“Me?” David asked with a gulp.
“Yep, it’s your time to shine, old boy. Remember what I taught you and you will be fine.”
David didn’t look nearly as confident as I felt in his abilities, but he managed to straighten up as his eyes moved around the room. There were still plenty of shadows, so plenty of places for the little fuckers to hide. That was if they hadn’t created their own tunnels around the place, which they most surely had.
David moved towards the darkest corner of the room, and one of the massive stone sarcophagi. The lid was slightly askew, and I had to admit it was a damn good place to start. David took another tentative step closer, and one of the bastards jumped right out of the lid. It screeched as it flew at him claws outstretched.
“Glacio!” David screamed. The Mezzoloth continued flying towards him, although it’s screaming stopped.
The beetle black creature was about twice the size of a baseball. It had short, stubby legs that ended in clawed feet, and four arms that were twice as long as they should be. Thankfully, this one didn’t have a weapon, but it’s razor sharp claws were still pointed directly at David.
The creature itself was frozen, but its forward momentum carried right into David’s chest. He let out a gasp, and I heard the fabric covering his chest tear. The Mezzoloth fell to the floor quickly followed by David.
The scent of blood was strong in the air as David gasped for breath on his knees. That would bring the rest of the bastards out of hiding pretty quick. The last thing we needed was ten more of the little fuckers to show up. I was pretty sure I could handle it if they did, but I didn’t want to.
David let out a moan that I tried to ignore as I pulled the old, collapsible lobster cage out of my bag. It wouldn’t do me any good to start healing David only to have the vicious little shit wake up and start attacking again.
Locking the cage in place, I picked up the Mezzoloth and slipped it inside. Immediately, I wanted to wipe off my hands. There was something wrong with the way their flesh felt. They had a hard shell, but underneath it almost felt like touching taffy.
Just as I clasped the lid and activated the enchantment, the creature came back around and started screeching again. At least I was pretty sure it was screeching; the enchantment on the lobster trap kept the foul little beastie’s screams from reaching our ears. By the way it continued to slam its fists against the bars, it was easy to pick up the gist that it wasn’t happy with us.
With the creature secure, I turned back towards David. “Can you walk?”
He let out a grunt as he climbed to his feet. I guess that meant that he could walk. I let David shuffle past me towards the door as I kept an eye on the rest of the room. He was leaving a trail of blood behind him, and it wouldn’t do to leave it there.
David reached the door and slipped outside. I snatched the talisman out of the air, and the light extinguished itself. As soon as it went out, I heard the sound of claws scraping on the floor. Focusing on where I thought David’s blood was, I commanded my magic to act. “Ignis!” His blood burst into flames, the trail heading back to the door like a slick of gasoline.
Stepping outside, I slammed my shoulder into the old cement and iron door. It creaked, but only closed an inch or two. I hit the door a few more times and almost had it sealed when a clawed hand reached out and tried to slice my fingers off.
Kind of a dumb move, I thought as I slammed the door shut on the Mezzoloth’s arm. Its howls of rage turned to squeals of pain as the door rattled back into place. A few moments later the screams stopped. Demons weren’t exactly known for their kindness, and this one had just turned into dinner for its friends.
Without the threat of the small little beasties swarming us, I finally turned my attention back towards David. He was still bleeding pretty badly, but I heard him mumbling some spell work under his breath. I’d give him some room to work, to try and stop the bleeding on his own, but if he couldn’t do it soon I was going to take over.
“Fuck!” He cried out as his chest lit up briefly. He fell back to the ground, rolled over onto his back, and looked up into the trees. “That hurt more than I thought it would.”
Reaching out a hand, I helped David back to his feet. His jacket was open, and I could see the blood on it, and the shirt beneath was soaked through. I hoped he wasn’t too shy as I ripped the shirt open to examine his chest. He let out a little growl as I did it. I looked up into his face to see desire etched across it.
I gave him a playful slap to the cheek. “Keep it in your pants, won’t you?”
David’s cheeks flushed. “Sorry, it’s just been a while.”
A lot of that going around, I thought.
“And it was fucking hot.” David finished.
I made sure to poke the newly cauterized wounds on his chest a little harder than I needed to. That would snap his ass back into reality pretty damn quickly. David let out a grunt of pain as my finger poked his already scabbing flesh.
It was good work that he had done with the spell. All of the wounds were completely cauterized. He was going to be ok and have a good story to tell with a few scars to back it up. I patted him on the shoulder and picked up the cage with the fierce little monster in it.
“Grab my bag.” I laughed as his eyes sparkled mischievously. “And get your head out of the gutter before you find yourself walking home.”
“Whatever you say, girl,” David said in a false falsetto as he snapped his fingers and turned to follow my instructions.
Letting out a little chuckle, I started towards the car. David sure made life interesting, and personally, I didn’t give two shits that he was gay. He knew that I wasn’t, so when he made his little jibes it was coming from a place of friendship.
Both of us were secure enough with ourselves and had been working together long enough that we could share a little humor. I didn’t really care what people thought about us or said about us, but if they fucked with David, I’d bring the pain. That was what any master should do for his apprentice.
