"You're on my home turf, Daphne," I said. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will."
A second wolf appeared to my left. This one was dark brown and its head was lowered as it growled menacingly. Between the two of them, they were attempting to expose my flank by approaching from opposite sides.
"Adoloret," I blasted a fireball into the ground in front of the brown, rotated so that my shield blocked the brown, and faced Daphne.
"That one was a reminder," I warned. "Next one will put someone in the hospital."
"Ah, shit." The man Joe had introduced at the hospital as Squirrel walked around from the back of the house and broke into a run. A short, bald man with a reddish-brown beard, he wore only a t-shirt and jeans, which looked out of place in the snowy, twenty-degree setting. The brown wolf’s ears rose at Squirrel’s voice and he backed up.
Squirrel charged just as Daphne leapt again. On instinct, I decided not to unload, choosing instead to duck into the breezeway and use my shield to deflect her. Something in the brown wolf's demeanor made me shift my strategy at the last second.
Daphne rebounded and hit the ground hard. Before she could recover, Squirrel picked her up and threw her deftly over his shoulder directly at the brown. The brown wolf hadn’t joined Daphne in the second attack, but was watching alertly and had no problem dodging the airborne gray wolf.
"Shift," Squirrel demanded, pointing his finger at Daphne. His voice carried the power of authority and Daphne squirmed in the snow, coming to her feet a moment later, naked and unabashed.
"The wizard is not our friend," she spat. Her skin bore the marks of hundreds of cuts which I suspected were from fighting with pack mates.
"The wizard, his family, and his friends are under Joe's protection. Do you want to deal with him on this?" Squirrel asked. As muscular as Daphne was, she was no match for the solid block that was Squirrel.
"The wizard has come to no harm," Daphne said, nursing her shoulder. "No harm, no foul."
"Adoloret." I formed a sphere of fire the size of a beach ball and launched it at her. She tried to dodge, but even with her preternatural speed, she was unable to get out of the way. Just before it struck, I twisted my hand and caused it to break into thousands of flaming shards which fluttered away from her, mostly without damage. She hopped away, slapping at her hair and skin where embers fell.
"No harm," I said. The brown wolf growled menacingly but didn't approach.
Squirrel looked at me uncomfortably, trying to assess what I might be up to. "We square?" he asked cautiously.
"I'll put her in the hospital if she comes after me or mine again," I said. "No more warning shots."
"Fair enough."
"What are you doing here? This is my home and my family is inside."
"I checked with the witch," he said. "She didn't invite us in, but said we could wait for you out here."
"What do you want?"
"We need to know where Joe was taken out," he said. "Someone took him down and we need to find out who."
"And then what?"
"Pack business," he replied. "We'll deal with it."
"People start dying and Joe's never getting out of jail," I said. "He doesn't need his pack running around town meting out justice."
"You have a better idea?"
"Turns out, I do," I said. "I'm going to trust you, Squirrel. Come inside with me while I get ready and I'll tell you what I'm thinking. We don't need to be on opposite sides of this thing."
"Josh. You need to keep this under control out here," Squirrel said.
"What's your real name, Squirrel?" I asked, offering my hand as we approached the house.
"Kyle O'Donohoe," he replied, accepting my gesture. I was impressed that he didn't attempt to crush my hand as we shook.
"Why Squirrel?" I asked, opening the mudroom door.
"Joe think's I'm too easily distracted by women."
I guffawed. "Who amongst us isn't?"
"Felix?" Gabriella called from the kitchen. "Everything okay?"
"Yes," I answered as Squirrel and I entered the kitchen.
He took in a sudden breath as he saw Gabriella. It was an understandable reaction. She was in yoga pants and a tight workout top. She sat at the high-top kitchen table typing on her computer with her back to us.
"Oh, sorry, didn't realize we were having company," she said. "I just got done working out. Squirrel, was it?"
