Modern Magic

by Karen E. Taylor, John G. Hartness, Julie Kenner, Eric R. Asher, Jeanne Adams, Rick Gualtieri, Jennifer St. Giles, Stuart Jaffe, Nicole Givens Kurtz, James Maxey, Gail Z. Martin, Christopher Golden

  I heard a shout and barely raised a shield in time to stop the next attack. The vamp pulled her punch before she shattered her good hand on my shield. I didn’t even have to see her aura to know she wasn’t a vampiric zombie. One of those abominations would have shattered itself to pieces without a second thought.

  I dropped the shield and screamed, “Pulsatto!” The wave of energy caught her legs and her face smashed into the pavement. I put one foot under myself to stand up when the vampire’s leg flashed out. Her face was twisted into a bloody snarl. It took a split second for me to realize I was falling sideways and my knee was buckling in a very wrong direction. I screamed in pain as I hit the concrete again.

  The bitch started laughing at me. Devon walked up behind her and stared at my leg. A smile crept over her face.

  “I think it’s broken, necromancer … the great Vesik.” Devon shook her head and her dark chuckle rolled over me. “Adannaya can’t hide from me.”

  I scowled and sucked in a deep breath. The spell came fast. “Incidatto!” A deep gash opened diagonally across Devon’s chest and she clutched her hand to it. Her fingers came away coated in blood.

  She stared at the lifeblood coursing down her hands and chest, then looked up at me. “You little fuck. You’re so fucking dead.”

  “Impadda!” My shield came up as her fist closed within a foot of my head. The blow ricocheted off the curve of the shield and she started kicking at the invisible barrier. I still hadn’t used my necromancy on her, and by the gods I didn’t want to touch her with it.

  “You think you’re so fucking smart, Vesik.” She turned around and dashed over to Sam.

  My eyes widened.

  In a heartbeat she was back at the shield and slammed Sam’s head into the barrier with a horrible crack. She smeared my sister’s face across the barrier in front of me. “I’ll beat her to death on your own shield you son of a bitch! Drop it or she dies.”

  I hesitated, trying to think of a way out of the mess, but nothing came to me. I went for a cheap shot, my eyes on Sam. As soon as my shield released, I reached out with my necromancy.

  Devon grinned and what happened next will haunt my nightmares for a long, long time. Sam moved out of Devon’s grip and rolled my left arm back like a crepe before I could so much as touch Devon. The bones cracking sounded like someone had stepped on a sheet of bubble wrap. The shock of Sam attacking me overrode everything else for that dreadful second before the pain hit. All my instincts went to hell. My arm was a mass of fire and pain, but I couldn’t bring myself to attack Sam. Even if I had, she was too damn fast anyway. And she was my goddamn sister! I screamed when the bones split and splintered and muscles let go in violent spasms. Sam snapped my wrist and my forearm crumbled behind it. She followed with a swift kick to the right side of my chest. I could feel things breaking. I knew I was in deep shit when my lungs grew heavy and I could barely gasp for air. My vision started to dim as I bounced off the ground. Something warm was pouring out of my mouth.

  Devon waved her hand and Sam collapsed to the ground. She turned back to me and smiled. “And so you die. At least you’ll have an easier time of it than your bitch of a sister.”

  I listened to Devon’s laugh and I knew, no matter what it took, I was going to kill that goddamned motherfucking vampire if I had to do it as a ghost. My mouth tried to form words. Nothing came out but blood and sickening sucking sounds.

  “Why they were worried about you … you got lucky and killed one old vampire,” she said as she bent down and looked me in the eye. She brushed her hair away. “They won’t have to worry anymore.”

  Devon turned around and picked Sam up. I tried to move again, but nothing was working right anymore. It took everything I had not to pass out or break down bawling as Devon carried Sam away.

  “My master will walk the earth this night, Vesik.” A different voice, it wasn’t Devon. “Free, even from the host he is bound to now.”

