Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

It was nice. Weirdly normal, but still nice.

  After I’d finished my first cup of coffee and when I wasn’t nearly as likely to murder someone, I turned to Dane, who was reading the newspaper. Like actual paper newspaper. Who did that?

  I looked down to see if he was wearing Grampa-style slippers as well. Thank the goddess he wasn’t. That was something I wouldn’t have been able to un-see.

  “What’s on the agenda today?” I said, refilling my cup of don’t-kill-people.

  He lowered the paper and looked my way. “I’m not sure. I feel like we’ve hit a stand-still. I think we need to get up close and personal with the Shillers. Maybe go drop in on Dawn Shiller at the library?”

  I considered it for a moment. “And say what, exactly? Hiya, kidnap any succubi lately?”

  He frowned, set the paper down and turned in his chair to face me. “Well, I was thinking of something a little subtler. But we’ll go with your plan if you want.”

  I laughed, carried my plate to the dishwasher and refilled my mug. “Or, we could go in as college students… architecture majors doing a research paper on local historical buildings. Get the wife talking to see what kind of person she is. Then maybe we’ll get her talking about her family?”

  “Fine,” he faked being disappointed. “I guess we can try it that way first.”

  Excitement bubbled through my veins. It was about time we did something proactive. “Sounds like a plan. Meet you at the car in ten?”

  Dane nodded and went back to reading his dead-tree paper. I shook my head and went to suit up. We can’t all just slap on any old thing and call ourselves presentable.

  I didn’t take long, five minutes maybe.

  I glanced in the oblong mirror behind the guest room door and checked my progress. Nestled into the waist of my dark gray cargo pants was my Sig, holstered at four o’clock. Over my pale gray tank-top I pulled on my favorite under-the-arm holster and secured my backup gun under my left arm, for a cross-body draw. Then I covered it all with my tailored leather jacket. For the cherry on top, I slid one blade into my coat pocket and another down the inside of my boot.

  Sure, we were just going to the library to chat up one bored housewife, but one could never be too careful, especially when it came to the magically inclined. It’s not the magic you’re expecting that kills you, it’s the shit you don’t see coming.

  Within five minutes I joined Dane in the car. As I buckled up, he turned on the radio and backed out of the driveway. Shinedown was playing, so I was content to ride and listen, and watch the scenery pass by my window. Before long, I spied our destination up ahead.

  The library itself was made of ornate stonework, and if I had to guess, the building was probably over a hundred years old. We parked in the front, to the left of the heavily columned entrance, nodded to each other and climbed out.

  “So. who’s gonna play the good cop?” Dane smirked, jogging up the twenty-odd steps beside me.

  “Uh, not me. I wouldn’t know where to start with that one.” I kicked up my pace a tick, just enough to keep a step ahead. Competitive, I was.

  We reached the brass-trimmed, double-glass doors in no time. Dane pulled one side open for me and held it as I passed through. Stepping into the core of the library, I stopped and inhaled, closing my eyes. Not for the first time I wished someone could figure out how to bottle the smell of old books—I’d buy that shit right up. In bulk.

  “Need a moment?” Dane stopped beside me, scanned the layout.

  I elbowed him in the gut. “No, I’m good.”

  He waved in the direction of the long, half-moon granite desk, illuminated by the skylights. “I guess we just ask for her at the desk?”

  I shook my head and pulled him into the stacks. “Do you want to spook her? I say we just wander around see if we can run into her all innocent-like.”

  He pulled a book from the shelf, thumbed through it and held it up to me. “This any good?”

  I knew the author well, and the series. I bit my lip. “Depends. How do you feel about mixed Supe orgies?”

  He twisted his head and looked at me like I had eight eyes. “Um, hello! Have you forgotten who you’re talking to? This is coming with me.”

  Shaking my head and trying not to smile, I wandered down the aisle, presumably browsing. When I was done with one, I started on the next. I’d occasionally stop and pull down a book, flip through the pages and slide it back into it’s slot on the shelf. Rinse and repeat.

