by J. C. Diem
“What the hell was that, honky mahfa?” Leroy demanded when he recovered his ability to speak. “You didn’t tell me it would hurt that much! Maybe you should mention a small detail like that the next time!”
“Stop being such a baby,” Rudy snapped. “It took a lot more out of Pru and Jake than you, but I don’t hear them complaining.”
“Did you see that flash of light at the end?” I asked.
“I saw it,” the leprechaun replied. “I’m not sure what it’s going to mean. I’ve never seen a binding spell with fae magic added to it.”
“Is that what the gold and black light was?” Pru asked in a dazed voice.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m part Seelie and part Unseelie. I have a mixture of both types of fae magic.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Leroy said with a glower.
“Maybe we should check to see if the spell worked,” Rudy suggested with a glimmer of mischief in his forest green eyes. He leaned over, fished the ring out of the cauldron and tossed it to me.
Catching it neatly, I blew the ash off it, then slid it onto my pinky finger. “Leroy, go to the cell across the hall,” I instructed.
With a squawk of outrage, he vanished. The cell was magically soundproofed, but I could feel his rage at being ordered around. “The spell is definitely different from normal,” I reported. “I can feel his emotions.”
“I wonder what other differences there’ll be?” Rudy mused.
“I’d really like to lie down now,” the witch said faintly, swaying on her seat. She fumbled the brooch off her dress and let it drop to her desk. She was too exhausted to bother putting it back into its case.
“Rudy?” I prompted. With a sigh, he zapped them both to her bedroom so she could recover. While I felt a bit tired from lending Pru my strength, I hadn’t been drained like she had. I picked the brooch up and felt how weak it had become. Like the witch, it would need to recharge before it could be used again.
I placed the brooch back into the case, then slipped it into my pocket. It was tempting to leave Leroy in his cell, but his temper would only get worse the longer I left him in there. His rage was already beating against me unpleasantly.
Leaving the conjuring room, I crossed the hall to the cell I’d had constructed. A simple spell on the door kept it locked. It had become activated as soon as I’d ordered the ghost to go to his prison. I still wasn’t sure how the two spells were connected, but it had something to do with spirits. Blood magic was strange and didn’t work like other types of enchantments.
A circle drawn in chalk with a few painted symbols inside it kept the ghost locked inside. I broke the circle with my finger and heard the lock click. I then pushed the door open to see Leroy was almost in his poltergeist form. His purple suit and fedora were several shades darker and even the peacock feather was dull and dark. “You turned me into your slave!” the phantom snarled. Dozens of intricate fae spells adorned the walls, all were encased in circles. I’d painted them on so they wouldn’t be coming off anytime soon.
“I warned you that whoever holds the object you’re bound to will be able to order you around,” I said evenly.
“I didn’t realize I’d have to do everything you tell me to! I thought I’d still have a choice!” His clothes darkened even more and shadows began to gather around him.
“Calm down,” I ordered and the shadows instantly vanished. Color bled back into his clothes, hat and feather, but his rage increased even more. “I just used the ring to make sure the spell worked,” I said in an effort to soothe him. “I have no intention of turning you into my slave. If I did, I’d order you not to call us honky mahfas.”
“You’ll always be a honky mahfa,” he said sullenly, crossing his arms.
I let out a chuckle, then swept my hand at the door. “You’re free to leave the cell and you can wander around the house and basement as always. I won’t use the ring unless we need your help on a mission. If you find this arrangement to be too much of a burden, the ring can be destroyed and the spell will end.”
“What will happen to me?” he asked warily. “Will I end, too?”
“Nope. Everything will return to normal and you’ll be bound to haunt the house again.”
Still uneasy that he’d become my puppet, he floated through the wall rather than using the door. “I’ll agree to this for now,” he said. “But the moment you force me to do something I don’t want to do again, the deal is off, honky.”
