Black Arts

by Faith Hunter

  He tilted his head to the side, one of those weird moves that looks like a bird cocking its head. Not human at all. “I do not require the female.” He lifted his head and sniffed. The lizard poked its head out of Jack’s collar and raced around the vamp’s shoulder to the back.

  Behind me the notes of the flute changed, rising an octave, now sounding like a challenge and not pure defense. At the same moment, the stench of Molly’s death magic stopped cold. Either she was dead or she was temporarily free of Shoffru’s control. “Your pet sorcerer is a nuisance. If you want the soldier back alive, bring the blood diamond to me.”

  Left-handed, I threw the knife. It shot through the air and buried itself in Shoffru’s chest. Inches from his heart. The pirate didn’t react. He tossed Eli up into the air. My partner landed on Shoffru’s shoulder like a rag doll, his blood spraying across the room and onto the wall, spattering like a swan’s wing. With a loud pop of air, Shoffru—and Eli—was gone. Silence settled on the house, expectant and full of despair. The sofa rolled over, thudding on its feet. Rachael rose from a crouch, holding a wicked-sharp kitchen knife, a boning knife, maybe. She had a hand on Bliss, holding the little witch behind her. “Shiloh?” she called. When nothing happened, she called louder, “Shiloh!”

  The redheaded girl leaned in through the broken back window. Somehow she had ended up outside, and she was crying. Thin bloody streaks marked her cheeks. Rachael rushed to the window and pulled Shiloh through into the room. “I’m sorry,” Shiloh whispered. “I’m sorry.”

  “You panicked,” Rachael soothed. “It happens. It’s okay.”

  “But I left you to die,” she wailed. “I’m a horrible mistress. I suck at being a vampire.”

  I couldn’t help it. I laughed. Rachael and Bliss both shot me evil looks. Shiloh looked nonplussed for a moment and then she laughed with me. Beside her, Katie laughed too, her fangs snicking back into the roof of her mouth.

  Still laughing, maybe sounding a bit hysterical, if I listened closely, I slid off the stool to the floor, landing in an ungainly pile of legs, a half scream of pain as my arm jostled horribly, and my body landing sent out a puff of air. The stool rocked up, twirled on one leg, and clattered over beside me. The gust from my fall reached Shiloh, and her nostrils widened as she sniffed. Instantly she vamped out. Tiny needle fangs snapped down on the hinges in the roof of her mouth as her eyes bled black and wide in the bloody red sclera. Not very stable, was our little, youngest fanghead. And me bleeding all over the floor.

  “Shiloh?” Evan’s voice came from the side, and Shiloh whipped her head to him, sniffing. And licked her lips. Her uncle was a body full of blood that an emotional vamp might need, badly.

  Without looking, Evan reached out a hand and touched Bliss’ shoulder. “Help me here,” he said to her. He lifted a flute and blew a soft, breathy note. It was a note full of compulsion, and I let myself fall into the ease and peace it offered. Magics danced across the room, to spark on Shiloh’s skin. Even Katie looked content, almost serene, and I had never seen her look that way. Never.

  Shiloh’s fangs hinged slowly back into her mouth. Her pupils contracted, the sclera paling out to streaks of red and then to white. She blinked, humanity and understanding flooding into her expression. “Ohhhh,” she breathed.

  And with that, I slid down, falling face-first into a dark pit that was free of pain.

  • • •

  When I woke, it was to the sound of flute music. There was no particular melody, just low notes, each seeming a hint off, followed by chirps of bird calls, piping and bright, all merging into a pleasant, easy sound, like egrets murmuring to one another as they settled into nests for the night. I was lying on something soft that smelled of female bodies and vamp and blood and arousal. I was in a vamp’s lair, in her bed. I thought about that. About moving. About how I happened to end up here. In a rush I remembered most of it. I decided that as long as they weren’t feeding off me or inviting me to join in a group . . . whatever . . . I was good with that.

  “She’s awake,” Shiloh said. “Her heart rate changed.”

  I grunted, but I didn’t want to move. I wasn’t hurting bad, and that almost-pain-free feeling wouldn’t last if I moved. But the music stopped and heated hands gripped my good shoulder to pull me upright. I met Evan’s eyes and managed a smile, or I intended it to be a smile, but from his reaction, I must have failed. Yeah. So much for the pain-free moments.

