Magic Thief

by C C Sommerly

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  “How am I going to meet the requirements of the agreement.”

  “Oh, I think you’ll manage just fine. And, this is gonna hurt just a little.”

  He threw a blast of magic at me, knocking me down. My body shook and I thrashed on the ground as lightening shot through my body. The bastard was killing me. Never should have made a deal with a demon.

  “Marty,” screamed Callie.

  Don’t let her see the demon.

  Heat rushed through me and chased the electricity away. No, how could he? My worst fear was coming true and there was no containing it. My magic shot out of me in a sudden rush. I couldn’t turn it off.

  “What on earth?” said Sterling.

  Someone hit me hard from behind and the magic shut off as I went down. I must have passed out because the next thing I noticed was someone slapping me.

  “Wake up, damnit!” said Sterling.

  Without opening my eyes, I responded “Just a minute. Get off me.”

  He did and I saw the wreckage behind him. I moved past him, shocked. I faced them. They’d hate me for this.

  “Guess we don’t have to worry about Julia taking the house.” I laughed. It had a slightly hysterical sound to it.

  “Marty, your eyes,” said Callie.

  The others were staring at me with identical expressions of horror next to the rubble.

  “Why do you have the Crimson Fiend’s eyes? And since when do you have magic?” asked Sterling.

  “What on earth happened here? Were you attacked?” asked Lochlan, who picked the worst time to show up.

  “Marty happened,” said Zander.

  “Since when do you have a kid?” Lochlan asked.

  “He’s not my kid,” I said without facing him. I didn’t want him to look at me with horror like the others had.

  “I can talk for myself. And, I’m not anyone’s kid,” Zander said, with his bony chest puffed up. He looked ridiculous and failed at the look of intimidation that he had been going for.

  “Marty, you’re glowing and you have magic. A lot of magic,” said Lochlan.

  “Show him Marty,” said Sterling. “He may be the only one who can help us.”

  I turned and Lochlan’s face drained of color. “It can’t be. He had no children.”

  I thought we’d made progress and we starting to trust each other. His next words crushed that hope.

  “You have rather startling eyes. I dare say they are unique and quite rare. Care to explain why you have eyes like the Crimson Fiend?” asked Lochlan.

  “Freaky coincidence. Nothing to explain.”

  “We both know that’s not true. When are you going to stop lying to me?” asked Lochlan.

  “When are you going to stop interrogating me. I’m not the criminal and I don’t appreciate you treating me like one.”

  “Marty, the truth.”

  “Fine. That’s what he wanted people to think, but I’m not him. I’m still the same Marty.”

  “Not with access to this much power. Are you the one who leveled the Agency?” Lochlan asked.

  “It was an accident. Can we go somewhere safe?” asked Callie.

  “Come with me. Everyone grab hands. I’m transporting us to my house. It’s heavily warded and probably the only place where people won’t kill Marty on sight.”

  On those ominous words, we linked hands and he threw down the transport charm with his free hand.

  “This isn’t your house,” I said.

  “It is one of my houses. This one is the most secure and it has the strongest wards. Your magic is off-the-charts and a danger to all of us. I have a basement we can put you in.”

  “You’re locking me up in a basement?”

  “It’s for your own good,” Lochlan said.

  “You mean for your own good and that of everyone else.”

  “He’s right, Marty,” said Callie.

  “I will stay there, but I won’t be a prisoner.”

  “Before you head to the basement, you owe me some answers,” said Lochlan.

  “I suppose I do.”

  “You suppose? The rest of you can find a room you’d like to stay in on the second floor. I want to chat with Marty.”

  All three of them stood their ground.

  “We aren’t leaving Marty alone with you until we know it’s safe,” said Sterling.

  To me he said, “And, whatever Marty has to say, we want to hear it too. You lied to us and we also deserve answers.”

  “I need a drink. Do you have anything strong?” I asked.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea with all of the magic running wild through you? You don’t have any control and – ”

  “Someone get me a drink if you expect me to spill my guts. We’re all going to need it. Besides, my magic is spent for the time being, so you’re safe.”

  Lochlan grabbed a bottle of Scotch from somewhere. He poured everyone a glass, even Zander.

  “You’re giving a kid alcohol?” I asked.

  “He deserves one after all this and whatever is coming next,” said Lochlan.

  “Finally a sympathetic soul. It’s been years. Care if I smoke?” asked Zander.

  “Smoke outside, drink inside, but you may miss what Marty is going to tell us. I doubt she’ll want to go over anything a second time,” said Lochlan.

  Zander sat back down and began savoring his drink. He clutched it like a lifeline. None of us had thought to give him a drink or treat him like the adult he was mentally even if he had the body of a 14-year-old.

  Lochlan was right about me not repeating the story – assuming I could even get it out the first time. I tossed back my drink and held my empty glass out for a refill.

  “Another drink,” I demanded when it looked like Lochlan was going to refuse.

  I sipped on this one as everyone stared at me expectantly. I wasn’t even sure how to start or what to say. No matter what I told them, they wouldn’t understand. To them, I’d betrayed all of them.

