by Flynn, Mac
"We don't know why Ruthven killed her," I spoke up. Vince glared at me, but I shrugged. "That's what we were trying to find out when that witch hexed us."
She raised an eyebrow at Vince. "I know you and Ruthven have some sort of long-standing disagreement, but why should you care about his murdering of a witch?"
"Because he murdered Tim for a reason, and that reason involves Hilda," Vince told her.
Vera snorted. "That's rich. You caring for your old partner. That hex of Simone's must have packed a powerful life spell to put that much soul into you."
I jumped to my feet, pressed my fists to my hips, and scowled at her. "He cared about Tim's murder before the hex. If you really knew him and cared about him you'd know that already and wouldn't be sitting here wasting our time while he stands there dying."
She frowned. "I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't important," she argued.
"What's more important than Vince's life?" I snapped at her. "Some stupid questions you want to ask? Ask them later, stop wasting our time, and give us that floor number!"
Vera's eyes narrowed and she slowly slid off the couch and onto her feet. A purple mist floated from her fingers. "I've heard some stories about you, little girl, but you obviously don't know anything about me. I haven't lived two hundred years and learned thousands of hexes just to have some inductee into the paranormal society tell me what I should and shouldn't do with my time."
"Well, guess what? This little inductee is telling you you're being a total ass by standing here talking while Vince is dying. If you've got some questions write them down and send them to us via ghost post or however somebody sends messages in this stupid society," I growled.
Vera raised one of her glowing hands as though to strike me, but Vince's hand snapped out and he caught her wrist. "That's enough," he told her.
The witch turned to him with the corners of her mouth turned down in a snarl. "I haven't forgotten the rule about you dying with your partner, but this little brat needs to learn some manners. She just can't snap her jaws at anyone she pleases."
His eyes narrowed and I noticed his grip on her wrist tightened. "I won't let you harm her," he repeated.
Vera's eyes widened, and they flickered between Vince and me. The tension in the room was broken when she erupted in a laugh. I stepped back and wondered if she'd lost her mind. Vince held tight to her wrist. Vera managed to get a grip on her humor and she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Now isn't this extraordinary? Could the unemotional ancient vampire actually have feelings for a human female?" Vince started back from her proclamation and released her wrist. She rubbed the reddened skin with her glowing hands and the redness disappeared beneath her fingertips. "My my, you have lost much of your grip with that hex. And does my eyes deceive me and I detect a hint of a blush on those pale cheeks of yours?"
Vince straightened and his lips thinned. "This conversation will only lead to a dead end. Which apartment belongs to the girl?" he insisted.
Vera chuckled and sunk onto her plush chair cushions. Her eyes turned their penetrating stare on me. "You've shown me quite the miracle, so I'll tell you. Her room's on the third floor, the first room on the left." She reached into her low-cut dress and pulled out a key. "This will unlock the door." She tossed the key to Vince, who deftly caught the item in one hand.
Vince bowed his head and strode out the door to the entrance hall. I moved to join him, but paused and half-turned to the witch. "What miracle did I show you?" I asked her.
Her lips curled up in a smile that held more admiration than mockery. "That a vampire's dormant heart can still beat."
"We must leave," Vince called from the hallway outside the suite.
"You'd better hurry. Vincent doesn't like to be kept waiting," she advised me.
I gave the witch one last scrutinizing gaze before I hurried after my partner.
Chapter 10
I found Vince near the elevator doors with a frown on his face. "We don't have time to waste," he scolded me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but a terrible shrieking noise interrupted my words. It repeated itself over and over again in a loop of high-pitched screaming. The doors to Vera's apartment swung open. "Werewolves have infiltrated the building and are making their way up to the third floor!" she shouted at us.
Vince turned away from her and slammed his hand on the elevator button. The doors swung open and we hurried inside, but with one extra passenger. Vera joined us. The doors swung shut, and she looked up at the floor dial above the doors. "Where are they now, Mona?"
The secretary's voice spoke through the dial. "I deactivated all other elevators, but they are taking the stairs and are almost to the third floor."
Vera frowned. "What about the hex traps?"
"They're nullifying them with magical tomes," Mona replied.
Vera slammed her hand against the wall below the button board and growled. "Damn Ruthven and his Books of Blasphemy!"
"Books of Blasphemy? You mean those books with all the spells?" I asked her.
She removed her hand from the wall and showed an indent where her magic-enhanced hand left its mark. "Yes. He's gathered much of his perverted magic into those books that have spilled on the market. I didn't think the spells could be mastered by anyone but Ruthven, but this proves me wrong."
"Get us down to the third floor. We will deal with them," Vince spoke up.
Vera turned to him with a raised eyebrow, and looked him up and down. "How? You're weak, even for a human."
Vince held up his ring hand and the ring on his finger glowed red. "We still have these at our disposal."
The witch frowned. "That's powerful magic for two humans to be wielding. It might destroy you," she warned us.
"Do we have a choice?" Vince countered.
