Life’s a Witch

by Skyler Andra

  “Just don’t trick me again, okay. Or I’ll kick you in the balls.”

  “I’d enjoy anything you did to me.” I winked at her.

  She sifted her fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes in haze. “So, you like it rough, huh?”

  “Sometimes. I like the pain. Makes me forget all the shit in my life.”

  “There’s other ways to forget your pain.” She kissed my neck.

  “Oh yeah, like how?”

  “Hot prison sex minus the violence.”

  “If you don’t like it, we don’t have to do it. I’m cool with vanilla.”

  She smacked me in the side of the arm. “I’m not vanilla.”

  I smiled and kissed her neck, biting softly. “No, you’re not.” I hoped with a little encouragement she might want to do this again. By all accounts, things were looking pretty good in that regard. Thank fucking God, too. About time I got something good in my life.

  I leaned on my side, propping my head in my palm. “So, are you my prison bitch, then?”

  A coy smile tugged at her lips as she glanced up at the ceiling for a few moments. I laughed and kissed her mouth, taking my time, tasting her.

  “I’ve never been anyone’s prison bitch before.” That smile, cheeky and coy, promised me heaven.

  “It’s easy. We play hide the soap, meet me in the cupboards, and do crazy shit like christen Knoxe’s Impala before he does.” She cackled at the last one.

  A different smile came over her, mischievous and telling me she’d accept that challenge. “He’d love that. Make us train for two days straight.”

  I groaned. “Sounds like a blast. But worth it.”

  She ran a hand along my biceps leaving a trail of burning embers in her wake. Her fingers did incredible things to me, and I wanted her hands all over me again and again. I wanted her to hurt me, cleanse me of all the shitty things I’d done. Hardening again, I kissed her, soft, sweet, building to the hotter and heavier shit.

  But she pulled away, studying me, those baby blues gazing right into my soul and tearing it apart. I sensed a weighty question coming on. “Why do you let Knoxe talk to you like that?”

  I stiffened. Straight to the point. This girl was like Sable Assassin: direct and deadly, shoot to kill. I wanted to keep things light and fun between us. My life was complicated enough as it was. I had enough stress in my life with Knoxe and the warden constantly on my ass. With running my contraband gig and trying to make enough money to support my family and avoiding getting busted.

  I rubbed my tight jaw, grazing my stubble. “Knoxe thinks I’m a fuckup.”

  She put her hand over mine, linking our fingers together. “Do you believe it?”

  I looked at the wall. “Yes.”

  She shoved me in the chest. “That’s not true.”

  I rolled to the side of the bed, sat on the edge of the mattress and ran a hand through my hair. “Yes it is. It’s my fault Jaz is dead. My fault my ex got raped. My fault that the mothman almost killed you.” I buried my face in my hands. Fuck, way to kill the mood.

  She moved closer, putting her arms around my neck, her tits pressing against my back. “You tricked Devon and got me freed.” She ran a finger down my arm and a surge of electricity pulsed at the site. “That’s some superhero shit.”

  When she kissed my earlobes, she nearly undid me. I was one confession away from becoming a sniveling mess. I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. Didn’t want to be vulnerable. I didn’t want to fuck up anymore, either. I desperately needed to be a superhero. For myself, my family, for my team, and now for Supergirl.

  “It’s okay to mess things up sometimes.” She kissed me again and I leaned back against her, holding one of her arms. “I fucked up by stealing.”

  She squeezed me tighter, running the side of her face along my ear.

  “Knoxe fucks up and can’t lead a dysfunctional team,” she added. “Raze ran out of eucalyptus leaves in training yesterday and used those goddamm stinking tea leaves. And Pascal, well, I don’t know him that well, but he misidentified the mothman at the mining heap monument the other day.”

  I snorted. She was fucking right. We all screwed up. Probably not as severe as me, but still, everyone did it sometimes.

