Freedom (The Sorcerers' Scourge Book 4)

by Michael Arches

  “Yes, exactly,” the sorcerer said. “I’m sorry I’ve worried you, sir.”

  Philippe smiled at the man. “We must look frightful, but I can assure you, all is well.”

  Celine went along our little charade, too, but the wannabe cop wasn’t buying it. He kept recording.

  There wasn’t much else I could do to chill him out, so I motioned for my group to follow me back to the car.

  The jerk followed us. I half expected him to dial 911 along the way. He didn’t, at least not as far as I could tell, but I didn’t spend much time looking at him.

  Back in the parking lot, Philippe sat in the Porsche, and I drove the Mercedes with Celine and my new slave who sat on my jacket to keep blood off the seat.

  This car was much more my style, less flashy and easier to drive. I made a mental note to ask Gracie whether I could have it instead of the Cabriolet.

  After we got out of the park, I called Ian with my fancy new cell phone and summarized what it happened.

  “With your luck,” Ian said, “the guy photographing you probably works for a local TV station. This is why we try not to ambush sorcerers in public. Too much potential for trouble.”

  “I didn’t really have much choice, your lordship.” Then I turned to the guy in the back seat. “Hey asshole, where do you live anyway?”

  “San Jose,” he said.

  “Ian, did you hear that? I couldn’t follow him all the way home. Or do you want to tell Celine she just wasn’t worth saving?”

  I turned to her. “Celine, say hi to my new boss, Ian O’Rourke.”

  “That’s enough, Moira,” he said. “I was simply noting why public fights often cause trouble.”

  I knew he was right and that I was being a jerk for putting him on the spot. The bottom line was, though, I’d done what I’d needed to do.”

  “Yes, my prince,” I said. “Hopefully, Fake Cop will let the subject drop.”

  -o-o-o-

  Seabreeze Inn, Monterey, California

  WHEN WE GOT back, I marched my latest conquest and Celine straight to Ian’s office.

  Lee looked at me in wide-eyed wonder. “You don’t waste any time in head stomping, do you?”

  I couldn’t tell whether that was a compliment or complaint, so I assumed he was trying to be nice. “One less scumbag prowls the streets. Is His Majesty busy?”

  Lee waved our group into Ian’s office.

  The great man smiled at me from behind his desk. “Moira, please be so kind as to inform your slave that he should follow Lee’s orders.”

  I did that and sent him off to be processed.

  When he had left, I said, “Ian, this is my old friend Celine who’s been forced for many years to work in a harem. Her owner planned to kill her because she had become too old to sell.”

  In came from around his desk and shook Celine’s hand. “I’m very pleased to meet you. This is your lucky day.”

  After the sorcerer disappeared, she was all smiles. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate—no that’s not nearly a strong enough a word—how much I adore you both. This is the best day of my life.”

  “It worked out marvelously, didn’t it?” Ian said. “Our Moira is an amazing witch. And you must be exhausted after your ordeal. Let me find someone to help you.”

  He returned behind his desk and dialed his phone. “Gracie, Moira brought in an old friend who she just rescued from a sorcerer. I was wondering if you could help Celine find a place to stay so she can relax for a few days.”

  He paused for a moment and said, “Terrific. Come on by.”

  Gracie popped her head into his office and took Celine away.

  Before my old friend left, I said to her, “We’ll catch up this evening, okay?”

  She burst into tears and hugged me. “Absolutely.”

  Her appreciation left a warm glow in my heart.

  After Gracie and Celine left, Ian asked Philippe, “Any problems I should know about, other than the twit you ran into at the park?”

  Philippe smiled at me. “None. Moira did her very best under extraordinarily difficult conditions. I was extremely impressed with her doggedness. The clan is lucky to have her.”

  “Indeed, it is,” Ian said. “Perhaps we can talk more at the celebration.”

  Philippe grinned at me as he left, leaving me alone in the lion’s den.

  Ian walked in front of his desk and leaned against it. “Give me your hand so I can check your memories. Not that I don’t trust you.”