“If and when I use you in battle, I’ll have to order you to return to your cell, or to a temporary holding spell afterwards,” I told him as we headed upstairs. “That’s the quickest and safest way for you to calm down after going to the dark side.”
“What would happen if you didn’t force me to go to jail?” he asked crankily.
“You’ll be in danger of using too much of your power and fading away.” He did a double take at my warning, then gave me a brief nod of understanding. He used the veil to vanish, presumably finding a hiding spot somewhere in the house to sulk.
“How did it go?” Rudy asked when I joined him and Harley in the living room.
“He didn’t like being ordered to go to the cell,” I said dryly, sinking down onto my favorite armchair.
“I bet he didn’t,” Harley said with a smirk. “I’m also betting it isn’t the first time he’s been incarcerated.”
“I resent that, mini honky,” Leroy said as he floated through the wall. He knew we’d been talking about him and he couldn’t resist listening in. “I was an upstanding member of the community.”
“Like hell you were,” Rudy snorted. “You yourself said you were a pimp.”
“I was an entrepreneur,” the spirit said in self-defense. “I had a lot of business interests. Having a stable of available ladies was only one aspect of my empire.”
“What empire?” the leprechaun said incredulously.
“I was working my way towards fame and riches.”
“I guess that didn’t work out so well, since you were shot in the back during a drug deal that went bad,” Harley said in commiseration.
Knowing they were making fun of him, Leroy flipped us all the bird with both hands, then vanished again.
“Ah,” Rudy said, wiping away a tear of mirth when giggles escaped from him. “I can already tell this is going to be a tightknit team that cares about each other deeply.”
“At least our boss isn’t a demon,” Harley pointed out philosophically. He might not remember meeting Von Hades, but we’d given him a rundown of what sort of creature his former employer had been.
“Jake isn’t my boss,” the leprechaun denied.
“What is he then?”
“He’s my friend. I’m choosing to help him because we’ve formed a bond.”
“You’re helping me because I saved your life and you’re indebted to me,” I corrected him.
“That’s a story I hope we’ll get to hear one day,” the kid said.
“Later,” I promised, knowing Rudy was still embarrassed by the episode that had happened a decade ago.
“Is Pru going to recover in time to cast the other spells we need?” Harley asked. He might be young, but he had enough experience at hunting to focus on what was important.
“The brooch Brandon gave her saved her from being drained,” I replied. “I gave her a boost as well. She’ll be fine after a good night’s rest.”
“Without your energy, she would need a week to get over casting the binding spell, lad,” Rudy said. “Just make sure you don’t give her too much and leave yourself short.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, waving away his concerns. Like the witch and the brooch, with a bit of rest, I would recharge and I would be back to my full strength quickly enough.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I found Leroy skulking in the room in the attic that I’d turned into an office when I went looking for him an hour or so later. He was staring out the window, watching the distant trees swaying in
a gentle breeze broodingly. “Would you like to go outside?” I asked.
Starting in surprise, he whirled around. “You’re too quiet, boss honky,” he complained.
“Couldn’t you feel me coming closer?”
“Your power fills the entire house,” he told me. “Between you, the leprechaun and the tree nymph, it’s hard to even sense anyone else.”
“Can you see our auras?”
“Those glowing lights that appear around everyone?” he asked for clarification, then nodded. “Yeah. Yours is gold, with black edges.” That was new. Or maybe my aura had always looked like that and the other ghosts I knew hadn’t been brave enough to tell me. “Rudy’s looks like a rainbow,” he added. “The humans’ auras are kind of bland and misty white.”
“What about Asha’s?” I asked, curious to know what a dryad’s aura looked like.
“Hers is mostly green, with a bit of brown, yellow and red thrown in. It reminds me of leaves in the fall.” That made sense, with her affinity for plants. “Can I really go outside now?” he asked, barely daring to hope. I was still wearing the ring and I could feel his emotions.
