by Brian Harmon
That explained a lot of it, he supposed. If the boy was sixteen, then that would make her about thirty. But she looked closer to twenty-five.
“He told you why you’re here?”
He nodded. “The magic man.”
“Yes.”
“I have to admit, I’ve never much believed in magic.”
She smiled. “That’s okay. You don’t have to. It still works even if you don’t.”
“Well, that’s convenient.”
She gestured at the door. “Let’s go to the living room. I have a lot to tell you and not much time to tell it.”
Eric followed her back down the hall to the living room. His eyes swept down her gorgeous body. She even had a sultry walk. She could have been a runway model.
His cell phone chimed in his pocket.
YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT BASEBALL OR SOMETHING?
“Shut it,” he murmured, stuffing it back into his pocket.
He wasn’t interested in this woman. He loved Karen. He was just…taking in his environment. That was all. Just getting a good look at the people who summoned him here, trying to get a read on them.
Delphinium sat down on the couch and gestured for him to join her.
Eric sat beside her. He didn’t want to be rude.
“The magic man murdered my grandpa,” she told him.
He nodded. “Grandpa. Jude told me.”
“He wasn’t my real grandpa. I never had a real grandpa. Not one I knew.”
Jude had also informed him that only he and his mother were related. The rest of the family was adopted, including grandpa. It made sense, then, that he would have been everyone’s grandpa.
“And my real father was a drunk and a rapist,” she added. “Luckily, I was…a special child.”
“Magic?”
Delphinium smiled. “I had some…abilities…I guess you’d call them.”
“Like making people ignore you so you could move around unnoticed?”
Her smile brightened at this. “Jude’s quite talented at that.”
“Definitely got my attention this morning.”
“I could move things without touching them. I knew things without being told. I could make things happen just by thinking about them.”
Special talents. Eric had seen quite a few of them, from being able to see what others couldn’t to conjuring monsters. Now things were starting to sound familiar again.
“I didn’t understand what I was back then. I couldn’t really control it. But I could turn it up and down. One night, when I was eleven, my father attacked me in a drunken rage. I believe he would’ve killed me, if I’d let him. But I didn’t. I turned it all the way up. And all hell broke loose. I’m fairly sure he died in that house that night. But I never knew for sure. I ran away and never went back. I taught myself to use my abilities on the streets, to protect myself, to survive. I did okay. But I was too young. I made bad decisions. I got in trouble again and again. I was making a mess out of everything everywhere I went. I even ended up pregnant. But then I met Grandpa.”
“And he took you in off the streets.”
“He gave me a home. He helped me hone my abilities. He taught me how to improve them. He taught me magic. And I chose to pay it forward. I dedicated my life to hunting down children like me, children with magic potential and nowhere to go. I found nine girls. I don’t know why they were all girls. Maybe it’s just a female thing. Or maybe it’s only because I’m female, but over the years I’ve located them and brought them into my home, my family. They’re my sisters now.”
Eric nodded. “I get it. Sure. But this magic man… Who is he?”
Delphinium shook her head. “I don’t know. Grandpa used to talk about a dark, modern sorcerer. A very powerful magic man. He encountered him years ago and defeated him, but he didn’t know what became of him after that. He couldn’t even say for sure whether he was dead or alive. But he always warned us that there was a chance he could return. It used to scare the hell out of me.” She stared off into the corner, distracted. “I think I’d started to believe he wouldn’t come back. I mean if he was still out there, then why wouldn’t he have already come for us? But then it happened. We were all asleep and suddenly the whole house erupted into a war zone. A fire broke out. I got Jude and the girls out of the house while Grandpa fought him with everything he had. I never saw him. One of the girls did. She said he was dressed in black, his face hooded, with fire dripping from his sleeves. It was terrifying.”
It sounded terrifying. It also sounded exactly like the kind of guy who might work for a certain nameless organization.
The woman smiled at him as if reading his mind. “I don’t even have to waste my breath swearing to you that it’s true, do I? You’re familiar with this kind of thing.”
“I still don’t know anything about magic, but I’ve had experience dealing with people who have strange abilities.”
“Really?” stammered Jude.
“My spell showed you to me. It also showed me that you’ve fought and defeated several devils.”
“I wouldn’t call them devils,” said Eric. “Just men. Men with frightening powers, but just men. I can’t even really claim credit for beating them. They all had massive, self-destructive egos.”
“Spoken like a true English teacher,” said Delphinium. “But ‘devil’ wasn’t just a word I was using to be dramatic. I actually saw the word in my head when the spell showed you to me. ‘DEVILS.’ It looked strange. The letters were faded on each side. Only the two in the middle stood out brightly. V and I. I still don’t understand what it means. Does V I mean anything to you?”
Eric shook his head. “Roman numeral six?”
Delphinium shrugged. “It might not be important. Sometimes things like that aren’t.”
“Shouldn’t we be going to get the girls?” asked Jude. “Before he finds them.”