Squirrel looked abashed when Gabriella approached with an extended hand. He accepted just as his face turned red and he stammered slightly. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."
"I hadn't realized you'd stayed, Squirrel," Gabriella said. "I figured you would have taken off when Felix didn't return."
"No, ma'am," he said.
She turned toward me. "How did your visit go downtown?"
"Missy's name came up," I said, trying to manage a casual tone.
"The body was Missy?" she asked, concern etched in her face.
"Friend of Missy's. We can talk about it later."
"Anything I should know about?" Squirrel asked.
"I don't think so. So here's the deal, Squirrel," I said, changing subjects. "Joe got taken out by ogres. Working theory is that those same ogres killed Rosen."
"Tell me where they're at and we'll deliver 'em wherever you want and in whatever size packages you specify." His smile shifted from friendly to macabre.
"There's more to this story. Ogres work hard to hide because they know humans would hunt them to the ends of the earth. It doesn't make sense they would kill a rich man in his house for sport and risk exposure," I said. "If your pack kills them, we'll never know who sent them. We either figure out what’s going on or Joe's going away for a long time."
"Start of the full moon cycle is in three days," Squirrel said. "No lycan ever stays in jail after a full moon. Joe might be strong, but he's a new wolf and he'll be forced to change."
"Here's my offer," I said. "Amak and I are going to track these ogres back to where they came from. You and another pack member of your choosing come with us."
"Your numbers are shit," he growled. "If two of those ogres took down our alpha, we're going to need a lot more than four of us."
"Tell me you've been listening," I said. "We're not tracking them down to have a fight. We need information, not blood."
"Yet blood has already been spilled."
I closed my eyes and sighed, Amak's concern about werewolves coming to Leotown couldn't have been better demonstrated. "Will you do it my way?"
"You have three days," Squirrel said. "After that, we're going hunting and your ogre problem will be taken care of."
"I need your pack off my property," I said. "Daphne and Josh proved you can't be trusted with my family's safety."
"That's not fair," he replied. "Daphne has a thing with you. Josh was backing up a pack member."
"And what if she decides to have a thing with my niece, or my sister, or Gabriella?" I asked.
"They wouldn't."
"Because you told them not to? How did that work with Daphne?"
"You proved your point with her," he said. "No blood was drawn."
"If she had threatened my family instead of me, I'd have done more than draw blood, Squirrel."
If he’d been in wolf form, the hair on his back would have been standing straight up. "Don't threaten my pack, wizard," he growled.
"Boys!" Gabriella interrupted. "We're on the same side here. The only reason Joe's pack is at Tenebrius Manerium is because Kyle wanted to talk with Felix. We've come to an agreement where Kyle and one more will join Felix and Amak on a scouting run. Can you agree to this, or do I need to come along to keep peace?"
Squirrel and I locked eyes for a moment. I knew to look away would place me in a position of subservience.
After a tense twenty seconds, I raised an eyebrow. "I feel like we have an agreement." I offered my hand.
He nodded almost imperceptibly. "We have an agreement, but you have a lot to learn about wolves, wizard."
>
"No doubt," I finally broke eye contact. "Orchard Park in an hour. You know where that is?"
"Even wolves have smart-phones. Look, this doesn't have to be hard," he said in a conciliatory tone.
I was unwilling to give in. "That hasn't been my experience."
"Fair enough." He turned to Gabriella and tapped his forehead. "Ma'am."
I followed him out to the mudroom door and swiped the wizard lock tumblers into place. Ordinarily, we relied on mechanical locks, but my trust had been shaken and I wasn't taking any further risks.
Gabriella stood hands on hips as I re-entered the kitchen. "You men and your testosterone."
"Daphne attacked me. It took everything I had not to blow her up," I said.
"Right, because she has such an easy life as a female wolf," Gabriella said. "You disrespect her, Felix. No doubt she gets enough of that from her pack. Give her an alternative to taking you down a notch."