  The biker vamp stepped into my vision as my eyes started to tunnel into a gray fog. I laid in silence, my left arm folded up like a rubber claw, split and bleeding. I could feel the blood running through my hair. Sam had royally kicked my ass. I heard a faint sound. Someone honking a horn. Why would someone be honking a horn? I wondered as something pale moved into my line of sight. It took me a moment to recognize the outline.

  Happy.

  The ghost bear turned to the vampire and released a series of ferocious barks. He swiped at her, but his paw passed through her head. She was still staring at me, just watching me die. She didn’t see Happy. I’d have to fix that.

  I clucked with my tongue as best I could and Happy took a step backwards, just within reach of my right hand. Smart bear. A low goat-like bleat escaped his throat as he looked at me and then turned back to the biker vamp.

  I wrapped a bit of Happy’s aura around my arm and tried to smile as its familiar warmth rushed over me. I hesitated for a brief moment and then pushed a tidal wave of power into it. My own aura was graying and turning into fuel for my power over the dead. In some part of my brain, I knew that was probably a bad sign. The surge of power hurt so bad my vision turned into a black canvas shot through with stars.

  My eyes cleared a moment later, just in time to see the vampire’s face go slack as a bear materialized in front of her. Happy roared and smashed the vampire’s legs out from under her with a flash of paw and snap of bone. As her shattered body folded sideways and crunched into the ground, Happy leapt into the air. Three hundred pounds of ghost panda landed on the vampire’s back, claws first. The spray of blood and splintering of bone followed my bitter chuckle into the black.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Sam!” I came back to consciousness with my body burning and utter terror consuming me. I scrambled backwards as a huge panda nose smeared itself all over my face. I could move. I was alive. Fear for my sister and shock at my survival sent a series of tremors down my arm. I reached out with a shaky hand to touch Happy’s head. I could feel the soft texture of his fur and his breath was warm. Oops.

  “The panda is a Guardian, Damian.” I looked up to find Zola.

  “A Guardian?” I said. I glanced at the panda, and then back to Zola.

  “A lesser Guardian, but yes, a Guardian.”

  “Where’s Sam?” I looked myself over and flexed my left hand. My clothes were torn and bloody, but my skin was whole. There were no more than a few nasty bruises left to show for the beating I’d taken. “How in the hell?” I said as I stretched my entire arm out.

  “Don’t hesitate Damian,” Zola said. “If you face them again, necromancy first.” She rubbed her face and sighed. “Devon was escaping with Sam when Ah returned.” Her voice was empty.

  My chest tightened. “Then we get her back.”

  “Yes, we will make an example of the vampire.” The ice in my master’s voice lit a fire in my gut just as fast as it sent an icy chill down my spine.

  I looked at Happy as he rubbed his face on my arm. I barely managed to stay upright. The energy I’d pumped into him should have dissipated by now. Whatever he was, he wasn’t like anything I’d seen before.

  “Is he a ghost?” I said.

  “Only because he chooses to be, or chooses not to be, but as far as your power is concerned,” she paused and nodded, “he is a ghost. You made a ghost corporeal, Damian.” An expression I’d never seen cascaded over her sun-worn face. It almost looked like fear. She fell silent until I met her dark eyes. “That is a power no one has seen in thousands of years. Honestly, boy, Ah thought it was a fairy tale.”

  I let out a little laugh. “Like the fairies living in my clock?”

  “You know what Ah mean,” Zola said, the tiny smile on her lips conflicting with the exasperation in her voice.

  “Yeah, so what’s this mean?” I asked as I rubbed Happy’s neck.

  Zola stared at the bear, and then at the mess in my trunk. A minute passed before she looked back to me. “Ah don’t know.”

  “Fabulous
.” I shrugged my shoulder and winced at the phantom pain, rolling my neck in a tight circle to keep my eyes on Zola. “How did you disappear like that?”

  “You’ll have to ask Cara about it. The best Ah can tell you is she bent the world around us.”

  “Cara, that makes sense. She’s just full of surprises.”

  Zola’s face broadened into a smile.

  I turned back to the panda. “Where’s the little girl, Happy?”