  I shifted to face her, brushing her jaw and cheek with the back of my hand. The deeper meaning of her words hit me, and I dragged my nails along my thighs. I was a fuck up, desperately wanting to be a superhero, and it was okay to be both. Sable Assassin didn’t always get her man. Captain Victorius lost an epic battle that saw a city destroyed. I’d win some and lose some, and that was okay. From now on, I’d try my best not to mess things up so much and pat myself on the back when I did good.

  I kissed Supergirl again, hardening, wanting to go another round before lights out and then get some sleep before the mission.

  Someone thumped on the door. “All right, you’ve had your fun.” A guard. Johnston. Had a real stick up his ass. “Get back in your own cells.”

  I groaned and glared at the door. Supergirl made it hard as she rubbed my back. I didn’t want her to go, but she climbed off my bed, gathered her clothing from the floor, and dressed herself again. A part of me felt mournful as I packed my body back into my boxers and t-shirt and got under the covers without her. I wanted her with me. It was going to be a cold and lonely night.

  She shuffled back to her cell as Johnston closed my door and locked it behind him.

  Alone in the cell, I let out a long sigh. Now there would be this thing between Supergirl and me, this energy that could exist only because two people had been together the way we’d been. And we’d both have to live and work in the Guardians.

  So many questions had been left unanswered. The one that lingered in my mind was whether she’d allow this to happen again. Because I was up for it. She sounded up for it. But my luck could turn on a dime.

  Chapter 30

  Raze

  “One last thing.” Knoxe handed out fully charged, glowing solar jewels to each team member, stopping to explain how it worked to Astra as she examined her amulet. “These are packed with absorbed sunlight.”

  She held up the gem, which glowed at her like a tiny sun. The amulets contained the energy that drove and sustained life and could injure those that stole it.

  “They’ll wound a vamp if it attacks,” Knoxe explained. “But don’t switch them on to full capacity before necessary. It’ll be like a beacon in the darkness.”

  “Aye, aye, captain.” Tor clomped his foot like a soldier standing to attention.

  “How do they work?” Astra turned her jewel over in her hands, studying the back, as if searching for a switch.

  Knoxe took it from her hands and raised it, lowering the amulet necklace over her neck. “Rub them to activate the light.”

  She lifted her hands to touch it, and a small spark flashed between her hands, and they jerked backward.

  One of my ancestors, an old man, a healer, stretched up on his tiptoes to wave an eagle’s feather over them, blessing Knoxe and Astra with good luck. Normally, the person receiving the blessing would kneel to receive the honor, but the healer was too short, and a spirit, so he worked with what he had. This action had different meanings. It wished a boy well on his journey into adulthood. Blessed the union of a couple or welcomed a new baby into the world. It also ushered the spirit from the living to the dead.

  Munyara, I hoped it didn’t mean the last one in their case.

  When my ancestor turned to me, smiled, placed the feather over his chest and nodded, I knew it was not a bad omen, but a blessing of their relationship. Knoxe had struggled to accept Astra into the team, been cold and unkind, pushed her to breaking point in training, expected her to be elite from her commencement. That kind of opposition couldn’t have been easy on her.

  I should have reached out to her, tutored her like Tor had, but it went against every instinct to stay away from people and not get close. No one could find out my secrets. No one could find out what I
was. I’d be imprisoned, maybe killed for treason.

  Knoxe handed us each a headband with a torch attached, and we stretched them over our heads.

  “Team, fallout.” Every day, Knoxe sounded more and more like a Sergeant.

  We turned to the waiting pale blue portal, shimmering and crackling to our left. Beyond it lay the shared world of the Karvosh and Mothman. A deep and forbidding darkness yawned at us from beyond the threshold of the station entrance. The blackness and the silence had their own warning: turn back now.

  Too late.

  My ancestor tugged at my sleeve again. “He’s coming for you.”

  Her words sank under my skin, and a shiver ran through me. I didn’t want to go, but I had to. If I refused the order, I’d be questioned, punished, and I couldn’t risk my secret being discovered. Entering this world endangered my life. One whiff of my scent and the Karvosh would seek me out.

