Beginner's Luck_An Urban Fantasy Adventure

by J. A. Cipriano

  Golar was out of the back by the time Zorah and I reached the counter, shaking his head at the bird as it reduced the cracker to crumbs that sprayed all over the surface. “I should’ve gone with the enchanted rabbit,” he sighed as he swept the mess away. “Thank you, Edgar, that will be all.”

  “Somebody’s here!” the bird squawked as he flapped his wings and soared back into the gloom.

  “Good evening, Seth and friend,” Golar said. “Pardon me for saying so, but you look awful.”

  “Yeah, I kinda figured that,” I said. “This is Zorah. Zorah, Golar.”

  She gave a hesitant smile. “Hello. Nice to meet you.”

  “And you as well. How interesting,” Golar said as he leaned over the counter a little, looking at Zorah closely. “Your magic signature is very unique. Have you been tested?”

  “Don’t mind him,” I said loudly, giving Golar a meaningful look. “He doesn’t get out much, and I think he keeps his manners stored in the back somewhere.”

  “Ah, yes. Well.” Golar rocked back on his heels and regarded me with a raised brow. “What brings you to the Dregs at this hour?”

  “A few things. This, for one,” I said, drawing the luck pendant from my pocket and placing it on the counter. “But first, do you know anything about enchanted tattoos? Because I have a really big problem going on here.” I waved a hand at my magic-burned chest. “I can’t summon Princess anymore.”

  Zorah gave me a sympathetic squeeze. I’d already told her the story on the way over here, and now that I’d had a few minutes to think without some asshole trying to blast me into a coma, I was really worried.

  “Hmm. That does seem troubling,” Golar said as he bent forward and stared at my chest. I waited for an awkward minute or two until he finally looked up. “I’m afraid I can’t repair something this complex,” he said. “However, I do know someone who can. You’ll want Bowie at Voltage Ink to work on that. He’s the most skilled at enchanted tattoo work.”

  “Okay, I’ll do that,” I said. “But what about Princess? I mean, is she going to be okay until I can get this fixed?”

  “Well, I’m no expert on enchanted tigers,” Golar said. “But my guess is that she’ll be fine. In her bound form, she most likely wouldn’t require much in the way of water or nutrients, since she isn’t expending any energy.” He paused with a slight frown. “Didn’t you mention that a demon gave you the tattoo with some kind of spell? If that’s the case, Bowie may only be able to offer a temporary solution. You may need to find that demon to resolve the issue completely.”

  “All right. Thank you.” I trusted Golar’s educated guess over most of the expert opinions, and his explanation made sense. I’d definitely find the demon as soon as possible, and see Bowie in the meantime. “And what about the pendant?” I said, gesturing at the double star necklace.

  Golar’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “That looks very old,” he said. “I could probably give you a quick surface analysis in, say, thirty minutes or so. Of course, if you’d like a clear, detailed record of this item’s history and abilities …”

  “I can leave it with you for a few days, right?” I said with a crooked smile. “You know, I figured you’d say that. And this time I’m willing to part with it briefly. How long?”

  He rubbed his hands together and carefully picked up the pendant. “Give me thirty-six hours, and I’ll make sure she sings to me.”

  “You got it. Thanks, Golar,” I said. “Oh, and I also want to buy a few things before I go.”

  The prospect of money didn’t excite him nearly as much as playing with the pendant, but he slipped the necklace in his lab coat pocket and nodded. “All right. What are you interested in?”

  “That replica you made of my watch.” I almost laughed at his surprised expression. “And if you’ve got it, I’m also looking for a little valerian root and viper hemp.”

  Golar’s surprise turned to narrow-eyed suspicion. “Do I look like an apothecary to you?” he said. “And don’t think I’m not aware of what one might do with those particular ingredients.”

  “Hey, it’s for a good cause. I’m saving somebody’s soul,” I said. At that, Zorah gasped and stared at me, but I shook my head slightly. I’d explain when we were done here. “So do you have the stuff or not? You can get as indignant as you want to, Golar, but I think you do.”