  “How many times can you be injured that badly and survive?” he asked, almost gently.

  I just grunted again, pulled the neck of my shirt down, and looked at my shoulder. The muscles beneath the thin pink, scarred skin were mangled still, but I was no longer bleeding. As I watched, one of the muscles making up the rotator cuff twisted, moved to the back about a quarter inch, and relaxed. Vamp healing mixed with Big Evan’s witch healing. Pretty good. Not as good as shifting to Beast and back, but pretty good. There wasn’t much left of my shirt, my bra was torn and bloody, and I stank of old blood and fear and sweat. “Eli?”

  “The fanghead,” Rachael said, drolly, “took him.”

  “The Kid is working to find him,” Evan said. “What can you tell me about Molly?” He looked at his niece and added ominously, “The girls won’t tell me.”

  I looked at my injured hand. No pelt. Good. I tried to make a fist, and pain spiraled through me. Not good. Still some healing to do and no time to shift. “Yeah. About Mol,” I said. “I think her magic went to the dark side, during the fight against Evangelina in the yard. The fight when Evie nearly killed all her sisters,” I said.

  “Shoffru thought Molly had the diamond and threatened her niece to make Molly bring the diamond to him. Molly knew I had it, so she came to New Orleans to get my help with getting Shiloh free. And then he took her and the girls Shiloh was partying with. He realized she was a powerful death-witch and a brand-new weapon in his hands, so he got Mol blood-drunk and started using her magic. That’s the timeline I’ve figured out so far and maybe it’s right. I don’t know for sure yet.

  “But I think Molly killed off every live thing around the house where she was being kept hostage, and when her magic couldn’t be controlled any longer, and started draining them”—I nodded to the three females—“she rebelled.”

  I also thought Shoffru was keeping her blood-drunk, which spelled addiction for her, but I didn’t say that. “And I think Reach is working for Shoffru and called him when we got near the house. He took Molly and left.” I shrugged and the shoulder moved with less pain from the ongoing healing that Evan had started and that one of the vamps cozied up next to me had improved on. Lovely, wonderful feeling. I sighed and stretched very, very slowly. The shoulder was weak but better. Much better. Not as good as if I shifted to heal, but better, and I didn’t have time to shift and still find Molly.

  I looked around Katie’s love nest, seeing pretty teal, aqua, blue, and green fabrics, with prints of violets and orchids on the walls. The ashes of a dead plant stood in a purple bowl. Molly. My best friend had sent a death spell against Katie’s. I had the feeling that we were alive only because her husband knew her magic so well that he could combat it with his eyes closed. Molly was blood-drunk, living on the dark side, working with a witch who wanted a black magic artifact. Wasn’t that just ducky?

  “Okay. Enough of this.” I tossed my official cell to Evan. “Call Reach. Now. You tell him what happened here. Tell him I have the blood diamond and I want to talk to Molly. Remind him I’m a dangerous enemy to have. And then hang up. Don’t let him talk. He can make it happen. I know he can.” I pointed at Evan. “When Molly calls, you keep silent. If she wants to talk to you, she will.” I reached for my burner cell phone, turned it on, and dialed the Kid.

  “Speak,” he said.

  “Track your brother’s cell. A fanghead took him.”

  Alex cursed like the brother of an army Ranger, low and fierce, but he didn’t waste time. I heard tinny clicking sounds in the background. “His cell’s off,�
� the Kid said.

  “Oops. That was your brother’s idea.”

  “Sometimes my big bro is an idiot,” he spat. “How bad off was he? What are the chances he’ll turn on the cell?”

  “Uhhh.” How did I tell Alex that his brother was bleeding like a stuck pig and tossed over a vamp’s shoulder like a sack of feed, the last time I saw him? “I don’t—”

  “Got him!” Alex said. Relief fluttered through me and I closed my eyes. If the cell was back on, then Eli was alive and functioning. The Kid went on. “Got Eli’s and two more cells in what looks like one location, moving together.” More tapping, more silence followed. “Yeah. They just passed a tower. One cell in use, three active. Starting searches on each one now. Old suckheads got no idea how easy it is to track them if they have a cell and the tracker has access to certain governmental Web sites.”