  Dane trailed behind me for a while, but then he took his paranormal orgy book and had a seat on the fringe of the main area, sinking into a plush oversized chair. I had to hand it to them, this was one of the nicest libraries I’ve ever been in. Made me want to take a selfie and snap that shit.

  I’d made it through half of the building before I finally saw her – Dawn Shiller—bent over a long mahogany table in a meeting alcove. She was so focused on the research before her that she didn’t hear me approach.

  “Oh, wow. These are awesome!” I put on my perkiest student mask. “How old are they?”

  Dawn Shiller glanced up, touching the yellowed blueprints protectively. “Very. Don’t touch them, please.”

  Well, wasn’t she just a ray of freaking sunshine.

  I held up my hands, “Oh, I wasn’t going to, promise.”

  Her gaze slid briefly my way before settling back down to the display on the table. My attempt at small talk wasn’t going so well. I needed to try again, to come up with a different tactic, or this whole excursion was a waste.

  “Aren’t you that historic building lady? I recognize you from the papers.”

  That got her attention. She looked up again, like she was noticing me for the first time. I took that moment to size her up as well.

  Early forties, waif thin, with dull dirty-blond hair that barely reached her shoulders. She wore tan slacks and a thin peach sweater. There was nothing remarkable about Dawn Shiller, except for the shrewdness behind her eyes.

  “Yes, that’s me. Do I know you?” she replied.

  I shook my head and sent a brief glance in Dane’s direction. His nose was firmly pressed into his found book. Fabulous. I’d lost him to supernatural polyamory.

  Focusing back on Shiller, I tried for an easy smile. “No, I don’t think so. I’m just an architecture major and I pay attention to buildings. You’re kind of my hero.”

  I made myself sick just saying the words.

  She relaxed a bit, but I could tell her guard was still up. The way she stood, toes pointed away from me. The way she held herself stick straight. The way she gazed down at me from her pudgy little nose.

  Don’t worry, hun, I don’t like you either.

  At least my words seem to fluster her a bit.

  Her cheeks flushed and she waved me off. “I’m no hero, just trying to do right by the buildings. They deserve better than to be allowed to fall to ruin. To crumble like they never mattered to the people that built them brick by laborious brick.”

  While I considered how to respond to her speech, because clearly she thought I was some sort of reporter in disguise or something, she continued.

  “It’s just not right. Abandoning someone when they’re no longer useful to you.” She tapped the table with a tick, tick, tick, then she looked at me oddly.

  Somehow, I didn’t think we were talking about buildings anymore. Dawn Shiller was quite the strange bird.

  I tried to pull things back on track. “I agree. It’s sad when old things are tossed aside in favor of the new.”

  Her face twisted as she leaned closer. “What college did you say you attended?”

  I stepped back. Apparently, something about my last comment touched a nerve. “I didn’t, but I’m in the process of transferring here from UVA.”

  That seemed smooth her wrinkles. “Oh, well there are some very good schools in the area.”

  She turned back to her maps and blueprints, effectively dismissing me. I stood there awkwardly for another minute or so before fina
lly giving up.

  “Well, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you around?” I backed away with a wave of my hand.

  Dawn Shiller met my gaze and gave me an icy smile. “Maybe you will.”

  8

  Safely away from the library and speeding along in Dane’s car, we spent the first few minutes in quiet, contemplating.

  Dane spoke first. “So, what did you make of Dawn Shiller?”

  “Honestly, I think she’s a bitch. Talking to her made my head hurt, so I deserve a reward, maybe even a dozen of them” I pointed to a bakery up at the next intersection and made a puppy dog face. “Pull in there.”

  He obliged and eased the car into the shallow lot in front of a quaint little building with a pink and white stripped canopy, which was aptly named Pinky’s. The car had barely come to a full stop before I opened my door, already drooling over a sugary diversion.