  He grumbled something and reached under the counter. “As a matter of fact, I do,” he said, producing two small plastic bags that contained knotted twists of plant matter. He went back under for a minute, and then set the counterfeit roulette watch down. “That replica is going to be expensive,” he said. “It was not easy to make.”

  “Whatever you want, I’ll pay it,” I said as I reached for my wallet. “How much?”

  The short shop owner was already headed for the back. “You can pay me when you pick up the item,” he said, waving a hand over his shoulder as he opened the door leading to the depths of the place. “Goodnight, Seth. Zorah.”

  Before either of us could reply, the door closed behind him.

  I shook my head as I turned from the counter. “He’s a little weird, but he’s got skills,” I said. “So, how about we get out of the Dregs?”

  Relief settled over Zorah’s face. “Good idea.”

  We walked out of the shop and headed for the edge of the neighborhood. “So, what was that about saving someone’s soul?” Zorah said as we hustled along.

  “It’s kind of a long story, but it involves one of Cayn’s customers,” I said. “And I think I might even be able to put Cayn out of commission in the process. But, listen … I want you to go somewhere safe until it’s over, okay?”

  Worry lines appeared on her brow. “Why? I mean, if you’re going to get hurt …”

  “No, I’ll be fine,” I said, at least ninety percent sure I wasn’t lying about that. “I’m worried about you because what I’m about to do is probably going to piss Oberon off, and I don’t want you anywhere near me when that happens so he can’t blame you. Okay?”

  She gave a reluctant nod. “If you’re sure you’ll be safe.”

  “I’m sure.” Mostly sure, I amended silently. “Maybe you could wait this out at your place.”

  “I could,” she said as a suggestive smile spread on her face. “Or maybe … I could wait at your place.”

  “Yeah. You could definitely do that,” I said, warming up to the idea real fast. I dug into my pocket, pulled out my apartment key and handed it to her. “You know where it is, right?”

  “Moonlight Gardens penthouse.” She licked her lips and ran her fingers down my arm. “So you’d better make it there in one piece.”

  I decided I would if it killed me, which actually fit right in with my plan.

  Because I was about to die.

  37

  I took care of a few things on the way to Casino Row. For one, I had to text Arden and let her know I wouldn’t make it to the bar tonight, but we could all hang out tomorrow, and I’d tell them what happened. It took a few back-and-forths to calm her down after I explained that I was fine and Joad was dead. At first, she didn’t believe me. But finally, she promised to let everyone else know and made me swear I’d call her first thing in the morning.

  Once I’d settled that, I had one more set piece to arrange. I used the watch to shift into alterspace and grab the Tethered Trunk, bringing it back into the regular world with me. I’d need a safe place to stash the real watch while I wore the fake.

  It didn’t take long to find Alistair. He was in his usual alley behind the rickety table, calling out his carnival patter to everyone who passed by. But when he saw me approaching, his face lit up, and he hustled around the table. “Seth! I can’t believe you actually came,” he said, and then his expression wilted slightly. “I mean if that’s why you’re here. And … damn, you look terrible!”

  “Yeah, I know. Thanks,” I said as I set the trunk on the ground and pushed it under his table. “Don’t worry, it’s only going to hel
p us pull this off.” I still had plenty of lifewater in the trunk for the burns, but I’d held off using it to make this more believable. “So, you’ve got everything I told you to get?”

  Alistair nodded so eagerly, I thought his head might fall right off his neck. “Yep, everything’s right here,” he said as he patted his pocket, and something clinked inside it. “Extra vamp blood, candle, summoning spell, the works.”

  “All right. That’s good,” I said, reluctantly opening the locks that held the watch in place. I hated taking it off, but I couldn’t risk just putting the duplicate on my other wrist. Cayn would definitely check my body. I stowed the roulette watch in the trunk and then clasped the fake in place. “Nice, right?” I said, holding it up for Alistair to see. “It’s almost a perfect replica, except it doesn’t work.”

  “Wow. I just … wow,” Alistair breathed, looking like he might cry. “I really can’t thank you enough for this, Seth. It’s … it’s going to work, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, it’s gonna work,” I told him. “Don’t worry about it.”