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves,” she warned him. Then, to Eric, she said, “One thing Grandpa always warned us about was that the more of us there were, the easier it would be for someone like the magic man to find us. That’s why we scattered. My spells told me there was no other way. If we stood up to him, we’d die. If we ran from him, he’d follow. Our only hope was to split up and hide. And even that didn’t work. When all else failed, I cast another spell. I asked for help. That’s when it showed you to me.”
Eric shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He still didn’t understand what made him so special. Surely his presence wouldn’t make a difference. These were witches, weren’t they?
“Seven of my girls are still out there. I can’t contact them without revealing them to our enemy. And I can’t leave without breaking the protective spells I’ve placed on this property and the surrounding land.”
Eric recalled the strange thing that Isabelle felt as they approached the area, and then her certainty that it was centered over this house.
“I need you to find them for me and bring them back here.”
“But didn’t you just say that made you all easier to find?”
“I did. And it does. But he’s already finding them. Two of my sisters are dead now. It’s only a matter of time until he gets to all of us. Our only chance is to stand together and fight. And even then we wouldn’t have a chance without you.”
“I still don’t understand why it has to be me. I don’t have any abilities.”
Delphinium smiled. “I don’t know. But the spell never lies. And it was very specific. Without you, none of my girls can make it back to me. He’ll kill them all before they can get here.”
“And I’m supposed to be able to keep them safe?”
“I don’t claim to know everything. Maybe you’re not the only one in the world who could save us, but you’re the one it gave us.”
Lucky me, thought Eric.
“We don’t have much time. If he finds any more of my girls, it could change things. You might not be enough.”
Eric wasn’t convinced he was enough anyway.
But Delphinium smiled again. “No one said he doesn’t have power. He practically reeks of destiny.” Now her dark eyes slid down to his lap. “And then there’s that special magic in his pants.”
Eric gaped at her, startled. His face was instantly burning. “Excuse me?”
Jude looked just as shocked. “What the hell, Mom?”
Delphinium looked up at her son, then back at Eric. “What?” She nodded toward his lap. “You didn’t come here alone.”
Eric’s cell phone chimed in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen.
I THINK SHE’S TALKING ABOUT ME, DUMMY
Eric felt both relieved and embarrassed. “Right. Of course.”
MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER, ROMEO
“Quiet, you.”
Delphinium leaned back, smiling slyly. Eric realized that she’d meant to alarm him. Had she done it just to amuse herself, or had she known somehow that he would not easily be convinced to discuss his secret connection to the girl he met in Isaac Altrusk’s deranged mansion eleven months ago?
Jude walked over and peered down at the phone. “That thing? He was talking to it on the way down. What is it?”
“Isabella?” asked Delphinium.
“Isabelle,” corrected Eric. Clearly, he wasn’t going to be keeping her secret this time out.
“Isabelle?” asked Jude. As he leaned a little closer, it chimed again.
HI, JUDE
“Okay, that’s freaky. What is it, some kind of computer?”
“She’s just a girl,” said Delphinium, a wondrous sort of awe in her voice. “But she’s not… I don’t really understand.”
“It’s a long story,” said Eric.
She shrugged. “That’s okay. I’ve seen that she’s a great help to you. And we’re thankful to have her, too. And don’t worry, we won’t ever tell anyone about her.”
“Thank you.” But the fact that she’d already known about Isabelle disturbed him. He couldn’t help but wonder who else might have that kind of ability.
Now Delphinium stood up. “It’s time to go,” she announced. “We can’t wait any more. Jude, give him the keys to the van.”
Jude looked offended. “I’m not driving?”
“You’re not going.”
“What do you mean I’m not going?”
“I need you here. We have to get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
Delphinium wasn’t smiling now. “War.”
Eric felt a lump forming in his belly. War? That seemed a little dramatic.
Turning back to Eric, she said, “You’ll have to find Holly first.” She withdrew a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. “You’ll be able to find her here.”
Eric scanned the directions. Delphinium had very pretty handwriting. If only half of his students could write so well. “This is where she’s living?”
“It’s where she’s been working. Please hurry,” she begged him. “Bring my sisters home.”
Eric nodded. “I’ll try to help. But—”
She reached out and planted her finger on his lips. “I know. But I desperately need you to trust me as much as I’m trusting you.”
Eric grasped her wrist and removed her hand from his mouth. “I’ll try,” he promised. “I really will.”
She gave him one more smile. “That’s all I can ask for.”
Chapter Five
Eric climbed into the old minivan and started the engine. Then he pulled the phone from his pocket and placed it in the cup holder where he could see the screen. “Did you sense anything about those two in there?”
The phone chimed before he finished asking the question. I THINK THAT ENERGY I FELT WAS CENTERED AROUND THAT WOMAN, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THERE WASN’T ANYTHING UNUSUAL
Eric nodded. He inserted the travel charger into the cigarette lighter and then plugged in the phone. He wasn’t going to risk running the battery dead on this trip. Then he backed out into the driveway and started down the long, gravel road toward the highway.
OF COURSE, IT WAS HARD TO GET A GOOD READ OF THE PLACE WITH YOU OGLING HER LIKE THAT
“I was not ogling anything!” snapped Eric.
