Past Lives: Hotel California Book One: An Urban Fantasy Series

by R. J. Wolf

  Suddenly, the medallion around his neck lit up, sending its vibrant green hues into the far reaches. A flash shocked the water and for a moment the icy stream bubbled with power. The gnarled hand loosened its grip around Eric’s leg and his lifeless body slowly floated to the surface.

  “A swimmer,” Noll laughed as his gondola carved through the water just as Eric’s silhouette broke the surface.

  He piloted the boat closer then pulled up alongside him. A hooded figure sat across from him. They moved stealthily to the side and grabbed Eric’s face, lifting it from the water and pulling him onto the railing.

  Eric gasped as air flooded his lungs. He wiped the water from his face and looked up as the guise of his savior came into view.

  “You!” Zoey gasped.

  CHAPTER 20

  THE LOST WARLOCK

  Eric huffed then wiggled in the seat of the chair as Zoey paced the floor around him. He was in a poorly adorned living room that still smelled like the hellish water he’d just left. A shabby sofa sat in front of him and he could make out the etching of rat legs, hiding in the dimly lit corners.

  “This isn’t necessary,” he said and looked down to the magical bonds that had been placed around his arms and legs.

  “Shut up!” Zoey snapped.

  “Love…maybe this is a bit premature,” Noll weaseled and cast a worried look at Eric.

  “Don’t you Love me,” Zoey whirled around and stormed toward Noll. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew he was still alive?”

  Noll waddled backward and held his hands up. “I’d never lie to you. I don’t even know who this is.”

  “It’s him!” she roared. “My brother-in-law!”

  Noll gasped then glared at Eric with wide eyes. “He…he died you told me.”

  “I thought he did, but here he is. And now…now he’s gonna tell me where the hell my sister is!”

  Eric drew back as Zoey’s face darkened and the air distorted all around her.

  “I…I don’t remember anything,” he stammered. “Gary…Gary was supposed to help me, help me get my memories back. But he’s missing.”

  Zoey laughed. “Just like that filthy ingrate to up and vanish.” She placed her finger against Eric’s forehead and pushed it back. “What’s this?” she asked and grabbed the medallion that was still hanging from his neck. A blinding pain shot up her arm and she dropped it. “Interesting,” she mumbled and stared at the amulet. “Where did you get this?”

  “I don’t know…an imp.”

  “Brittles!” Noll snapped and hurried toward him.

  He glared at the amulet then reached out to take it, but Zoey grabbed his hand.

  “It’s cursed,” she warned. “But not by him.”

  “What did you do? What did you do to my imp?”

  Eric frowned. “I didn’t do anything. He promised to send me here in exchange for my blood.”

  “And how did you come to have his medallion?”

  “He drank my blood and…he, he just exploded.”

  Noll growled and turned back to Zoey. “Kill him my love. Kill the worthless scoundrel.”

  “I need your help. Please,” Eric begged as he turned back to Zoey.

  “My help…my help? Maybe you don’t remember anything. But I’ll find out.”

  Zoey smiled at him. Eric watched her curiously, keeping an eye on Noll from the corner. He felt an odd sensation and shook his head from side to side. It was like there was something in the air, tickling his ear as it brushed against him.

  “Just kill him,” Noll griped.

  The sensation grew stronger, invisible fingers wriggling around his head trying to get inside. Trying to pry open his mind and drain his thoughts empty. He shook his head again and rubbed his ear against his shoulder as he swallowed.

  “Stop!” he suddenly roared in a foreign voice.

  An invisible force blazed all around him and shoved Zoey and Noll to the ground. The magical bonds keeping him tied to the chair sizzled to ash and he tumbled backwards.

  “What the hell are you?” Zoey fumed as she jumped to her feet.

  “I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

  “That’s why he wanted the page. The potion was for you.” Realization dawned across Zoey’s face. “Can you get Anna back?” she asked with anticipation in her voice.