  I’d keep all the worrying for myself so that Alistair could focus on his role in this little act of ours.

  The rest of the preparations didn’t take long. I ground up some of the valerian root and viper hemp, sprinkled them both into a vial of vamp blood and shook it to mix everything. Theoretically, the combination would make my skin cold and clammy, slow my heart to almost imperceptible, and force me into a shallow breathing pattern that would prevent the telltale rise-and-fall of my chest. Cayn had to believe I was dead for this to work.

  I borrowed a pocket knife from Alistair and ran the tip of the blade across my throat, leaving a shallow cut that dribbled blood. Once I’d taken the concoction, he’d pour another dose of vamp blood over the cut and down my neck to make it more convincing. Then he’d summon Cayn and start the fun.

  As ready as I’d ever be for this, I sat on the ground in front of the table and pulled the cork from the vial of death-faking. “You all set?” I said.

  “Yeah, I’m ready.” Alistair actually sounded calm. I shouldn’t have been surprised since he really was good at acting. He did it all day, every day, while he was attracting unsuspecting tourists.

  “Okay. Here we go.” I forced out a breath and chugged the contents of the vial. Damn, that shit tasted awful. I had no idea how Alistair could keep drinking this stuff all the time. “Remember, you have to demand that he cancel your contract,” I said as I laid back on the sidewalk, already feeling woozy and sluggish. “He made a deal, and he has to keep it.”

  “Exactly,” Alistair said as he knelt beside me and dumped cold blood on my neck. He straightened, placed a candle on the table and lit it, then drew a small paper packet out. My vision dimmed as he tore the packet open and dumped the contents into the flame. There was a bright flash, and then everything went mostly dark for me.

  I closed my eyes and waited, listening to the distant and now-muffled sounds of the city. It wasn’t long until I heard approaching footsteps, and then Cayn’s voice. “Is that …?” he choked out, and then shouted, “What have you done, you idiot!”

  “I got the watch,” Alistair replied, not even flinching at Cayn’s roar. “Look, you can just take it right off him. He’s dead.” I felt a cool, damp hand grab mine and lift my arm, and then someone fumbling with the clasps on the fake watch.

  “Out of my way!” Cayn bellowed. There was a meaty thump, and I figured the Collector had probably sucker-punched Alistair. Cayn’s fingers pressed against my neck, squelching through slippery blood, feeling for a pulse. He wouldn’t find one.

  “Damn you,” Cayn growled as he gripped my arm hard, removing the watch with rough motions. “You’ve broken it! I warned you, all of you, to leave him alive!”

  “Yeah, well I didn’t get that memo.” I hardly recognized Alistair in that low, threatening tone. He hadn’t even taken any vamp blood, and he sounded like something that had just dragged itself from the pits of hell, looking for someone to rip apart. “And I got your damned watch, so I want my contract canceled, Collector. Now.”

  There was a long, frigid pause. Finally, Cayn said, “I keep my word, street scum. Even when others do not.” Another sound reached my ears, like something burning. “Your soul is your own, for what it’s worth. Which is nothing, now that you’ve destroyed—”

  “You have failed me, Cayn.”

  The new voice, one I’d never heard before, echoed through the air like doom. I risked slowly cracking an eye open and found that it didn’t matter because Cayn was paying zero attention to me now. He was focused on the enormous, half-formed and semi-transparent figure flickering in the shadows of the alley, just behind Alistair.

  Oberon. He wasn’t anywhere close to completely in this world, but he’d managed to force enough of himself through to terrify the piss out of Cayn, along with probably everyone else in four or five surrounding blocks of this place.

  “Sire,” Cayn stammered as he fell to his knees on the sidewalk. “This human—”

  “You are to blame for this. And you will pay the price.” The flickering shadow-shape of Oberon moved forward, and Alistair scrambled out of the way as the specter loomed over Cayn, reaching out a massive hand. He gripped Cayn’s head in his fingers, and the Collector let out a long, splintering scream as something dark blue and glowing faintly ejected itself from his mouth. Whatever it was faded into nothing.

