Hexed

by Michael Alan Nelson

  “What did she say?” David asked.

  “Nothing. I didn’t pay. I told you, the price was too high.”

  “I can get us money, Lucifer,” he said. “I have some saved, and my parents will give me a loan. Hell, I’ll start a Kickstarter if I have to.”

  Lucifer needed to nip this in the bud. She had seen countless people give away too much for too little too often. She wasn’t about to let that happen with David. “Listen to me,” she said. “The Harlot doesn’t take money. Why would she? She has no use for it. She takes other things. It could be a kidney, a favorite memory, or your ability to use verbs. Whatever it is, it’s something that you’re going to miss.”

  “What was the price, then?”

  “David—”

  “Tell me, what did the Harlot want?”

  “My emotions. All of them. I would have had to give up all my feelings. Forever.”

  David stood in silence as the lustful look in his eyes slowly dwindled. Lucifer was thankful he was smart enough to know just how awful paying such a price would be.

  “David,” she said. “We don’t need to ask the Harlot because we already have the answer. That’s why we summoned the Witch of Cape Vale. The book will tell me how to get to Witchdown. I find the book again, I’ll get Gina back.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You have to trust me, David. This is my world. I know what I’m doing.”

  He stared at the covered mirror for a moment before nodding in acquiescence. “Where do you want to start?” he asked.

  “Isis. She blew me off pretty hard when I talked to her at the mall. I’m sure it was because I was the one who shinned her boyfriend in the balls, but I don’t want to take any chances. Can you take me to her house?”

  “Yeah, but she won’t be there. She’ll be at Ethan’s house. They drive to school together. At least I assume she’ll be there. She and Ethan are on-again off-again every few months. Right now I’m pretty sure they’re on-again.”

  She tossed her trick bag over her shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  Ethan’s place was modest compared to the larger homes in the tiny subdivision, but a half-finished addition sticking out of the side of the house indicated that its modesty would be short-lived. When Lucifer and David reached the front door, David turned the handle and walked inside.

  “What are you doing?” Lucifer asked.

  “Ethan’s a good friend of mine. I’m practically family. Come on.”

  David led her through the house into a back den where Ethan sat on a leather sofa, eyes glued to a nature program on the widescreen TV in front of him.

  “Hey, Ethan. Is Isis with you?”

  Isis walked into the room from a hallway on the far side and said, “Uh, not for long if he keeps acting like an ass.”

  David leaned over to Lucifer and whispered, “And about to be off-again.”

  Isis looked at Lucifer with absolutely no expression before smiling at David. “Hi, David.”

  “Hey, Isis. Got a sec?”

  Isis glared at Lucifer. “For you, David, yes. Her? Hell no.”

  “Ethan, have you seen my briefcase anywhere?” a voice shouted from upstairs.

  “It’s on the kitchen table, Mr. Sinkowicz!” Isis shouted back.

  “Thank you,” the disembodied voice responded.

  “Hey, Ethan. David’s here. Ethan!”

  Ethan yanked his gaze from the TV and said, “Why are you shouting? I can hear you. Damn, girl, give a guy a chance to respond.”

  Isis rolled her eyes. “All morning like this.” Isis turned to Ethan as he walked over. “Did you hear your dad shouting at you?”

  “Oh, I’ve been tuning him out since I was twelve. What’s up, brah,” he said as he gave David a bro-hug. When he saw Lucifer he said, “What’s nut-punch devil skank doing with you?”

  Lucifer chuckled. “I was in a band called Nut-Punch Devil Skank once. Had to break up when the accordion player left, though.”

  Ethan mockingly sneered before turning to David and asked, “How’s Gina? Hear she’s got the plague or something.”

  “She’s . . . getting better.”

  Lucifer turned when she heard footsteps. Ethan’s father walked into the den and said, “Ethan, I’m heading to work. Don’t be late getting to school or I’ll—”

  Lucifer went at the man with a spinning back-fist that connected right on his chin. Ethan’s father fell into a heap at her feet. Ethan was on her in an instant, putting her in a full nelson and dragging her away from his father. “What is your issue, bitch?”