  “I don’t know. I’ve seen her in my dreams and she…she left me a letter. A letter telling me to come find her.”

  Eric dug inside of his pocket and pulled out the soggy paper. He handed it to Zoey and she covered her mouth and gasped. For a moment Zoey’s face softened and Eric saw a glimmer of the woman she once was. Before corruption and the world’s evil turned her into a cynic. But that window into her soul was quickly slammed shut again.

  She wiped a tear from her eye then handed the paper back to Eric. Noll looked on in bewilderment, still plotting from every angle.

  “So, can you help me?” Eric asked.

  “Maybe,” Zoey replied.

  Noll scoffed. “Did we forget that this, this thing killed my imp.”

  “You can’t own imps, Noll. And I’m certain drinking his blood is what killed your imp. Seems like Eric isn’t the spineless, weak, mind-rapist that he used to be. No offense.”

  Eric shrugged. “I still need your help.”

  “So, you lost Gary, so what? Good riddance I say.”

  “He was helping me.”

  “I wouldn’t put much faith in Gary. You may have forgotten, but that man lives in a bottle. He’s probably somewhere drunk right now.”

  “I don’t think so. We were at Thirst and he just vanished. I haven’t seen him since.”

  “Thirst?” Noll said and raised his eyebrows. “That no good liar.”

  “Searching for the blood lotus I’m sure,” Zoey said dismissively. “It’s needed for the spell.”

  “But…but you were at Thirst last night?” Noll asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Zoey put a hand on her hip and groaned. “What’s your point, Noll?”

  “He was there last night, the same night Ivan’s clan was decimated. You know the vampires that own the place.”

  Zoey started to laugh. “Did you do all that yourself, Eric?” she asked in a childish voice. “Hmm…something wicked this way comes indeed.”

  “Are you going to help me or not?”

  “I like this new version of you. Shame Anna was always in love with the bleeding romantic.”

  “Zoey!” Eric raised his voice.

  “My God! Fine…fine. I’ll help you find your boyfriend.”

  Eric smiled. “Okay, where are we going first.”

  Zoey chuckled. “I’ve just left the gray sweetie, I’m going everywhere. But to find that drunk bag of bones I don’t need to take another step.”

  “You can…you can contact him?”

  “Of course I can. He’s a witch, isn’t he?”

  “A warlock,” Eric replied.

  “Same thing. The disgraced black sheep of my disbanded coven.”

  “Your coven…he, he was-”

  “Yes! We were once a family. Is that so hard to believe?”

  Noll started laughing. “Before he was the underworld’s biggest drunk.”

  Eric swallowed then sat back down and slumped his shoulders. He looked from Noll to Zoey and sighed. “Can you find him?” he asked in a defeated tone. “Please?”

  It was more than needing Gary’s help. He was the only one that made Eric feel comfortable, the only one he felt like he knew. Gary was his connection to the life he wanted to have back.

  “Still a drama queen,” Zoey scathed and threw her hands up. “Be quiet and let me work.”

  With a deep breath, she closed her eyes. She swirled her fingers through the air, tracing an invisible pattern. Her hands moved faster and faster until the air started to distort, and distant images fizzled into view.

  “What is that?” Eric asked.

  “Silence!” Noll snapped.

  A face
slowly appeared in the space between her hands. It was faded like a puff of thin smoke, but it gradually materialized and formed something recognizable. Eric gawked then jumped back as the face spoke.

  “Zoey is that you?” Gary’s voice emanated from the thin specter.

  “Still answering the call of the blood moon I see. Where are you?”

  “I…I don’t know. I woke up here. There’s some cult, a bunch of cloaked psychos upstairs.”

  “Another drunken adventure no doubt,” Noll said with a laugh.

  “Noll!” the floating head barked. “Why are you here? I’m gonna kill you! This is all your fault! They asked me about your stupid diamonds!”

  Noll jumped then shuffled behind Zoey. She cut her eyes at him then turned back to Gary with a serious look.

