CHAPTER SIX
Chapter 6
Great. She thought she had cleared out the last of her last girlfriend's junk. But no, Isela found one of Ofelia's lipsticks mixed in with her own. Of all the things to find, her cop ex-girlfriend's makeup was not on the list of things she wanted to see. With a sigh, Isela tossed it into the trash, reaching for one of her own pink lip stains, applying it carefully. It looked good with the subtle look she had going on, she decided.
On her way out, what was going on at work ate at her. Did Priscilla know something? She had to. Something was wrong. What it was, though… what could have caused Caren to just… not come in?
The thought stuck with her the entire drive down 410. Something was up and she didn't know what. And Priscilla was holding the answer way too close to her chest. Isela drummed the wheel of her car, eyes narrowing just slightly. She was going to figure it out. She had to.
At the thought, something cold and wet pressed against her arm. Isela yelped, looking down, seeing nothing. When she looked back up, her breath stuttered in her throat as she slammed on her brakes, barely avoiding hitting the car in front of her.
Isela swore she heard a horse chuckle in her ear. What the hell.
The drive from then on was nerve wracking, but she managed to make it without crashing. She sighed as she pulled into the parking lot, pushing her hair back from her sweaty face, barely feeling her car's air conditioning. She had made it.
Time to work. Isela unbuckled her seatbelt, then paused, groaning as she realized that it wouldn't just be her work she was doing. With Caren not coming in, she would have to be doing Caren's work too. "Damn it," she muttered, getting out of the car. "I did not ask for this."
She jumped as she heard the horse chuckle again. Isela whipped around, looking for whatever that could be. She couldn't actually be hearing a horse. Not in her car, and not in the parking lot like this. Someone had to put a speaker around here and was playing horse noises.
Green caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she spun around, her hand tightening into a fist. For a moment- for a moment, she saw a white horse covered in seaweed… but that was impossible, wasn't it? Isela spun back around.
A naked woman stood there, seaweed tangled in her hair. She grinned, then laughed, sounding like a horse's bray.
Isela narrowed her eyes, reaching for the woman, ready to shake her for answers. "Who the hell are-"
The woman disappeared just as she touched her, leaving behind cold fingertips dripping water.
Isela swallowed. Okay, so she was going crazy. But… she raised her hand, rolling the wetness between her fingers. She couldn't deny that she had water between her fingers on an already hot morning.
Okay. She didn't have any answers and needed to do her work anyway. Isela straightened her back, going into work. And if her hands were shaking a little, no one needed to know that. It would stay between her and whatever that horse… woman was.
When she got to her desk, Isela settled in for a long day's work. Hopefully, the horse woman thing wouldn't bother her anymore that day.
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Isela.
Isela.
Laura's hands tightened on the wheel of her car as she turned into the parking lot of her apartment. Nighe was starting to get too restless. But that was okay. She was going to do it. She was going to kill Isela. It didn't matter if she needed to do it or not. Isela needed to die. She knew she was being petty, but… she had felt so pretty that day. She didn't usually feel pretty. And then that one little snide comment and- no, she needed to die. Laura had been feeling so good that day for once and Isela had to ruin it.
With a chuckle, she pulled out her phone. What could she do… ah, yes. Laura dialed Isela's number, grinning widely.
"Hello?" Isela sounded tired. Good.
"Hi, Isela? It's Laura."
There was a sigh on the other end of the phone. "Laura, I don't know where Priscilla is, and I don't have time to talk to you. Caren left us a lot of work to take care of."
"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Caren just called me. I can't get ahold of Priscilla, so I was wondering if you could meet me and we could talk about this?"
"Or you could tell me over the phone." Bitch sounded annoyed. She had no right to be annoyed.
"It really needs to be said in person."
Isela sighed, the sound vibrating over the phone. "Not tonight. Maybe you'll be able to get ahold of Priscilla later. But I can't do anything tonight. I have too much work."
Damn it. She couldn't wait to make sure Isela got out. Not with Nighe beating at her skull. She had to get Isela now. And- hm. She did know where Isela worked, and it was late enough that no one else would be around. And if they were, well. If they could see her, Nighe never said no to more than one death. If the others could see Nighe, well… She wouldn't even have to call upon the Faceless if she used Nighe properly. A heart attack in a fat bitch like her wouldn't go remarked upon.
"Okay," she said, sounding disappointed. "I just… thought you'd want to know. Do you think you'll be available tomorrow?"
