by T J Nichols
He stared at the screen for several seconds, debating if he wanted to know what would happen to him before deciding it was better to be informed about how magic was stripped. He’d resisted until now because he suspected it wouldn’t be pleasant. But he needed to know. For all that he had a love-hate relationship with his magic, it was part of him.
The spell for stripping magic was complex—which was a good thing as it couldn’t be done accidentally or randomly to any witch on the street. There were cases of the witch dying afterwards. Jude swallowed and kept reading. Those who survived led regular human lives. Did they hate the Coven and the paranormal community?
What would it be like to wake up and be magicless? He’d been that way once, although even as a kid he’d been able to zap people with static with alarming frequency. Batteries had gone flat around him. There were so many little signs that he wasn’t quite normal that another witch would’ve picked up on. His foster parents hadn’t known. If they had, they’d have probably tried to get the demons out of him.
He was about to shut the laptop when a link in the text caught his eye. Stealing magic. The same ritual that strips can also be used to steal a witch’s magic, though stealing magic is a crime. Jude clicked, and the next page talked about a witch that had lived a couple of hundred years ago in Germany. He had captured witches and taken their magic, absorbing it into his own.
It had taken a full Coven to bring him down. Witches had worked with vampires and shifters to stop him. That must have been serious. Neither page listed the ritual because it was so dangerous.
They drove out to North without talking. Jude’s silence unnerved Mack. Jude wasn’t the silent type. He always had something to say. As they reached the dirt track, Mack slowed.
“You haven’t said a word since hello. What’s wrong?” Was he pissed off because Mack hadn’t gotten him off? Jude had been the one to leave the shop. And Mack hadn’t asked him to suck and swallow—though he hadn’t said no either. And now he was in Jude’s debt. He didn’t know much about witches, but owing one a favor seemed dangerous.
“I spent the day researching.” Jude picked at an artful tear in his jeans.
“And?” Had he discovered something awful? Worse than having their lives interlaced for the moment?
“I went to a dark coven site.”
“Oh. You know they aren’t reliable, and anyone can add to them.” But they were useful if looking for things that the Coven wouldn’t readily share, including the kind of magic that shouldn’t be practiced, ever. What was Jude messed up in?
What was Mack now messed up in?
Jude nodded and stared out the window and didn’t respond. The sun sat low, but there were still a few hours of daylight left. He didn’t like the way silence blanketed Jude. He’d grown used to the sound of the witch’s voice and grudgingly admitted that Jude was growing on him. He might have offered to drive him out because he wanted to spend time with him. Getting further involved with Jude would be hazardous. He shouldn’t have let Jude unzip his jeans, but at the time he hadn’t been able to resist. He really needed to get out more frequently and do more than just hook up. He wanted more than that, but he didn’t want this. He wasn’t anybody’s belonging or magical helper.
He may have read too much about the ways witches could abuse the power imbalance.
“Why did you want to come back here?” Mack pressed. If Jude didn’t want to talk about what he’d found out, there must be a reason he wanted to revisit North. “You want to play with lightning again?”
If that were the case, Mack wouldn’t mind watching. Jude had been wild, and for a moment, Mack had seen who he was behind the designer labels and sculpted hair.
That almost drew a smile from Jude. “No. If I want to do that, I’ll go farther out.”
“I’ll take you camping.” The offer fell from his lips.
“You don’t have to.”
But he wanted to. It wasn’t just the bond; he enjoyed Jude’s company. Probably because he didn’t have to hide what he was, that was the only reason. While there were traces of Jude’s aftershave left, Mack could smell Jude’s skin and soap, and it was a vast improvement. A lesser witch might have given up or even run away given the situation, but Jude had looked at the cow and done the research. He was determined to stop the creature and do the right thing.
“Drive up to the end,” Jude said.
Mack drove through the town. It had never been big even when lived in. The shops and houses were for the permanent residents. The hopefuls and many of the miners lived in tents and shacks. He parked and for a few heartbeats sat. The engine ticked as it cooled. “I thought there was nothing here.”