  I didn’t ask what governmental Web sites. Alex might get arrested for using them. Eli might die if he didn’t. No contest.

  “Hang on,” he said. “Merging with the other cells in close proximity.”

  Katie looked at me and leaned over to push a button. We were in her bedroom. And I was in her bed, squished in with vamps and blood-servants like a pile of puppies. Ewww. Not something I wanted to think about just now.

  Katie said, “I’ve waked my computer system. It’s top-of-the-line, and I’ve compiled a databank of all properties ever owned by any Mithran in this state for over three hundred years. Your Kid has my permission to merge our systems. The screens in the office are newer. Come.”

  My eyes didn’t bug out, but it was a near thing. We all gathered in the office. Troll, who had been out picking up a girl from a “date,” went to work covering the windows with plywood that he had already scavenged from my house. My house. How weird was that? Maybe now I’d put up vamp shutters and do some more improvements, like install a hot tub for soaking. I have a house.

  Time passed. Everyone got itchy, twitchy with unused energy. Waiting was never easy. My pain waxed and waned, my shoulder muscles and tendons healing, aching, moving under the skin as they rearranged and regrew. And it freaking hurt. Over the cell at my ear, I heard static and Shoffru say, “—will try to keep him alive until we get the diamond.” I jerked toward the sound, but it cut off. Eli? Was Eli the one he wanted to keep alive?

  “Come on,” the Kid said, cajoling. “Come on, come on, come on.”

  And I realized that Alex had lost the cell connections. I put the cell on speaker and set it in my lap as the reason for the loss occurred to me. “Alex, were you using your regular cell or a burner?” The Kid cursed and cut the connection. With my free hand, I rubbed my shoulder. It throbbed deep down inside, but as I rubbed, something else popped and the pain eased further.

  Bliss brought me a tall glass of water and a wet purple washcloth. I drank the water down all in one gulp. Magic heals, but like any magic, it requires energy, and healing my shoulder had taken a lot out of me. When the glass was empty, I handed it back to her and scrubbed the dried blood off me. It stained the washcloth, but I figured that Deon knew all kinds of secrets for getting blood out of cloth. He had to, living here and taking care of the girls.

  When I was cleaner, Bliss handed me a purple T-shirt and I spread it out on the bed. It was fuzzy, long-sleeved, with a dragon on it. Not a pretty dragon, but one of the eats-virgins types of dragons, with a body striped like a coral snake, its wings spread wide, covered with striped red skin and feathers. Weird. And so ugly the dragon was beautiful. Through my fingertips, I felt magics tingle over my hand.

  I raised my eyebrows at Bliss, and she shrugged. “I figured it was time to see what my magics did. Turns out I have”—she shrugged again as if searching for the words—“some ability with healing. The shirt has a healing spell woven in it. Molly taught me how. I brought it from the lair where we were kept.”

  “Yeah? Cool,” I said, trying for nonchalant. Bliss had denied her power and heritage for a long time, running away from it for myriad reasons. That she was embracing it was, well, yeah, amazing. Despite my worry over Molly and Eli, I nodded approval at her. She ghosted a smile at me.

  I pulled off my tattered shirt. Big Evan turned away, closing his eyes, which made Rachael grin evilly, her silver earrings catching the light. Poor Evan. The former call girl would never take pity on him now. He was in for a difficult time if he hung around Katie’s for long. When I eased the shirt over my shoulder, I sighed with relief. “Nice,” I said to Bliss. My cell rang and I picked it up again.

  “I’m back. Okay,” the Kid said into my ear, frustration lacing his voice. “I got an address for the cell billing, but it won’t do us any good. It’s in Galveston, Texas.” Where the limo had come from. All the pieces were coming together but were leading us nowhere. Unless we had an address for Eli and Molly, we were lost.

  “Do you have a broad location?” Katie asked.

  “I lost them near Belle Chasse, heading east.”

  “Hmmm. . . . I’m sending you my databank file,” Katie said casually, keys tapping, as if she used and talked about computers all the time. “According to my records, a house, the kind I believe you call a McMansion, in Lakewood Golf Club is a rental, owned currently by the Damours’ estate while the property is in probate.” More keys clacked, both in the office and over the cell. “Of course, there are other properties, but I assume Jacques would prefer a large, ornamental house for his temporary clan home.”

