Hex to the No

by Constance Barker

  “It’s like a den,” answered Aunt Rose.

  “Oh!” said Eve with a nervous laugh. “He was at the Talon House, then he wasn’t. No one knows what happened or where he went.”

  “That’s answered then,” Lilith got up. “We start at the Talon House.”

  “You say that like it’s that simple,” Aunt Rose naturally had misgivings.

  Lilith smiled. “Simple? No. Fun? No. Interesting? Yup.”

  WHEN SHE WAS A CHILD, Alizia tried to prepare Lilith for her future. That not only meant trying to make her a great witch but also prepare her for her inevitable position in the coven.

  Alongside the Thornes, Essexs, Augustines and Sages, the Blackwards were one of the oldest most powerful families in Devil’s End and Southern California in general. Alizia wanted to impart lessons on her stubborn daughter about the importance of relationships and gaining influence in the cut throat political world of witches and warlocks. Surprisingly that lesson was learned but not quite in the way Alizia intended. Lilith made friends but instead of those that dwelt in higher places, she made it with those down low.

  One friend that Lilith made, unintentionally actually, was a kraken named Gwen. And it was that unusual friend that was her ticket back into the Talon House. But an inside man, or woman in that case, was not enough.

  “I can’t swim,” said Eve as she nervously backed away from the water.

  Lilith, Eve and Winter stood at the banks of the pond in the middle of the Ravenswood Forest. Deep below it was Talon House, in a protected bubble, at the bottom. Getting down there was impossible without scuba gear and or help.

  Even if someone managed to make it to the bottom of the pond they wouldn’t be able to make it into the bubble to the Talon House. Aunt Rose had barrier spells around her house but those around the headquarters of the high table were much stronger and deadlier.

  “How are we going to get down there?” asked Winter.

  “We aren’t. Just me and Eve on this one.” Lilith took off her jacket, sat down and got started on her boots.

  “Are you serious?” asked Winter. “Eve is like a child, no offense,” Winter pointed at Eve. She looked back at her not knowing what she meant. “I can actually help you.”

  “You can help up here. I need you to keep an eye on my mother. We can’t trust her and I can’t worry about that as I try to solve this case.” Lilith got both of her boots off.

  “And how do you expect me of all people to walk around this town unseen?”

  “Use a glamour spell or your imagination or something. I dunno, I just need you to watch her.”

  “I don’t like this,” said Winter.

  “I can't help that Winter. This has to happen. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to summon a sea monster.”

  Lilith walked to the pond’s edge and then into it. She went in about knee deep. That was when the realization became real that...

  How am I supposed to summon a kraken? Do I just say her name? Just yell out “Gweeeeennnn! Oh Gweeeeennn?” Is there a spell or, I probably should have looked into that before I started all this.

  “Hey you.” Lilith heard a voice in her head.

  “What? Who said that?” Lilith looked around.

  “I didn’t say anything,” responded Eve.

  “You called, I came.” Lilith realized the voice in her head was Gwen the kraken.

  Gwen’s head popped up, just breaking the water’s surface. Sure it was a bit monster-ish but somehow her completely black eyes were friendly. Her tentacles writhed around just below.

  “I know we don’t really know each other and you have no reason to trust me or do me any favors but-”

  “You want in to the Talon House.” Gwen finished Lilith’s thought for her.

  “How’d you know?”

  “I can read minds Lilith. I knew what you wanted as soon as you entered the woods. And I can definitely help you with that. I just have one request.”

  “Sure, what’s that?”

  “Come visit me from time-to-time. And when the time is right, take me home.” Gwen swam closer. “I'm embarrassed to say it but I’m super lonely in here and cramped, like I’m in an aquarium. I belong in the ocean with the rest of my kind.”

  “Like Meryl?” Lilith gave a mischievous smile.

  “He’s the worst, but yes, like Meryl.”

  “You got a deal Gwen. Now how can we get down there?”

  “Simple,” said Gwen. One of her tentacles quietly slithered across the pond banks to Eve. Another one wrapped around Lilith’s legs. “Take a really deep breath.”