  “Cayn, you are banished from the realm,” Oberon’s shadow boomed out. “Consider yourself fortunate that I have spared your miserable life. But know that my mercy is a curse upon you because I have taken your power for my own.”

  With that, Oberon rippled and faded into nothing.

  A heavy silence seemed to fall across the world in the wake of the conqueror king’s appearance. By now the effects of the cocktail I’d swallowed had worn off enough that I could feel my heart beating and my lungs filling with air. I opened my eyes carefully, saw Cayn still kneeling with his eyes closed, and decided to get up.

  Alistair rushed over to help me. Once I was on my feet, I waved him off with a nod and a tired smile. “I’m okay,” I said. “He did void your contract, right?”

  As Alistair grinned and nodded, Cayn’s eyes snapped open at the sound of my voice. “You,” he said in a heavy rasp, stumbling to his feet. “This is not possible! Damn you, Wyatt, how did you break the watch? There’s only one way to destroy it, and you are—”

  “Not dead. Crazy, right?” I said, trying to sound more alert than I felt. I was still shaking off the effects of the herbs and the vamp blood. “Here’s the thing, Cayn. That’s actually not the watch you’re looking for. The real one’s locked in a vault at a bank, and your boss is never getting his evil hands on it.”

  I figured Cayn would start screaming some more, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he rushed at me. So I cocked an arm and punched him square in the nose.

  Something snapped beneath my fist, and Cayn fell to the ground, dazed and dripping blood.

  “Well, what do you know? Looks like you’re a pathetic human now, just like the rest of us,” I said as I stood over him. “You can handle this guy, right, Alistair?”

  Alistair cracked his knuckles. “If he needs any more handling, I’ve got it.”

  “Good.” I clapped him on the back, then grabbed my trunk from beneath the table. “I’ve gotta get home,” I told him. “See you around, buddy.”

  I walked away grinning as the curious crowds started to gather, now that the danger was over. I was sore and exhausted, still concerned about a few big issues I’d have to deal with soon, and the nasty taste of vamp blood that lingered in my mouth didn’t help anything. But I’d taken out two of my biggest enemies, struck a serious blow to another one, and become an official tournament champion, and now I had a gorgeous woman waiting for me at my place.

  Overall, today was a very good day.

  38

  Las Vegas, The Near Future

  “So yeah, that’s how I wo
n my first Four Skulls tournament,” I said to the crowd. It had grown from Brandi the waitress, the bartender, and a couple of guys who’d been sitting on stools when I walked into the Mandolin to a few dozen people who’d wandered in while I was telling the story and stuck around to hear the rest. “Back then, things were a little crazier around here, you know?”

  Brandi had been inching closer the whole time I’d talked, and now she was practically sitting on my lap. “But what about Oberon?” she said, her enrapt gaze on my face. “And what happened to Princess? Did you ever find that demon? And the Collectors … I mean, I’ve heard rumors about them, but there aren’t any in the city. How did that happen?”

  I laughed and held up a hand to stem the tide of questions. “All of that is another long story,” I said as I glanced at the clock on the wall. “And if I don’t leave now, I’m going to be late for my appointment. Golar hates it when I’m late.”

  The pretty waitress sucked in a surprised breath. “You mean the pawn shop is still here?” she said. “Oh my God, where? I’d love to meet Golar, and the raven, and—”

  “Take it easy,” I said, grinning as I patted her hand and heard the rest of the crowd muttering, echoing the same questions. “These days, Golar doesn’t like to be disturbed. You’d need an appointment to see him. But I could put in a good word for you if you want.”

  “What about me?” a twenty-something man with a spray of dyed black hair called from the back of the crowd, raising a hand in the air. “Can I get a good word too? I bet he’s got some good shit in his shop, wherever it is.”

  There was a chorus of agreement as more hands went up. “Okay, settle down,” I said with a chuckle. “Tell you what. I’ll ask Golar about making a signup sheet or something, so everyone can get an appointment. I can come back here tomorrow night for a while.”

  “Can you tell us more of the story when you come back?” a young girl with bright red hair who reminded me almost painfully of Zorah said as she nearly jumped up and down with excitement. “I want to hear about Princess and make sure she’s okay.”