“There’s old magic. Nothing bad. No dark summoning or hexes. But I want to know what it is.” Jude got out of the car and started walking toward the mine.
The entrance was supposed to be blocked off, and every so often someone would come out and bang up a few new boards, but they’d get torn down by teens wanting to test their bravery down the haunted shaft. It wasn’t haunted. Mack had never seen a damn thing, and he’d gone farther than most because his eyes were better in the dark. Jude wouldn’t share that advantage.
“I’ll grab a torch.” Mack called out as he reached for the glove box.
Jude turned. A ball of white light crackled on his palm. “No need.”
Okay, then. They went into the mine like a couple of juiced-up teens. Not quite how he’d planned on spending the night, but still better than being home alone or gossiping with Ned.
He followed Jude over the remains of the barricade and into the mine where he paused to sniff. All he smelled was the sharp tang of Jude’s magic, old beer, and rotting wood. “The beams holding this up are fragile.”
“Scared?” Jude glowed, his skin luminescent and sparking like he was made of electricity.
Mack wanted to touch him but didn’t know if it was safe. “This is not my first time down the mine.” Under the rubble on the floor were the old metal tracks from the buckets they’d used to haul the ore up. Farther on there was a shaft that seemed to drop straight to Hell.
“Well, it’s my first time, and I’ve decided I don’t like being underground.” Jude stopped walking and shivered.
“You don’t have to do this. Old magic, new killer. Probably not related.”
Jude shook his head. “Can’t you taste it?”
“No.” Mack glanced behind them to where the entrance was a small patch of light. When they rounded the bend, there would be nothing, only darkness. “What does it taste like?”
“Chamomile tea and lavender.” Jude took a few more steps. “It gets stronger the deeper we go.”
“Are you sure it won’t affect us?”
There was a pause, as if Jude was thinking about the answer.
“We shouldn’t go any farther.” Mack couldn’t smell or taste the magic, and he didn’t like things that he couldn’t sense. He was used to having better senses that everyone around him. Now he was blind.
“But you’ve done this before.” The orb illuminated Jude’s face. His eyes were lit from within, glowing. The effect unnerved him. Jude looked every part the storm god—it was a more fitting description than electro-mage. A more terrifying description.
Mack’s heart beat faster, and he reminded himself that Jude was his witch, so it wasn’t in his best interest to do anything to harm Mack. They had to protect each other until the bond could be broken. “But I didn’t know there was sleepy magic down here.”
He didn’t know if he’d have cared back then either. But then there hadn’t been a cow-killing creature prowling the edge of town.
“Yes…that’s what it is.” Jude licked his lip as though tasting the magic again. “Some kind of sleeping spell.”
“I’m not kissing a princess.”
Jude smiled. “The spell is broken, so you’re safe from unwanted kisses.”
“If the spell is broken, what was put to sleep?” The creature was his first guess, but M
ack hoped he was wrong.
“Let’s find out.” Jude walked on, stepping over broken tracks and rocks and rubbish in his fancy boots.
Mack followed because he had to keep Jude alive. He was not going to pine away and die because of a stupid bond he’d never wanted in the first place. They reached the fork in the tunnel.
“Left becomes a shaft in about ten yards.” A kid a few years older than him had fallen down it and died. His body had been retrieved, but his ghost hadn’t hung around as a warning to others, despite what the rumors had claimed.
“And the right side?”
“I don’t know. This is as far as I came. I only did it to win the dare and the six-pack of beer.” He’d gotten drunk and in so much trouble.
Jude walked a few paces down each leg then came back to him. “I think it’s down the shaft.”
“Then we should come back another time with ropes and gear.” Climbing down the shaft was a fool’s errand. “You know what the magic is, is that not enough?”
