Modern Magic

by Karen E. Taylor, John G. Hartness, Julie Kenner, Eric R. Asher, Jeanne Adams, Rick Gualtieri, Jennifer St. Giles, Stuart Jaffe, Nicole Givens Kurtz, James Maxey, Gail Z. Martin, Christopher Golden

  I peeled back the edges of the dark paper to reveal a naked dagger. Plain, simple, uninteresting; except for the fact a vampire had given it to me and Foster said it was something from the dark. I balanced the dagger on the box and Frank leaned in to get a closer look. The pommel was oval-shaped with a faint pentagram etched into either side, closed in a thin double circle. The symbols were worn and faded.

  Frank had an eye loupe out and was already looking at the pommel. “There’s more there, Damian, but I can’t make it out.”

  “Yeah, we need to bring it out somehow.” I picked the dagger up and turned it over in my hands. The metal was a dull gray. It didn’t have the worn sheen of silver and looked more like … nickel. “Frank, I think I might have an idea.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded. “If this thing’s as evil as Foster thinks, I seriously doubt it’s silver. You remember my Dad collects coins?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, when a nickel’s worn all to hell you can put this stuff on it called Nic-A-Date to bring the date back temporarily. The only side effect is a little stain.”

  “That’s gotta kill the value.” He glanced at the dagger.

  “If it was only good for slag anyway, what’s it hurt?”

  “Good point. So you have any nic-a-whatsit?”

  I grinned. “Give me a minute. I think it’s in the supply closet somewhere.”

  Twenty minutes of digging turned up the little bottle of Nic-A-Date, nestled in a box with plastic coin holders, cotton gloves, and a mystery sack I promised Dad I wouldn’t open unless I had a dire financial emergency. I bounced the little gray sack in my hand a couple times, then laid it back in the box. I grabbed a roll of paper towels and two bowls, filled one up with water, and joined Frank at the counter.

  Frank read the warning label when I handed him the bottle and his eyes widened. “Uh, you use this stuff indoors?”

  “Used to use it a lot,” I said.

  “That explains some things.”

  “Ah ha, ha, ha. Hand me the dagger and let’s try this out.”

  I took the dagger, hilt first, from Frank and turned it so the pommel hung over the empty bowl. Frank popped the bottle of Nic-A-Date out of the package, opened it, and handed it to me. I put a healthy coating on both sides of the dagger and we waited. In the time it took for our eyes to start burning, ghosts of the characters carved into the pommel took shape.

  “They look like runes,” Frank said.

  I shook my head. “Look at the lines, though. Runes shouldn’t have all those waves and loops.” A different rune was carved into each triangle of the pentagram. Two runes were in the center of the pentagram, while six more were carved inside the border of the thin double circle. I held the dagger by the blade and turned it over. The other side was much the same, with slightly different symbols.

  “What the hell is that stench?” Cara yelled as she flew into the room.

  “We’re removing Frank’s nose hairs.”

  Frank’s eyes flashed up from the loupe before he grinned. “That’s probably true.”

  I dipped the pommel into the bowl of water to neutralize the Nic-A-Date. After drying it off with a paper towel, I set it on the cracked glass top of the display case.

  “Oh dear,” Cara said as she ran her fingers over the etchings. “I may know someone who can tell you a bit about these.” She glanced at the clock and then back to the dagger. “It will take me awhile to get him here, probably at least an hour.”

  “Do you know what they are?” I said.

  Her eyes met mine and she frowned. “I hope not.”

  I nodded. “I’ll pick up Zola and meet you back here in an hour.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  It only took fifteen minutes to drive to Town and Country. Sometimes I wondered what the neighbors in the upscale community would think if they knew what was living next door. I knocked and Vik answered.

  “Hey, D. You here for Sam?”

  I stared at Vik and blinked. “That sounded unusually casual.”

  Vik grinned and flashed his fangs. “One must adapt to the times.”

  “Don’t want to know. I’m actually looking for Zola.”

  “I believe she is downstairs in Sam’s room. I will inform them of your arrival.”