It took us twice as long to get back to the car as it did to get to the mausoleum. David was still a little beat up, but after his little misstep in the mausoleum, I wasn’t going to heal him just yet. Pain was a great motivator not to screw up again. He was going to remember today and plan accordingly for next time.
Now, we had just one more stop to make before I could meet Balthazar. This time, I’d be going in alone. Madam Figueroa didn’t like unannounced visitors, and she sure as fuck didn’t like their guests.
10
David kept patting his chest and looking down as he drove me to Madam Figueroa’s house. It got to the point where he was spending more time fiddling with it than watching the road. I hadn’t gone through all this trouble just to die on the way to the psychic’s house, as much as that probably would have pleased her.
“Pay attention to the road!” I shouted as a semi-screamed past our car close enough to shake it. “I’ll help you with your chest after we get back home safely.”
“Whatever you say, Boss.” David’s hand moved back to his chest before resting on the wheel. “Tell me again why we have to go see Madam Figueroa.”
“Cause she has something I need; it’s as simple as that.”
David’s eyes looked up into the rearview mirror. “Isn’t there anyone else in this city that had what you need?”
“I’m starting to think you don’t like Madam Figueroa,” I said with a laugh.
No one really liked her, but that was just part of her charm. It was hard to talk with someone that almost always knew what you were going to say before you said it. There was no bullshitting this lady.
“It’s just her place is so creepy.” David shuddered and then turned his eyes back towards the road.
“Hey, just remember to be nice to Lucille,” I said.
“That should be easy as I’m not planning on even getting out of the car.”
This was going to be fun; I could feel it. Even staying in the car, t
he old psychic’s familiar would find David. It always did, it was almost like it had a thing for him. Thankfully, Lucille didn’t like me at all. All she ever did was hiss at me.
David pulled off the freeway and started heading out towards the edge of the city. Madam Figueroa’s place wasn’t too far out of town, but it was far enough that you felt like you were isolated when you got there.
The entire house had been done up to make you think old and scary. It was like walking onto the set of a horror movie. All of that was by design. It helped to build the right vibe for her to set the stage for her customers.
For some reason, most people found it easier to believe in her visions when they thought she was a scary old witch. She didn’t have any magic. As far as I knew, she was just a psychic, albeit one that could summon and banish the dead.
What people didn’t know about her place was that if you ever made it past the stairs to the second floor, the entire thing was wide open and ultra-modern. White on white on white, with just a pop of black in the accents.
Frankly, it was too much white for me, made me feel like I was in a hospital or that any crumb left behind would be an eyesore. I liked to keep my furnishings a little bit cozier, but then again, I didn’t ever have visitors.
If you listened to the word on the street in Century, the old lady was just a fraud. It was good the mundies thought that way. The less exposure they had to our world the easier it was to keep the secret. Thankfully, most of the mundies liked it that way.
What they didn’t know was she was the real deal, a pure psychic. That didn’t always mean what you thought it did, though. Sure, she could read a little into your future, and a damn sight more than you wanted her to into your past, but her real talent was as a medium. She could talk to spirits, or as she always said, “It was getting them to shut up that was the hard part.”
Not only did she speak with the spirits, but she helped those stuck here to transition to the next plane. I noticed she never said heaven or hell. My guess was depending on the spirit, it could easily go either way.
During her outings to release spirits of the lost, the good Madam Figueroa often left with a little bit of essence that they left behind. In layman’s terms, it was ectoplasm. People in the magical community paid top dollar for the real thing.
Ectoplasm had a variety of uses in potions, and in the creation of talismans and cursed artifacts. So, despite the humble look of Madam Figueroa’s home, she was doing very well for herself. The point of this visit was to secure some of her goods in the hopes that it would sweeten the pot enough I wouldn’t be forced to give the pinky to Balthazar.
David stopped the car in front of the craftsman style house. The porch looked like it had seen better days and the white paint was peeling from overhead. The boards were sturdy enough despite the rough look. I knew from watching them be installed less than two years ago. I wondered how much extra it had cost to make the fresh wood look like shit.
I reached forward and patted David on the shoulder. “I won’t be long.”
“See that you aren’t,” David said as he picked at the scab on his chest.
This time, I swatted him on the arm. “Leave that alone; I’ll teach you how to fix it later.”
David’s eyes moved up to watch me in the rearview, but he didn’t say anything. He was on edge. It was easy to feel that way here. This whole place was designed to keep you off balance, to make you feel uncomfortable. People made bad decisions when they weren’t thinking clearly, and the bad decision you made here worked in Madam Figueroa’s favor.
Jogging from the car and up the front steps, I let out a little chuckle as none of the weathered boards even creaked. Coming here was always a reminder that not everything was what it seemed to be. Figueroa seemed to be an old scammer that lived in a dilapidated house. Instead, she was the most powerful psychic on the west coast and rich enough to own all the land around her property for a mile in every direction.
