The Binding Witch and the Bounty Hunter

by Laura Rich

  We gathered in front of the gate and I motioned John toward the code box. “Go ahead and input the code.”

  He punched in a code and hit enter. A few moments later, the great gate swung inward. There were no lights to guide our way, and even up ahead, the mass that looked like the lodge was dark.

  I took a deep breath and motioned our group forward. “John, you go first.”

  He took a look around and moved a few steps forward, past the gate. When nothing happened (I wasn’t sure what he’d expected), he motioned for us to follow. Once we cleared the gate, it swung shut behind us with a metallic clang that echoed in the night so loud it caused the chorus of crickets to pause.

  We followed John down the long, fence-lined gravel drive with the soft sounds of animal snorts and hooves just on the other side, but in the distance. A woman’s scream sounded in the distance, and I jumped, scattering stones on the drive.

  John glanced back. “Don’t worry, it’s just a goat screaming, not a person. Used to freak me out all the time, too.”

  My heart slammed in my chest. “Uh, thanks.”

  “This is creepy,” Luna said.

  “You can say that again,” I said.

  “This is creepy,” she said.

  I rolled my eyes. “No, Luna, it’s just a saying. You aren’t actually supposed to repeat it.”

  She giggled. “I know, I was just trying to lighten the mood. Geez.”

  Finally, we reached the mass that resolved itself into a giant house shape that looked as John had described earlier. It looked empty and dark.

  “So where is everybody, if we’re so expected?” I said.

  “I don’t know,” John admitted, sounding puzzled. “Usually at least the floodlights are on at night.”

  As if naming them called them to life, we were suddenly blinded by lights from all sides.

  “What the heck?” Indira said. “I can’t see!”

  I blinked and shielded my eyes from the unexpected brightness. I heard a door creak open from the lodge ahead, and my heart just about leapt from my chest in terror. My hands unclenched and small orbs warmed them as I decided what I would be throwing at my enemies this time.

  I waited for the attack, but nothing happened. Once I realized what was happening, my terror was replaced by a strange sense of calm. “He’s just trying to scare us, Indira. Isn’t that right, Father?”

  22

  My eyes finally grew accustomed to the floodlights’ glare, and a stooped lump resolved itself on the raised front porch of the lodge, about twenty feet away, just beyond the lights.

  “Dad’s inside with your mom, Kate,” Leo’s voice called weakly. “It’s just me.”

  The lump raised its head and became Leo-shaped to my eyes as if by suggestion. He knelt heavily on one knee, one arm bracing himself and the other hanging to the floor. He held his chin up with an effort that was painful to see, even from where I stood.

  “Leo?” I stumbled forward. “You’re alive!”

  “Leo!” Indira said.

  “Is that the big, dumb oaf?” Luna said. “I thought he died?”

  Leo laughed softly.

  I shushed Luna and put my hand on Indira’s arm. It seemed like she wanted to go to Leo, and that was my first instinct too, but something stopped me. “What happened, Leo? How did you get here?” The orbs pulsed in my hands.

  “I tried to die peacefully, but Dad’s stupid minions packed me up and brought me back here. Like I said, he wants me to . . . bring you into the fold.” His forehead dropped slowly to his knee. “I tried to fight him, Kate, but . . . I am so weak.”

  That did it for me. I let the orbs die out and ran to the porch and put my arms around my great big oaf of a brother as his body shook with silent sobs.

  A small coughing sound erupted from my jacket. “Familiar being crushed! Familiar. Being. Crushed!”

  “Oops, sorry, Luna!” I loosened my hug just a little.

  “Sure, don’t mind me,” she said. “I’ve only had my consciousness evolved several thousand centuries over the course of a few days and been kidnapped by tiny, stinking gnomes and almost died twice from being separated from you. It’s no big deal, really.”

  “I love you, too, Luna,” I said.

  Indira’s footsteps sounded after me, and her knives clattered to the floor as she slid her arms around Leo from the other side.