His gut tightened. If someone had put something to sleep down here, it was with very good reason. That it was now awake and killing was an excellent reason not to be here. A whiff of something rotten caught his nostrils. “Jude…”
Animals often lived in old mines, and while there were small rodents in here, whatever was scrabbling around in the dark was not mouse-sized. He grabbed Jude’s shirt and hauled him back a few yards.
“What are you doing?”
“Can’t you hear it getting closer? Can’t you smell it?”
Jude stared at him like he was a mad man. Mack didn’t release him, he kept walking, dragging Jude with him. Jude didn’t struggle, but he didn’t hurry either. The need to flee rushed through Mack’s body. The end of the tunnel came into view and was too far away in his opinion.
“I think something died in here.” Jude coughed and raised his hand to his nose. It had taken him this long to smell the sweetish scent of decomposing meat.
“Yeah, us if we don’t get out.” He gripped Jude around the biceps and ran.
Jude stumbled and struggled to keep up.
The scrabbling got louder, then stopped.
“Shit. It’s just a dog.” Jude gave a nervous laugh.
Jude’s light illuminated the black animal. It looked like a dog. But it grew bigger with each pace. Not bigger as in closer, but bigger and less dog-like.
He blinked to be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks. They unfortunately weren’t. “That’s not a dog.”
“Aufhocker,” Jude breathed the word as though too afraid to swear out loud.
Mack didn’t give Jude time recover. Getting out was their only hope, and even then getting to the car would be dicey. “How about a little magic, witch?”
“I can’t do anything while you’re pulling me along.”
“Run then.”
“It’s only walking.”
“All the more reason for us to run.” He hoped there wasn’t a second one waiting outside.
Jude tripped as his boot caught on something but picked up speed. When they reached the entrance, Mack stopped and sniffed.
Jude put his back to Mack’s as though it was the most natural thing to do. “Um…it’s still walking toward us. Shall we run for the car?”
The scent of carrion filled his nostrils and clogged the back of his throat, making it hard to tell if there was another one or not. The car was ten yards away, and as tempting as it was to make a run for it, Mack wasn’t stupid. He camped and had seen real bears while he was shifted and as a human. Wild animals were to be treated with caution.
And the thing with even more caution because he didn’t know what it was, only that it wasn’t a natural animal. It was a creature out of myth and nightmare. It had been put to sleep, and now it was awake and hungry.
The overhang of the mine prevented him from seeing if there was another waiting above. He wouldn’t know until he stepped out and got pounced on. They needed a distraction. A way of keeping the beast busy.
“Can you make a rockfall? Trap it in the mine?”
“I’m not an earth witch.”
“I know that, but you can still do shit.” Couldn’t he? What was the point of having magic if it couldn’t save lives? Their lives?
“I don’t want to kill us accidentally.”
“Well, that thing will kill us deliberately, so I’m happy to take my chances.” He didn’t want to end up gutted like the cow. Mack glanced over his shoulder. The not-a-dog was still gaining as though in no hurry, and it was deadly silent. No growling or snarling, just a sentient shadow. How had he ever thought the creature resembled a dog? It was the wrong shape. Too big in the shoulders and too wide in the head.
“Any time now would be good. If it gets any closer, we will get trapped in the rockfall.” Mack inched toward the opening, trying to get a better scent from the outside, but his nose was so clogged with the scent of death that he wanted to scrub the inside of his face with bleach.
“I’m thinking,” Jude muttered.
Static made the hair on Mack’s arms and the back of his neck prick to attention. He smelled the storm a second before it struck. The shock went through him liked he’d stuck his finger in a socket. His heart contracted, and his breath escaped. He stumbled forward, his legs like a newborn foal’s.
Jude steadied him, then the world tumbled down around them.
Chapter Eight
Jude coughed on the dust his rockfall had made. His boot caught on a stone, and he almost went sprawling on top of Mack who’d somehow tripped. Jude grabbed Mack and hauled him out into the dusk. Mack stumbled and gasped, then dropped to his knees as though no longer able to stand.
