The Blade Mage

by Phillip Drayer Duncan

  But, I thought, if he was in my situation, he wouldn’t be sitting in a bathtub feeling sorry for himself. That was for sure. Maybe I wasn’t the man he was, but I could still do him proud. I could still figure this thing out and do the right thing. That was what he would do.

  I stayed in the bath a while longer, focusing on zazen meditation techniques to clear my head. Maybe if I could just slow things down I’d catch something I’d missed before.

  In the end, I didn’t have any luck, but I did manage to relax a little and get my head straight.

  By the time I stepped out of the shower I felt like a human again. I took my time to dry off, then threw on my clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. The first thing I noticed was Faith standing by the bed and going through her duffle bag while wearing nothing but a pair of black lace panties.

  I stood stock still, my mouth agape, incapable of intelligent thought. Then she spun around and noticed me standing behind her, staring at her mostly naked body, like a pubescent teen who’d never seen a naked woman before.

  Her eyes went wide, then she yelped and covered herself.

  “Uh, sorry,” I said, stepping back into the bathroom. I closed the door and repeated, “Sorry.”

  “Not your fault,” she yelled back. “I didn’t hear the shower cut off.”

  “Um, just let me know when it’s safe,” I replied. I hoped it would be a minute. There were certain parts of my anatomy I really needed to get under control before I stepped back out there. It occurred to me how long it’d been since I’d been with a woman. It had been precisely too damned long.

  A few minutes later she informed me it was safe and I stepped out of the bathroom again. This time she was fully clothed, but her face was bright red and she wouldn’t make eye contact with me.

  “Sorry,” I said again. “I didn’t mean to… Uh… You know.”

  “It’s all right,” she said, still not looking at me. “It was my fault.”

  “It’s no big deal, really,” I replied. Then I had one of those moments where I said something stupid before I realize it was stupid. “You can show me those anytime.”

  Her face reddened even more, but she did flash me a brief grin.

  I shuffled awkwardly toward my own bag and put my dirty clothes away. Seeing her like that had gotten my mind off Axel’s impending doom for a moment, but now it seeped back in.

  I glanced over at her. “So, we’ve got some time before we’ll hear back from Stone. Want to get out of this motel room?”

  She nodded but still wouldn’t look at me.

  ***

  I still had a little cash to spare, so we hit a nearby sandwich shop and both ordered subs. We waited in silence until the food arrived, then both started chowing down. The motel was just across the street, so I kept an eye out for Stone.

  Finally, I couldn’t take the silence any longer and said, “You know, we’ve spent the last couple days together, but I still don’t really know anything about you.”

  “I don’t know anything about you, either,” she said, shrugging. “What’s there to say, really? I just want to find my sister.”

  “I know,” I said, taking a bite from my sandwich. When I finished, I said, “But you can’t focus on that every second. You’ll drive yourself mad. Tell me about yourself.”

  “What do you want to know?” she asked. “I’m pretty boring. I work and I take care of my sister. That’s about it.”

  “There’s got to be more to you than that,” I said, watching her. “You must have interests, hobbies, or something?”

  “Are you about to ask me if I have a boyfriend?” she asked, not looking at me.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I generally meant the question as stated… Do you want me to ask if you have a boyfriend?”

  And there I thought I’d left my nervous teenager days behind me. The whole conversation started to feel very high school.

  She glanced up at me briefly but didn’t reply.

  “So, no hobbies?” I asked.

  “I like to read,” she said. “And I like to garden. I like to be in nature.”

  “Very good,” I replied with only a hint of sarcasm. “See, I knew you had to have some interests.”

  She stuck her tongue out at me and asked, “What about you, guy who lives by himself in the forest? What are your hobbies?”

  “Are you trying to ask me if I have a girlfriend?” I replied, sticking my tongue out at her. Yup, the whole thing was very teenager like.

  “And if I was?” she asked.

  “Then the answer would be no,” I replied. “I’m definitely single.”

  “Ah,” she replied, but didn’t say any more.

  I considered that she might not be interested. It occurred to then that hitting on the woman who was hunting for her kidnapped kid sister probably wasn’t one of my better moves.

  “I like to read as well,” I replied, shrugging. “I know it doesn’t go along with my super manly tough guy image, but it’s true.”

  She laughed so hard she snorted. “Manly tough guy image? Is that what you think you have going?”

  I glared at her. “I would also throw in charmingly handsome.”

  “I bet you would.”

  “Hey, I won’t be insulted by someone with Smurf hair.”

  “It’s not Smurf hair,” she said and threw a Dorito at me. “And speaking of your ‘image,’ you look like one of those lumberjack hipsters who grows a well-manicured beard and wears flannel, ironically.”

  “That genuinely hurts,” I replied. “You just had to call me a hipster, didn’t you?”

  She laughed again, then abruptly stopped and looked away. After a few moments, she said, “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”

  “I understand,” I said, nodding. Then, looking out the window, I said, “What if we went over there?”

  She glanced out the window and asked, “To the mini-golf place?”

  “Sure,” I said, shrugging. “We still have time to burn. Maybe that’ll get your mind off things.”