  Lucifer brought her heel up into Ethan’s groin. When his grip loosened, she spun out and drove the flat of her palm into his solar plexus. All the air went out of his lungs, and Ethan fell to his knees. But as soon as Ethan was down, Isis was on her back, clawing at her hair.

  “Keep your hands off my boyfriend you filthy—”

  Lucifer grabbed Isis by the shoulder joint and tossed her head-over-heels on top of Ethan, who was struggling to catch his breath. Isis yelped when she landed. She and her on-again off-again boyfriend were tangled in a terribly unflattering arrangement. David lunged forward and grabbed Lucifer by the shoulder but let go and put his hands up when she readied to put him down as well.

  “Whoa, whoa, Lucifer, be cool! What’s gotten into you?”

  Lucifer turned and saw that Ethan’s father was gone. She broke into a run, but David grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. “Lucifer! What the hell are you doing?”

  “David, that’s him!”

  “Him who?” David asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “That’s the guy who mugged me!” Lucifer pulled her arm free and started running down the hallway. “Ethan’s father has the book!”

  CHAPTER 21

  Lucifer was out of the house and running just as Ethan’s dad was backing his car out of the driveway. The tires screeched, and thick billows of blue smoke rolled into the front yard. Lucifer ran into the smoke and made a beeline for the silver sedan. It was a Mercedes-Benz with way more power than anyone ever needed in a car, and Ethan’s dad was whipping every horsepower it had into a frothing stampede. The tire smoke stung her eyes, giving her a painful reminder of what Ethan’s dad had done to her. But this time, the pain was bearable. Nothing was going to stop her getting her hands on him and that damn book.

  A mail truck skidded to a halt just as the Mercedes-Benz backed out into the street. Ethan’s dad accelerated, fishtailing the back end of the car into a pickup truck parked on the side of the street before screaming down the block. Lucifer didn’t lose stride as she ran out into the middle of the street, chasing after the swerving car.

  Ethan’s dad was around the corner and out of sight in a matter of seconds, but Lucifer didn’t slow down. She could hear the roar of his engines echoing through the neighborhood. She cut across a perfectly manicured lawn and parkoured over a redwood privacy fence, using the car’s roar to guide her. She passed two gardeners bent over a flower bed and rolled through a gap under a row of hedges to find herself back in the middle of the street. She ran, ignoring the honking and yelling behind her. She didn’t care how much she slowed traffic. She was going to catch this guy or get run over trying.

  HONK!

  “Dammit, Lucifer, get in the car!”

  Lucifer turned at hearing her name. David was behind her, leaning out the window of his car and waving at her. She jumped into the passenger seat. “Drive!”

  “Which way?”

  “That way! Go go go!” she shouted as she pointed.

  David rounded the corner onto a main thoroughfare. Lucifer spotted the Mercedes-Benz a few hundred yards ahead. Ethan’s dad had slowed down, obviously assuming he had easily outrun a girl chasing him on foot. “There he is.”

  David pressed the accelerator. “Do you want me to ram him?”

  “The man nearly melted my eyes from my sockets. Of course I want you to ram him. But don’t. He can barely control that car as it is. You ram him, somebody’s going to get
killed. Just get closer. I have an idea.”

  As David pulled up to a few car lengths behind the Mercedes, Lucifer fished her phone out of her trick bag and dialed.

  “Hello?”

  “Buck? It’s Lucifer. Listen to me—”

  “Tell me you have something.”

  “I found the guy who mugged me. It was Mr. Sinkowicz, Ethan’s dad. He has the book and I need it to get Gina back.”

  “Mark Sinkowicz? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would he have the book?”

  “As soon as I have my hands around his throat, I’ll ask him. But he’s in his car and I’m afraid if I try to stop him he’ll run somebody down. I need you to pull him over, Buck, so I can search his car.”

  “Where are you?” Buck growled the question.

  Lucifer peered out the window and said, “Crossing Eighth Street now. He’s heading north toward Graeae Towers.”

  “On my way,” he barked.

  “Buck, wait . . . dammit.”

  “What is it?” David asked.

  “I think Buck is going to kill Mr. Sinkowicz.”

  Mr. Sinkowicz turned and pulled into a parking garage. He flashed an ID to the guard sitting in the small booth next to the gate. The guard nodded, the gate lifted, and Mr. Sinkowicz drove through.