  “Got you, you bastard,” Alex muttered. I smiled. He could cuss and swear all he wanted right now. I just needed him to find Eli. “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The car with the cells is heading in the general direction of the golf course. Yeah. Sending a map and a sat view to your cell.”

  “We’ll head that way.” I closed my cell and looked at Evan. “Well?”

  “I told him. He cut me off without a word.”

  I closed my eyes. If Reach was working against us, we were really in trouble. I’d never find Molly or Eli. I pointed to the front of the house and asked Big Evan, “Are the keys still in Eli’s SUV?” He nodded. To Rachael, I said, “You know how to use a gun? A knife?”

  She grinned wickedly. “How about a whip? A gorgeous calf-skin cat-o’-nine-tails with tiny sterling-over-steel blades in the ends. Christie taught me how.”

  “I spelled them for her,” Bliss said. She shrugged when I looked at her curious. “One part of healing is to decrease the ability of blood to clot, for people having heart attacks or clot-made strokes. There’s a spell for that; Molly showed me how.” She looked down and then back up, holding me with her eyes. “If I push the spell a little, and put it on the metal barbs, then whatever it cuts won’t clot over. Instead it will relax and expand the vessels it cuts, making the person bleed out faster. Vamps would bleed out really fast unless I reversed the spell, or they had help from a master vamp.”

  “How fast can you reverse it if needed? Like an instantaneous reversal?”

  She nodded, knowing I was going to ask her to use her magic against another sentient being. But to have created the spell in the first place, she had already planned that. So I wasn’t leading a witch into dark magic, I lied to myself.

  I pulled a throwing knife. “Can you do that with this too?” She nodded again, reaching out a finger to touch the blade. I felt the hilt go cold. The blade seemed to frost over, a spiderweb of power that vanished as quickly as it appeared. The hilt warmed again, as if it had never been cold. “Nifty.” I grinned at her. “I promise to use it only for good, and to the benefit of mankind.”

  Bliss dropped her head, her black hair sliding forward, hiding her face, but I had the feeling that she was pleased with my promise, no matter how silly I had phrased it. “I have a passel of knives that need the spell. And when we get where we’re going, can you keep an eye out for anyone who isn’t trying to kill us as we rescue Eli, and reverse the spell if they get cut by accident?” She nodded again. “Good. And just in case,” I added, holding out a silver stake, “can you make this o
ne already reversed, so I have it as needed?”

  Bliss’ forehead crinkled, as she tried to figure out how to reverse a spell that wasn’t there yet. Then she just touched it twice. The first time, the sterling stake iced over and went cold; with the second touch, it heated, fast.

  “I can shoot,” Shiloh said. “I used to hunt with my dad.” Her face closed off for an instant as she thought of her dad, who had been killed by her mother. That had to be a tough thing for a kid to remember, even a blood-sucking kid vamp. “Rifle,” she went on, “shotgun. But a rifle is better. I don’t like a shotgun’s kick.”

  “Good. There’s probably a hunting rifle with a scope in the SUV. Let’s roll.”

  “One little problem,” Shiloh said. “What do we do with the dead Mithran in Katie’s living room? We can’t decapitate her. It wouldn’t be right.”

  Why not? But I didn’t say it. Shiloh was still human enough to have morals, not a trait common to most vamps, and a quality I wouldn’t harm.

  I looked at Katie, who said, “Such is not my responsibility. It belongs to the Mercy Blade.”

  I flipped open my burner cell again and dialed Leo’s new primo. When Adelaide answered I gave her an update and said, “Adrianna is close to being true-dead, but still has her head. Would you be so kind as to send the Mercy Blade to Katie’s to, uh, pick her up? You can have the Council accountant deposit my fee electronically.” I could almost feel Del’s single elegant eyebrow rise. “Just tell Gee DiMercy. He’ll explain it all.”

  I closed the cell and looked over my small band of warriors, finding a smile somewhere inside and plastering it on my face. “Let’s go.” I grabbed up my weapons and headed for the car, not arguing when Big Evan shoved the driver’s seat back as far as it would go and turned the key. Not arguing when Shiloh and her vamp blood-servants piled in back. Not arguing about anything, as Big Evan and my coterie of fighters drove out of the city.