The Witchkin Murders

by Diana Pharaoh Francis

  Raven looked at Jerry. “I’m going with them. You work with the others on a shield spell and bring it when it’s done. Bring everybody with you. We’ll need the help.”

  “I don’t know if they’ll come. I don’t know if they’ll want to risk themselves for humans.”

  Raven’s lips flattened, her eyes narrowing. The air thickened and became hard to breathe. The hair on the back of Ray’s neck stood up.

  “They can come help, or they can leave the Island. Make it clear that I have no room for those who refuse to come,” she said in an icy voice.

  Jerry stiffened like she’d struck him. His eyes narrowed, but he just stood up and walked wordlessly out of the house.

  “You’d better go with him,” she said to Laina who looked a little shell-shocked. “They’ll need you when creating the shield spell.”

  “I have a question,” Kayla said, looking at Laina. “Am I susceptible to the powder in my human form?”

  The redheaded witch frowned. Then shook her head. “I don’t know. Why wouldn’t you be?”

  “I don’t read as a god in this body. I’m pretty vanilla human until I transform.”

  “It’s possible you wouldn’t be affected, but I wouldn’t bet the farm. I could draw more blood and test it if you want to come to my lab. Shouldn’t take long.”

  Kayla gave Ray a questioning look.

  He ran his tongue along sharp edges of his teeth and then shook his head. “Not a lot of point, is there? What are the odds you will face the creatures in your human form? They’d chop you to pieces, and you’d still end up dead. At least in the water dragon form you can fight, and maybe kill them before they bite you.”

  Kayla nodded agreement and then looked back at Raven. “I could use a charge on my amulet,” she said pulling it out from under her collar and dragging it over her head. “It dries me out so I can transform back to human.” She pulled the silver cuff off her wrist and set it down with the amulet. “This one too. It douses me in water so I can transform easily.” Her cheeks flushed. “I don’t have much control at this point in either direction.”

  Ray scowled. She was as bad as he was with his magic, though he was certain she’d at least tried to gain control. On the other hand, he’d learned as little as possible as if that would somehow cure what had happened. He’d never regretted it as much as he did now. He had a weapon that could help protect Kayla, and no idea how to use it.

  He eyed Raven. He was pretty sure she’d teach him. All he had to do was ask. And he would. Just as soon as Kayla was safe and this case—cases—were closed.

  “We should go,” Raven said, picking up the amulets. “I can refresh these on our way.”

  “Who are you going to talk to?” asked Laina as she stood, tucking the powder vial back into her pocket.

  “About the symbols?” Ray asked. “I figure the library is our best option.”

  “You know I had a couple of colleagues at Reed who specialize in ancient civilizations and languages. They might be able to point you in the right direction and narrow your search. Let me give you their names.”

  Laina grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from another one of her pockets. She jotted down the names and handed the paper to Ray. “I don’t know where they live.”

  He glanced at the page. “We’ll find them.” He’d have to call in a request, which meant he’d have to deal with Crice. Or he could call Logan. The technomage could easily find out their addresses and numbers, and Ray could get an update on the lab results from two crime scenes and anything they’d learned about the creatures that had erupted from the nymph. On the other hand, he needed to see if the tip line had turned anything up yet, not to mention the canvassing of the scenes Raven had given them.

  “Let’s go,” Raven said. “We’ll have to make a quick stop at my place.”

  The three remained silent as they walked to her cottage. The night felt balmy with a hint of rain. Energy crackled in the air like the promise of a thunderstorm.

  Kayla walked ahead of him, following Raven.

  She didn’t limp and showed no obvious signs of the attack. But her shoulders slumped with exhaustion she couldn’t hide. Neither of them had had much rest in the past couple of days, and getting hurt hadn’t helped. Not that she’d crack under pressure, but they already knew that the three beasts would be tough. Add in their master and the god it was hunting, and Ray didn’t know if Kayla could withstand them. If she couldn’t, then she’d be dead—only death would stop her—and Portland would be next into the toilet.

  They needed help.

  He brooded on the problem all the way to Raven’s. He and Kayla waited in the kitchen while the witch went about her business. Kayla poured them both coffee.

  “I need to tell you something,” he said as she sank into a chair.

  She stiffened, her hands closing around her mug tightly. She visibly braced herself as she gave him a wary look. “What’s up?”

  And then before he could say anything, she raced forward, words spilling out in a rapid torrent. “This is insane. I’ve no idea what I’m doing. I have no powers to counter these gods or those creatures. Plus, if I get bitten, I’ll be useless. Tech kept Magicfall from totally destroying the city, but if I’ve been influencing things like Raven says I have, that means tech can’t withstand divine magic, otherwise I wouldn’t have had any influence on Portland. The devastation could be massive.”

  She swallowed hard. “Ray, people are going to die and they don’t even know it’s coming. We should do something—get word out. Warn people. Evacuate the city. Something.”

