A Grim Situation

by Whit McClendon

  Avery’s gaze flicked towards Ariana and then locked with mine again. She didn’t answer, turning my words over in her mind, I’d guess. It was a lot to take in. I’m sure she had loved her old Grandpa, but if I’d come for him, then he had to have been dirty. She was trying to remember if she’d seen anything that would indicate that.

  Being that close to her, I could feel her power, depleted, yes, but still there. I reached for her with my own and slammed up against a mental ward nearly as strong as Tanya’s had been. Avery’s eyes flicked toward me as she felt the intrusion, momentarily concerned, but I raised my hands, palms up, and said, “It’s OK, it’s OK. I was only looking you over. Trying to figure out what your magick is made of, that’s all. I won’t hurt you.” Avery relaxed at that, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

  I inclined my head towards Tanya’s body. “What did you do?” I asked again. “She was nearly invulnerable. How did you kill her?”

  Avery finally lowered her gaze as she contemplated. “I don’t know, exactly.” When she looked up at me, I could tell that she had tabled the ‘you killed my grandfather’ discussion for another time. She had more pressing matters to talk about. “She hid me with that spell or whatever right after Ariana showed up and shot her. I could see what was going on, but no matter how much I screamed, none of you could hear me, and certainly couldn’t see me.” She paused and I realized how hoarse her voice was. “I watched her fight with you, and all I could think about was that she’d probably killed Jim, and now that she had those powers, she’d go back to Katy and Houston and kill more people there, too. That really pissed me off.” She shrugged and allowed one side of her mouth to tip upwards into a smile, “And I’m not all that fond of being chained up like that, either. I’m a cop; I do the cuffing, not the other way ‘round.”

  I understood that sentiment. “Will you let me examine you? With my magick? It won’t hurt, I only want to figure out how strong you are, maybe figure out where your power comes from.”

  She thought about it, then nodded. “What do I need to do?”

  “Just relax, and when you feel my presence, don’t fight it. You shut me out before, so this time, just don’t do that.” I explained.

  Avery nodded, then took a deep breath and relaxed. “OK. Hit me.”

  I smiled and reached for her. It took only a moment to confirm what I’d suspected: she was a natural witch…and something more. She’d never known it, never been trained. And holy goddess, she was strong. There was definitely Fae blood in her veins, and it was thick. It’s a wonder it hadn’t expressed itself before this, but then, it was likely she’d unconsciously held it in check all this time for fear of not being normal. Close exposure to all of the magick she’d come in contact with lately had awakened it in her, relaxing her inhibitions against using it. Interesting. Very interesting.

  Ariana walked over, cradling her left arm, and looking like she’d mostly regained her composure. I was sure she’d managed to block most of the pain using a carefully placed bit of magick, but what was still getting through was probably pretty stout, judging by her expression.

  “What’s the verdict, Kane?” she asked tiredly.

  “You might want to spend some time with her,” I suggested. “She can learn a lot from you, and at this point, she needs to. She’s freaky strong, and she’ll need guidance.” I looked at Avery again, “She can teach you. And I guarantee that you’ll need the skills you’ll learn from her. Now that you know about our world, you’re a part of it whether you like it or not. And your strength will be needed, I have no doubt.”

  Avery looked from me to Ariana, then nodded. “OK. When we get back, and after I clean up this…” she shook her head, “this mess, we’ll get together. And you need to get that arm looked at.”

  Ariana glanced down at her arm and laughed, though it pained her to do so. “Yeah, I’ll have to teach you one-handed for a while. But that’ll do. We’ve got a lot of basics to cover. Being a witch is really cool, but it’s a shit-ton of work.”

  “I’m no stranger to that,” Avery replied, then her eyes widened. “Jim! They turned him into one of those demon things! We’ve got to find him!”

  “It’s OK, he found us. And we got the demon out of him; he’s perfectly fine,” Ariana reassured her. “He’s worried about you. We nearly had to tie him up to keep him from coming with us.”