  Lilith was pulled under the water. Eve kicked and screamed as she too was dragged into the water. As quickly as she could without hurting the two of them, Gwen carried them down into the murky depths of the pond.

  ALIZIA BLACKWARD SAT silent across a long table from her husband, Marcus. Only click and clacks of silverware filled the cavernous dining room of Blackward Manor. It was the first time in a very long time that they ate dinner together. Other than simple niceties, they hadn’t talked since their daughter ran away.

  Love left Blackward Manor with Lilith. At that point in their very long marriage, Alizia and Marcus were a couple of convenience, nothing more. Both knew that the other was void of feeling beyond maybe familiarity and friendship for each other. And the latter of those two was almost gone.

  “More wine?” asked Alizia breaking the silence.

  “Please,” answered Marcus with a forced smile. A bottle floated over from the wall sized rack of wine in the dining room. The cork popped out and it poured on its own into his cup. An alcoholic witch or warlock’s dream.

  “Thank you.” Marcus held his cup as the floating wine bottle filled it.

  “I saw her today,” said Alizia. At first Marcus didn’t acknowledge that she said anything. Then he took a sip of his wine and looked up at his wife.

  “Saw who?”

  “Our daughter,” answered Alizia.

  That got Marcus’ attention. And the first his reaction was to ask: “Where?”

  “Your sister’s house.” Alizia cut a piece off her steak.

  “Rose? Figures. And how was she?”

  “Your sister or your daughter?”

  “Who do you think?”

  “These days, I dunno. You don’t seem to have much time for family anymore.”

  “I’m sorry, what do you think I’m doing everyday? Why do you think I’m working so hard lately?”

  Alizia put the fork speared piece of steak in her mouth. “For you, to gain power at the table.”

  “Yes, for our family! I didn’t get to the high table by dumb luck. I worked hard to gain my seat and better our standing in the coven.”

  “Better our standing? Does that include Lilith?”

  Marcus chugged the rest of his wine. Then he grabbed the bottle from mid-air and poured himself another. “That’s on you. You were in charge of handling the Cold Dawn. But you couldn’t keep them on their leash!”

  “It was your plan!” Alizia uncharacteristically lost her cool for just a moment before regaining her composure. “That was your plan Marcus. All of this was your plan. I’ve been stuck cleaning up your messes.”

  “There wasn’t supposed to be any messes to clean up if you kept these idiots under control. And where is Heinrich Talon’s spell? Huh dear wife? Did I fail there too?” Marcus finished his second serving of wine.

  “We’ll have the spell soon.”

  “Really? How about Armando? Was that you?”

  “What do you mean? What happened to Armando?” asked Alizia. It was hard to tell if she was lying or not which was an ongoing theme for her unnaturally long life.

  “What happened to...he’s missing Alizia. Please don’t lie to me and tell me that you didn’t know that. What I need to know, need, not want, what I need to know is if you had anything to do with that. If so why? And where is he?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Marcus laugh
ed, it wasn’t genuine. “Sure you don’t. I guess the real question I should be asking is what’re you planning? Don’t look so shocked my loving wife, I know that you’ve been plotting against me. I knew since I was appointed to the high table. You forget I know you be-,” a pained look came across Marcus’s face. He loosened his tie. “I know you better th-”. It became hard to breath. Before he knew what was going on he fell out of his chair.

  Marcus struggled to breath as he clawed at his throat on the dining room floor. It was hard to form thoughts and impossible to speak. With each failed breath he knew through his panic and fear that this was the end.

  The last thing Marcus Blackward saw before succumbing to the poison in his wine was his wife standing side-by-side with Deacon Thorne. Alizia looked sad, she didn’t cry but he could see the tears she held back pooled in her eyes. Deacon Thorne smiled coldly. Then everything went black.

  “Don’t shed any tears for him darling,” Deacon put his arm around Alizia’s waist and pulled her in close. “Think of it as shedding dead weight.”

  “It’s not that easy. There was a time that I loved him.” Alizia looked with genuine sadness at her dead husband.