RELAX. I’M JUST KIDDING
But Eric found it difficult to relax. He felt on edge. He was still angry about having to leave things so messed up between him and Karen.
BUT YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY ATTRACTED TO HER
“I think she’s attractive. I’m not attracted to her. There’s a difference.”
IF YOU SAY SO
“I do say so. Why are we talking about this? It’s stupid. We’re supposed to be trying to figure out what’s going on around here.”
SORRY
Eric sighed. Now he felt bad. He hadn’t meant to be snippy with Isabelle. She had nothing to do with it. “It’s fine. I’m sorry.”
WHY DON’T YOU JUST CALL KAREN?
“She’s pissed off at me.”
THAT DOESN’T MEAN SHE WON’T WANT TO HEAR YOU’RE OKAY
“I know.” But the fact was that Karen was always the one who called him. Until today. She must be really mad at him to not have called even once to see where he was or what he was doing. He couldn’t remember the last time she was so angry with him.
SHE DOESN’T HATE YOU
“I know. But she doesn’t like me very much today.”
SHE LOVES YOU. THAT’S WHY SHE’S MAKING ME CALL HER EVERY HOUR TO TELL HER WHERE YOU ARE
Eric blinked, surprised. “You’re what?”
I CALLED TO SEE IF SHE WAS ALL RIGHT AFTER YOU LEFT. SHE MADE ME PROMISE. DON’T BE MAD
“I’m not mad.” And it was true. In fact, it was a good thing. It took some of the edge off this unnerving silent treatment. If she was making Isabelle report back to her, it meant she didn’t feel the need to check in herself, so she could hold onto her grudge longer. It didn’t necessarily mean that she was so mad that she no longer cared where he was or what kind of trouble he was getting into.
I’M GLAD
He followed Delphinium’s directions down several more narrow country roads to an ugly, squatty building with a dusty, gravel parking lot at a highway intersection in the middle of nowhere.
Eric cursed. This wasn’t going to do anything to make things better with Karen. He stared up at the sign, hardly believing what he was reading.
The place was a strip club.
“‘The Dirty Bunny,’” he read aloud. “Really? That’s seriously the name of the place?”
Did he really have to go in there?
The last two times he did this sort of thing, he didn’t have someone calling the shots. He just did what came natural. He never had someone telling him where to go and what to do next. He wasn’t sure he liked it.
But then again, he also never had anyone to tell him why the hell he was there before. At least this time he had some idea what to expect. Right from the start, he knew that he was rescuing witches from some kind of dark wizard.
Yesterday, he was folding laundry. Today he was a Midwestern Harry Potter.
He killed the engine and stepped out of the van, grumbling about how stupid a name “Dirty Bunny” was for a strip club. How did anyone take something like that seriously?
There were already quite a few cars parked in the lot. In a few more hours, he suspected there would be vehicles lining both sides of the road. Even in these longest days of summer, it seemed a little weird to him that people would come here before dark. It just didn’t seem like the kind of place any self-respecting person would ever want to visit in broad daylight. (Or anytime, for that matter.)
And yet, here he was.
He stepped through the front doors and into a small, dark space where a massive man in a western shirt and baseball cap with an American eagle embroidered over the bill sat on an uncomfortable-looking stool next to an old cash register. Loud mu
sic thrummed from a curtained doorway to the right and the place reeked of cigarettes, spilled beers and even a hint of that awful fake fog stuff.
The big man at the little register didn’t have much in the way of people skills, but he looked like he’d be adept at escorting people out and making sure they didn’t walk back in.
It cost him eleven dollars just to continue past this point.
He decided not to point out that he could see the same damn stuff on his home computer for free, if he really wanted to.
This was stupid.
He stepped through the curtain and found himself walking down a long ramp toward the rear of the building. On his left, the floor of the club was spread out before him. There were three small stages protruding from the curtains in the front wall. Two of them were occupied. Two young women were putting on a show. The brunette was dressed like an American Indian, but not for much longer. She was already slithering out of her deer hide two-piece. Eric’s first thought was that the choice in outfit was probably profoundly offensive to the Native American people. His second thought was that the historical inaccuracies of the outfit would have sent his friend and fellow faculty member at Creek Bend High School, Chad Whelt, into a raving tantrum.
The second woman was a petit redhead. She was already stark naked. She wore nothing more than a pair of thick-rimmed glasses, a necktie and a garter.
Sexy librarian, maybe? Naughty secretary?
Eric felt terribly uncomfortable here. He just wanted to leave.
Two more of the club’s women were out on the floor, flirting with the men in the audience. One was tall and looked to be in her mid-thirties, with short, black hair. She wore nothing but four-inch stiletto heels. She appeared to be taking drink orders and trolling for tips. The other was a younger, curvy blonde in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. She’d made herself comfortable on the lap of one of three middle-aged men at a table in the front corner.
Maybe it was her break time.
Except for the four women, there was little else to look at in the room. The décor was something between stark and bland. It was dark, except for the stage, which was flooded with harsh, colorful lights. There were no windows. It was claustrophobic. The tables were crammed together so that there was barely a path to walk. The most comfortable seats looked like the booths along the far wall, but most of those were already taken.