  Of course he didn’t trust me. Maybe I wouldn’t trust myself after hearing the crazy-ass story I’d told. I’d had plenty of experience at kowtowing to sorcerers, so I nodded.

  I took his outstretched hand. He grasped me gently and held on for a moment. When he’d apparently satisfied himself that I’d told him the unvarnished truth, he let go.

  “Let’s hope the nut who confronted you drops the issue,” he said.

  I couldn’t agree more, but I had to ask, “What if he doesn’t?”

  “We’ll figure that out when the time comes. Now, let’s head to yet another party. Yes, your attendance is mandatory.”

  We headed for the gazebo together, and as we walked, I got an email blast from Gracie inviting the entire clan to another victory celebration.

  After about fifteen minutes, I realize that this get-together wasn’t nearly as crowded as the last. Wanda was present, though, and she hugged me.

  “I’m so thrilled you saved someone else.”

  I hugged her back, but she was still my slave, so I couldn’t tell whether she was being honest or not. Magic would make her say anything she thought I’d want to hear.

  Laura and Christina attended, along with Ian’s disciples. The Council also showed up.

  Sadie said to me in a quiet voice, “Congratulations, child. You inspire the young gals in the clan.”

  I didn’t want her to be disappointed later by hearing a full account of my fight.” You should know it didn’t go as smoothly as it could’ve. I’m sorry for any problems that causes.”

  “Hush, girl, it’ll all turn out just fine. I want you to sit right here and tell me how the deal went down.”

  Before I finished, Philippe came by with a glass of champagne for me.

  “Where’s mine?” Sadie asked.

  With a grin, he said, “Coming right up, Madame.”

  When he dashed off, Sadie shook her head at me. “Oh, no, girl. You can’t take that boy away from the other ladies. That’ll cause a civil war, for damned sure.”

  Not sure how to respond, I played dumb. “What do you mean?”

  “I saw those sparks a flyin’,” she said. “Don’t tell me you ain’t got plans to jump that fine young man.”

  My face warmed. “I’m not good at relationships. I don’t know the rules. Do I have to get permission to fall into bed with someone?”

  She cackled. “Doesn’t do me any good to tell you no, does it? You’re just planning to sneak around behind my back. You gotta know, though, plenty of gals got their eye on our Philippe. A real sweet boy. If I were thirty years younger, I’d go for him myself.”

  He came back and sat with me as I finished telling Sadie about the fight.

  Then Sadie said, “That gal’s as lucky as lucky can be.” She stood. “This here party’s for you, Moira. Don’t go sneaking off until everybody’s had a chance to congratulate you.”

  Maybe it was an incredible coincidence, but that exact thought was bubbling up in my mind. I had no idea what Philippe had in mind for later, if anything, but I was dying to find out.

  “Yes ma’am,” I said.

  She left, but Philippe acted as though he was only interested in a conversation. Men were such strange creatures.

  Ian’s disciples, Jin and Tito, dropped by to congratulate me. She was a short, Chinese woman about thirty. Her muscles put mine to shame. Tito was almost as tall as me and probably weighed more. Both had strong aura
s.

  Because they asked, I described the fight again, and both listened with eyes wide open. I wasn’t sure why. “How many fights have each of you been in?”

  “I’ve trained for over a year,” Tito said, “but I’ve never fought in a challenge for power.”

  “Me either,” Jin said.

  “Don’t feel bad,” Philippe said. “I haven’t even trained to fight. My parents were strong believers in nonviolence.”

  Wow, was I out of place. I’d been going at it for as long as I could remember, but I tried not to act like a know-it-all.

  Nevertheless, Jin and Tito asked me lots of questions about battles, and I suddenly felt very old. I tried to give them a fair perspective, without bragging or exaggerating, but their eyes kept getting bigger.

  I was still answering questions when Frank showed up. It turned out, he’d fought for power a few times, and I let him take over as the explainer-in-chief. Every once in a while, I wondered how much fantasy he’d sprinkled in with the truth.