"Yes. Stand back and let me do the work. I'm not going to let a couple of wanna-be wizards and werewolves storm in here and come out alive. They've made it my fight now, and I'm going to give them a hell of a one." She pressed her finger to the third floor button and her glowing purple magic slipped into the button.
The speed of the elevator jumped from a floor every five seconds to ten floors every second. The elevator rattled and rocked, and I stumbled backward. Vince caught me against him and I sheepishly looked up at him. "I never did like those carnival rides where I was dropped really quick," I told him.
He righted me and pulled me to his side. "When the doors open stay behind me," he commanded me.
I scowled at him. "We're partners, and partners don't hide behind partners," I argued.
"Stop bickering like an old married couple because you're both staying in here while I take care of my uninvited guests," Vera spoke up.
"This is also our fight," he reminded her.
On cue the elevator jerked to a stop and the doors swung open to reveal a hallway that stretched off to our right and left. Doors lined the opposite side of the hallway, and there was a single door on the left at the far end of the hall on the same wall as the elevator. Vera stepped out and turned to face the door. Vince grabbed my wrist and pulled me out, but made sure we kept behind Vera.
As we stood there I heard the near-rumblings of heavy, padded footsteps and lasers. The noises came from behind the door at the far end of the left-side of the hall. "You have lasers?" I asked Vera.
"The security system works on magic and creates what it deems to be the most effective weapons against the intruders. In this case, singed werewolf and wizard is the preferred method for dealing with our 'guests,'" she explained. There was a loud crash and she frowned. "But it seems it won't hold them for-"
At that moment the door at the end of the hall flew off its hinges and crashed halfway down the hall. It slid to a stop at Vera's feet and her lips curled into a snarl. In the doorway stood a man dressed in a black robe with a hood. He held one of the accursed books open in one hand, and had his free hand raised over the pages. Behind him was the fire escape stairwell, and the steps were crowded with a dozen fully-transform
ed slobbering werewolves. The stench of burned hair wafted to our noses, and there were burnt patches of fur all over their bodies.
The wizard at the front stepped out. Vera rolled up her sleeves and marched toward him. Her hands were held at her sides and a little in front of her, and the purple color changed to black and enveloped the entirety of her hands in the dark light. "You're not wanted here, so leave," she ordered the intruders.
"Don't interfere with us, woman," the robed man hissed.
Vera stopped twenty yards from them, placed on hand on her hip, and held her other hand palm-out in front of her. The purple glow on her hands brightened. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
A blast of dark energy shot from her hand. The punch was so powerful she slid back a few yards along the linoleum floor. The glowing energy lit up the hallway in dark and light shadows, and barreled toward our enemies. The hooded figure wiggled the fingers of his free hand and a greenish beam of light erupted from the pages. It swept from the book and slammed into Vera's energy. The two balls of brightness collided and mixed in a yin-yang fight to the death. It was mutual destruction as the energies dissipated and vanished.
The hooded figure chuckled. "Is that all the great Vera can produce?" he mocked her.
Vera smirked. "There's something very important you haven't learned about that book, wizard," she countered.
He lifted his cloaked face and I saw his skin was as pale as death and sweat from his forehead traveled down his cheeks. The abilities of the book sapped his strength. "What is that?" he asked her.
Vera held out both her hands palms-out toward him. "I can use both my hands, and you can't."
A large energy ball formed between Vera's close hands. The ball of dark magic illuminated the hallway so that I could hardly look at Vera without being blinded. The energy pushed off from her hands and sent her sailing backwards. Vince leapt forward and caught her before she fell.
Vera's magic zoomed across the hallway toward our enemies. The werewolves yipped and fled down the stairs while the wizard's eyes widened in horror. He conjured up another energy ball, larger than his first but minuscule compared to the raging circle that barreled toward him. His magic shot from the book and collided with Vera's energy. The smaller ball was swallowed by the larger one, and Vera's magic slammed into his body. He let out a terrible scream as he was swallowed whole by the energy. It plunged him into its depths and tore apart his body into small particles that disappeared into the light. His book clattered to the ground, all the remained of the wizard, and the ball swept past where he'd stood and down the stairwell. In a few seconds there came to our ears the sound of wolves howling in pain, and then silence.
Vera chuckled as Vince righted her. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress and put her hands on her hips as she stared at the empty hallway in front of us. "That's how you do real magic," she commented.
Vince strode past her and picked up the closed book. "Do you know how to destroy these?" he asked her.
Vera frowned at him. "Can't you ever give a girl a little credit?"
"Can you?" he persisted.
Vera sighed and moved to stand by his side. I joined them down the hall. She took the book from him and turned it over in her hands. "I could, but it would take a very hot purifying fire to destroy the cover."
"Then prepare one and send out your witches to the underground black markets. Ruthven has set thousands of these for sale on the market," Vince told her.
Vera snorted and held up her hand. "Now wait a second. Ruthven and his men breaking into Witches Inc. is one thing, but going up against his black market dealings is a completely different brew. He has more than just wizards and werewolves waiting in the wings if my girls were to go in there and get themselves killed trying to steal these books from his sellers and buyers."