  “That time has passed. Same as humanity’s. Speaking of, were you lying?” Deacon Thorne led Alizia away from Marcus’s body.

  “About?”

  “Heinrich Talon’s spell. Have you found it?”

  “Not yet. But I’m close.”

  “And Armando Lobos? His son Sandoval is on the war path looking for him.”

  Alizia shook her head.

  “Okay, well, I can work on that. You focus on getting that spell.” Deacon and Alizia entered the Blackward Manor foyer. “Have you heard that your daughter is back in town?”

  “Of course.”

  “We can’t have her snooping around. Her or that detective, Winter Krueger. They know too much. Loose ends can’t be tolerated if our plans are going to work.”

  Alizia stopped. “No harm is to come to Lilith. I don’t care about her friends but she’s not to be touched. Do you understand?”

  “I would never Alizia. But you need to deal with her. Or I will. Now, as I was saying about loose ends...”

  A very kidnapper friendly black panel van was parked outside of Blackward Manor. Deacon’s stoic creep of a man servant Klaus stood by the back doors. Everything about the vibe felt very shady.

  Deacon nodded at Klaus who opened the back doors of the panel van revealing the kidnap victims inside. Morris Augustine and Madam Sage were bound and gagged on the van floor. Both were terrified.

  “Time to tie these loose ends up. Figuratively of course, they’re already actually tied up. Would you care to do the honors?” asked Deacon as he stared daggers into Alizia to see what she’d do.

  CHAPTER 5

  Like a Ninja

  Lilith could swim but she was in no way great at it. If thrown in a pool, she wouldn’t drown but she also wouldn’t be able to dive under and do laps. With that said, her submarine like excursion under the Ravenwood Forest pond really pushed her limits.

  I’m gonna drown. I’m gonna drown via kraken. Has anyone ever had that thought since Ancient Greece? Just my luck!

  By her own completely uneducated opinion, Lilith was pretty sure she was gonna run out of air in about ten seconds. Seemingly blissfully unaware of the limits of human lungs, Gwen the kraken calmly swam further and further down towards Talon House.

  She didn’t know where she heard it, but someone once said that drowning was one of the best ways to bite the bullet. It was quick and peaceful. The cold of the pond chilled her bones. Through the murk she saw lights in the distance, orange lights, small rectangular.

  What Lilith didn’t consider was her new friend Eve who couldn’t swim and was even worse at holding her breath. She screamed underwater while in the process of drowning. Luckily the trip down under, really down under, was coming to an end. Although it wasn’t a gentle one.

  “Last stop, Talon House,” said Gwen, telepathically. She reached through the barrier that separated the pond from the Talon House and dropped both Lilith and Eve. “Good luck.”

  Lilith, soaking wet and shaking gasped for air. On her hands and knees she very much regretted taking the express elevator down to Talon House. She looked up and saw Gwen swimming around near the barrier. It was hard to be sure but it looked like she was waving her tentacles.

  “Bye?” said Lilith in between coughs. Gwen kept waving. “What? I mean I know you said that you were lonely but sometimes you just have to say goodbye.”

  “Your friend!” shouted Gwen in Lilith’s head.

  Eve? Eve! Lilith hurried over to Eve who wasn’t breathing. Not too long ago she couldn’t stand the little weirdo but in no way did she want to see her die. Especially not that way, especially not when it’s her fault.

  “Okay, okay, uh....Heimlich!” Lilith got to work trying to revive Eve. She rhythmically pumped on her chest, firm but gentle. Then she blew air into her mouth and lungs. It didn’t work the first time so she repeated it, again and again until...

  Eve’s eyes opened wide and she convulsed, spitting up pond water. Lilith gave her some space as the poor girl got on her side and began throwing up more water. After about a minute or so she was breathing regularly again and able to speak.

  “You okay?” asked Lilith one hand on Eve’s shoulder. Eve was still on the muddy ground.

  “I can’t swim,” said Eve between heavy breaths. Lilith laughed and hugged her.

  “No, no you cannot.”

  Lilith and Eve stood up. Eve was in awe, looking around her as water dripped off. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  “How is this?” Eve walked up to the barrier that separated the pond water from the Talon Grounds. She punched through it with her hand and watched a fish swim right by her fingers.