  “I’ve never played,” she said, staring out the window.

  “You’ve never played putt putt?” I asked. “How’s that even possible?”

  She shrugged.

  “Come on,” I said, rising from the table. “I insist.”

  ***

  She hadn’t lied about never playing before. The first few holes, I dominated. By the fourth or fifth she started to mount a comeback.

  “Why do I feel like I’m being hustled?” I asked, chuckling as she sank a hole in one.

  “Don’t be a sore loser,” she said, managing a smile.

  My strategy to get her mind off her missing sister seemed to be doing the trick. If that meant I had to be embarrassed at mini-golf, well, it was a small price to pay.

  I wanted to get to know her for reasons beyond my obvious interest. If there was something to be concerned about, I wanted to see if she would slip. At least, that’s what I told myself.

  I also needed something to take my mind off of things. This was it. The last day. A part of me wanted to rush back to the Broken Guitar, or check back with every contact I had in town, but I needed to be ready when Stone called. Running around town would be pointless, anyway. The Pattersons were our only lead. I just had to have patience and trust Stone would come through. Patience had never been my strong point.

  Forcing a smile, I said, “I still can’t believe you’ve never played mini-golf.”

  She didn’t answer right away, but eventually said, “I led a very sheltered life.”

  “What does that have to do with mini-golf?”

  She shrugged and watched me take my turn. “There’re a lot of things I never did as a kid or teenager. I was homeschooled. Then when I was responsible for my sister, I didn’t have a lot of time for me. Most of my focus has been on her. We’ve been trying to branch out a bit.”

  “Yeah?” I asked. “Is that why you have blue hair?”

  “Yes,” she replied with the faint
est hint of a smile. “It was her idea. She wanted pink hair, but she was afraid other kids might make fun of her. She would only agree to do it if I got my hair colored with her.” She reached up and ran her fingers through her hair. “I let her choose.”

  “It looks good on you,” I said, nodding.

  “Yeah?” she asked, her smile widening. “You really think so?”

  “I do,” I replied, but didn’t push it further. I reminded myself it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, I said, “She’s lucky to have such a cool big sister. It sounds like you really love her.”

  She bit her lip and looked away, not responding.

  I sighed inwardly and shook my head at my own foolish words. So much for helping her get her mind off of it.

  Chapter 20

  After Faith thrashed me at mini-golf, we headed back to the motel. I still hadn’t heard from Stone, and I felt on the verge of panic. Where the fuck was he? Why hadn’t I gotten a number to call him?

  I realized I was pacing the motel floor and only adding to Faith’s anxiety, not to mention my own. Problem was, there wasn’t much to occupy my mind in the motel room. Once again, I thought about rushing out and talking to all my old contacts one more time, but there wasn’t any use, and I knew it. I had to wait for Stone.

  Finally, I turned on the television and flopped down on the bed. After a restless moment or two, I sat up and used two pillows to make a back rest. Much to my surprise, Faith sat down beside me and did the same.

  “Any preference?” I asked.

  “I don’t watch a lot of TV,” she said. “I wouldn’t even know.”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “I don’t either, actually.”

  I flipped through the channels for a few minutes until I realized Faith was being abnormally quiet. I tossed the remote on the bed and turned to look at her, realizing she was watching me.

  “Can I ask you something?” she asked, her expression serious.

  “Of course,” I replied.

  “What are you going to do if we find the witch?”

  I stared at her, unsure how to answer. We’d been working so hard just to find clues that I hadn’t actually considered what I’d do if we ran face first into an actual witch. I thought it over for a few seconds and said, “My only real goal is to find your sister and prove Axel’s innocence. If we can accomplish both of those goals, then the Cabal can deal with the witch. I mean, I guess if I have to I’ll fight her, but that isn’t my plan.”

  “You don’t want to kill her?”

  “Um, well, honestly, I hadn’t thought about it,” I said, shrugging. “Why? Do you want me to kill her?”

  “Well, she did kidnap my sister.” She shrugged. “It’s not that, though. It’s… Well…You’re the Blade Mage.”

  “So?”

  “So, isn’t it your job to kill witches?”

  “Only the bad, evil type of witches,” I said, scrunching my face as I tried to explain. “Like I said before, I’ve known plenty of ladies, and a guy or two, who went by the term ‘witch.’ None of them were evil. The Colonial Coven is said to be all female witches. They certainly aren’t evil.”

  “But the evil ones? The ones who aren’t in line with your Solemn Covenant?”

  “I don’t want to kill anyone, Faith,” I said, meeting her gaze. “You understand that, right? That’s not what a Blade Mage is about. We don’t just run around looking for people to kill.”

  “But what if you caught her?” she asked. “Would you kill her like the men in the alley?”

  I met her gaze and stared into her eyes, realizing just how striking they truly were. The clearest blue I’d ever seen. Damn, but she was gorgeous. I forced a smile and said, “I would prefer to hand her over to the Cabal for trial. It would be up to them.”

  “But they’d kill her, wouldn’t they?” she asked. “Isn’t that why everyone is so afraid of them?”