  “You’re not weak, Leo Vidra.” I squeezed him. “You’re strong. Brave and strong.”

  Then John did one thing—well, two things—that at first confused me but then made me instantly hate him, cute floppy hair or not.

  The first was to snicker at Leo. That made my blood boil, and I raised my head to give him a nasty look.

  The second was to pull a gun on us (where did that even come from?).

  “All right, let’s take this love fest inside, ladies.” John’s gun clicked as he cocked and aimed it at us.

  I felt Indira’s arms stiffen.

  “Don’t move,” she muttered softly as her arm that wasn’t facing John slipped down off Leo’s back.

  “I like where your head is at, Indira,” I muttered back. I let my hidden hand grow warm with a shield orb. It felt odd and slightly unbalanced to produce only one orb, but it soon stabilized, and I mentally filed away the fact that I didn’t need both hands to produce an orb.

  “He’s a terrible shot, Kate,” Leo growled in a low voice with great effort. “Just throw up a shield and let Indira handle him. You might still be able to get away.”

  My back straightened and my voice wavered, then grew strong. “I’m not trying to get away. I’m trying to face our father and claim my own destiny, dammit!”

  “You’re almost as stubborn as he is, then,” Leo said.

  “Stop talking and get inside the house now!” John shouted.

  Indira popped up and let her knife fly at the same instant a shot sounded across the yard. A loud ding sounded as metal hit metal, and Indira’s knife flew uselessly into the darkness beyond the floodlights.

  “A terrible shot, eh?” Indira flicked Leo’s ear.

  “Well, to be fair, I’m sure he was aiming at you. It was just a lucky shot.” Leo grinned, then coughed and wheezed.

  I willed the shield orb to grow large enough to cover us. “He doesn’t get any more of those.” I stoked my anger until it bloomed and filled me, and I used it to strengthen the shield.

  I walked down the front steps, letting the shield grow to continue to protect my friends as I stalked towards John and used my other hand to let loose a small orb of fire at his feet. It exploded in flames that quickly licked up his legs.

  John screamed and fired off three wild shots at my shield.

  His shots ricocheted off the blue glow of my shield, and I watched, as if from outside myself, while he jumped uselessly around in a panicked attempt to escape the fire that engulfed him.

  As I watched, a heaviness filled my chest, pressing in as if under a great weight. I struggled to breathe against it, and the weight shifted and ran down my arm and dissipated. My bracelet tinkled and a new charm emerged. This one was blackened and burned. I gasped and looked up at John as if waking from a dream.

  He was now rolling around on the ground, having remembered to stop, drop, and roll, but it was too late. His entire body was yellow with flame, and he was no longer screaming.

  My eyelids fluttered uncontrollably, like a camera with the button depressed.

  I shuddered. I dropped my shield and flipped my orbs to an icy, wet blast, which I blanketed like a water hose over the flames. They sizzled to a stop almost immediately, and the charred form that was John lay still. I dropped to my knees next to him and looked for any signs of breath. The slow, short, uneven rise and fall of his chest told me he still lived.

  An evil, craven feeling gripped me, and I understood the need for karma for beings who held so much power. “What have I done?”

  I laid my hands above him and let new orbs form, this time with healing light. At
least I hoped it was. I hoped with all my being I could reverse this damage and take back my horrible actions. I took it all back, the anger and hate, the feeling of betrayal at John’s reversal, and my naive surprise at it. I forgave him, but not myself. That would come later, if at all.

  The healing light flowed into him, and his skin became less crispy, then red and raw, then returned to his normal coloring, if a little more pink. He took a shuddering breath, and he opened his eyes—then scrabbled away, gasping. “You’re a monster!”

  “Please, I don’t want to be,” I begged. “I’m sorry I did this to you, John. I—I understand if you can’t forgive me.”

  He looked at me like a frightened animal.

  I wanted to help him up but felt sure he would shudder at my touch, so I held back.

  As he struggled to his feet, the front door of the lodge squeaked open and the sound of clapping filled the air.