“I’ll have to use this,” I said, holding my hand up and showing him the ring. “Once I’ve ordered you to follow me out of the house, you’ll have to go with me everywhere while I’m wearing the ring. You’ll probably only be able to get about two hundred yards away from me to begin with. That will increase up to maybe five hundred yards with practice. You’ll be able to roam around the entire house as usual because it’s your natural haunting place. If I’m wearing the ring, you’ll be able to go outside for a short distance, depending on where I am in the house.”
He seemed almost afraid of the thought of finally gaining his freedom, then nodded. “Let’s do this, mahfa. I’ve been dreaming of leaving this house for decades.”
He followed me downstairs and to the back door, but couldn’t make it through the barrier that held him captive. I strode a few hundred yards away, then turned to face him. “Leroy, come to me,” I commanded.
He had enough time to grin in anticipation, then he appeared next to me. “It worked!” he crowed and spun in a circle, taking in the yard he’d only been able to see through the windows. “I’m free!” he shouted, holding his hands up towards the sun. It was late afternoon and the shadows were growing longer. Taking off, he zoomed across the ground. Instead of stopping suddenly at the two hundred yard mark as I’d expected, he kept going until he reached the trees and left my sight.
“That was unexpected,” Rudy said when he appeared beside me. “It must be one of the side effects of mixing your magic into the spell.”
“I wonder how far away from me he can get?”
“About a mile, boss honky,” Leroy said when he suddenly reappeared. He was grinning so widely that his face would have hurt if he’d still been alive. “I managed to roam a good distance into the trees before I couldn’t go any further.”
“This could come in very handy,” the leprechaun said. “Now I’m wondering if you’ll be stronger than other phantoms when you’re in your poltergeist form.”
“I’m not sure I want to test that theory,” I replied. “Not until we have to.”
“I’m ready for anything you mahfas throw at me,” the phantom said. He was high on freedom. “Change me into a poltergeist. I’ll be the strongest ghost that’s ever haunted this planet.”
“We should test him,” Rudy suggested. “We need to know what he’s going to be like before we go into battle against the trolls.”
Looking around to make sure the others were still in the house, I motioned at the trees. “If we’re going to do this, we’ll do it away from the house.”
“Allow me,” Leroy said, then manifested enough to take hold of us and used the veil to shift us into the forest. We appeared in a small clearing about a mile away from the farmhouse. This must have been as far as he could get before he’d returned to me.
“It’ll be interesting to see how nasty he’s going to be,” Rudy murmured. All ghosts were mean when they turned into their darker forms. Even the nicest phantom said cutting things that were designed to hurt. Leroy was already unpleasant at times. He was bound to be far worse once he changed forms.
“Leroy, turn into a poltergeist,” I ordered.
In the blink of an eye, the color faded from his suit, hat and feather. Now dead black, his clothes were wreathed in dark, dense shadows. Even his gold tooth had become black. Only the rest of his teeth and his eyes retained any whiteness. “Now, that’s power!” he said, clenching his hands into fists. I knew he was getting some of his added strength from me. Humans didn’t give spirits a boost at all. When paired with someone with supernatural blood, they tended to become stronger. “I feel like I could rip you both apart with my bare hands,” the spirit said, grinning fiercely.
Rudy edged back until he was standing behind me. “Tell me you have control of him, lad,” he said.
“I have control,” I replied confidently. I was now the ghost’s master and he had to obey me.
“Do you, pretty little fairy?” Leroy taunted, floating around me in a lazy circle. “Do you have what it takes to control a badass mahfa like me?” He came to a stop in front of me, expression full of gloating pride. “I think it would be easy for me to overpower you. Then we’d see who the master is.”
“Pick up that tree and break it in half,” I commanded, pointing at a recently fallen tree.
Face scrunching up in hatred, he had no choice but to obey me. He zoomed over to the trunk and easily picked it up. He snapped it over his knee, then tossed the pieces aside as if they were kindling. “What’s next, boss honky?” he demanded. “Can I squish the leprechaun like the ugly little bug he is?”