Vince nodded at the book in her hands. "It's only a matter of time before people with minor magic skills master the simpler spells and edge your sisters out of the business of hexing people."
Vera tapped one of her long fingernails against her chin and furrowed her brow. After a moment's thought she sighed and crossed her arms over her ample chest. "I really hate it when you see things so clearly. Fine then, I'll send out my witches to fetch these books and burn them, but how many more are going to be produced? When can I tell them they've done enough?"
"When we inform you that the source has been dealt with," Vince told her.
Vera frowned at him. "You can't be serious. That would mean dealing with Ruthven, and nobody's dealt with him since he emerged from whatever cesspool he crawled out of."
"Then it's past time he was dealt with," Vince replied.
I raised my hands toward Vince with the palms facing toward him. "Wait a second, we're going to do what now?" I questioned him.
"If necessary, we will deal with Ruthven and his ilk," he rephrased.
Vera raised an eyebrow and her eyes flickered between Vince and me. "And you two humans are going to do it?"
"After the hex is raised," Vince added.
"There's a lot of room in this vague plan for failure," Vera noted.
"And death," I commented.
"We will see, but for now we must first deal with this hex." He pulled Selene's room key from his jacket and strolled past us to the first room on the left from the elevator.
I turned to Vera and nodded at the retreating back of my partner. "You think he's really serious?"
Vera's lips were pressed tightly together and there was a pallor in her face that I didn't like. "More serious than I've ever seen him." Her eyes flickered to me. "I don't know how much influence you have over his decisions, but if I were you I would change his mind about going up against Ruthven. He isn't a man to take lightly, much less plunge head-first into seeking revenge for a dead partner."
"You think that's why he's doing it? Because of Tim?" I asked her.
She sighed and shrugged. "I wish I knew what he ever did, but seriously, try to talk him out of it. My witches and I can handle the books, but I don't think even Vincent can handle Ruthven."
"So it's a suicide mission?" I guessed.
Vera nodded. "Seems like it. If you want to extend your life with that ring you'd better talk him out of it."
I snorted. "Like that's going to happen."
Vera scrutinized me for a moment and the edges of her mouth twitched up. "I think if anyone could, you could."
I raised an eyebrow. "A lot of people keep telling me that, but I'm not seeing much proof."
She chuckled, wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me down the hall. "Then think of it as a pleasant surprise when you can believe it."
Chapter 11
By the time we reached the door to Simone's room Vince had opened the entrance and stepped inside. Vera followed him and I peeked through the doorway. The apartment room was much like my old one with one giant room and the bed and bath on the far left through their respective doors. The kitchen and dining room lay to the immediate left, and in front of us was the living room. The place was messy and the furniture was mismatched. There was an overpowering smell of cigarette smoke that permeated the furniture and walls.
"We offer the rooms to our sisters for a small fee, but they furnish the spaces," Vera informed us. Vince stood only a yard into the room, and Vera tried to pass him. He held out his arm and blocked her path. She frowned at him. "What are you-"
"Something isn't right," he told her.
Vera swept her eyes over the room and returned her attention to Vincent. "I see nothing magic-induced."
"Because it isn't." Vince swiped a plastic apple from a bowl near the entrance and knelt close to the floor.
He rolled the apple forward and it hit a rug that lay two feet in front of him. The apple bumped over the side of the rug and onto the fabric. The jaws from a hunting trap sprang up and snatched the fake apple. Its teeth sank deep into the plastic, and would have done the same to an ankle or a leg.
Vince stood and frowned. "As I feared. Simpl
e human traps."
Vera's mouth was agape as she turned to Vince. "How did you know it was there?" she asked him.
"The rug is the only clean article in the room, so it must be new. New rugs are used for company, or traps. In this case I assumed a trap, and that weight would trigger it," he commented.
Vera slyly smiled. "You really are a good detective."
He held up one of his wrinkled hands and shook his head. "But this body limits me. If there are more traps they might not be found until one of us activates them."
"Leave that to me." Vera stepped in front of him and held her hands out on either side of her. "Now that I know what I'm looking for these traps shouldn't be a problem."
Her fingers glowed the beautiful dark violet and the magic swept from her hands like a thick mist. It flowed to the ground and across the floor. Everything, from furniture to the kitchen sink, was covered by her fog. The sounds of clacks, clanks, and springs erupted all over the apartment, and Vera frowned.
"It looks like she set a lot of traps. Renters aren't supposed to do that," she commented. The fog receded and Vera lowered her arms. "That's all the human traps, and I didn't detect any hexes," she assured us.
"What happens if you find out a renter's set a trap?" I asked her.
"Immediate expulsion," she replied.
I winced. "She must have been pretty desperate to protect herself."
"She may have suspected Ruthven was searching for her," Vera suggested. She crossed her arms and turned to Vince. "But what I'd like to know is what she has to do with Ruthven."
"We will know when we find her," Vince replied.
He strode past her and began to rummage through the drawers, cushions, cupboards and nooks of the apartment. "Any idea what we're looking for?" I asked him.
"No," was the depressing reply.
I turned to Vera. "Maybe you'd know?" I wondered.