  During a lull in well-wishers, I called Katie and summarized the fight and the too curious man.

  She mostly listened, asking questions about how I felt at various points. I told her, and I basked in her congratulations. That’s what second moms were for.

  I dutifully stayed at the party until the dinner hour arrived, then most of us headed toward the dining room. My hunger was of an entirely different kind, but I didn’t know how to get that point across to the guy holding my hand. He hadn’t engaged in any open displays of affection, but he’d stayed with me as other folks came and went. That gave me hope.

  When he finally asked me, “Are you getting hungry?” I couldn’t wait any longer.

  “For a little TLC. I hope you don’t mind.”

  He stroked my cheek with his fingertips. “Not in the least.”

  I took him to my room, and as soon as I locked the door behind us, I began undressing him. That’s when Philippe gave me, by far, the best night of my life. Vive la France!

  Chapter 18

  Saturday, January 23rd

  AT FIVE-THIRTY in the morning, the Frenchman nibbled on one of my earlobes and woke me up.

  “Why so early?” I asked.

  “At six, we have to be ready to run. Ian is very punctual. Now, we have just enough time to shower together and get ready.”

  It didn’t usually take me that long to shower, but what he had in mind turned out to be much more time consuming—and exciting.

  Exactly at six, Philippe and I showed up at the inn’s main entrance. Although I was on time, Ian didn’t look happy.

  He approached me. “Two bits of bad news. First, the ding-a-ling you met at the park yesterday ran his pictures and a bylined story in the local paper. It must’ve been a very slow news day.”

  He gave me the newspaper already folded to the right page, but the photo caught my eye first. It showed me with my bruised face standing over the sorcerer looking like the Angel of Death. Blood covered his mouth, chin, and shirt, and it had splattered over my slacks. The headline read, Violence at the Park?

  The first line of the article asked another question. Was this woman an aggressor or a victim? The rest of the article summarized what the nosy guy had seen and how I’d told him everything was fine. At the end, the reporter asked anyone who knew me or the sorcerer to send the reporter an email.

  I shrugged. “Worse than I expected, but I don’t know what else I could have done to shut the guy up.”

  “The only answer is to avoid these circumstances at all costs,” Ian said.

  I’d been chewed out too many times to count, so I knew better than to contradict my master. And I didn’t dare throw any snark at him. “Yes, sir.”

  Then he handed me a single sheet of paper. “It gets worse.”

  It was a printout of an online story from one of the gladiator magazines that had often interviewed me. I wondered how Ian had gotten his hands on this. The circulation was supposed to have been strictly limited to sorcerers. This didn’t seem like a great time to ask, so I read the article, which included the same photo as the local paper.

  This second headline was even more inflammatory, Bloody Mary Goes on a Rampage. The first sentence read, Bloody Mary is apparently settling scores left and right. She attacked her gladiator sister’s manager a few days ago, and now she has attacked a sorcerer who had no relationship to her at all.

  I read the story, and it basically warned every sorcerer in the state that I was gunning for them all. That was bad enough, the reporter had contacted Dana’s new owner, Don Eichmann. He was quoted as saying, Bloody Mary is a menace to our entire community. We cannot sit idly by while she attacks everyone she comes across. I intend to find her and stop her insane campaign of retribution against those who’ve helped her or her family members for so many years.

  I kept my temper until I finish the article, then I yelled, “That rat bastard has a lot of gall calling me a menace. I’ll take him apart the first chance I get.”

  Philippe patted me on the back. “Ma belle, in the immortal words of Robert Kennedy, ‘Don’t get mad, get even.’”

  I turned to Ian. “What do you think?”

  “The time for fooling around is over. Get serious about your training.” With that, he took off, running at a killer pace. Everyone else, including me, fell far behind. We ran through deserted city streets heading north until we reached Del Monte Beach. Lazarus flew overhead, dipping, and swooping high into the sky, and screaming like he was after us. I envied him being up there in the clouds away from all human problems.