  Working for the Guardians assisted the spirits beyond this world who communicated with my tribe. The land and everything on it were out of balance, thanks to the gantii. My people, as custodians of the land, were tasked with protecting it. That was one of the reasons, beyond finding the Munyara, I’d been sent to the Guild. Because of unfortunate circumstances, my team and I found ourselves at the Guardians. It hindered my objective, but I could still get it done, just slower.

  If putting myself in jeopardy eliminated the threat from Styx, I’d gladly lay down my life. The only thing that worried me was leaving my family and community behind. I didn’t know what they’d do without me or how they’d find the Munyara. Another of the tribe’s trackers would have to take up my mantle.

  Knoxe stepped through the portal, and my stomach knotted as the rest of the team and I crossed, too.

  On the other side, I took a minute to get my bearings. A dim, craggy landscape, lit by a blood red sky, dark and dangerous. How appropriate. A dead place for those undead who preyed on life.

  Knoxe checked the veil detection device. “This is the reported location where the mothman breeched Earth.”

  That meant one of two things. We were either close to the vamp nest or close to his home. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck. Hopefully, not the first.

  I sniffed long and hard, committing to memory every scent, like I’d been taught. The coppery metallic scent of the rocky formation we stood on. The same dusty smell I’d picked up from the mothman from when they shed fur and dust from their bodies. Earthy, barky scents of the scattered vegetation that looked like dead twigs with spikes. And the feint astringent scent of the vampires.

  “Raze, you take it from here.” Knoxe’s voice reminded me of a shark, craving the blood of Styx. He wouldn’t stop until he got it.

  Stomach bunched tight, I replied, “Already on it.”

  I spun a full turn, observing the direction of a red moon, recalling from my mission preparation that it travelled in the opposite direction to our sun. By its position, right above us in the sky, it was mid-morning going on the afternoon, and we had to hurry to maintain the cover that the maximum amount of illumination provided. The vamps hated light and hunted at low peaks in the evening and early mornings. This realm had no sun, and the creatures had big dark eyes to compensate for the lack of illumination.

  Next, I tested the direction of wind, turning again, observing the brush on my face as I moved left. I had to make sure we kept downwind to avoid alerting the Karvosh to my presence. That meant staying as low as possible and veering as far away from breezes.

  Lastly, I bent down to study the ground, running my finger along a fine trail of mothman dust. For now, we’d follow this.

  “This way.” Using my enhanced vision, I navigated the landscape, catching every outcrop of rock, every obstacle. The others stumbled behind me.

  “I can’t see a damned thing,” Tor complained.

  “Me, neither.” Astra staggered and lost her footing.

  I paused and swiveled, waiting for them to catch up. The group couldn’t afford to lose any members, and I especially couldn’t afford to get separated from them in this place.

  To my surprise, Knoxe helped her up with one hand, cupping underneath her forearm with his other. They stood there for a moment staring at each other. Her in disbelief and him in a way I’d not seen since Jaz was alive. He kept ahold of her for longer than acceptable, and she pulled away, cleared her throat and brushed her chest.

  “What?” Knoxe asked as he caught up.

  “Nothing.” I smiled.

  From my research, the Mothman resided in caves out of reach of most normal creatures. Smart, considering they dwelled in the same land as energy drainers. The poor creatures were one food source for the Karvosh. They used silver to generate light to deter the vamps from their caves and protect their communities.

  For about an hour, we walked, sometimes changing directions when I picked up a fresher scent or had to steer the group away from a beast in the mountains.

  When Astra slipped again, both Tor and Knoxe fought to return her to her feet. Grateful, she smiled at both of them. It made me warm inside. Knoxe hadn’t been this warm in a long time. The only thing he’d had to care for was avenging Jaz’s death. After so long it seemed like he began to care about his team again. A faint glimmer of hope ignited in my chest at the possibility of getting our leader back.

  Soon, we reached a larger cave where I distinguished the faint scent of the Star Walker, three days old, perhaps, mingled with similar scents that I assumed were his family. Above this, the place reeked of the foul and pungent odor of the Karvosh. Four of them by my count.

  “This is where the mothman’s family were kidnapped,” I told my team. “No one is in here now.”

  “Weapons ready,” Knoxe ordered, gesturing for me to continue first. “Astra, you stick by me, got it?”