"Just call Priscilla," Isela said, annoyed, and hung up.
Bitch.
Oh well. Laura grinned. "Nighe," she crooned. "Would you like to go on a trip near the airport?"
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Isela turned off the light, sighing. Doing both her and Caren's work had taken too long. Lawrence better have already put out the job posting, she thought. This was going to get too draining, too fast. She stepped around the janitor cleaning up absently, murmuring a goodnight to him. All she wanted to do was get home, take a shower, and go to bed. With how late it was, food was optional right now.
But right now she just had to get home. At least the drive wouldn't be that bad now. And it was only one more day until the weekend. One more day until she could rest. She could wait that long. With any luck, they would have a replacement soon enough.
Or Lawrence would promote Patrick into her spot. Isela shivered at that thought. He wasn't equipped to do Caren's job, and he didn't deserve the promotion anyway. Her workload would remain increased if Lawrence did that. With any hope, he was smart enough not to do that.
Lawerence was a smart man. She had faith he wouldn't do that.
Isela made her way out to her car, feeling the still hot air against her skin despite the sun having gone down. She needed to start her car as soon as possible, feel the air conditioning against her-
"Hello."
She blinked, turning to meet Laura. Why was she here? Isela thought. The gate didn't open for anyone without a code after 6:00pm. Unless… she followed the janitor in at that time. But that would mean she waited her over an hour, either running her car or standing there in the heat. Yeah, they had an awning, but it was still hot. "Why are you here, Laura?"
Laura grinned widely. "You said you didn't want to go out see me. So I came to you."
Isela rolled her eyes. "Laura, I don't want to see you. How hard is that to understand?"
"But I want to see you. Or should I say…" Laura held out her hand. "She wants to see you. Bean Nighe! Time to eat."
Isela took a step backwards as… something lifted itself out of Laura's skin. It looked… like an old woman only in the most technical of senses. But when she came out, oh God. Isela felt her heart pound. Nothing was right about the woman. She was- what- what was that? Isela looked around, trying to find something to… hit it or throw at Laura. But she had a feeling neither of them would be impressed by throwing a handful of cigarette butts at them.
She swallowed as the woman pulled herself completely free, grinning at her. Isela looked down at her hands, feeling a scream come to her throat as she saw a dripping piece of cloth between her hands.
"You're a bitch, you know that?" Laura said conversationally. "You should have never insulted my dress. Go ahead, Nighe."
That was why she was doing this?! Isela's mouth fell open at that. But she didn't have time to say anything as the old woman came closer
, reaching for her- With a sudden thought, she loosened one of her heels and kicked, the shoe flying off and hitting the old woman in the face. She did the same to the other, landing another hit. Maybe that'd give her time to get to her car-
No. The old woman wasn't phased.
She… she couldn't die here… she knew she was about to die and she couldn't. Not here.
Isela grit her teeth. Then she would just rush her, toss the old woman into Laura. She would-
Something cold pressed up against her side. Isela looked over, eyes wide as she saw a white horse covered in seaweed. It looked at her, then back at the old woman. 'I can help you' it seemed to be saying. But- Isela looked back over, seeing the old woman closer.
It didn't matter it was a horse out of nowhere. She'd take any help.
Isela pressed her hand against the horse's back, silently pleading with the horse. Pleading for its help.
The horse neighed, rearing to its hind… no, those were human legs. And feet. And… now the horse was that woman she had seen, white as bone with black hair and seaweed covering her. The woman reached out- and the old woman was suspended in a water bubble. Isela took that moment to pull her keys out and run for her car. She slid in, starting the car and pulling out, barely waiting for the gate to even open as she rushed out, leaving the strange horse-woman and Laura with the eerie old woman behind.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Chapter 7
What was that?
Isela pulled into her driveway, nearly gasping for breath. What just happened? What was Laura talking about? Why was she- Oh God. Laura just tried to kill her. With the help of some… thing. She couldn't even say what it was. It just… was a monster. And then, when it almost killed her, she-
God, what was happening. Isela started to giggle, curling up slightly. People were trying to kill her and suddenly there was a freakin horse right there in front of her. A horse that became a person. Isela giggled harder, gripping the steering wheel hard. It all sounded so… dumb.
She outright laughed, feeling tears run down her face as her body heaved in what could be mistaken as a sob. It sounded so dumb. It sounded so…
By the time she realized she was crying, not laughing, her face was covered in tears.
