Charms and Death and Explosions

by Honor Raconteur

  Amiable to this, I chose to remain standing a little longer, as my cramping thighs did not relish the idea of sitting again soon. I’d been sitting far too much today. My muscles liked being upright for a change of pace. “Do you…” I trailed off when a funny expression crossed her face and her head turned, nose lifting like a dog catching a scent. “What is it?”

  “I thought I caught a whiff of gasoline,” she answered uncertainly. “But we’re next to a garage, I suppose that makes sense.”

  “But you didn’t pick up the scent on entering?” Something about it bothered her, I could tell. But the rational mind didn’t always pick up on the logic of something, even while the instincts screamed warnings.

  “No, I did, but this was stronger. Not contained.” As soon as the words popped out of her mouth, she hopped up onto the boot of the car, using the height to look around us, head jerking about as she panned the area. “Lots of gasoline not contained. It’s not something I like, usually leads to fires. Crap, where is it coming from?”

  I had no answer for her. “Unfortunately, I can’t do a seeking spell, it will lead us directly to this garage, as that’s the nearest source for gasoline. You can’t pick up the scent again?”

  “It’s completely gone,” she groaned in frustration, hands clenching into fists at her side. “I now have complete sympathy for bloodhounds. This is frustrating. I just had it, when that random breeze came in, but now it’s—”

  A roar buffeted us, a wave of heat and noise. Glass shattering, people screaming in fright and stunned horror, like a tidal wave of disaster captured in sound. Thoroughly alarmed, I whirled about, as it had come from somewhere behind me, further up the street.

  Jamie swore, as viciously as any sailor, hopping from the boot straight for the driver’s seat. “Henri, get in, call for the fire department!”

  I scrambled, demanding as I moved, “What happened? And by what means do you expect me to do so?”

  She stared at me blankly for a moment, then swore. “Right. No cell phones. I HATE not having cell phones. Message Gibs, he’s nearby and should be able to get the fire department out here.”

  That was reasonable and I hastily snatched the texting pad out of my pocket even as I demanded, “Did you see it?”

  “Something just exploded,” she answered grimly, then gunned it out of the parking lot. “And with that amount of smoke, I think it was a couple of buildings.”

  It was easy to see the epicenter of the blast. I stood up inside of the car, and even as I drew my wand, I couldn’t help but hesitate a second to take in the scene. The building—it had likely been a shop of some sort—was nothing more than a shell of brick and fire now. A fanciful mind would think it akin to a burning jaw, gaping open from the mouth of the underworld. The neighboring buildings were the same: brick and fire and dark smoke, as if a demon lived and breathed in its depths, the inky clouds of smoke pillowing its way up into the sky. The air held so much smoke and heat that even across the street, I found it difficult to breathe. The intense heat scorched and tightened my exposed skin in a very uncomfortable fashion. I instinctively wanted to shed my coat but refrained, as I wanted the protection of the fabric against stray embers.

  The heat, fortunately, kept the onlookers back. They watched in horror, exclaiming to each other, people hanging out of windows or crowded together in bundles. For their sake, I knew that I had to get this fire under control quickly, as it would spread to everyone’s homes and businesses if I didn’t. Gibs had called for the fire department, I was sure others had as well, but every minute counted in an inferno like this. It had taken us ten minutes to reach this area, and by a miracle Jamie had forced her way through the crowd until we were catawampus to the burning buildings, across the street from it. I didn’t see how a fire wagon could get through.

  I threw three suppressing spells directly forward, hitting the main building first, as it burned directly in front of me. The inferno sizzled against my magic, buffeting backwards, and I frowned in confusion. That should have worked…why hadn’t that worked?

  Jamie leaned down and shouted to someone over the roar of flame, “Is there anyone inside there?!”

  “No one living!” a woman shouted back to her. “They all ran out as soon as the fire started! Oh, those poor people, it’s just a charms shop, why would anyone set it on fire like this?”