  David pulled up to the gate and smiled at the guard. The guard didn’t smile back. “This is a private garage. Graeae Industries employees only,” the guard said. “There’s public parking two blocks south. You’ll have to back up.”

  Lucifer was about to try to talk their way into the garage when she heard sirens approaching in the distance. “Back up,” she said.

  David backed out and pulled off to the side of the street just as a police cruiser came screaming into view, sirens blaring, lights flashing. Lucifer hopped out and waved her hands as the cruiser came into view. The cruiser’s brakes locked up, and the car slid to a halt just behind David’s parked car in a cloud of shredded rubber.

  When Buck stepped out of the car, Lucifer could tell he still hadn’t slept. Heavy black circles rimmed his eyes, and thick stubble covered his granite jaw. When he spoke, his deep voice crackled with exhaustion. “Where is he?”

  The passenger-side door of the cruiser opened, and another police officer stepped out. He was big, though nowhere near the size of Buck. He had military tattoos running the length of his arms, though they were difficult to see on his dark skin. Lucifer could tell by his expression that he had no idea what was happening. He was going along for the ride simply because that’s what partners did.

  “He went inside the garage, but only employees are allowed—”

  Buck brushed past her and made a beeline for the guard shack at the entrance of the garage. Lucifer grabbed his arm. “I can’t get answers if he’s dead—”

  In a flash, Lucifer was facedown on the ground with one arm pinned behind her back. But it wasn’t Buck who put her there, it was his partner. “You’re under arrest for assaulting a police officer,” he said, pressing all of his weight between her shoulder blades with his knee. Buck kept walking.

  David stepped back and held up his hands, “Whoa, whoa, what’s going on?”

  “Dammit, Buck, I can’t save Gina if I’m in jail!”

  Buck stopped, took a deep breath, then turned back. “Let her up,” he said.

  His partner kept the pressure on her back. Lucifer could feel the vertebrae of her spine compressing under his considerable weight, and what little air she had left was being squeezed out of her lungs.

  “She put her hands on a cop,” the partner said.

  “I said let her up, Ty!”

  After what seemed like an eternity, Buck’s partner Ty lifted Lucifer off the ground and put her back on her feet. “Don’t move from that spot,” he said, pointing to the ground at Lucifer’s feet. Lucifer was itching to get to Mr. Sinkowicz, but she had a feeling Ty wouldn’t hesitate to fill her face full of mace. And she was never going to let that happen again.

  Ty walked over to Buck and pulled him to the side. “You going to tell me just what the hell is going on with you? Past few days you’ve been . . . off, man.”

  “You have to trust me on this,” Buck said, his eyes carrying a faraway stare that said more than any words could.

  Ty put his hand on Buck’s shoulder and said, “You don’t want to tell me, that’s cool. But remember what happened with Valdez. I should have told you about that mess, but I didn’t. Don’t make the same mistake I did, partner.”

  Buck nodded but said nothing.

  Ty turned and gave Lucifer a sour glance before saying, “I’m going to go get some coffee. I’ll be back in fifteen.” He got behind the wheel of the cruiser and sped off.

  “Let’s go,” Lucifer said.

  As Lucifer, David, and Buck ran toward the guard station, the guard yelled, “Officer, this is private property! You can’t come in here without a warrant!” Buck stuck his head through the plexiglass window and snarled something at the guard. Lucifer couldn’t hear what it was, but the guard went pale.

  Threat successfully delivered, Buck caught up to Lucifer and David running up the concrete ramp toward the upper levels. But the parking garage was huge, and it seemed like every other car was a Mercedes. David paused every once in a while, double-checking to make sure he hadn’t missed it, but Buck was like a mad bull. He charged through the parked cars, swiveling his thick head back and forth like a gun turret as he scanned the garage. Lucifer, on the other hand, was following the smell of scorched tire and over-revved engine.

  She was beginning to lose hope until she found Mr. Sinkowicz on the top level, getting out of his car with his briefcase clutched to his chest.