  “You know we can’t. It would just create panic. The roads and river would be jammed up in no time. It would be gridlock. There’d be riots and fights. Plus, we have no idea where the epicenter of this god fight will be. We could send people into the heart of the fire.”

  “We can’t just do nothing.”

  “We aren’t doing nothing. Raven’s going to help and so is her coven. I’ll call Logan and get him to put the technomages on alert. Soon as we know anything, we’ll call them in to help us.”

  “What if it’s not enough?”

  “It’ll be enough.”

  She just stared at him.

  “Look,” he said, coming to crouch beside her, pulling one of her hands away from its death grip on the cup and holding it. Her fingers were ice cold. “We’re doing all we can,” he said, knowing it wouldn’t help. But he couldn’t lie and say everything would turn out okay. Even if he could lie well enough to sell it, she was too smart to buy it.

  “It might not be enough.”

  “It’ll have to be. We’ll make it enough.”

  “I don’t think it works that way,” she said with wry look.

  “Today it does.”

  “Cocky much?”

  “It’s not cocky if it’s true.” He reluctantly let go of her hand and stood. “Anyway, your logic is flawed. Just because tech hasn’t suppressed your divine influence doesn’t mean it can’t suppress someone else’s. One test sample doesn’t make for a concrete conclusion.”

  She nodded, and he couldn’t tell if she actually agreed or just didn’t want to argue. “How do my grandmother and aunt fit into someone hunting a god?” she asked before he could return to confessing he’d become a witch. “How does that even make sense?”

  “We can go,” Raven said as she returned. She’d slung a backpack over her shoulders. “The boats in the marina were destroyed, so we’ll have to hike a little to one of the private docks.” She paused to look at Ray. “You’re probably starving.”

  His stomach felt like the Grand Canyon. “Now that you mention it,” he said.

  “Let me grab something for you. We don’t need you passing out. You’ve damaged yourself enough for one day.”

  She dropped her
pack on the table and then scrounged sandwich fixings. She made three, piling them thick with roast beef, ham, and cheese. She handed one to Ray and another to Kayla, picking up the last for herself.

  “We just had soup,” Kayla protested.

  “And you’re already hungry, aren’t you?”

  Kayla nodded, looking a little surprised to be agreeing.

  “Then eat.”

  Ray bolted his sandwich as they headed for the private dock. Despite his ravenous hunger, the food sat like stone in his stomach. Everything Kayla had said was true. Sitting on this news meant more people could die if they couldn’t stop the coming violence. He was glad to know they had Raven’s help. From the sounds of things, the coven carried a full roster of twenty-one witches to complete a witch circle, which meant together they could cast some powerful magic. Would it be enough? This was a David-versus-Goliath situation, or a ladybug versus Godzilla. Either way, the odds were bad.

  And Kayla was going to be right in the middle of it.

  Ray’s jaw clenched. Not without him. She’d try. He could read that in the way her gaze slid away from his and the way she kept chewing her upper lip. That was her tell. Real nerves. Real fear. She would want to protect him and everybody else the way she’d tried to do in the lab.

  He wasn’t going to let her. Whatever had happened four years ago, they were partners again.

  Ray brooded at her all the way to the boat. It was an Alumaweld with five seats protected by a canvas canopy. Once they were out on the river, Raven turned to Kayla.

  “You should go in the water. Shifting will reinforce the healing, plus I know the water folk would be reassured if they saw you. I can dry you off when we get to the other side.”

  Kayla looked uncertain, glancing at Ray and then back to Raven. “I try not to change where people can see me,” she said, her cheeks flagging red.

  “It will help you, and anyway you can’t hide who you are forever,” Raven said.

  Though she said it to Kayla, Ray had the distinct impression Raven was talking to him.

  Finally, Kayla vaulted over the side and into the water. Ray stood and looked for her. She didn’t break the surface.

  “I think we should talk, don’t you?” Raven said.

  “I need to learn how to use my magic,” Ray said bluntly, facing her. “I need you to teach me.”

  She eyed him, her brows raised. “You going to come out of the closet?”

  The words were an accusation. “I’m a cop. There aren’t any witch cops.”

  “Only you.”

  Ray shook his head. “Not if somebody on the force finds out.”

  “So, your solution is to fake that you’re human. Why bother learning magic at all then?”

  Ray’s shoulders tightened. “One thing I’ve learned the past few days is that I’ve been stupid to ignore the powerful tool that I carry.”

  “You want to dabble.”

  “I want to be able to control it.”

  She didn’t answer, and after a minute Ray got impatient.

  “Will you teach me?”

  “Not if you want to keep it a secret. Everybody knows everybody’s business on the Island, and yours would soon be out. You’re better off finding a solitary practitioner, though fair warning, many of those are self-taught and lack basic skills. Others are not alone out of choice—they’ve been shunned or banished from their covens. There are some solitaries who have chosen to walk alone for other reasons and are both trained and skilled. Though they are rare, you may be able to find one.”

  “So you’re saying I either come out of the closet or I’m up shit creek?”