  “I left home at fifteen. I had a horrible childhood and ran away at the first opportunity. I ended up on the street. The scrappers took me in. They taught me how to scavenge and how to panhandle. One day, I was jumped and when a scrapper, Rat, saw the beat down I gave the attacker, he came up with an idea. He said that I could make more money as a fighter than as a scrapper.”

  “You’re kidding?” asked Lochlan.

  “She’s not. I found her in the street fights. She was eighteen and couldn’t be beat. Some people speculated it was witchery, others demonic powers, but no one knew how she defeated every opponent she had. Surely you’ve heard of Black Widow,” said Zander.

  “That was you?!” asked Lochlan.

  “We never knew this. Zander showed up with you one day, claiming you were a new employee despite your age. He refused to answer any questions about who you were or where you came from,” said Sterling.

  “I know. We thought that was best. I wore a mask in the ring, so no one ever saw my face. And, there are a lot of fighters, who lost to me, that would want revenge. Zander gave me a fresh start. The Agency was my first real home,” I said.

  Callie was crying into a napkin. “That is just so sad. We think of you as family too.”

  “You didn’t have magic,” said Zander. “I would have noticed it.”

  “Can anyone explain how you supposedly saved Marty when you were what, eight years old?” asked Lochlan.

  “I wasn’t what I am now, but I don’t owe you my story – not now and not ever,” said Zander.

  “It was a different situation. And, I had magic, I paid to have it blocked. I knew someone, a family acquaintance, who bound my magic to keep it from getting out. It cancelled out a debt that my family owed this person.”

  “That’s pretty harsh. Life was easier with your magic,” said Lochlan.

  “It would have, but it was easier to stay under the radar without it.”

  “The Guild would have taken you in and
found you a foster family. Why didn’t you go to them instead of living on the streets,” asked Lochlan.

  Here was the moment of truth. They would hate me after this, or turn me in or kill me on the spot. In for a penny, out for a pound, as they say.

  “Because I’m the only child of the Crimson Fiend.”

  The words hung in the air, waiting to hit their targets.

  Sterling’s animal was trying to come out, Callie jumped up and went behind the couch. Zander was vibrating with rage. I couldn’t bear to see what Lochlan’s reaction was. I stood there waiting to hear them condemn me.

  “You lied to us this whole time,” said Zander. “And, if you’d said something years ago, when I was in a condition to help you, we could have fixed this.”

  “When you found me, I didn’t trust anyone. I’d spent two years on the streets. Do you have any idea what that kind of life does to you? No, you don’t because you can’t relate. None of you can. You’ve lived sheltered lives.”

  I couldn’t take the silence, I finally asked “Are you going to turn me in or kill me?”

  Callie came out from the couch. She still looked scared, but at least now she had more color to her face. “We aren’t trying to attack you, Marty. This is a big shock. Most people alive remember the horror of what the Crimson Fiend did,” said Callie.

  “So, how did your magic go from being bound to free?” asked Sterling.

  “You all saw the outcome of my magic. That is nothing compared to what I can do. I was scared of what it could do and thought I’d be safer and better off to bind my magic. The healer that Lochlan took me too noticed it. She said it was leaking, so she gave me that name of a person who could help me.”

  “Selenda knew?” asked Lochlan.

  “Do you remember when you found me at the waterfall, Lochlan?”

  “I do.”

  “It was at that waterfall that I called out the name I was given and an Arch Demon showed up.”

  “I didn’t see any summoning circles when I found you,” said Lochlan.

  “That because there wasn’t one. I wasn’t told that my contact was a demon, so I didn’t take precautions.”

  “You are lucky to survive,” said Sterling.

  “The demon said he could take away my magic, but it was a permanent change. He agreed to do it in exchange for a favor of his choosing and at whatever time he wanted. Right before the Agency blew up, he showed up demanding that I fulfill my side of the agreement. His favor was returning my magic. You all saw what happened.”

  They sat there considering what I said. I may have lost the only family I’d come to know over the past five years and it was killing me.

  “I think there has been a lot said here. All of you find a room. Marty, I’ll show you to the basement,” said Lochlan.

  I followed behind him, still not believing that he didn’t wish me harm. I wasn’t entirely sure of my safety with the others either. My magic was too strong, too destructive to defend myself with it. They had no idea what had been released on the world. I only hope the world could handle it.”

  Lochlan led me to a door. “Down there is a full suite, bathroom, kitchen, rooms. You will be comfortable there.”

  “Are you locking me in?”

  “Yes. I won’t be here to babysit you. I’m going to see about an artifact. It might be able to help control your magic, if I can get permission to use it,” said Lochlan.

  The kitchen was fully stocked, but I couldn’t eat anything with my stomach churning the way it was. I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted my magic gone. I hadn’t lived with the fear of accidently hurting someone in a long time. I hurt plenty of people, but that was by choice. My magic was a hungry beast that never was satisfied. Even now, I could feel the whispers to let go and let it out to play. Lochlan was right to put me down here. I wasn’t safe anywhere.

  23

  No one came down to see me. I heard them moving around upstairs, so I knew they were still here. They were treating me like a leaper. I wasn’t contagious.