  Lucifer bolted toward him like a shot, her tennis shoes squeaking on the concrete of the garage floor with her every stride. As soon as Mr. Sinkowicz saw her rushing toward him, he fumbled with his briefcase, desperately trying to get it open. Lucifer had no desire to see what kind of face-melting device he had inside, but she was too far away, too slow to get to him before he pulled out whatever he was reaching for.

  Sinkowicz’s hand disappeared inside the briefcase. When it reappeared, Lucifer was expecting to see another can of mace or even a gun. But what Sinkowicz held in his hand was the last thing she was expecting: a Light King. The Light King was a mass of writhing disembodied electric tentacles that slithered between his fingers, spitting and hissing sparks of blue light that dripped to his feet. Lucifer took a step to dive behind a nearby car as Sinkowicz held out the ball of snaking light toward her.

  Before he could release it, Buck tackled him from the side with such force that Sinkowicz’s briefcase flew from his hand and into the air, sailing over two parked cars.

  The mass of snaking lights hit the ground with a sound of lightbulbs breaking. It split into dozens of individual tentacles, each flicking and sparking with electrical hisses. Buck had Sinkowicz facedown, but before he could get handcuffs on him, the tentacles had wrapped themselves around Buck’s ankles. There was a flash of silver light, and Buck stiffened, a scream of agony caught in his bull-sized throat.

  Sinkowicz pulled himself out from under Buck’s seizing mass and struggled to his feet. The tackle must have knocked the wind out of him because he still wasn’t fully upright when Lucifer reached him. She hit the ground and slid between his legs like a runner stealing second base. As she passed through, she thrust her arms out, taking Sinkowicz out at the knees. He fell forward and hit his face against the concrete with a dull, wet thud. Lucifer flipped and was on his back before the man could lift his face from the puddle of blood pooling beneath his broken face.

  Lucifer turned to see David rushing up. “Oh, god, what’s wrong with him?” David asked. He bent to help Buck as the huge cop trembled violently from the shocks of the Light King tangled around his ankles.

  “Don’t touch him!” Lucifer shouted. She turned Sinkowicz on his back. “What element did you use?” she asked.

  Blood poured out from his broken nose
and down his sagging cheeks. He coughed, and a line of bloody phlegm slowly slid down his chin.

  “What element?!” she screamed.

  Sinkowicz’s eyes slowly began to focus. “Fire,” he muttered before coughing up another mouthful of blood.

  Lucifer was up and digging into her trick bag. She looked at David and said, “If he tries to stand up, hit him.”

  “Lucifer, that’s Ethan’s dad.”

  “Hit. Him.”

  Lucifer found the small velvet pouch she was looking for and dumped its contents into the palm of her hand. They were orange gaming dice ranging from four- to twenty-sided. But instead of numbers, they had symbols of the four elements, air, earth, fire, and water carved into each side.

  She took the pyramid-shaped four-sided die and placed it on the ground, making sure the symbol for water was showing. She then took a twenty-sided die and spun it on the tip of the pyramid.

  “What is that?” David asked.

  “It will neutralize the Light King, but whatever you do, don’t touch Buck until it’s completely gone.”

  David nodded but said nothing. Lucifer was happy that he was learning to keep his questions to himself when she needed to concentrate.

  The die spun faster and faster, perfectly balanced on its tip. The bright, pulsing light from the Light King began to fade. The tentacles themselves deflated like bad party balloons until they were nothing more than an oily mess on the concrete. As soon as the last tentacle disappeared, the spinning die shattered into dust.

  Free of the Light King’s biting energy, Buck took in a sharp breath and sat up.

  “Are you all right?” Lucifer asked.

  Buck nodded and turned to the bloody man lying on the ground next to Lucifer. The look he gave Mr. Sinkowicz sent a shiver down Lucifer’s spine.

  Buck was on his feet faster than Lucifer would have expected. The cop lifted Sinkowicz off the ground and slammed him into the side of a beige minivan parked nearby.

  Lucifer heard something crack. Sinkowicz howled in agony, but his scream was cut short when Buck threw him back down to the ground and put his knee between the man’s shoulder blades. In a flash, Buck had him handcuffed and up on his feet again. He shoved him back into the minivan. Sinkowicz yelped again, nearly collapsing from pain. “Ah! You broke my ribs—”