  I sat down on the cherry bench on the right side of the entryway. The Pit’s house verged on being vulgar in its opulence. A vaulted ceiling spread out from the double doors and soared above a grand staircase. Magnificent wooden steps and banisters, each carved with vines and flowers, traced a path to the basement in the center of the staircase, and two stairways flared out along the sides to meet again on the second floor. The landing was graced with a four-foot pewter tree of life. Hanging above the stairs to the basement was an ancient coat of arms. The swords looked real and well oiled, lit by an old crystal chandelier that hung from a gilded gothic moulding.

  I cursed in surprise as the Forest Park brunette vampire in the red dress, now wearing jeans and a blue knit top, walked around the left corner from the dining room. She froze for only a moment. Vik and Sam crested the stairs, with Zola close behind them.

  “Impadda!”

  The brunette lunged at me as I called up the shield. Vik’s eyes went wide and he blurred into motion, tackling her before she hit my shield. She reached toward me, but Vik grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and locked her in a bear hug. He looked pissed.

  “Devon!” He was an inch from her face and yelling. “What the fuck are you doing?!”

  “Unfinished business,” she hissed. Her body jerked in Vik’s hold and something made a terrible, wet popping sound. Vik’s anger broke and rose into a cry of agony. His arms dangled at the elbows as he staggered away from Devon.

  She leapt at me again only to be smashed out one of the front door by my sister. Wood splintered and crashed to the floor as I dropped the shield. I glanced at Vik. Zola was already leaned over him, with his right arm stretched out. I dashed outside to help Sam, only to find her flying backwards through the air. I think I cursed as tried my best to catch her and we both slammed into the remnants of the left door.

  “Soon, Vesik,” Devon said. She pointed her index finger and backed off into a line of trees and shrubs.

  Sam climbed off me and offered her hand. I took it and stood up, brushing away the dirt and splinters.

  “Devon?” I said to no one in particular.

  “Yes, Damian,” Vik said. I turned back to the now door-less entryway. He was rubbing his elbows and grimacing, but at least his arms were moving again. “Bloody whore can consider us done.” His voice was steady, but tremors shook his shoulders, from rage, or pain, or both.

  “Devon is the vampire who attacked me after the wedding. She had puppets, just like the rogue.”

  Zola frowned.

  “Vik,” I said, turning to the old vampire. “I’m sorry about Devon.”

  “It is appreciated, but I do not require your sympathies.” He clenched his fists and started to turn away.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  His shoulders slumped just a little and he turned around with a weak smile. “You didn’t. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

  “You’ll find I always concern myself with friends.”

  He eyed me in silence for a moment. “You are a strange man, a necromancer who counts vampires among his friends.”

  “Not all vampires,” I muttered as I looked out into the yard. There was no trace of Devon.

  I turned to my master without responding to her muffled laughter. “We need to get back to the Double D. Cara is bringing a friend over to look at some runes for me. It may have something to do with Devon or the rogues.” I paused and turned to Sam, “Shit, did Devon give you that dagger?”

  Sam’s smile slipped as she nodded. “Yes, she said you’d appreciate it. I never even thought …”

  “It’s okay,” I said as I squeezed her shoulder. “I’d bet my ass it has something to do with all this crap.
Foster said the dagger is saturated with darkness.”

  “It could be a weapon beyond its maker’s original intent and appearance,” Zola said.

  “I don’t know about that. It seems to be made out of nickel.”

  Zola’s gaze snapped up to mine. “We need to get to the shop, now.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Sam said.

  I nodded and walked a few steps behind her before turning back to the house. “What about the doors?”

  “We have extras in the basement,” Vik said.

  Zola snorted and followed us to Vicky.

  * * *

  Foster, Aideen, Cara, and a man I didn’t recognize were standing at the counter with Frank when we got back to the shop. Bubbles and Peanut were sitting obediently at the man’s feet. I blinked and looked again just to make sure it was actually Bubbles and Peanut. The fairies looked up and smiled when we walked in.

