by Jen Pretty
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Tom shook his head. “The driver we interviewed was
kind enough to show us his trunk. We didn't have a search
warrant, and he didn't have to, but inside there were two
big speakers leaving hardly enough space for a suitcase, let
alone a body.”
“Holy shit. That's the warlock that picked us up,
remember? He drove me home from the club the night I
met you, Nick. And out to my Mother's place when I met
Falcor.”
“It’s not a big city,” Peran said. “There probably aren’t
that many drivers.”
He was probably right, but I was still suspicious. He
could have taken the speakers out or something. “Thanks
for your help,” I said, rising to my feet. I needed to make a
plan. Crow hopped back to the door and pecked on it once.
“Selena, don’t put yourself in danger,” Tom said from
behind me.
I waved over my shoulder. Someone had killed my
friend, and I would solve this case and stop the monster. I
had made a promise. Time to keep it.
✽ ✽ ✽
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Out on the street, Nick grabbed my arm and stopped
me as I pulled out my phone. “What are you doing?” he
asked.
“I'm calling an Uber,” I replied.
Nick just stared at me for a second, then released my
arm. “I’m coming with you.”
“OK, fine. I’m just going back to my apartment. Maybe
some of my clothes survived and we can look around the
area for anyone suspicious.”
Nick nodded.
“I’m coming with you guys too,” Falcor said.
“Well, we are going back to our hotel. Call if you need
anything,” Kai said before he and Peran disappeared.
Good, fewer people the better for this plan to work.
A car rolled up, it wasn't the reggae and hula dancer
car, but the three of us climbed in and I directed the driver
to my apartment building. No one was in the entrance or
on the stairs today. I didn't need David to see me bringing
home more guys.
I dug through my pockets, but didn't have a key, so
Falcor sifted us inside.
The mess was as bad as I remembered. The rubble of
my simple life was strewn about. I crossed carefully
through the kitchen, glad I had good soles on my shoes,
and opened the cupboard under the sink. There were 4
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garbage bags left in the box. Not enough to clean up the
whole mess, but enough to get started.
I passed them out, but Falcor just looked at the bag like
it was a dirty sock. “What do you expect me to do with
this?” he asked.
“Help me clean up the mess this killer made of my
apartment,” I replied, picking up some broken plates
carefully and putting them in my plastic garbage can.
Whoever had ruined my apartment had torn the lid off the
can, so it was garbage now too. The irony.
“This place is disgusting,” Falcor said unhelpfully as he
used his finger and thumb to pick up the edge of what used
to be my favourite sweater.
“Yeah, that's why we are cleaning it up,” I said.
He stopped grumbling, mostly, and got to work.
Even after I filled the bag and the garbage can, I had
hardly made a dent in the mess of my small kitchen area.
My plates and bowls seemed to multiply in the destruction.
“I’m going to grab more garbage bags,” I said.
“I’ll come with you,” Nick replied.
“The store is two doors down, Nick. I’ll be fine.”
He didn't look convinced.
“Fine, come with me.” I shook my head, and he
followed me out the door. Behind me Falcor dropped the
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bag he had been filling and collapsed on what remained of
my futon. I guess it was break time.
Nick followed me down the stairs, our boots echoing
in the cement stairwell until I burst through the door at the
bottom.
David stood in the entryway and his eyes grew wide
when he saw us, his feet shuffling back a step.
“Hey, David,” I said. A little unsure of myself.
His eyes were firm on Nick though. “Hey, Selena,” he
muttered. “How’s it going?”
“Good, thanks. How about you?”
He swallowed and glanced at me finally. “I’m fine. I’m
just going to go.” He slid past us and disappeared through
the door to the stairwell.
I shook my head and sighed. It would be weird for a
while being here after we accused David of being a
murderer.
I continued out the door and down the road to the tiny
bodega on the corner. Nick walked beside me with his arm
over my shoulders. It was nice being tucked in beside him.
As we entered the store, we split up. Nick went to check
out the drinks, and I scanned the aisles until I found a box
of garbage bags. I wasn’t sure how I would get away from
Nick to call an Uber, but I would have to find a way. I
needed to get the driver who had picked me up before. He
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could have just been hanging around my building and
come across those women by chance.
I had scanned the book of mythical creatures while I
was in the bathroom earlier, trying to commit all of them
to memory. Each had to either be beheaded, have its heart
removed, or be dismembered.