  “I suppose it is,” I replied. “But supernatural folks who toe the line don’t have anything to worry about. Just those who use their abilities to hurt people. That’s who the Cabal cracks down on. Particularly the ones who use dark magic.”

  “But what constitutes dark magic?”

  “Well, in some cases, a mage may be referred to as a dark wizard if they use their magic to hurt others. That’s the basic idea.” I shrugged. “There are certain forbidden magics that are referred to as dark, like necromancy or blood-based magic. Or certain spells. For instance, summoning a demon is sort of frowned on. They’re not big on making people’s heads explode, either. Reanimating a corpse is straight out.”

  “But what if someone learned a forbidden magic and didn’t realize it was forbidden?”

  “Well, I don’t know,” I said, considering it. “It’s highly unlikely here in the States. Very few mages slip under the radar of the guilds. We have Seekers who watch for that sort of thing. There’re ways to detect it. In theory, only the most powerful mages could use forbidden magics and get away with it. To do that, they’d know exactly what they were doing, but I suppose if a kid was trained in forbidden magic the Cabal would take leniency. Probably just explain the rules and keep an eye on them. I don’t really know. It’s never come up, to my knowledge.”

  “And what about you?” she asked. “What would you do?”

  “Just that, I suppose. Make sure they understood the rules, then give them a chance.”

  “And if your Cabal didn’t agree?”

  “You mean if they wanted me to execute them?”

  She nodded.

  “I wouldn’t do it,” I said, shaking my head. “No chance. I’d stand against them.”

  “Even if it cost you the sword?”

  “It wouldn’t.”

  “What if it cost you your life?”

  I shrugged.

  “What about a vampire in the same scenario? What if they drank someone’s blood and really hurt them?”

  “But didn’t know any better?”

  “Right.”

  “Guess I’d do the same. Cabal be damned.”

  “You’d fight them?”

  “I suppose if I had to.” I met her gaze again. “Why are you asking me all of this?”

  She stared at me for a few seconds and said, “When we first met, I was terrified of you. I thought you might strike me down like you did those men. You didn’t, and now…”

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Now, I’ve got to know you,” she said, shrugging. “And I don’t see the same man I saw before. All day you’ve been trying to cheer me up. This whole time you’ve been trying to protect me and help me… I guess you just aren’t what I thought you were. You aren’t a bad man, Wyatt.”

  “Uh, thanks,” I replied.

  “No,” she said, leaning closer to put a hand on my shoulder. “That isn’t what I meant… I mean you’re a good man, and I don’t know what I’d have done without you.”

  “Oh,” I said, realizing just how close she was to me. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating, and the way she looked at me made me melt inside. “I’m just trying to do the right thing.”

  “It’s more than that,” she said, shaking her head. “You helped me at no personal benefit. I just want you to know…”

  She paused, then a moment later, we were kissing. Softly at first, then slowly it started building. Her arms wrapped around behind me and she pulled me in closer.

  Some part of me thought maybe we should stop. It didn’t seem like the right time and we’d only just met.

  Then again, maybe it was what we both needed in that moment. My stress was through the roof. Anxiety at an all-time high. Every corner we turned someone was trying to kill us. Monsters were hunting us. My best friend was to be executed in a few hours. And for Faith it must’ve been worse, even. She’d been searching for days, terrified for her little sister.

  Perhaps we both needed a momentary escape. Maybe we needed each other.

  Next thing I knew she was on top of me, still kissing, but clutching at my shirt to remove
it. A few moments later, hers was off as well, and this time she didn’t blush.

  ***

  It was early afternoon when there came a knock on the door, followed by Stone’s voice. “It’s me.”

  I couldn’t get to the door quick enough.

  Faith and I had worked out some of our anxiety together, but after that, we’d just worked ourselves up into a panic again. I’d taken another shower just to pass the time, and was about to take off across town when he finally showed up. I’d nearly convinced myself to have a go at breaking Axel out of his jail cell.

  I swung open the door and asked, “Where the fuck have you been?”

  Stone raised an eyebrow then stepped past me. He was dressed in dark combat fatigues and a leather jacket. There was a backpack slung over his shoulder, but no obvious weapons in sight. However, I had little doubt he had several handguns concealed around his body.

  He dropped his bag by his feet and plopped down in the office chair just as he had before, but his eyes were on me, studying my face. After a few moments, he said, “You look different.”

  “Do I?” I asked, not sure what he could’ve meant.

  “You seem…” He turned and glanced around the room. It only took a moment to see what he was looking at. The sheets were a mangled mess on the bed, and two of the pillows were on the floor along with Faith’s under things.

  “I see,” he said, nodding toward me. “Good for you. I hope you still don’t trust her.”

  “I don’t know,” I said, shrugging. “She hasn’t given me any reason not to so far.”

  “Neither would someone who planned to betray you,” he replied, tapping his fingers on the desk. “In fact, taking you to bed would be the easiest way to gain your trust.”

  “I have to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

  “You don’t have to give her shit,” he replied. “It’s none of my business either way, kid. Do whatever you think is best.”

  I nodded dumbly and sat down on the bed. “So, did you get us a meeting?”