"How can you take her side? She helped kidnap Clarita."
"It's not about sides, Felix," Gabriella said. "She was under Shaggy's control when she took Clarita. She was trying to survive. Remember, Susan was a waitress until Shaggy bit her and turned her life upside down. Now she lives with a pack of men who break into fights at the drop of a hat. Learn some empathy already."
It was time to change the subject. I was losing this argument. "The dead woman under the bridge had the life sucked out of her. There were signs of magic. I think some sort of artifact. There was a handprint on the back of her head and some incomplete Persian symbols burned into her solar plexus."
"What's this have to do with Missy Fitzhugh?" Gabriella asked.
"The dead girl, Thanda Williston, was released from a juvenile lockup facility yesterday. Guess who signed her out," I said.
"Missy?"
"Right. There's more. I think I saw Missy while I was at Thanda's crime scene," I said. "I had my wizard's sight going. Did you ever get a look at her aura?"
"No. I didn't know Missy, just her brother Robbie."
"The woman I saw had a bright aura: yellows, oranges - kind of pumpkiny colors. But she had dark purple stains."
"Like yours," Gabriella said quietly before I could fill it in.
"Yes, like mine," I said. I still hadn't told her everything about my experience with the succubus and Gester, mainly the dark energy I’d tapped into beneath the dungeon cell. "Whoever this girl was, she saw me looking at her. I think I surprised her because she did something with her hands and then totally disappeared, just like she did at Rosen's house."
"Did what?"
"It was like she opened a door and stepped through," I said.
"Could explain how she escaped jail."
"What I don't get is how she signed Thanda out when she was wanted by the cops."
"No mystery there if the detention center doesn’t run background and warrants on visitors."
"I need to talk to Gester," I said.
"About?"
"I need something that works with ogres," I said. "Fire is my only offensive spell and it splashes off them like water."
She glanced toward the door to the cellar. "You don't need to involve the demon in this. He can't be trusted."
"I agree, but I have no other options."
"Be careful, Felix," she said.
"Where are Clarita and Maggie?"
"I asked Maggie to keep her upstairs. Joe's pack was wandering the property and looking in the windows," she said. "We need curtains."
"Are you doing okay?"
"With what?"
"You had a tough day." I put my hands on her hips and pulled her close to me.
She placed her hands on my chest and looked into my eyes. Even with all the excitement surrounding us, I felt a momentary calm as we connected.
"If you don't mind, we'll stay here for a few days while I figure out what I'm doing." Her hand felt warm on my chest.
I smiled. "Of course not."
"Clarita and I might run out for a bit while you’re gone. I've called a coven meeting. The girls want to do a blessing of peace ceremony for me tonight."
"Where will you be?"
"That’s right. I didn't tell you. Mistress Barrios left Clarita her house. Lace is living there and we're going to use it for coven meetings."
"I thought Lace was living with Kelly and Andy. When did that happen?"
"Victoria's will cleared probate last week and Lace moved in yesterday. I was going to tell you at dinner but we got distracted," she said.
The sound of giggling and racing feet coming down the stairway announced the arrival of Clarita. No doubt Maggie would be close behind. "Maybe you should take Maggie."
"Maybe Maggie will decide what Maggie does." My sister had shifted from Saint Bernard to human. "I'm coming with you, Felix."
"I told Squirrel I'd just be bringing one," I said.
"Explain how you're going to keep up with Amak in the snow," she shot back.
"Explain how you'd change that."
Maggie smiled coyly. Somewhere along the line, I'd become inured to her nakedness, although I was careful not to look where blindness could be caused.
"Sounds like you have this worked out," Gabriella said. "We're going to sleep over at Barrios House with Lace. Clare-bear, can you get ready quick?"
"Sleepover!" Clarita screamed in excitement and ran back to the stairs, followed by Maggie.
"Be careful tonight, Felix."
"I will."