If the Uber driver was possessed by one of those
mythical things, I would either have to decapitate,
dismember and tear out his heart, or know which thing he
was.
As I rounded the back corner, I caught sight of Nick
chatting with the man at the counter. The TV behind the
cash was on and some basketball game was playing. They
were staring up at the screen.
I glanced around and found the door to the backroom.
Now or never. I set the box of garbage bags back on the
shelf and slipped through the door. The storage room was
tiny. It had an open door that led to an even smaller
bathroom and one door that had a glowing exit sign above
it. I slid outside and broke into a sprint. As I ran down the
street, I pulled out my cell.
Nick would be so pissed.
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CHAPTER TWENTY
The Uber rolled up to the curb, the dancing hula girl
visible in the windshield. I took a deep breath and slapped
a smile on my face. I had second thoughts, but it was too
late for that. Instead of turning and running, like I should
have done, I opened the door and the reggae music spilled
out onto the sidewalk.
“Hi,” I said.
“You call for a car?” he asked, leaning towards the
passenger seat.
“Yup,” I smiled and slid into the seat. My leg bounced,
and I pressed down on it trying to hide my nervousness. I
pulled the door shut, but heard Crow caw just before the
door shut.
The car rolled away from the curb and into traffic.
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I remembered what Katherine had said about
following the threa
d and I unfocussed my eyes, letting my
magic spill out. It congealed and thinned out until it was a
tight thread crossing the car and disappearing into the
chest of the Uber driver.
“Where are you going, Selena?” he said, pulling my
attention back from the thread of magic.
I thought I misheard him over the sound of his music,
but he glanced at me with an angry tilt to his eyes. I knew
then I was right about him, but also that I had made a huge
mistake.
“Just thought maybe we should have a chat,” I said
casually. I was impressed that my voice didn't shake but the
cold chuckle from the driver sent chills down my spine. He
swept his hair back from his face and then gripped the
wheel firmly and accelerated until we were going too fast.
The car veered suddenly and took the on-ramp to the
highway.
I reached over my shoulder and pulled on my seatbelt.
“You think that will save you?” His voice had changed.
He sounded more like a demon than a man — cold and
dark.
“I'm not the one who will need saving.”
He threw his head back and laughed. The car swerving
across two lanes of traffic on the highway. Horns blared
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and my stomach jumped up into my throat. I was going to
die in a fiery crash.
“You know what your problem is Selena? You have no
idea about the world around you. They have been waiting
for you all this time, but you have no power and now you’ll
die because nobody took the time to teach you anything.”
I swallowed hard. He was right. I had no idea what the
Black Crow was or what it meant. I knew I could be good
or bad, but not the extent of my powers or what I was
supposed to be doing. Seeing through a bird’s eye and
flying around wouldn't help me in this situation.
The sparks of magic stirred inside me, building until
my skin felt tight. I clamped down on it, not wanting it to
do anything while we were hurtling down the highway.
“You won't be needing that,” the driver said. I saw a
flash of light and his arm flung out towards me so fast I
couldn't react.
Something had hit my stomach hard. I looked down
and realized there was a knife handle protruding from my
chest, just below my sternum. The sight made me pause
for a moment before the pain hit and the reality set in.
I gasped, but no air filled my lungs. The black dagger
handle held my gaze for a moment before my t-shirt
around it stained red in an ever-growing splash. The blue
sparks of my magic tried to knit me back together again
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around the dagger. I coughed and blood spit from my
mouth, spraying the windshield and dashboard. Even the
hula dancer had blood on her grass skirt. My eyes focused
on that for some reason. The bloody hula dancer was still
rocking her hips back and forth as my mouth worked,
trying to pull in oxygen.
My hands came up and scrambled at the knife, but it
was slick with blood, and, when I nudged it, a scream used
up the last of my oxygen.
The edges of my vision went white and then black,
leaving me with nothing but the sight of the stupid dancer
until the world faded away and everything went black.
✽ ✽ ✽
“Rise and shine, little necromancer.”
I groaned at the throb in my head before realizing I
didn't recognize the taunting voice. My eyes and I tried to
rise to sitting, but a stabbing pain reminded me of what had
happened.
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I screamed, and a hand clamped down on my mouth,
pinning me to a hard, cramped surface.
“You don't need to be so loud. Nobody can hear you
anyway.”