  Avery sighed in relief, and to my surprise, her eyes welled up and she couldn’t quite stifle a sob. Just as quickly, she wiped her nose and straightened up. “Sorry. We’ve been friends a long time, Jim and I. He’s a good man. I hated that she did that to him. He didn’t deserve that.”

  I glanced over at Tanya’s body, lying motionless across the room. “Well, at least we know it won’t happen to anyone else. She’s done. No more demon pills.”

  Just then I caught the faintest, but most welcome sound I’d heard in a while: helicopter blades.

  “Ladies, I believe our ride is here. Shall we go?”

  Chapter 31

  I really like Edge. He happened to have a huge chunk of explosives stashed in the helicopter. “For emergencies,” he said. We dropped a few bricks of C4 into the chimney at the top of the mountain on a timer, and it brought the whole thing down on top of Tanya’s body, sealing up the ceremonial chamber and the entrances to the other two tunnels that led deeper into the earth from there. Whatever was down there should probably stay locked away in any event.

  The shockwave rocked the helicopter a little before Edge smoothed out the ride once more. He flew us toward the rising sun, back into Texas. Jim, Avery, and Ariana were buckled safely into their seats, already dozing. Edge had splinted Ariana’s arm nicely and dosed her with painkillers, so her sleep was even deeper than the others. She was snoring, mouth wide open, and she’d drooled a little. Just darling. I took a picture with her phone. I was sure she’d love that.

  Movement outside the window caught my attention, and I leaned over to see better. What I saw made me smile. The Wyvern was flying alongside us, maybe a hundred yards away. Its leathery wings flapped lazily as it flew, mostly gliding on the air currents. An idea struck me, and I unbuckled my harness. Moving carefully up into the cockpit, I shut the door behind me and sat in the seat next to Edge. He saw me and nodded, before turning his attention back to his instruments and the wide-open vista before him.

  “Does this thing have an autopilot?” I asked him.

  He slowly turned back to face me, one eyebrow raised, his curiosity piqued. Edge nodded. “Yes sir, it does. Might I ask why you’d want to know such a thing?”

  “I need you to shut the door for me after I jump out. I’ve got another ride home, I think. I’ll meet you all back at Ariana’s tonight. Fly safely, Edge.”

  He opened his mouth, closed it again, then simply nodded. He hit a series of switches, removed his hands from the controls, and gave me a thumbs up.

  I opened the door to the cabin and jumped out, relishing the howl of the wind as I fell. At that height, it felt like flying, though I knew I was plummeting to earth instead. I looked off to my right and saw my new buddy.

  The Wyvern screeched, its song piercing the air even above the rushing air in my ears. It flapped its wings and instantly changed direction to intercept me. I swear, it actually seemed excited. When it reached me it eased alongside, then drifted beneath me so that I landed softly on its shoulders. I slid my hands along its neck and found the spots where I had dug my claws in to control it before. The wounds had already healed, but I found I could grip the scales well enough that I wouldn’t fall off, and I held on with my thighs as well.

  Ever been to Texas? I asked the Wyvern. I got a swirl of emotions in return: eagerness and joy, mostly. I let myself go a little and grinned like fool. Well, I think I can find a spot for you out there somewhere. And I’ll see a guy about a saddle.

  The End

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  About The Author

  Whit McClendon was born on October 31, 1969 in Freeport, Tx. He grew up in Angleton Texas and was active in martial arts, track and field, and playing the clarinet in band. One year at Texas A & M proved that lacrosse was far more fun than electrical engineering, and he eventually graduated with a degree in Engineering Design Graphics from Brazosport College. After working in the petrochemical field as a CAD drafter for many years, Whit finally realized his life’s dream of becoming a full-time martial arts instructor. He now lives with his family in Katy, Texas, plays lacrosse as often as possible, and runs Jade Mountain Martial Arts. He laughs a lot more now than he did when he worked at the engineering firm.

  whitmcc@jidaan.com

  www.whitmcclendon.com

  www.jmma.org
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