  Where is everyone? Why didn’t they jump on us as soon as we entered? Lilith was too busy assessing the situation to pay attention to Eve’s childlike wonder. The grounds appeared to be barren. Other than two gargoyle guards pretty far in the distance at the Talon House’s entrance, there was no one. But the lights were on so she figured they were probably inside.

  We need to move fast and quiet.

  “Eve, come over here,” beckoned Lilith. Eve excitedly ran over and knelt down by her.

  “Yes?”

  “I need your help.”

  “Anything! You saved my life!”

  You poor innocent girl. I put your life in danger. And forgive me, I’m gonna do so again.

  “I need a distraction. What can you change into?”

  “I didn’t bring any other clothes,” Eve responded meekly. “I’m sorry.”

  “No that’s not what I...change forms. You’re a skin changer right?” Lilith was really hoping she was right and didn’t just assume.

  “Oh! Yeah! Give me a second.” Eve started stripping off her wet clothes. Lilith turned around embarrassed and waited.

  The thing about skin changing was that it was a very gruesome process. Eve’s bones popped cracked and reset into their new formation. Fur forced it’s way through her pores. Muscle and tendons snapped, regrew and attached to accommodate a new body. All of it made wet popping and crunching noises that almost made Lilith sick.

  Is she done? Can I turn around now? Lilith peeked over her shoulder and saw a large brown wolf standing there staring at her, panting.

  “Oh, well, this isn’t weird at all,” Lilith said to herself as she fully turned and knelt down. “Okay Eve, I need you to make a distraction, then find a way inside. I’ll be invisible but you should be able to smell me. Got it?”

  Eve barked then ran off towards the Talon House. Lilith stood there and watched as the wolf sped past the gargoyles around to the back of the building. The gargoyles followed, ground shaking with each step.

  “Esuom a sa teiuq noelemahc a ekil.” The chameleon spell was one of Lilith’s favorites and perfect for a private eye. It bent light around her body ma
king her nearly invisible and perfectly silent.

  Lilith thought that maybe she wasn’t seeing anyone in Talon House before because she was looking from the outside. Surely there must’ve been staff, high table or coven members inside. But she saw almost no one other than the odd maid and servant.

  That a girl, keep them running in circles. Lilith saw several more gargoyles lumbering by chasing after barks at the other side of Talon House. Eve, for all her faults made for one hell of a distraction.

  I need to find Armando Lobos’s office before they catch her or come back. Methodically, Lilith moved from room to room. She kept her eyes open, looking for any little detail that might have aided her investigation. But the place was pretty much spotless.

  Lilith made it to the high table’s meeting room. The doors had no handles or knobs and were locked. That was in no way surprising. So she continued through the Talon House. Her logic was that the member’s offices must’ve been close to that room. Unless, another very real possibility, the only way to them could be through said room.

  Is that...? Lilith froze. She heard someone that she recognized, and despised. Deacon Thorne was nearby.

  Despite being practically invisible, Lilith found herself hugging the wall as she saw Deacon Thorne walking in her direction. He was side-by-side with a member of the high table, Harrison Midnight.

  Portly, bearded, and decked out in an expensive suit and excessive jewelry, Harrison was one of the richest men in Devil’s End due to his bar, the aptly named Midnight Bar and his monopoly of the witch markets. Many said, behind his back of course, that he bought his chair at the table.

  “You understand my concern though right?” asked Harrison Midnight.

  “Of course Mr. Midnight. But it’s not just your bar. Armando’s eldest has been rampaging throughout town looking for his father,” replied Deacon.

  “Well it needs to stop. I don’t care how but we can’t have those dogs terrorizing our citizens.”

  “I assure you, we’re doing all we can, along with the coven police, to find and stop Sandoval Lobos and his pack. In the meantime though there are two seats on the high table that need to be filled. Otherwise I’m afraid this coven...” Deacon and Harrison Midnight stopped in front of the doors to the high table meeting room. “This coven might fall into further disarray.”