Rudy let out an enraged squawk at the insult. “I’ll show you who the ugly bug is!” he said, holding his hand up and readying himself to click his fingers.
“Leroy, return to your cell and calm down,” I ordered before the leprechaun could turn him into a frog. Snarling in rage that his fun was over already, the ghost disappeared.
“Yep, he’s just as annoying as I knew he would be,” Rudy complained and dropped his hand.
“You were right about his strength,” I said. “I’ve never seen a poltergeist that powerful before.”
“This is going to go straight to his head,” Rudy said. “His ego is already too big. Now he’s going to be insufferable.” He shook his head, but he didn’t seem as displeased as he was acting. We both knew the phantom was going to be an invaluable ally in our fight against the trolls. I also knew it would be dangerous for anyone else on our team to wear the ring. He needed someone with a lot of power to be able to control him, or he’d gain the upper hand and would end up destroying his leash holder.
Chapter Twenty-Five
By morning, Pru was feeling better. I was back at my full strength again as well. I’d placed the brooch in her room when I’d checked up on her. She’d wisely left it on her dresser to recharge instead of donning it when she’d gotten up. Unlike most magical items, it didn’t need her to infuse it with power. It had been designed to refill itself over time. The spell was complex beyond my understanding and must have been crafted by a master of the magical arts.
We were sitting around the kitchen table after breakfast, brainstorming the traps Pru was going to lay for the trolls when Leroy drifted into the room. I’d let him out of his cell after testing his limits as a poltergeist. He’d been too pleased that he was the strongest ghost in existence to be angry about being ordered around again. “We’ve got company,” he reported.
I heard a car pulling into the driveway and lifted an eyebrow in enquiry.
“It’s the Sheriff and one of her deputies,” he added. Now that he was bound to the ring, he wasn’t constrained to stay inside the house. I would have to take the ring off for that restriction to kick back in. It paid to have someone who was able to roam around and who could return to us in an instant, so I wore the ring constantly.
>
“Why are they here?” Rudy asked crankily. He didn’t want anyone to know about him, so he knew he would have to go into hiding until after they left.
“She probably wants to check us out and make sure we aren’t growing drugs or doing anything nefarious,” Harley surmised. That was my hunch, too.
“I’m surprised you know what nefarious means,” Pru said snarkily. She was still surly after being drained of energy.
Asha giggled, then flinched when Harley frowned at her. As soon as his eyes locked on her face, he was lost.
“There he goes again,” Leroy said, rolling his eyes. “You have to cast that spell that will make him not turn into a vegetable every time he looks at her.”
“I’ll do it today,” the witch said. “We’d better go and see what the Sheriff wants.”
We stood and filed through the hall to the front door. Harley followed Asha like a puppy until Leroy manifested enough to elbow him hard in the side. The kid grunted in pain, glared at the ghost, then avoided looking at the dryad.
Rudy watched from concealment as we descended the porch stairs just as the cruiser was pulling to a stop. I waited for the pair to climb out before I strode forward to offer our guests my hand. “Welcome to our farmhouse,” I said, making sure not to squeeze the sheriff’s hand too hard.
Cindy Callahan’s hazel eyes swept over us all, then returned to me. Up this close, she had no defense against my allure. “Who are you?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“I’m Jake Everett, ma’am,” I said and released her hand. Her deputy wore a nametag that said ‘Kevin Black’. I offered him my hand next and he gave me a limp handshake. Just as I’d pictured when I’d first heard him on the cell phone to his boss, he was tall, thin and had thinning black hair and a prominent Adam’s apple. It was strange how some people looked exactly as you expected, yet others were completely different. “What brings the law out here?” I asked.
“We heard someone had bought this old place and thought we’d come and introduce ourselves,” Callahan said, rallying herself. She took in the newly restored building and shook her head in amazement. “You folks sure managed to get the repairs done quickly.”