  “Brava,” came a deep voice and clapping that carried through the night as if amplified by a speaker. “My daughter has many surprising gifts.”

  I stood and walked to the front porch, leaving John behind me knowing he was too terrified to attack me again.

  My father’s huge frame filled the doorway and more, since he had to step out to straighten his head. He was even bigger than Leo and his features were similar, but not so weathered as his son’s. He wore a suit, which seemed out of place on the hunting ranch.

  When I reached the first step leading to the front porch, Leo was still on one knee, but it was Indira who caught my eye. She took halting steps back, as if to distance herself from my father out of fear, which was unlike her usual hit-first-ask-questions-later mode of operation.

  Her shaking hand pointed a finger at him. “Y—you. It’s you. You’re the demon who killed my family!”

  The last thing I remembered was my father’s voice shouting, “Oh, not you again!” and a white light.

  23

  I awoke to being frog-marched by goons across a gravel path. My head felt groggy, but I lifted it to get a better look around. Judging by the sounds of protest Indira made behind me and the sight of Leo’s body in front of me, I wasn’t the only one going this direction.

  All at once, Indira’s words rang in my head. My father had killed her family? This day just kept getting better. How could my mother have been with someone like that? My heart hurt with all the thoughts warring to be first to haunt me.

  They brought us to a huge red barn that smelled strongly of hay, my only allergy.

  “Oh, a barn!” Luna said. “I love barns.”

  “Stay in my coat, Luna,” I said. “I don’t want anyone taking you away again.”

  “Staying put!” Luna’s claws dug into my shirt.

  The barn was wired for overhead lighting, which hung from undersized pendant lamps every ten feet or so, throwing cold light onto a row of hitching plates. I recognized them from helping out with the Renaissance fair jousting horses. The metal rings, which were attached to plates that were bolted to the wall, were used to tie horses to keep them from wandering. One look at the chains now attached to the rings and the dark stains on the cement floor beneath the plates told me that their use now might not be so traditional. I shivered as the sharp, metallic scent hit my nose. I hoped it wasn’t blood, but my luck wasn’t really holding at this point.

  Without warning, the tall goon with the greasy red hair shoved Indira at the center ring. Chains clanked, Indira growled, and the goon squealed and jumped back. Indira’s foot narrowly missed the back of his head as she jerked short, her chains, now hitched to the ring, holding her back.

  I was chained to the ring to her right, with Leo on my other side and my mother next to him.

  “Mom, you’re okay!” I was so happy to see her, my heart almost burst. Then, I remembered she’d chosen a demon for my father. My face fell. She obviously knew what my father was—and she’d always known. She’d been lying to me. Trying to protect me from him, but still. We didn’t lie to each other. What else had she lied about?

  She studied the emotions parading across my face and smiled weakly. “I’m okay, Kate. I’m so happy to see you, but I wish you were far away from here. I wish you had listened to me.”

  “If she won’t listen to her mother, maybe she’ll listen to her father.” The demon stepped into the barn and waved the goons away.

  Under the harsh glare of the barn lights, the man who was my father looked even more intimidating. I stopped myself from shrinking back, squared my shoulders, and gave him my best glare.

  He ignored it. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, Kate. My name is Liath Luacra and I am your father.”

  “I told you I’d find you,” Indira said, struggling against her restraints. Her eyes blazed with pure vengeance.

  I sucked in my breath and glanced across Leo at my mother, realizing she must have also known about my father’s connection to Indira all along and kept it from her. Nausea crept up as the waves of betrayal kept on coming.

  Mom lowered her eyes.

  “Yes, you found me. Congratulations!” Liath threw his hands up. “But this is not about you, regardless of how much of your life you’ve thrown away trying to find me. By the way, that’s sad, just sad.”

  “I’ll kill you!” she screamed. “Kill you for taking my family from me!”