  He swung his head to the left and I followed the motion. I could see two bright blue eyes peeking out from behind the corner of the museum. She waved by bending all her fingers into a fist and releasing them again. I waved back.

  “Thanks, buddy.”

  Happy licked my face. Nasty.

  “You patch me up?” I said to Zola.

  “With a little help,” she mumbled and looked away.

  I paused and stared at her. Her smile twisted into a tight grin. She wasn’t going to tell me anything. I could tell by the look on her face, but I asked anyway. “And?”

  “Later, perhaps, but Ah believe your benefactor would prefer their privacy for now.”

  “Benefactor?” I laughed. “You’re not going to tell me a thing, are you?”

  She tamped her cane into the ground a few times and gave a small twitch of her head.

  “Well, I appreciate it all the same.” I stood up and dusted my pants off. “Let’s get Sam back.” I slammed the trunk on the vampire’s bound and broken body. I wondered if my benefactor had stuffed the vampire in the trunk for us. Was I ever happy I had a tarp and towels in there too. The last thing I needed was vamp guts all over Vicky. One undead super-bitch down and bound. We didn’t kill her then and there, but she was going to die for her hand in hurting my family.

  So was Devon.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I flipped the television on when we got back to the shop. We made the news. There was a beautiful reporter on the screen and I listened closely to the only part of her report I really cared about.

  “A bonfire was lit in Forest Park late last night on the stairs of the history museum. Police are unsure of the motive and are asking for any information related to this …”

  “At least no one seems to know what happened,” Zola said.

  “Yeah, but who would believe it even if they did know?”

  Bubbles appeared beside me when fire engines began screaming from the television. She sat and stared at the moving pictures with her tongue practically dragging the floor. I reached down and scratched her ears, which stood up, twitched, flattened against her head, and popped up again.

  “Well, aren’t you behaved tonight?” I said.

  The fairies flew into the room a minute later.

  “Bubbles!” Aideen said. “There you are. You do not eat Damian’s Moon Pies.” Aideen placed her hands on her hips and scowled at the green puppy. Bubbles cocked her head to the side and sucked her tongue in a moment before her eyes eased their way back to the television.

  “Moon Pies, huh?” I said. “At least you have good taste, pup.” I scratched her ears again and got a huge slobbering tongue on my arm. “Gah.” I shook it off and grabbed a paper towel from the table.

  “I am so sorry, Damian.”

  I waved at Aideen. “It’s no problem, really. I mean, I only had to fight off a zombie horde to get them.” I paused and grinned, sarcasm held high in place of dread. “No problem, really. I should have put them on the shelf.”

  Foster was laughing as he landed on the display case beside Zola.

  “I have news, boy,” Cara said from the black shelves beside me.

  I cocked an eyebrow in question.

  “The staff is done.”

  I had to fight not to jump up and down. “Gimme.”

  She snorted and shook her head.

  “Can I see it?” Maybe it could help me get Sam back. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  Cara nodded when I opened my eyes again, a tiny smile curling her lips as she took off for the back room. She walked back in a moment later at her full height. The oak, once rough and unfinished, gleamed in her hands. Silver metal was worked into every groove of the staff, bringing out the swirls and circles with unadulterated beauty.

  “Holy shit, Mom.” I reached out for the staff and Cara’s tiny smile grew into a grin as she handed it over. The ends had been squared off and bands of Magrasnetto were coiled around the ferrules bolted to each. The corners were almost sharp to the touch and were easily solid enough to bash something into a pulp. On the tip of each ferrule, I found a carving. Two griffins stood on their hind leonine legs with their heads raised and front claws extended. Their heads were eagle-like, but more bulbous, with fur-tufted ears. Each had their wings spread forward, hiding their torsos and encasing a simple, inverted Celtic trinity knot. I ran my finger over one of the knots and felt the power lying within the staff. But more than the staff, power pulsed like a heartbeat beneath the images on the ferrules.

  “What are these?” I said, barely able to keep myself from prodding them with my power.

  “A gift, Damian,” Cara said. “Each is branded with the Seelie court’s coat of arms.”

  I blinked and Zola took in a sharp breath.