  “Are you in trouble, Gary?”

  “Well, I don’t want to be here right now. But my captors have been civil…aside from taking my flask of whiskey and not letting me leave.”

  “And why haven’t you left? Certainly, you haven’t fallen so far as to be taken captive by your garden variety warlock hunters.”

  “The magic here is strong…really strong,” Gary replied. “Commission strong.”

  “Stronger than the bond of blood? I think not, the call to the coven knows no higher pledge.”

  Zoey’s eyes darkened, and she reached out for the tenuous profile. Her hands seized hold of his face as it solidified under her touch. Mumbling words in a sing-song patter, she pulled back and to Eric’s amazement, Gary was plopped from thin air and dropped onto the floor.

  He hit the ground hard. His trench coat coiled around him as it flailed away from whatever shady basement he’d come from. Grunting, he flung the coat from over his head and looked up.

  “Eric!” he gasped in shock.

  Zoey stepped in between them and gazed down upon him. “Yes, it is Eric. We have some talking to do, Gary.”

  CHAPTER 21

  WITCHES BREW

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Eric asked.

  Gary winced as he leaned over the massive cauldron and dropped the bright red leaf. “I’m fine,” he said angrily. Pausing, he looked up at Eric then frowned. “Sorry…I just, I should’ve been more careful.”

  The liquid inside the iron pot started to bubble and spew sparkles of red and blue light into the air. Eric jumped back to avoid the gurgling brew. Then, with a hint of caution he leaned forward as his curiosity got the better of him.

  “Is it supposed to look like that?”

  “How the hell should I know? I got the recipe from an evil witch that stole it from a book that we stole from a tree in some German forest.”

  Eric gave him a sideways glance then shook his head from side to side. “When you say it like that, I’m not sure it’s a good idea. And you expect me to drink this?”

  “It’s your memories and they are all waiting at the bottom of a cup of this,” Gary said and tilted his head toward the kettle.

  Eric twisted his face then turned away. Biting his lip, Gary continued to stir the potent mixture. He stared blankly in the distance as his mind drifted to the hooded figures that had taken him away like he was a powerless child.

  He’d become adept at hiding his fear, but he couldn’t shake the terror that worked its way through his body like a virus. The night he’d been taken was a blur and all he could remember is waking up in a dank basement surrounded by strangers, but that wasn’t what scared him.

  The cloaked shadows spoke of Eric and prophecies and things they couldn’t have known. They never identified themselves, but they knew all about him and they knew how to control his power. He’d felt more magic in that basement then any place he’d ever been, yet he couldn’t spin even the simplest of spells. No one should be that powerful.

  They spent hours interrogating him. Gary couldn’t remember half of what they asked, but the vulnerable feeling was impossible to shake. He needed answers, but first he needed his partner back.

  “So, you trust her now?” Eric asked, pulling Gary from his reverie.

  “What?”

  “She didn’t seem that bad. She did save your life.”

  Gary shrugged. “I don’t know. There’re bigger things going on than Zoey. We just need to get you back to being you.”

  “What else goes in here?”

  Gary reached across the counter and grabbed a small, blue pouch. He undid the drawstrings and reached his hand inside, withdrawing a fist full of blue hued powder. “Just this.” He dropped it into the cauldron and the liquid flashed.

  “Now what?” Eric asked.

  “Now you drink it.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “Yeah…that’s it. Fair warning, you’ll get more back then just your lost memories.”

  Eric twisted his face. “What does that mean?”

  “Just that you might remember things that you wouldn’t otherwise. Memories buried or forgotten on purpose.”

  “So…so is this even safe?”

  “I think so. This is my first time.”

  “Your first time!” Eric echoed in shock.

  “Yep. I’m gonna need a drink. You want one?”

  Gary made his way to the library and grabbed a bottle from the shelf. He held it up to the light and watched the caramel colored liquid slosh from side to side.

  “Sure, pour me a glass. Can’t be worse than whatever is in that pot.”