  Charms shop? My eyes went wide in realization, cold horror sinking into my gut. Mellor Charms and Spells? It had to be, it was in the right location for it. And that explained why my spells weren’t having the proper effect—multiple magical charms were going up in flames right now, the fire would release the magic in unpredictable and very volatile ways. I’d seen some magic mixed in with the inferno, but I’d also expected to—there were charms and hexes on every business building for fire, theft, and other miscellaneous purposes. It would be stranger if I hadn’t. But now that I was truly paying attention, I realized the majority of the flame was magical in nature. It wasn’t because some chemical property had mixed in and threaded the blaze a strange green-blue hue.

  “Jamie,” I snapped out urgently, “get Seaton down here immediately. And Gibson. Every Kingsman you can. Magical fires can’t be suppressed by water, the fire department won’t stand a chance of getting this under control.”

  She lost no time in digging out her pad, and I left her to contacting the right people.

  I didn’t think I needed to say this, but I warned, “And do not, for the love of anything holy, go any closer than this. Just this proximity is likely straining your shields something fierce.”

  Jamie grimaced acknowledgement. “I’ll stay planted ’til we need to move. Sherard’s coming.”

  Meaning Seaton would likely teleport to us. I do bless people who could manage the higher magicks.

  Somewhere not far from me, I saw a magical suppressant shoot out from the street level, attacking the side of the burning shop. I recognized the magical signature immediately and called to Jamie, “Gibson is on scene! Get someone else!”

  “Got it!”

  Now that I had a better idea of what I dealt with, and a friend with superior magic ability bearing down on the problem, I should have felt more confident we could at least keep the fire from spreading. Unfortunately, I had no such faith. The blaze was growing wildly out of control, spreading across the tightly packed buildings, every fire suppressant hex incapable of even buffering against this sort of blaze. People were forcefully evacuating from the buildings to either side, and still others past them, abandoning the buildings before they could be fully caught up in the conflagration. A different spell left my lips, one meant to suppress stray magic, and it buffered against the fire, barring its attempts to spread further down the block. Progress of a sort, but I didn’t hold much faith we could put this out, not any time soon. Not with just two of us. It would require further magic and aid. Where was that theatrical mage when I needed him?

  As if my thoughts had summoned him, Seaton arrived in a snap, took one look at the situation, and swore creatively enough to put a stevedore to shame. “What by all deities is this?!”

  “Charms shop set on fire.”

  Seaton wasted no further time on questions, heading directly to the right, further down the street, and throwing up a barrier between one of the buildings and another, squeezing it in the two-foot gap between the bricks, preventing the fire from spreading any further. I dared to take in a breath of relief. Surely with a Royal Mage we’d be alright. And with Seaton here, he could put an additional shield around Jamie, prevent her from collapsing under the magical strain. I felt buffered on all sides by errant magic, like I stood inside of a maelstrom. I couldn’t imagine Jamie felt any better.

  Jamie put a hand on my shoulder and leaned in, her mouth near my ear. “Henri. I think that’s Lees.”

  I looked sharply to where she pointed, my wand not wavering from the spell, as I couldn’t afford to drop that. Still, I saw who she meant, and the man did indeed fit the description th
at we’d been given—a little taller than average, thinning black hair, a scruffy beard not grown out, with a beer belly. The man looked horrified, mouth agape as he stared, and yet part of him seemed…vindicated? I couldn’t put any other descriptor to his expression.

  In that moment, he turned his eyes away from the fire and looked towards us. I’ve no logical explanation for what happened next. Jamie often claimed that a policeman developed instincts after a certain amount of time on the job, an ability to look at someone and know they were guilty, that they were the right person to pursue. I saw it happen in that moment, when Jamie realized Lees was somehow behind this explosion. She leapt off the car in a single bound and rushed for him.

  Even as she did so, I screamed in warning, “JAMIE GET BACK HERE!”

  She ignored me. Lees realized that he had been made and whirled about frantically, diving into the crowd. With so many people swarming about in the streets, edging around the buildings, it was impossible to make headway quickly. I couldn’t begin to understand his aim—just where was he running to? Nothing lay ahead of him but fire and death, no clear path away from it.