My eyes spun around, taking in my surroundings and I
realized I was in the truck of his car. The speakers in the
back of his car were hollow, leaving space for a small
person like me, or any of the other victims.
My arms came up and my fingers wrapped around the
hilt of the knife still protruding from my stomach. I
wrapped my fingers around it and tried to pull, but my
arms were heavy and I couldn't get a grip.
It was scraping painfully against my ribs with every
breath. A puddle had gathered under me and I wasn't sure
how I was even alive still.
“Now, Now, no reason to be pulling on that. Let’s just
leave it in for now so we can chat a minute. I like you better
without your magic.”
I focused on the man’s face, but his eyes were swirling
purple and green in a metallic sheen. Whatever he once
was, something now possessed him. I tried to think back
to the book and remember what had eyes like that, but
most of the drawings were in black and white.
I moaned at the pain radiating through me, but at least
I could breathe now.
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“The pain will end soon. I will drain you and then you
can rest in peace. First, we are going on a little trip though.
I have a special place in mind for this since you are so
special.” The sound of a purr came from the man’s throat
and I knew a big cat had to have possessed him. Maybe a
jaguar? That made sense with the way he stalked his
victims.
If I could get the knife out of my chest, I could use it
to stab him in the heart and kill him, but I could hardly lift
my arms now and my eyes were sliding closed.
“See you soon, necromancer.” He pulled the wooden
speakers down and the fit over me like a coffin. I kicked
once, twice, but then heard the trunk lid shut. Just before
the engine started up again, I could have sworn I heard a
loud caw of a crow. I prayed it was my crow and tried to
rest and gather my strength for what was to come.
The engine rumbled to life and the speakers in the car
pounded out loud reggae music.
✽ ✽ ✽
I must have passed out again, because the next time I
opened my eyes, the car was bumping over uneven ground
and tossing me around in the small space of the trunk. I
tried to brace myself against the hard thumps, but it was
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useless. One particularly hard bump made me hit the
wooden speakers above me and when I dropped back to
the steel trunk, the knife in my chest slid half way out.
Very carefully, I wrapped my fingers around it and
pulled it the rest of the way out. A scream broke free, and
I hoped he hadn't heard me over the loud music. I took
slow, deep breaths and calmed my racing heart until my
body relaxed. I tucked my hand with the knife under my
side so it wouldn't be visible when he opened the trunk.
There would only be one chance. My magic had drained
away along with all the blood I had lost. I had a tiny spark,
but it wouldn't be enough to fight the monster that had
killed my best friend and would surely kill me if I didn't get
my shit together.
The wound was closin
g and the tingle of the magic
pouring back in relieved the pain somewhat. If we had
driven on for another hour, I might have had enough
magic to stop the murderer. Instead, the car rolled to a stop
on crunchy gravel and the music died.
My heart tried to jump into my chest at the slam of the
car door and the sound of boots getting closer to the trunk
where I lay. I thought I heard a distant caw of a crow just
before the thump of the trunk release.
I took a deep shaky breath, then one more and the day
light flooded into the trunk as he lifted the wooden
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speakers off me. The man that killed Georgia stood before
me a cocky smirk on his face. He didn’t deserve to be alive.
That thought sent fire to my veins, and the anger
helped launch me out of the cramped space so fast, the
man before me didn't have time to react. I buried the knife
deep in his stomach.
He fell back, and I rode him to the ground. The knife
was too low.
I cursed and tried to pull it back, but he started
morphing from a human to a giant black cat. His hands
slashed at my face and his sharp nail-tipped fingers sliced
across my cheek and left eye, blinding me and sending me
reeling back.
The pain was unbearable but I knew if I stopped now,
I would be dead. Just like Georgia and all the other women
in the city. So, I pulled hard on the knife and then stabbed
forward, swinging the knife towards where I had last seen
the monster.
He had already wriggled out from under me though
and the sound of growling filled the treed area I had seen
just before he shredded my face. I blinked hard, swinging
the knife wildly, trying to buy myself time until I could see.
The monster launched himself at me between one swing
and the next, his deadly talons puncturing the skin of my
chest and knocking me backwards.
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I held on to the knife somehow even as I landed hard
on my back and his heavy weight knocked the wind out of
me. Now that he was above me, I stabbed upwards in vain,
trying to hit where I thought his chest might be. He let out
a loud roar, and the weight flew off me.