The entrance to the mine was three quarters blocked. Enough to stop the creature? They had to get to the car. Jude’s heart thudded hard as he waited for the glowing eyes to appear above the rubble.
Maybe he’d killed it? With his next breath he knew he wasn’t that lucky, ever. He glanced around, the truck still too far away if the thing came after them. They needed to move.
“Are you all right?” He put a hand on Mack’s back, and Mack drew away from him as though his touch hurt.
“You electrocuted me.” Mack glanced up.
Was that shock or fear in his eyes? Jude didn’t like it either way.
“I’m sorry.” He hadn’t meant to.
Mack regarded him cautiously. “I was touching you. Your whole body became charged…like…like an electric eel.”
Jude glanced again at the opening to the mine. Glowing eyes watched them. Could it slip through the gap if it got small again? How small could it get? “Can you walk?”
Mack grunted and pushed himself up on to his knees. Then he stopped and stared at his hands. Or where his hands should be. Instead of hands, he had paws. Large hairy, claw-tipped bear paws.
Jude took a step back. “Does that usually happen?”
“No.” Mack’s eyes were wide, and his face had gone pale. He shook his hands as though he could shake off the dark fur. Nothing happened. “What the fuck?” He shook his hands harder.
“I’ll drive. It’s fine.”
“What part of this is fine?” His voice got louder with each word. “I’m not a bear and I’m not human.” He held up his paws.
Jude wanted to run and lock himself in the car, but Mack had the keys. He swallowed, unsure what to do.
Then Mack lifted his head and sniffed. Jude glanced at the mine entrance. The creature hadn’t moved. It was still watching. Now he knew what it was. An aufhocker. Just the name filled him with dread. Of all the things he’d read about, it had to be that. If it had stayed small and dog-like, he wouldn’t have known. It could’ve been any number of hellhounds or hellhound related creatures.
“The truck keys are in my pocket.” Mack stood, and Jude slipped his hand into Mack’s front pocket where the keys bulged.
Jude unlocked the truck, and without another word, they both ran the last few yards and got in.
Ju
de stared at Mack with his paws. “You opened the door.”
“Do you really think I haven’t gotten into my truck as a bear before?” He snarled, his gaze on his paws.
“I don’t know. Did you want to drive?”
“Can’t. I’ve tried that.” Mack almost smiled.
Jude tried to imagine Mack in full shift and failed. He was a big man, and he wouldn’t be any smaller as a bear.
“But you can put my seat belt on for me.”
“Right.” Because a seat belt would matter when there was an aufhocker in the abandoned mine. But he leaned over to help anyway. For a few seconds they were close. Really close.
“Thank you for helping me out of the mine.”
“That’s okay. Must have had an adrenaline burst or something.” Jude didn’t want to think too much about it. He’d done what anyone would do after accidentally electrocuting their familiar.
“Yeah. Or something.” Mack’s breath was on Jude’s lips.
They both knew it was the ‘or something’. He shouldn’t have been that strong. Mack shouldn’t have bear paws. He dragged the seat belt across Mack’s body and clipped it into place, then did his own.
It was only as he started the car that he glanced up. Halfway up the hill above the mine was a dark shadow with glowing eyes. He nudged Mack.
“I see it.”
Above the rockfall in the mine entrance was another set of eyes. “Glad we didn’t make a run for the truck before the rockfall.”
The rockfall had bought them a little time while the aufhockers considered how dangerous they were. Maybe they had decided they weren’t worth eating.
“Yeah.”
Neither set of eyes moved. They weren’t behaving the way wild animals should, or the way Jude thought wild animals should. “Two aufhockers. That is not good.”
And that was an understatement and a half. The magic in the mine had been used to put them to sleep. Now they were awake, hungry and hunting.
“Or fuckers?” Mack glanced at him.
“That’s what they’re called. They were discovered by a German.” Jude kept his voice low as though speaking loudly would startle the creatures into action.