  She nodded. “Yes, Knoxe.”

  He glanced at her and his hard expression softened. They were talking to each other like civilized adults for once. The lack of fighting had eased the tension in the group and lowered Pascal’s anxiety. For that, I was grateful. The spark of hope warmed a dream I thought was long gone. Maybe Knoxe was really back.

  With a nod from Knoxe, we entered the cave, dark, dusty, and cold.

  Tor activated the torch on his forehead. Until now, we’d walked in the dark to avoid attracting attention. But inside the cave, we were safe. Four Karvosh weren’t much to deal with.

  Deeper inside the cave, I crouched to get a better look at the dirty floor, using the gifts of the trackers from my tribe. Scuff marks in the dust suggested a struggle. Multiple footprints indicated several creatures involved. All with varying sizes and differing outlines.

  Astra huddled beside me, examining the imprints. Part of me liked having her by my side. It felt natural, right. Then there was the other part of me who was frightened for anyone to get close. I tried to concentrate on the task at hand, even though it was hard with her as a distraction.

  “These scrape marks here suggest a struggle.” I traced the lines and sweeps of dirt with my fingers. “Four invaders here with the clawed footprints. Two children and a woman judging by the size of the heel and heel marks there.”

  Eventually, her presence became too much, and I shuffled aside a few steps. I ran a finger through one mark and lifted it, sniffing it, inhaling copper. Cold-blooded creatures like vamps tended to stick to cooler environments like caves with rocks prevalent in copper. The metal transmitted electricity, and they sucked whatever they could from the earth, bleeding it, gorging on it, like greedy sloths.

  When I licked it, Tor muttered, “That’s gross, man.”

  “Even dust contains clues.” I stood up, scanning the cave walls and roof.

  “From the smear of moth dust on the ceiling, someone struggled to get away.”

  I crossed the cave to point out the evidence, a coating of brown grime streaking diagonally. “To the outline of a body on the floor, with the kick marks, where someone tried to get to their feet, but was dragged away,
indicated by the two lines leading out of the cave.”

  “Jesus, man.” Tor frowned. “I’ve never heard you string so many words together.”

  “Maybe you haven’t asked the right questions.” I smiled at him.

  I took a long inhale of the cave to familiarizing myself again with the scents of the Star Walkers. Earthy like a wolf. Dirty like a bear. Sweet like nectar. Feint scent, three days old and fading. They had been forcibly taken to another location.

  “Follow me.” I led the team out of the cave, where I studied additional clues.

  The mothman’s family struggle showed me the way. Footprints led west, over a craggy hill and down into the valley below. Snapped branches on the tree down the slope indicated someone had fought back, and another struggle had ensued, forcing the Karvosh to carry one of the Star Walkers. The Mother. They carried her roughly, her wings grazing rock, leaving fine trails of dust.

  I followed the path for another mile to a fresh set of caverns in the valley below. The scent of Karvosh grew stronger, calling me, demanding my shift in my alternate form. I hadn’t killed one in a long time. I craved their flesh. Every cell in my body screamed to transform, to become more powerful and faster, to destroy the threat. But I held back. This wasn’t the time or the place.

  The entrance was fresh with footprints and stinking of Karvosh. Four different scents. Some more coppery than others. Weak and pitiful. In need of energy. Our bodies would provide plenty of sustenance if they killed us.

  “They’re in here,” I announced.

  “Pascal,” Knoxe whispered from behind. “Tell me how far away they are.”

  Pascal performed his test. Normally he was lightning fast to report on his findings. This time he squinted, glanced around, and scrunched his mouth. “Three hundred yards. Ten of them. Six in the cave and four patrolling.”

  Knoxe’s features tightened. “Weapons’ ready. Move in. Follow Raze’s lead.”

  We entered another cave, deeper, longer, and danker. The threat in the air crackled like a live wire. It shot down my spine and made my neck hairs stand on edge. My muscles trembled like a hunting dog with its prey. Every part of me desired to release my true form. Fight on an even platform. I closed my eyes, resisting.