  It was day three since what I was calling “the big reveal”. I wasn’t feeling any better. I was exhausted from keeping my magic at bay. It made me irritable and cranky. And, if I was being honest, a little scared. I hadn’t remembered my magic being so wild or so strong.

  Also, my cases weren’t getting worked, actually none of our cases were. All of our personal effects were gone. I didn’t know if Lochlan was successful or not.

  I sat down on a recliner, with some calming tea in hand. I heard the door open and someone coming down the stairs. I didn’t look. It could only be one person.

  “What do you want, Lochlan?”

  “Five more girls were taken and two young men.”

  “What can I do about it?”

  “Catch.”

  I caught what he threw just in time. I barely avoided getting hit in the head with a heavy, metal bracelet.

  “Put it on.”

  I did as he suggested and felt an instant muting of my magic. I breathed out a sigh.

  “It was getting bad, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “I got word from my enforcer buddy. They are taking a task force to check all of the buildings within a couple of blocks of water. They want whoever is behind these kidnappings caught.”

  “Well, it’s their problem then.”

  “I thought you were still on the cases for the necklace and grimoire?”

  “What’s the point? Won’t the enforcers recover them? My work is done.”

  “So, you’re just going to hide in here, feeling sorry for yourself?”

  “I’m not feeling sorry for myself?”

  “Aren’t you? What do you call this? Have you even gotten dressed since you’ve been down here? By the condition of your pajamas, I’d say no.”

  “Just a few stains.”

  “Ah huh.”

  “Lochlan, what is it you want?”

  “I want you to quit being a self-indulged brat and think about someone else besides yourself.”

  “You bastard.”

  “I may be, but at least I haven’t quit on life. Your friend and others were mistreated and had magic taken from them. Unlike yours, which was returned, theirs is truly gone. We’ve gotten permission to join the enforcers.”

  “Why?”

  “I called in a favor.”

  “What excuse could you give that justifies us needing to be there.”

  “Just trust that I gave a satisfactory justification.”

  “Trust is the one thing neither of us has.”

  “Stay or go. I’m leaving in the next ten minutes with or without you.”

  I put on clothes – the only ones I had. They were still sooty and smelled of smoke, but they’d do. I strapped on weapons and headed up stairs.

  “I’m glad you’re joining us.”

  “Marty.”

  It couldn’t be her.

  “Jennica?”

  “I left my employer. I can’t work in the condition I’m in. Lochlan came to check on me and offered me to stay with all of you. Isn’t that nice?” said Jennica.

  “It’s something.”

  “I also heard you are going to catch those monsters. Make them suffer.” Jennica’s face twisted with hatred and blood lust. “They deserve nothing less.”

  I looked at Lochlan.

  I didn’t know this Jennica. A lot had changed for all of us and we’d have to get accustomed to our new normal.

  “I’ll make them pay.”

  “Good. I’m going to go lay down. I’m glad to see you.”

  This was the first time she’d seen me that she hadn’t hugged me. She barely talked to me.

  “What did they do to her?” I asked Lochlan.

  “She won’t talk about it. It took three healers, four hours to treat her injuries. They worked her over, Marty.”

  It would take extensive injuries to require that many hours of healing with that many healers.

  “To our mission, after you
,” he said.

  “How do they know where to look? You said they were checking buildings, but they can’t check hundreds of buildings and hope to get the right one.”

  “That’s the thing. All of the girls had brackish water in their lungs. And Jennica had leech fish scales on her clothes. There is only one area that has those kinds of fish.”

  “The Swamps of Souls.”

  It certainly explained why no one found the missing women and men. It didn’t explain why they were able to make it back into town. Someone must be dumping their bodies, but why dump them where they could be found? Bodies were either claimed by the water or eaten by the swamp creatures. Whoever was leaving the bodies wanted people to know what they were doing.

  “Let’s head out.”

  This was somewhere I’d never been and avoided. My magic went crazy around a lot of dead, but I didn’t know what it would do around a haunted area like this. I fiddled with my bracelet. I hope it protects me.

  “We’ll be fine.”

  “Are you a swamp expert now?”

  “I’ve been there a time or two.”

  “You’re joking?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  The Swamp of Souls was a marshy area filled with predatory creatures both animal and supernatural. Even the fish try to kill you. Nothing was what it seemed. It was filled with tall, blackened cypress trees that twisted out of the brackish water like hands reaching for freedom. Many of those trees were poisonous to the touch. There were also bogs with poisonous gas and countless quick sand patches.

  It differed from any other swamp in one way – it was a gathering spot for the dead. Ghosts, ghouls and wraiths inhabited it. No one chose to go there. It had been a haunted and forbidden area for as long as anyone could remember. There weren’t even stories about how it became haunted.

  Twenty minutes later, we pulled up along a dirt road. There were no lights out here. It was a starless night. Why they wanted to do this in the dark baffled me. It was reckless. We were more likely to get hurt or killed coming out in the dark.

  “What are we waiting for?” I asked.

  “Miles and the others. Don’t be scared, we’ll be fine.”

  “It’s dark.”