  Gary smiled and filled two glasses to the brim. He handed one to Eric and they clanked them together then gulped them down.

  Eric gagged then held his glass in the air. “One more,” he groaned.

  “That’s the spirit,” Gary said with a grin.

  He filled both glasses again then headed back into the kitchen. “You may want to save this one for a chaser,” he cautioned. “Not sure what this is gonna taste like.”

  “Good idea.”

  Gary set his cup onto the counter then grabbed a mug. He scooped a cupful out of the pot and handed it to Eric. “Bottoms up.”

  Eric stared into the swirling concoction and frowned. “Here’s to finding myself,” he said then tipped the cup back to his mouth.

  CHAPTER 22

  STOLEN MEMORIES

  The taste was bitter with a hint of honey. It was thick going down, but easy enough to swallow. He quickly emptied the cup then followed it up with the glass of bourbon that singed his throat.

  “I don’t know how long it takes,” Gary warned. “You should probably sit down.”

  Eric followed him back into the study and took a seat on the partially burned couch. His head felt groggy and the room suddenly started to spin.

  “I feel funny,” Eric complained. “Like…like my heart is beating in my ears.”

  He leaned his head back and twisted uncomfortably. His throat burned and every breath he took felt like his lungs were going to pop. The world around him melted away and his fingers tingled like they’d fallen asleep.

  The feeling spread throughout his body until it was all he knew. Until his entire form dissolved and he was nothing more than an empty thought, floating through space and time. Everything else faded, the sounds of life, of Gary’s voice, the sound of his own beating heart dimmed until silence was his world. And that silence was so loud, squeezing him like a vice, tighter and tighter until he blacked out.

  Eric awoke on a hillside in a distant land that he didn’t recognize. Fields of green rolled across the ground for as far as he could see and a vibrant sky full of oblong clouds and rays of multi-colored sunlight soared above him.

  He stood up and took a deep breath, sucking in the alien air that he could feel surging through his body all the way down to his toes. It made him feel stronger, more alert, and energized. He felt like he could fly if he breathed enough.

  Bursting with energy, he started down the hill toward the valley. At the bottom a massive lake shimmered with turquoise waters. He made his way to the shoreline and dropped to his knees, cupping his hands into the cool basin. He
sipped greedily, splashing water onto his face and gorging himself with the revitalizing drink. It was like nothing he’d ever tasted before, yet somehow it was familiar.

  He hadn’t felt thirsty before, but now all he wanted was to drink. So, he gulped down the lake until his stomach felt like it was going to burst. Then he drank some more.

  Once he could no longer swallow a drop, he paused and stared into the mirror-like surface. A face stared back at him, a face he knew, but hadn’t seen in decades. The hazel eyes pierced his soul and begged him to come play. A smile stretched across the youthful face and Eric traced the untarnished lines with his finger. His ten-year-old self winked then vanished as a ripple spread across the water.

  Eric stood and found the boy standing a few yards ahead of him. He motioned for him to follow then took off running through the field. Eric looked back at the water as the surface calmed once again then he started after his younger self.

  “Wait up,” he called.

  He ran at a slight jog and in a few strides, they happened upon a small village that couldn’t have been there before. People dressed in strange clothes milled about without a care in the world. They looked like they’d been plucked out of a movie set during the eighteenth century. The women wore long, elaborate gowns, embroidered with white lace and adorned with jewels. The men wore knee-length suits with hats and wigs and ornate time pieces. Eric had never felt so out of place.

  “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

  The boy ignored him, glancing over his shoulder as he weaved through the crowds. Eric wanted to protest but continued to follow. He hurried along, stumbling out of the way to avoid the bumbling mob. He apologized over and over as people brushed past him, but they paid him no attention. He began to suspect that the boy was the only person that could see him.

  A loud boom sounded, and everyone paused momentarily. Eric could feel the trace of magic spreading through the air and he eagerly let it flow through his body like a conduit. The crowd didn’t share in his fascination.