  “After I told the lords of the gravemaker, they gave us the thumbs up,” Foster said.

  “The lords do not give ‘thumbs up,’” Cara said with a brief roll of her eyes. “It is Glenn’s way of apology, though he would never say it.” Her mouth turned up in a knowing smile.

  “Beware the gifts of the Fae,” I muttered as my eyes took in the circles on the staff. Most of them were still empty, but one toward the middle had the rune Algiz carved inside of it. It was actually two identical runes, facing opposite directions, side-by-side within the circle. I always thought Algiz looked like a peace sign, only upside down. “What’s this for,” I asked.

  “Touch it with your power.”

  I pushed a bit of my necromancy into the circle and was almost thrown into shock as a shield that looked more like a circle of power snapped into existence. I released the runes and gasped as the shield dissipated.

  Zola was laughing. “That, Damian …” she shook her head, “that is one hell of a gift.”

  “I hope it serves you well,” Cara said. “It amplifies your necromancy while shielding you from the usual … side effects. It will work with line energy, too. That shield will protect you from more than your normal shield would. We want Sam back, and we want you back, too.”

  I blinked my eyes rapidly as they started to burn. I hugged Cara, careful not to crush the edges of her wings, and thanked her before she shrank to her normal size again.

  “Devon was giving them orders,” Zola said.

  My knuckles whitened as my hand clenched the demon staff. “Now she has Sam,” I said. “What’s she going to do?”

  “Ah don’t know. From what we’ve learned, Ah’m worried. She could turn Sam into one of those slaves, or a zom–”

  “Don’t, don’t even say it,” I said as I held up my hand and closed my eyes.

  She bobbed her head and crooked a finger at me. “You’re on to something, boy. Devon’s aura was even darker than the puppets’, but she had more control than any of the others.”

  “Yeah, but what’s that mean?”

  “It means we need Vik. He knows her best.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Cara said.

  None of us had any objections.

  * * *

  We pulled into the u-shaped driveway of the Pit about a half hour later. I still had questions buzzing in my head, one in particular that just wouldn’t wait.

  “Who healed me in the park, Zola?”

  She said nothing as we exited the car and started toward the house. Foster and Aideen flew ahead, circling to the rear of the house. The car doors were like thunder in the silence. I could hear the highway in the distance, but the usual raucous symphony of crickets and frogs was silent. The wind brought a tinge of chlorine from the
pool and the humid air was heavy in my lungs.

  Still silent, Zola started up the walkway to the front door, her cane clicking on the bricks.

  “I’m curious because you usually leave me in a lot more pain to be sure I learn my lesson.”

  “Bah!” Cara said with a sudden burst of laughter.

  Zola chuckled. She took a deep breath and picked at a fingernail before she said, “Glenn did.”

  “What?”

  “Ah didn’t know who he was at the time. He wore a different face.”

  “Fuck me, Zola. Will he be able to call on me?”

  Her face closed down. “It is … possible. Ah could not have saved you without him though. Ah don’t think the fairies could have either. Your back was broken, and if the bear had not intervened …” She shook her head and glanced back at Cara.

  “My back?” I said in horror before Cara spoke, my hand rubbing over my fully-intact vertebrae.

  “I’m not sure Damian, but it’s possible he may call favor from you,” Cara said.

  “Shit.”

  Zola just nodded and knocked on the door.

  Nothing.

  “It’s very quiet,” Cara said.

  Zola knocked again and I put my ear up to the door. I could hear a faint groan. “Someone’s hurt.” I tried the door, but it was locked. I closed my hand like I was grabbing the hilt of a sword and pushed my aura into the circle.

  “Damian,” Cara hissed, “what are you doing?”

  I smiled and flexed my hand. A thin red glow flashed out of the void. I could feel the power humming all around it.

  “Aural blade,” Zola said, astonishment plain in her voice.

  I jammed it through the deadbolt and cut the lock out of the door with a hiss of burning metal. The entire assembly fell to the ground and the door swung open. I let go of the blade, which dispersed like smoke, and stepped inside.