Without hesitation, I pulled open the screen door and stepped into the house. Once I was inside, I spared a quick glance back towards the car. The rain was still falling down in sheets, but even in the washed-out sky I could see Lucille making her way towards the car. David wasn’t going to be thrilled about that.
Turning back into the house, I jumped back at the sight of something right in front of me. Madam Figueroa started laughing as I slammed into the screen door and let out a little gasp as it rattled in the frame. The laughter eased my mind as to how I was going to be received this visit and gave me a few moments to compose myself as I looked over my host.
Her hair was tied up in a simple bun, and she wore a shawl over her shoulder to ward off the chill from outside. A fire was burning in the parlor behind her. She turned away, still chuckling about scaring the shit out of me. One wave over her shoulder was all I needed to follow her into the next room. She motioned for me to take a seat and I did.
Madam Figueroa moved towards the fire and took a seat on the chair that was set up next to it. Looked like a damn cozy place to sit and read a book on a stormy day like today. She seemed to take a moment to soak up the heat and then her eyes moved from the flames to fall directly on me.
“Before we get started—” she made a motion to draw my eyes to the edge of the couch I was sitting on “—that is for your man in the car.”
There was a clean shirt in a laundry bag laying on the edge of the couch. I couldn’t remember if it had been there before I walked in. I should have had my guard up and paid more attention, but I wasn’t here to cause problems, and the bad blood between us was years in the past. All I wanted to do was barter a few items away from her clutches.
Everyone needed something, but it always ended up costing you more when you were desperate. I needed the ectoplasm she provided if I had any hopes of negotiating with Balthazar. It was too bad the one person Madam Figueroa hated more than me was the very man I was going to give her product to.
“David will appreciate the kindness,” I said.
“He damn well better.” She cackled. “And tell him to be nicer to Lucille.”
“I already told him to make nice before I came inside.”
“I don’t care what they say about you, Bozley Green, when you want to be you are one smart cookie.” She lifted one eyebrow daring me to correct her.
“Thank you, I guess.”
Madam Figueroa cackled again, and then her eyes went milky for a moment. “Take the Spurs to beat the Warriors, and the under on the points, along with the Bulls over the Celtics, tonight.”
Who would have known the Warriors would drop a game to the Spurs? They seemed almost invincible. I typed the games into my phone so I wouldn’t forget them. Nothing like a three-way parley to help replenish the funds I had lost during my sixth-month break with giving a fuck. I’d have to get David to make the call before we made it to Balthazar’s.
The good Madam didn’t give tips like that out for free, so I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then again, maybe we were finally going to turn over that new leaf, or what she had seen for my future had changed. It was possible that we could end up on the same side of this fight, and that she wanted my help.
It wasn’t like I was exactly great with small talk, so I got right down to business. “I was hoping you could help me with a few things.”
She held up a hand to stop me. “Yes, I can already sense what you need, and you will need even more in the coming years. The only thing I can’t see is what you will be using the procured items for. It’s shrouded in mystery.”
The uncertainty of the future had to be clouding her sight. I didn’t really do a lot of potion brewing, and I had a talisman for just about every need already. Her ectoplasm was really nothing more than a bargaining chip for me. Outside of leverage with Balthazar, I couldn’t see myself using anything Madam Figueroa could provide.
Madam Figueroa’s eyes narrowed as she read my aura. “You aren’t going to give them to him, are you?” She almost spat the word him whe
n she said it. “He is not what he seems, Bozley Green.”
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to find out why the last two demon possessions I’ve faced have been the strongest I’ve ever seen. There is something coming, and I need to be ready for it.”
“So, you would deal with that trickster, that deceiver?”
“I’m looking for the answer to a riddle a demon left me with. Balthazar is the only person I know of that can help me with that.” I hoped being honest wouldn’t end up with me getting zilch out of this visit.
Madam Figueroa shook her head in disgust and made a sign to ward off evil. “I don’t like it, Mr. Green, not one bit.” She paused to warm her hands by the fire. “But I can see that you think it’s necessary, and there is no evil in your intentions. The same cannot be said for Balthazar.”
“I don’t need to like the man or even to trust him. I just need the information he provides me to be solid. In that respect, he hasn’t let me down yet.”
“And nor will he, I expect. Nothing draws the flies to the spider faster than honey. Unfortunately for the flies, it’s also the last bit of sweetness they ever get to taste.” She motioned to a bag at the foot of her chair.
This time, I knew for a fact that the bag hadn’t been there when I sat down. One of these days I’d have to find out how she did that. Psychics couldn’t move things with their minds, and mediums couldn’t command the spirits to do anything. All they could do was listen and help them transition from the world of the living. I didn’t sense any magic from her, so maybe what I knew about her powers was wrong as well.
Standing, I picked up the shirt she had given me for David and then reached out to grab the bag she indicated was for me. Madam Figueroa’s hand shot out with speed I wouldn’t have expected from the older woman and clamped down on my wrist. Her eyes turned that same milky white color and then she screamed. I tried to pull my hand away from the screaming woman, but she was locked onto it like the scent of pizza at fat camp.
Possessed (Bozley Green Chronicles Book 1) Page 9