  Jamie dogged hot on his heels, calling for people to let her through, and people went hither and thither as they were shoved aside. I saw her try and dart through them but she couldn’t gain any real speed, not with all of the obstacles in her path. Lees had the same problem, of course, but also a head start on her, and he used it to his advantage. He came out of the crowd faster than she did and an icy tendril of foreboding swept down my spine. Surely he wasn’t—surely my paranoia was mistaken.

  I’d seen multiple people commit suicide rather than be taken in by the police. I’d heard tales of criminals doing insane things in order to avoid capture. But this? My eyes took in the yawning mouth of flames, promising nothing more than a horrific death. Surely no one would choose that.

  Even as I thought it, Lees wrested free of the last of the crowd, entering the dangerous no-man’s land of intense heat and chaotic magic. I couldn’t see his expression with his back to me, but his body language spoke of untamed desperation. His footsteps remained unfaltering as he aimed directly for what used to be the front door to the shop. A shout caught in my throat.

  “LEES!” Jamie screamed in warning, even as she threw herself desperately after him. “Don’t do it!”

  She wouldn’t catch him. I instinctively knew it. I couldn’t aid her; I had no magic to spare, as all of my ability was focused on keeping the fire contained. People watching nearby tried to scream out warnings too, their words overlapping so badly that I couldn’t pick out a single word from the rest. All anyone could discern was the tone of warning and horror as the scene unfolded in front of their eyes.

  I could see Jamie’s core take a battering, already trying to unravel. Magic swirled around her, impacting like a sledgehammer. I couldn’t stop her, but I knew she’d need Seaton any second, and without taking my eyes off of her, I threw a magical enhancement on my vocal chords and yelled, “SEATON, GET OVER HERE NOW!”

  Jamie’s body stretched out into a full-out sprint, her arms reaching desperately for the back of Lees’ shirt, only to catch nothing but air.

  A new horror tingled through me as I realized she wasn’t watching her speed. Her legs shifted into that predator-stride that ate up distance but gave her no agility. “No,” I breathed in panic, realizing that if she continued that speed for even another five steps, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself before slamming into that wall of flame. “JAMIE, NO!”

  Gibson apparently realized the same, as he yelled out a similar warning, barely audible over the din of noise. It did no good, as she ignored both of us, throwing herself forward once more.

  Foolhardy idiot, what was she—I couldn’t complete the thought, I didn’t have the brainpower to spare for it. Lees succeeded in his course in that moment, throwing himself bodily in through the door, disappearing from our sight altogether. I expected screams of pain and anguish. I heard them from the crowd, but from inside the building, only the crackle of fire and magic could be heard.

  Jamie had been so close to catching him, but as I’d feared, she’d gained too much speed. Her heels skittered on the soot-covered pavement as she tried to stop herself, only to fail utterly. Swearing mentally, I looked for Seaton who raced for us, or as best he could through the crowd of people.

  He was too far from her. He wouldn’t get here in time. I knew that by dropping the shield, it would put the other buildings around us at risk, but I didn’t even hesitate. I dropped the spell I held abruptly, throwing every ounce of power I had into a different spell altogether, one meant to shield her from the flames and sparking magic. It came down hard about her, cracking visibly like a glass cage. I gritted my teeth and held, but this shield wasn’t meant to withstand both magic and fire. I didn’t have anything else in my repertoire safe to use with her, as anything else would tap into her unbalanced core, which would be disastrous.

  She landed hard against the pavement on her side, still sliding a little, and her legs impacted strongly with the side of the building. Something heavy fell across her, I could see it blazing outwards, and my heart stopped. Was she burned? Trapped?

  One man in the crowd tried to go to her, but a rush of sparks made him flinch back before he’d gone two feet.

  I got off the car in a bound, ready to go and pull her out myself. It wasn’t necessary. Jamie rolled, kicking off the thing that had trapped her before scrambling back up to her feet and back tracking. I couldn’t see her expression from this distance, but I didn’t need to. She’d be angry and upset about this for the rest of the day, at least. I anxiously scanned her for burns, and indeed her pants had seen better days, scorched and half-melted, but it disguised her skin so thoroughly that I couldn’t ascertain her injuries.