No. That was enough. No crying.
Isela took a deep breath, straightening back up. At least it was night, she considered as she got out of her car. No one around to see her break down. She locked her car with shaking hands and quickly entered her house, leaning up against the door once it closed. Being outside while that old woman thing was still around… no thank you. Something told her she'd be safer inside. That nothing would want to touch her inside.
She'd have to tomorrow, though, Isela realized. There was too much work to call out 'sick.' And that didn't change anything. She could stay home and Laura would still be out there. Hell, Laura might even come to her home and try to kill her. At least if she left she would control who would be in the way. Laura didn't seem to want anyone to see.
Go into work. She could do that.
With that thought, she turned on the hall light.
And screamed at the bone white woman sitting on her couch. The woman disappeared, leaving behind a puddle of water on the leather, but Isela knew what that was. It was obvious.
That was 'you won't leave me behind. Ever.'
Isela swallowed. Well. The horse-woman seemed friendly enough. Maybe she could talk to it? "Hey," she said softly, walking over to the puddle. "So… you helped me out."
Nothing. But she could feel something in the air. Anticipation?
"I just want to say… thank you. And… who are you?"
There was a horse's chuckle right by her ear. When she turned, there was the horse, staring at her. Isela jumped a bit, but didn't move away. With another chuckle, the horse leaned in, nudging her shoulder with an uncomfortably wet nose.
And strangely, the chuckle sounded like…
"Kelpie?"
The horse chuckled again.
Isela took a deep breath. Okay. She had Kelpie here. Who had just saved her life. She reached out to touch Kelpie.
Her hand stuck to Kelpie's skin. Isela made a distressed noise, trying to pull her hand back when she noticed Kelpie was melding with her skin. She felt energy cross through her, the overwhelming feeling of water pressing on her skin-
And then it was all over. Kelpie was gone, leaving her with wet, cold fingertips.
Isela shivered.
What just happened?
She rubbed her arms, heading for her bedroom. Nothing about this made sense. She had just seen a horse-woman take on an old woman that didn't quite… look right that came out of Laura's body… Isela took a deep breath, taking off her work clothes and heading for the shower. She needed one after today. It wouldn't fix anything about what just happened, but it would calm her down at least. And she needed that.
Isela ignored Kelpie's chuckle in her ear as she turned on the water.
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Priscilla winced as she sat back on her couch. The energy under her skin had gotten worse. She could barely touch anything without feeling a small electrical jolt. The Queen couldn't settle. Something was horribly wrong and she needed to figure out what it was. "Masaru?" she called out, turning her head.
She heard him get up, come over to her. "Yes, hime-sama?"
He just would not stop calling her that, she thought, frustrated. And he needed to. What he expected, what Priscilla stood for… She couldn't be what he wanted her to be. Priscilla looked up at him, taking him in. He looked so much like a normal thirty-something Japanese man… even dressed in a nice suit. The only things that marred the normality were the holster and gun… and the katana.
Other than that, completely normal.
She shook her head, trying to dash the thoughts. "Masaru, have you felt anything… off? Recently?"
He nodded. "The Lady has still been restless."
So both of them have been. This was a lot more than just those assholes after her again. Something was going on. "Masaru-"
"Hime-sama, I know what you're about to say and you're not going out. Not with what's going on."
"We need to find out what's going on," she argued. "We don't even know-"
"If you contracted with a Queen, then there will be another with your opposite Queen looking for you."
"I can take care of myself," she insisted.
Masaru shook his head. "No."
"Then what do you suggest?" Priscilla asked, crossing her arms. "How about you go and see what you can find?"
"No. That'll leave you alone."
"They won't be coming here. They know better."
Masaru raised an eyebrow. "And yet another Queen has been contracted and we found Caren-san's blood. I don't think that's a coincidence."
"Staying here and sitting on our asses isn't going to get us anywhere. One of us needs to go."
He sighed. "I'll search while you're at work tomorrow. Until then, rest."
"I wish I could. The Queen is wanting something to be done, now, and I'm zapping everything I touch because of her." Priscilla raised an eyebrow at him. "I won't be able to do any resting with her doing this. She wants me to go out and see what's wrong."
"She wants you to go out and meet what is opposing her. That, I know, is what the Lady wants."
Priscilla closed her eyes. He wasn't wrong.
Magic in Her Hands Page 3