  “I’m saying, make sure whoever you work with isn’t a charlatan.”

  Ray turned back to watching the water. What would happen if it came out that he was a witch? There was no active policy against hiring witches but there didn’t have to be to keep them off the force.

  Could the department accept him? Then again, how much did it matter? The events at the lab pretty much guaranteed Kayla’s secret was out, and Ray had no intention of letting her disappear from his life again. Associating with her would be just about as damning for him in the eyes of his colleagues as being a witch. Plus letting the world know he was a witch, too, might just help him convince Kayla he really didn’t give a shit about her other form.

  His brows furrowed together. Was that true? Did he truly not care?

  That’s when he realized how far he’d come since Magicfall. Back then the change had been new and terrifying. Creatures out of scary fairytales had started popping up everywhere. All the boogiemen turned out to be real. His initial reaction, like so many others, had been fear and hatred that the subsequent Witchwar had only aggravated. But he’d been learning a new truth the last few days—a truth he’d known but didn’t want to acknowledge. That the world wasn’t going back to the way it used to be. The city belonged as much to the witchkin as humans. The police should be protecting all of its citizens.

  Maybe it was time to do something about it.

  “She won’t come up, you know,” Raven said breaking into his thoughts.

  He looked over his shoulder. “Why not?”

  “A lot of those who turned different after Magicfall have this idea that if they don’t make it too obvious, people will forget what they are.”

  Raven didn’t point out that Kayla would just as soon everybody forget her other form. She didn’t need to.

  “You haven’t told her you’re a witch yet?”

  “I started to,” he said.

  “You’re good at suppressing your power. It means you’re decently strong. What’s your affinity?”

  He turned his back on the water again. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m an earth witch—I draw my power from there. There are hex witches and blood witches. A few others.”

  Ray shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Have you cast any spells?”

  “I’ve done a couple things. Not much.”

  “Hex witches use a lot of symbols and cast their spells as hexes. If you aren’t doing some form of that, you can rule it out. Blood witches pull power from living beings. They pull from sacrifices as well as strong emotions and the general hum of life. They tend to accumulate near cities. You could be one of those.”

  “And earth witch is my other choice?” he asked, rejecting the idea that he could be a blood witch.

  “There are others. Smoke witches are quite rare. Same with elemental witches, who draw strength from fire, wind, sun, and so forth. Then you have moon witches—also rare. My guess is that you are either earth or blood. Earth is most common.”

  “How do I know?”

  “You figure it out pretty quick once you start casting regularly. A lot of new witches make the mistake of drawing on themselves. We’re limited in what we can carry within us, so we channel from our affinities. Once you open that channel, you know where the power comes from.

  “Mage power means you’ve got multiple affinities and can work with different varieties of magic, which can be initially confusing. But again, mages are rare.”

  “How do I open a channel?” If he could do that, he might have enough raw power to help Kayla out if it came to a fight. He could throw little grenades of magic, but they weren’t particularly potent.

  Her expression told him that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

  “No point if you aren’t willing,” she said. “Truly willing, all the way down to your bones. You have to be ready to embrace what you are, otherwise, it doesn’t work. And if you use magic without having an ability to channel, you can suck yourself dry enough to kill yourself. That’s why working with a solitary practitioner might work. If you can keep your learning a secret, you’re more likely to make a connection to your affin
ity. It won’t happen with me. You’ll be too afraid to get outed.”

  “Humor me. If I were to be willing, what would I do?”

  “You reach for it, the same way you’d reach for the power you carry inside you. Only you’d reach farther, extending out past yourself.” She shrugged. “It’s not as New Agey as it sounds. When you reach, you’re opening a channel of sorts. When you go beyond yourself, you’re tapping into a larger magical well. To make the connection, you have to both be completely open to it, and you have to anchor yourself into that well.

  “Once you do that, you’ll be constantly connected, so you’ll have to learn to put up stops to keep magic from overwhelming you. It’s a balance that’s pretty instinctual, but you have to be conscious of it at first. The other side of the coin is that the well will try to pull you into it—that’s its nature—so having those stops will prevent that. Some witches can extend deeper into the current and are therefore more powerful.”

  “Sounds . . . vague,” he said.

  “It’s not science, if that’s what you’re looking for. Mix chemical A with chemical B just so and get just this reaction. It’s more like art than science.”

  At that point, she turned her attention fully to navigating the river, though it wasn’t nearly so choppy and violent as it had been when Annette and Leslie had piloted him to the Island. Kayla’s influence, maybe.

  He sat down in one of the seats and started making phone calls, starting with Logan, who answered on the second ring.

  “Zach Logan here.”

  “It’s Ray.”

  “Kayla?” was the instant response.

  Ray resisted the urge to tell the bastard to keep his damned hands to himself. “Alive. Healed up. Listen, we’re going to be coming into the dock at Tom McCall Park. I need the plastic box that got left behind in the lab. Can you bring it?”

  Ray would rather explain the god problem they had face-to-face.

  “I can get down there in twenty minutes.”