  I rushed to her as quickly as I could manage through the people, jostling everyone with a judicious application of elbows until they made way for me. I could hear the bells of the fire trucks as they approached, but spared them no attention. My partner took precedence.

  Jamie met me halfway, her hair plastered to her skull, soot covering one side of her like a dark rash. Pain and frustration marred her face, clenched her fists at her sides. She looked grey in the sepia-toned lighting of the fire, her magical core fluxing hard enough to leave her gasping for breath, wheezing for it like an asthmatic. I grabbed her strongly about the waist with an arm, clamping her to my side, as I felt she would collapse otherwise. The precaution was wise as her body weight slammed into me, her strength not sufficient to hold herself upright.

  Seaton and Gibson converged on us from either side, Seaton already performing the various spells necessary to stabilize her core. Gibson was more focused on the outer skin, and he dropped to his knees, ripping the ruined pants aside and pushing the jagged hemline up to look. “You’re burned?”

  It took a moment for Seaton’s spells to stabilize her enough that she could breathe, enough at least that she didn’t stutter out a response. “Don’t feel like I am,” Jamie responded, tilting her torso to get a look herself. She did not even attempt to take her own weight, letting me completely support her. “I shouldn’t be. Magical fire is one of the things I’m immune to. It’s why I went in.”

  “It’s why you shouldn’t have gone in,” Seaton cut in, smile more canine tooth than expression. “With this much magic in the air, what did you think it would do to your core?”

  Wincing, Jamie sheepishly admitted, “I actually didn’t question that until I was half-trapped under that beam.”

  This woman would be the death of me someday. She was too quick to leap into the fray and not consider the consequences, like inducing my heart to fail.

  “She’s trying to kill us,” Gibson grunted, in complete empathy with my own feelings, then heaved himself back up to his feet. “She’s fine, no burns, just a lost pair of pants. I’ll get back to suppressing the fire on the left side.”

  I had no doubt that Gibson would have words with her lat
er. Like I would. Seaton’s look conveyed it all as he worked on stabilizing her core, to which Jamie gave him a helpless shrug. “I couldn’t ignore him.”

  Her instincts terrified me some days. Resigned, I went back to casting a suppressing spell as well, trying to cover the area until Seaton could lend his aid once more. I looked for any sign that Lees might still be alive as well, but I had no hope for it. “Lees?”

  “That moron,” Jamie growled in response, finally shifting upwards and carrying her own weight again. “That utter moron. Is dying like this really preferable to spending time in a jail cell?”

  Despite her words, I knew she would blame herself for this on some level. What-if’s and maybe’s would play through her mind tonight, leaving her to wonder if she could have saved him if only she’d been three seconds quicker on the draw. None of this was her fault, and telling her that wouldn’t help, as logically she knew it as well as I. The heart, however, did not always heed the mind. I shifted my arm to go around her shoulders and drew her into a loose hug, giving her comfort for a moment. “The grief-stricken are in too much pain to make good decisions, my friend. Sometimes their pain unhinges their minds. His decision is not yours to carry, nor is his ghost. Don’t put that burden on yourself.”

  Leaning into my shoulder, she hid her face from view for a moment, and I could feel her gusty sigh against the side of my neck. She needed that moment, we both did, then she pulled herself upright again, meeting my eyes levelly. “Thanks, Henri. Am I okay now, Sherard?”

  “You are, but steer clear of the fire, otherwise you’ll undo my hard work.” Seaton paused and added, “I’ll likely have to renew it again tomorrow. Your core took a battering.”

  I didn’t think she’d come out of this completely unscathed.

  Wincing, Jamie nodded. “Thanks. I’ll handle crowd control.”

  Nodding, I let her go, returning my own attention to the fire. I knew that brief moment was not sufficient, but we couldn’t manage more. Not in this situation, with a city block about to go up in flames. Seaton did as well, returning to his position off to the right.