  The stranger said nothing, only stared at the dagger on the counter. He was decked out in a frilly white lace shirt, black slacks, and what looked like a dark red velveteen cloak. Sharp features etched his face, almost as sharp as the fairies, but no wings adorned his back. I could have sworn I saw a ringlet of gold running from his forehead and across his shoulder length platinum hair, but the glimmer was gone after I blinked.

  “This is my friend, Glenn,” Cara said.

  “Good to meet you,” I said as I extended my hand in greeting. I was surprised to see Zola take a step away from Glenn. She offered nothing but a brief nod in the way of greeting. I focused my Sight and hid my surprise. I could see nothing. No auras, no ley lines, nothing. My Sight was utterly blind.

  Glenn’s indifference melted as he smiled and took my hand. He laughed quietly and nodded at Zola, his eyes trailing back toward the dagger. His gaze narrowed as it landed on my sister, but quickly continued on to the blade.

  Sam took a step backwards, closer to Zola.

  Glenn stared at the dagger again, all expression leaving his face. His movements were slow as he took a careful step forward, letting his fingers lower to the pommel and trace the pattern of the designs, turning the dagger over and doing the same.

  My eyes flicked between the three as I rubbed a stiff spot on my neck.

  I heard a deep rumbling sound, and was startled to realize it was Glenn speaking. “For the record, I am not so easily read, necromancer.”

  “Umm, sorry?” I said, glancing between Cara, who wore a smile, and Zola, who looked like she was very unhappy to see Cara’s friend.

  Glenn turned his eyes back on me. “Harmless.” I wasn’t sure if he was talking about me or the blade. “You did not cut yourself with the blade, did you?”

  “No.”

  “That is good, for I know these lines.” His eyes locked on mine and his pupils flowed into the whites of his eyes, turning into pools of infinite black ice. I couldn’t look away. I physically could not move my head. “There is a church to the south. It is there, below the blood of Price’s folly, the boards of the carpenter, in the shadow of the knob.”

  Glenn released a dark chuckle as he turned to my sister and grinned. She shrunk away from him as his body folded in on itself with a swirl of black energy. He vanished with a crack of thunder that shook the earth, causing everything in the store to rattle and tinkle on the shelves.

  I winced as the cacophony of sound faded and the familiar ley lines burst into brilliant blue life. I let my Sight fade and then stared at the small fairy beside me. “Cara, who the hell was that?”

  She waved her hand in a dismissal of my question and instead turned to Foster. “Go with Damian, you know of the place he speaks.”

  Foster’s wings drooped a little, but he nodded and took off to the back room.

  “He’ll be ready to go soon,” Cara said. “You should be too.”

  “Where are you going?” Sam said.

  “They are going south.” Cara closed her eyes and sighed. “They are going to an old place of power.” She brushed her fingers through the ends of her hair. “How’s your Civil War history, Damian?”

  I raised my eyebrows a bit, but didn’t answer.

  “What would your master think?” She smiled at Zola and turned to Sam. “They travel south, to Pilot Knob.” Sam’s mouth formed a little O as Cara continued. Zola didn’t even blink. “There is a small church, once used as a hospital. Glenn says whatever was bound in the church is of great importance now.”

  Zola sighed and rubbed her cheek. “Ah should have thought of it earlier. Philip hid the talisman at Pilot Knob by himself.”

  “Why?” I said.

  “We thought it best none of us knew where all the talismans were hidden.” She paused and cast a quick glance in my direction. “Philip was obsessed with zombies.”

  “What did that have to do with the talisman?” I said.

  “There was a powerful necromancer in that town, gifted in the darker resurrection arts. Ah … Ah didn’t go with him.” Her body sagged. “Ah never wanted to see that godforsaken town again after the war.”

  Sam placed her hand on Zola’s shoulder. “It’s an old battleground?”

  My master nodded. “That wasn’t the worst. It was Ezekiel.” She turned to look out the windows. “That damned necromancer, he was a monster.” Zola shuffled around to the stool and sat down behind the counter in silence.

  “The battle was in 1864,” Cara said. “And do you know what county it lies in?”

  “Iron County,” I said.