  “Well, there you’re actually wrong. You won’t get to kill me, just like I told you all those years ago, the first time you found me. That was a one-time pass that ran out long ago.” He shook his head and gave her a cold look. “What a waste. I told you not to look for me.”

  “You’re sure this is the demon who killed your family,” I leaned over and whispered to Indira. Just to make sure.

  Indira’s breath came in heavy, ragged gasps as she answered me through her teeth. “No. Doubt. He looks the same as the day I confronted him over twenty years ago. Demons don’t age.”

  I nodded slowly. “Do you have a plan?” In the past, Indira’s plans had been better thought out than mine. I could always rely on an elegant solution to a problem, whether it was rewiring a travel trailer or fighting bad guys.

  “Kill him,” she said through her teeth.

  “Oh, sure, okay.” I rolled my eyes. I clearly wasn’t getting help from Indira today. I mean, I could maybe fire off a fireball, even with my hands chained to the wall, but I wasn’t ready to kill someone, even my father, even if he was the king of evil. Or maybe a lord, or a duke. I wasn’t sure where he was in the hierarchy, if there was one. And on second thought, I didn’t think my mom would have taken up with the worst guy on the block to make a baby. Would she? My head ached with too many thoughts, and I squeezed my eyes shut for a second to block it all out.

  “Kate, look at me,” my father said.

  I opened my eyes and was surprised that a few tears popped out and slid down my face. I didn’t get overwhelmed too often, but when I did, it always resolved in crying, which I hated. I did my best to discreetly brush away my tears with my shoulder, since my hands were chained. It was a bigger production than usual with all the clanking and sniffling.

  “The only way you’re going to get out of here is if you do something for me. It’s a very small thing, I’m sure, based on what I’ve seen of your power.” My demon father actually rubbed his hands together.

  It was that last typical villain-like gesture that did it for me—that brought me back to my real self and cut through all the baggage I’d just been handed. I might be chained to a wall and about to die, but I still had what made me, me. I rolled my eyes and looked at my friends—my family—then back at the demon and said with my surliest teenage attitude, “What.”

  “Atta girl, Kate!” Luna whispered.

  Leo snickered through his nose.

  My father did a double take and glared at Leo before letting his gaze slide to me. “So like your mother. Anyway, I want to know if you can do what I do—take a soul for a wish granted.”

  “That’s what you did to my famil
y!” Indira shouted. “You’re evil!”

  “We’ve had this conversation already, woman,” my father said. “Good and evil have no meaning except to bystanders who gawk and judge with no skin in the game.”

  I screwed up my face. That didn’t seem right at all—Indira had lost her family and that was certainly evil. “Do you really believe that?” If he did, I wasn’t sure any amount of talking would get us out of this.

  My father just shot me a parental look that tried to silence me, but by my count, he didn’t have that right. I narrowed my eyes right back at him.

  He continued. “My business partners are willing to engage in this deal because what they want is more important to them than their own souls. They live long, happy lives with their wishes granted before I take payment. Count yourself lucky that your family thought the life they bought for you was worth more than their souls. You would have otherwise lived in squalor and most likely died of disease. Do not debase their sacrifice by trying to seek vengeance upon me.”

  “You are not a god!” Indira said. “You can’t make that kind of bargain.”

  “Thousands of satisfied customers over the years say otherwise. Now be silent!” He waved his hand at her.

  Indira struggled, but no sound came from her mouth.

  I looked back and forth between Indira and my father. “Why do you want to know if I can do this? Carry on the family business? You have to know I won’t do it.”

  He gave me a measured look. “That is not for you to know right now. All you need to do is to select someone to attempt the deal and take the payment—their soul—immediately.”

  “I’m not real familiar with your process, but didn’t you say I need someone willing to do the deal?” I said incredulously. “You’re asking someone here to volunteer to die. Someone I love, to die. You can’t ask me to do that, and I doubt anyone is going to volunteer.”

  “I tried to get your mother to let me see you before this. I sent another to try to bring forth your full power, but again your mother thwarted my attempts,” he said. “So now I am left with no other option.”