  “Hey, slow your roll.” Dane waggled his eyebrows at me as I climbed out of the car. “Get it.”

  I rolled my eyes at his horrible pun and slammed the car door. “Just for that, desserts are on you.”

  He met me at the front of the car. “Well, I’ve never been one for the food-based kinkery, but I’ll try anything at least once.”

  I slapped him on the back and shoved him through the open door. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  We sidled up to the gleaming display cases and the drooling started straight away. I’m pretty sure we ordered one of everything and once our loot was in-hand, we settled around a cute little wrought iron table up front, near a plate glass window.

  “So… did you learn anything useful at least?” Dane bit into a creampuff and groaned. “Mmm.”

  His voice did something squirrelly to my insides. Focus, Quinn.

  “Not really.” I eyeballed my box of goodies, trying to decide which one to eat first. I picked up a glazed doughnut, because you can’t go wrong with simplicity. “She was very anti-social, self-absorbed and not very charismatic. I didn’t sense anything magical about her, so that’s something.”

  Dane polished off his cream puff and started on a double-chocolate muffin with a marshmallow filling and espresso cloud icing. My mouth watered, and not just from the way he licked icing from his fingers.

  “Hey, that was mine.” I frowned and poked around the box of sweets to see if it had been the only one. Biting back my disappointment, I sunk my teeth into a death-by-chocolate brownie. I was fairly confident I’d be in a sugar coma in under an hour.

  “Hey, when you want something you have to take it, otherwise someone else will.” He popped the last bit of cake into his mouth and licked his lips.

  My stomach did a little flip. He wasn’t talking about cupcakes and I didn’t know what to do with that. So, I decided to ignore and divert.

  “How would you feel about a little magic?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I realized how they sounded following his last double-entendre.

  He lifted one eyebrow and his lips formed into a crooked smile.

  “A spell, I mean. Maybe I can find a way to track Elena.” I spat out before he had a chance to say something dirty.

  Because hells bells I didn’t know how much longer I could resist doing something dumb and oh-so fun. I had to get this train back on track, and fast.

  Dane narrowed his eyes. “You can do that?”

  It was my turn to glare at him. “What? Of course, what kind of witch can’t do spells?”

  He held up his hands. “No offense. I just know you don’t like to use magic so I assumed that you steered clear.”

  “No, I don’t like to use potentially lethal magic. The rest is second nature and I can pull that trigger any time I want.” Moving on to a chocolate croissant, I considered my options.

  “Okay, so how does it work?” Dane wiped his hands on a napkin and pushed his plate away.

  I finished off my latest treat and responded. “Spells?”

  He nodded.

  “Well, it depends on the spell. With some all I need to do is speak an incantation while focusing on the end goal. With others, I need a few supplies.”

  He groaned and leaned back in his chair. I wasn’t going to be the only one in a food coma that afternoon. “Which kind did you have in mind to locate Elena?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Maybe both.” I boxed up the rest of the goodies for the road and pushed back from the table. Standing, my gut felt as swollen as a tick on a hound dog.

  “I take it we’re going shopping then?” He stood and ushered me towards the door.

  “Yep.” Squeezing by Dane to exit the bakery, I pulled up my phone to google the nearest occult shop, or in a pinch, some place that sold dried herbs, homemade candles and the like.

  We reached the car and I waggled my phone over the roof at Dane. “Found just the place. Three blocks east, take a left, then it’s a half-mile on the right.”

  He started the engine and we were off. We located the occult shop, known ominously as The Shop of Requirement, and parked in front of it on the street. The building had seen better days, but beyond the chipping paint and weathered exterior, the shop looked authentic and promising.

  The door tinkled as we entered and a middle-aged woman with flowing skirts and shapeless hair glided into view.

  “Can I help you?” she said, her voice full of air and light.

  It sent shivers dancing over my skin. She had power, real power.

  I smiled and approached her while Dane hung back, clearly out of his element.

  “Yes, please. I need a few things to help locate a missing person.” I held out my hands to the woman and she clasped them in her own.