  Our group of ten continued north for a half hour, and it didn’t take me long to figure out that it was much harder to run on sand than pavement. Even the firm wet sand on this beach gave way below my feet with each stride.

  That was bad enough, but the group wanted to run right next to the waves. Nobody but me seemed to pay any attention to the infinite ocean, and I tried to keep my focus ahead. But I had no doubt that Mother Nature was gunning for me.

  Every minute or so, I glanced left to make sure a tsunami wasn’t forming that everyone was oblivious to. Nothing happened, but she was just lulling me into a sense of complacency for the kill shot later.

  When we got back to the inn, my feet and calves were killing me. This kind of running used different muscles, and I needed to build them up. I couldn’t keep up with Ian or even Frank, but I did my best. The only way I kept up with Laura and the other stragglers was that she stopped a couple of times to heal my calf muscles. They’d seized up early and often. The woman was amazing.

  When we reached the inn’s entrance, I had to bend over for a few minutes and gasp for breath. I obviously wasn’t in the kind of shape I needed to be. After I recovered, I looked around, hoping Ian had vanished. No such luck.

  He approached me. “Now that I’ve cleared my head with a little exercise, I realize you have to change your appearance, particularly your face. Every sorcerer in the state is going to be looking over his shoulder for Bloody Mary.”

  Philippe was standing right there, and he nodded. “Perhaps she could look like Beyoncé. That would certainly throw the opposition off.”

  I hoped he was joking. I was Irish, and I was proud of my heritage.

  Ian stroked his chin. “That might be taking things a bit too far, but you’re on the right track. We should talk to Maureen Danaher.”

  Philippe smiled. “Of course.”

  I put my hands on my hips. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

  Ian shrugged. “Maybe, if you’re reasonable. The main thing is, you need a completely different face and even hair.”

  That was a damned shame. I was just getting used to Gisele’s style. “Any changes will have to wait. I need to visit San Jose with Lee to free the sorcerer’s slaves and take control of his property.”

  “Fine,” Ian said, “we’ll take care of it after lunch. Until then, stay out of public places.”

  -o-o-o-


  LEE AND I hurried up to San Jose to free the four remaining members of the sorcerer’s harem, his three house slaves, and the two male gladiators. They were thrilled to see me, not knowing what’d happened to Celine and their old master. Although they’d hoped for a miracle, they were still thrilled to be set free.

  Lee worked a deal with the San Jose witch’s clan to allow the former slaves to stay in that area while they recovered their former lives. It only cost me five percent of the sorcerer’s net worth to avoid bringing them all to Monterey. Even after deducting one-third for my clan, and another third for the slaves, I received a hundred and sixty grand. Fighting sorcerers could pay awfully well.

  -o-o-o-

  AT LUNCH, PHILIPPE sat next to me at Ian’s family table. I looked over to a group of ten women and girls who glared at me, but I decided to be magnanimous in victory.

  “Hey, handsome,” I whispered, “much as I want you here, this might not be the best idea.”

  He sighed and whispered back, “I don’t want you to feel neglected after we enjoyed such a lovely time together. Fantastique.”

  “No kidding. Let’s do it again tonight, but in the meantime, you probably better soothe their wounded hearts. I’m afraid they’ll put out a hit on me.”

  He gave me a one-armed hug and kiss before returning to his band of well-wishers. A couple were much cuter than me. To be honest, they were all cuter than me, but he didn’t seem to care. That made him especially appealing.

  As I ate, I reviewed my daily schedule on my phone. At one p.m., I had an hour of meditation scheduled. At least, I could do that. It had been my main source of relief during my horrible life—that and reading stories. Nothing I’d found could beat billionaire leprechaun porn for sheer distraction, but meditation did come in a close second.

  At two p.m., I was due for an hour of sparring practice. Again, it should be something I could do. I’d sure as hell had gotten a lot of practice. Then someone had added to my calendar, Consultation with Maureen.

  Lee was nearby, so I asked him, “Who gets to tell me where to go and when?”