For a moment, I just watched as Gabriella disappeared up the stairs behind Maggie and Clarita. I felt fortunate to have the girls in my life. That, and man did she look good in yoga pants.
Chapter 8
Nothing Says Christmas Like Reindeer
"For a human, you are perceptive in your application of torture," Gester said as I dropped the sonic barrier.
"What do you know of wizard's magic?" I asked.
"A trade is it, then? You're going after the ogres. How delicious." Gester had assumed the form of an eighteenth-century aristocrat, complete with a pale green, red and gold embroidered waist coat, knee length breeches, silk stockings and a gray coat with tails. His ability to accurately guess my intentions with very little information was disconcerting.
I pulled out my phone, brought up my streaming music application, did a quick search on eighteenth century musicians and hit pay-dirt. It was the era of Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.
Gester strained to glance at my screen. "What are you doing?"
I cued the station and turned up the volume, leaving the phone on the side of the desk that sat next to the spell circle where Gester had been trapped for the last year. I watched with interest as he closed his eyes, if only momentarily.
"Did I tell you I met Beethoven?" he said. "It was such a grand time. I would have so enjoyed watching his life drain out, but alas, I became distracted. To this day, I believe it was his mastery that saved his life. Some things are just too beautiful to destroy."
"You mean that?"
"Of course not, Felix, my dear boy," he said. "Ludwig threw lavish parties - veritable feasts of heathens and proper folk. I was loath to disrupt such a good thing. The world was more forgiving of a few missing people back then. Now, one must hurry and get the killing all done in a few years before we're found."
I hit pause on the phone's player which prompted a raised eyebrow.
"Ah yes, wizard spells for ogres," he said. "I think it best you simply run along. Once you're dead, this spell will lose its power and I'll be free."
"Or my mother will find someone else to keep charging it."
"Atronia! How is Mother-dear? Oh, that's right, she disappeared with nary a word, almost like someone pulled on her chain," he said.
He was fishing for information and I was done with it. Earlier, I'd placed the kid's book on a stand and left it for Gester to look at. My reasoning was that boredom for a being as obviously smart and long-lived as he was would prove to be my best leverage. I opened the book to the copyright and
title pages and placed a stone in the crease to keep it propped open, then pulled on the fabric which covered the translucent sphere.
"Now, let's not be hasty," Gester said.
"You've countered my offer. Either I'll see you on the other side or I won't. I figured you would appreciate a page turn. Call it a show of good faith."
"I cannot un-see this drivel," he complained. "No wonder your species is so weak."
"If you're lucky, I'll be back to give you another page. You'd be surprised at how many of these picture books I have available."
"What are you offering?"
"Pick a piece of literature. I'll replace the children's book."
"You will spend an hour every day turning pages and I desire the Book of Sumerian Obelisk Rubbings on your top shelf, three in from the left."
"The library is off limits."
"The ogres will turn you to pulp," he said. "A werewolf pack without an alpha is no match for a copse of ogres. The Book of Sumerian Obelisk Rubbings."
"One page," I said. "And you'll identify the spell and its components first."
"Lapide pugno," he answered. "You'll find it in your mother's spell book."
That surprised me. "My mother left a spell book?"
"The Sumerian Obelisk tome first," he said.
I was probably making a mistake I would have to pay for in the future, but saw no alternative. I retrieved the book he requested; it was old and brittle. I remembered casting a preservation enchantment on it a few months back, but other than that it hadn’t been moved. I placed the unopened book onto the stand and removed the child's book.
"Which is my mother's spell book?" I asked.
"Directly behind the desk. There is a sheaf. You will find the spell within," he said.
"How do you know about this?"
"A conversation for another day."
I pulled out the loose collection of seven pieces of parchment. I'd seen it before but it hadn't made my reading list. "Is this Arabic?"
"Pahlavi. Fourth or fifth century Persian," he replied. "Bring it here, I'll translate for you."
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