  “Of course you do, dear. I have just the things. Follow me.”

  She pulled me into the back corner of the store, where an impressive collection of candles lined the entire wall of shelves. “You don’t have anything, right?”

  I shook my head, “No, mam. I’m away from home and didn’t bring anything other than myself.”

  “Okay, first you’ll need four blue candles.” She pulled the thick, cobalt candles from an overhead shelf and handed them to me.

  Then she ducked down another aisle. Herbs, oh so many of them. And it was as if I could smell each and every blessed one. It was sensory heaven.

  She took a small paper bag from a table and carefully lifted the lid on a glass canister. From within, she scooped out a handful of incense cones.

  “Jasmine,” she said, handing the bag to me.

  I followed her around the corner, only slowing to grab several small metal concave discs to burn the incense on safely, then caught up with her in the accessories aisle.

  “Do you prefer a bowl or goblet for scrying?”

  I considered my options, then pointed to a dark ceramic bowl to my right. It was plain, and one that should have been easily overlooked, hidden behind other larger bowls and goblets. But it didn’t matter. “That one.”

  She smiled and winked. “It called to you, did it? They do that sometimes.”

  The whirlwind of shopping almost over, I met her at the register and asked for the damage. Instead of giving me my total, she ignored me and began carefully packaging up my supplies.

  “You’ll want to place the candles and incense in the four cardinal directions, in a circle, and sit in the center facing west. Fill the bowl up three-quarters full of water and set it in front of you.”

  She placed the bowl at the bottom of the bag, wrapped heavily in paper, and then added in the candles and lastly the incense. “Light the candles and burn the incense.”

  She paused to take out a pad and paper, jotting down notes in a flourished script. Then she slipped the instructions in the bag with everything else. “Then speak the words on the paper and peer into the bowl—that will give you the information you seek. Hopefully.”

  I smiled and took the bag she passed over the counter. “Thank you so much. How much do I owe?”

  She waved a hand at me. “Not a thing. You need them more than
I do, so they’re yours. Good luck!”

  I turned back to Dane, shocked at her generosity, and he shrugged his shoulders. Turning back to the woman to thank her, truly, I stopped in mid-turn.

  She was gone. I spun and searched the shop, but she’s left just as effortless as she’d appeared.

  I met Dane at the doorway. “That was… interesting.”

  He pulled open the door for me. “You have no idea. You should have seen it from my viewpoint. You two were like little magical tornadoes spinning around the shop. Seriously. You do realize that whole thing took less than thirty seconds, right?”

  My mouth dropped open and I stopped, turned to face him. “Uh, no. I did not. It felt like normal-time to me.”

  Shaking my head to clear it, I started walking to the car. “Well, at least today wasn’t boring.”

  He hit the remote and the car beeped in response. “No, it wasn’t. Every day with you seems to bring up something weird.”

  “Thanks, I guess?” I twisted my mouth into a semi-frown.

  “No,” he laughed and climbed into the car. “I mean it in a good way.”

  I situated myself in the passenger seat and pulled the door shut. “Well, with any luck, it’s about to get a whole lot more interesting.”

  “I look forward to what you get us into next.” He smiled and looked at the road behind us.

  “I’m sure it will be interesting at least.” I leaned forward to fiddle with the radio as Dane pulled away from the curb and headed for home.

  Within a few minutes we’d arrived back at his place and started setting up for the spell. The best room to do it was the living room, I’d decided. While Dane made short work of moving the couches back against the wall and taking the coffee table into another room, I used my phone to get the geographical bearings I needed.

  North. East. South. And West.

  Placing a candle in the cardinal directions, I flanked each blue pillar with a metal disc and incense on either side. I filled the scrying bowl with water and carefully carried it back to the center of the living room floor, then I dug a lighter out of my messenger bag.

  I looked around to be sure I hadn’t forgotten anything and satisfied, turned back to Dane. “Can you close the blinds?”