  Cara nodded. “I don’t need to tell you how many of our weapons were forged from the metals of Iron County. It is a wealth of iron, of poison, yes, but there have been entire mines bound to deposits of Magrasnetto. We pulled ore from the earth long before humans came. The ore we can handle. Deadly as iron is to us, the presence of Magrasnetto makes it as inert as a rock to our skin.” Her smile fell and she stared at me. “Damian, you cannot make this trip lightly. If Glenn thinks something there is important, it is likely powerful.” She shook her head and glanced at Zola. “There is something more you do not know about Magrasnetto. Over the millennia the Fae have learned to enchant the stone. It will hold charms or curses and, if the binding is done properly, the stone’s very nature will keep the enchantment as strong as the day it was cast.”

  Zola’s eyes widened as she looked up and whispered the word, “Wards …”

  “Why is that such a secret?” I said.

  “Are you serious?” Sam said as she glared at me. “Use your head. Think of the havoc someone could wreak with that.”

  “At least your sister understands,” Cara said with a laugh.

  Zola rapped my shoulder with her cane. “A ward with such power could be made into a landmine or an absorption enchantment that would never expire, it could fuel a soulstone, stealing pieces of any aura that happened by.” She lowered her cane. “If the Unseelie court got their hands on such a power …” She shook her head.

  “Oh,” I said with unbridled wit. “I can see that being a problem. So what are we going to be looking for?”

  Cara and Zola both shrugged.

  “Great.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  The hinges on the front door creaked a moment before the bells sounded as Frank walked in with a plastic cat carrier. He smiled and set the cage on one of the unbroken displays.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “My new friend. Sam thought you might like to meet him.” Frank squeezed the spring-loaded latch to open the door and a ferret shot out of the cage and slid a few inches across the glass. The gray tube of fur eyed Foster and then me before it bounded up Frank’s arm in a few awkward leaps and curled around his neck.

  “He seems to like you,” Foster said.

  Frank grinned and stroked the lengthy critter.

  “Don’t let him near the vampires,” I said.

  “Just keep him away from Vik for me,” Frank said.

  “Snack food,” Foster said.

  Frank’s eyes widened as we laughed.

/>   “I thought ferrets were just teeth with fur, no?” I said.

  Frank shook his head. “He likes everyone. Go ahead, pet him.”

  I reached my hand out to pet it. The bastard struck like a viper, playfully locking its teeth onto the flesh between my thumb and index finger. “Fuck!” I screamed.

  I jerked my hand back, which did nothing but yank the ferret off Frank’s shoulder while its teeth stayed embedded in my hand. Foster laughed like hell as I waved the ferret around in the air and Frank yelled, “Don’t hurt him!”

  I gathered myself, set the ferret on the display case as it continued pulling at my hand with quick jerks, and said, “Get. It. Off.”

  The ferret let go when Frank reached for it, slithering away from his fingers. I sucked in a breath between my teeth and stared at the puncture wounds on my hand. A gray blur hurtled toward me across the counter, hissing and flashing teeth. I raised my hand out of pure instinct as the ferret launched itself at me. Its teeth sunk into my hand right, next to the first bite. I yelled and went down on my knees, defeated by an evil tube of fur. The thing finally let go for good, chittered, and ran back into its carrier.

  Frank snapped the door shut behind the ferret, looked like he was about to say something to me, then pursed his lips as he thought better of it.

  Foster was barely breathing he was laughing so hard.

  Frank inched toward the door, uttering profuse apologies as Zola came into the shop. Aideen dropped a tube of Neosporin onto the counter, rolled her eyes at Foster, and disappeared into the back again. Foster continued to hiccup laughter as I slathered my wounds.

  “Smells like ferret in here,” Zola said as she looked around and sniffed. “Ah think Ah told you once, ferrets don’t like necromancers.”

  I just glared at her.

  * * *

  “We’re going south again,” I said. “To Pilot Knob. You know, we were right there when we went to Fort Davidson.” I looked over the puncture wounds on my hand and grumbled. “We could have snagged whatever it is we’re hunting for and this mess could be over with.”