I barely hear him. Now that I know what to look for, I can feel the used magic marking my skin, this time on my inner ankle. It’s the mildest sensation, hovering between a buzz and a burn. If I keep up like this, I won’t be able to wear shorts.

  Then again... special circumstances, right? As the high from my last spell starts to wane, I gently place a hand on Abe’s arm, letting more magic flow through my fingertips. He jumps a little, so I grip harder. With a final wave, I let go. “How do you feel?”

  Abe waves his arms a bit... and then a lot. He does the wave, like we aren’t about to escape being trapped in a basement. The boy is able to rebound, that’s for damned sure. “Whoa! They’re better!”

  “Just don’t go getting in fights until you see a doctor. This magic stuff’s a bit new for me.”

  We step out into a hushed, dark hallway. The lights are off and I’m forced to trail a hand on the wall as we inch our way forward, stopping frequently to listen. There’s nothing but the muffled friction from our clothing and footsteps.

  At the end of the hall, there’s more light. Not much, but we make our way toward it. Two doors, both shut, with light spilling along the floor out the bottoms. Behind one I can hear David’s rasping voice.

  I gently try the other door. It opens.

  It’s night, the stars luminous above the tree line. The moon is waning, but still almost full and radiant. Outside beckons to us. Escape. He’s distracted.

  Abe pats my back silently. ‘Job well done,’ the pat says. All signs point to getting the hell away while we can.

  I promised I wouldn’t use any more magic. Before we left that basement, I knew I couldn’t seek revenge on my own. It’s stupid and selfish. But that was before I absorbed more magic. Now, with it flooding my system, I need release. I need satiation. The only way to get that is to get David.

  After all, if you don’t, he could escape, too. He could come back. He’s hurt Abe and Benji. He could come after Ingrid next. Kill him now, and you’ll never have to look over your shoulder again. In the past, I’ve been able to ignore the voice.