Vengeance Served Hot

by Martha Carr

  The woman behind the counter was so small she could barely see over it. She was older, wearing cat eye glasses, and her hair was piled on top of her head. She reminded Leira of Estelle. All she was missing was the cigarette hanging out of her mouth and the hair being bright red. Leira smiled just thinking about it.

  “Hello, got a new one for me?” The woman’s voice had a deep rasp.

  “Yes, ma’am. This is the wizard Furlong Everly.”

  The woman stood on her toes and looked over the top of her glasses at him. “So it is. Alright.” She pressed a button and summoned two guards to take Furlong back to Holding.

  “Sign here, please.”

  Leira took the clipboard from her but had to put the bag down on the counter to grab the pen. “Right, and I have his belongings and a lost artifact to turn in.”

  “Out this door, into the elevator, and down two floors. Artifacts will be on your right. You can turn that thing and the other stuff in there.”

  “Thank you, have a good day.” She scooped everything up and nodded.

  “Hmmm...” The woman waved her hand and climbed onto the chair.

  Leira took the elevator down two floors, and when she stepped out, magical torches lined the walls. The artifacts room was the first door on the right, and she froze when she stepped in. Am I in the wrong place? Inside was a long metal table but no desk or reception. She set the bag and artifact on the table and looked around.

  “Hello?”

  “Place the items on the table and sign the form on the clipboard.” The voice from the speaker sounded exactly like the woman in Intake. Leira looked up at a small black camera in the corner when a clipboard suddenly appeared. She shook her head and gave a crooked smile.

  This has got to fuck with the non-magical military personnel who come through. She signed and a gnome appeared immediately, wearing a bowler hat with a red poppy on the brim. He shuffled in with a grumpy look on his face.

  He grabbed the belongings and set them in the box he was carrying, nodding solemnly at Leira as a receipt appeared in her hands—normal procedure, and not her first encounter with him. She nodded back, watching him leave the room. She shrugged and followed, but when she got into the hall he was gone. Okay, touché. Fucks with me, too.

  Leira took the elevator to the ground floor and made her way toward the entrance.

  “Leira? Leira Berens?”

  “Lois.” Leira followed the voice to the office she was passing. She had been in there many times, watching the symbols stream across the screens.

  “I thought that was you.” She pushed her glasses back up her nose. “Trying to sneak out of here without saying hello?”

  “It’s been a long day. Where’s Patsy?”

  “Went out to pick up our lunches. She’ll be back soon. Takes her awhile, because she eats part of mine and has to go back and get more. All these years and she thinks I don’t know. Whatever, it’s a system. I saw that take-down of the wizard in New York. Nice work. I’m glad to see you’re working for us again.”

  “With you. I’m freelance now.”

  “That’s right, you went out on your own.” She leaned close and whispered, “I think that was the best thing you could have done. You know what’s needed better than the suits.”

  “I’m not trying to change hearts and minds.”

  Leira looked at the familiar virtual screen powered by magic. “Fuck, those symbols haven’t slowed down.”

  “No, in fact, they’ve gotten faster. I can barely keep up some days, especially since the Silver Griffins’ vault was destroyed. The trauma of wars,” Lois replied staring into the distance for a moment as if she were replaying it in her head.

  “I’m sorry about your friend. Lacey Trader was a good warrior.”

  “Yes, she was…” Lois had replayed it a thousand times. She had to keep reminding herself that she was still here and her role was more valuable than ever. She shook her head and forced a smile. “How is everyone? Correk? Yumfuck?”

  “They’re all good. Correk is settling in as the Fixer, and Yumfuck is one badass little troll. He’s taking to the new neighborhood more all the time. Even managed to find a nest of magicals. They feed him all the time, so he’s a regular there.”

  “You look happy even in the middle of chaos. I’m glad.”

  “Having Correk by my side doesn’t hurt.”

  “That is one tall drink of Elven hunkiness. Doesn’t compare to my Earl, of course. Dang, Patsy is taking even longer than usual. The McRib must be back. She can’t resist that one, even though she swears she can.”

  Leira smiled, glad to be back among old friends. “It was really good seeing you, Lois. I gotta get back home and take care of business with the client, but I promise I will be in touch.”

  Lois stood and walked Leira down the hall. The general met her just before the lobby and handed Leira an envelope. “Your payment.”

  “I collect from you?”

  “Yes, when it is a job for us. Absolutely. No need to go through the bureaucracy. Too much red tape and we don’t always have enough explanations. Besides, they don’t like to give away money.”

  “Hardly giving it away. I earned this money. Brick walls don’t feel good when you’re thrown into them.”

  “No, I suppose not,” he agreed with a chuckle. “Until next time, then.”

  “Thanks.” Leira gave him a crooked smile as she opened a portal into her living room.

  “Never get tired of seeing those. Modern marvel…”

  “Ancient marvel…” Lois stood in the doorway of her office, smiling as she waved to Leira. “So much has changed.”

  The general headed down the hall without saying another word.

  “Hey, there you are.”

  Patsy bustled down the hall from the other end as quickly as she could, clutching a large paper bag with golden arches and a large grease stain on it.

  Lois pushed her glasses up her nose, annoyed. “I can see the barbeque sauce on your face from here! Those better still be hot.”

  Leira closed the portal and looked around her living room. It was quiet in the house since Correk had gotten a call as well before she had left. She plopped down on the couch and pulled out her cellphone to call Correk and leaned her head back.

  “Hey…” Correk sounded like he was whispering.

  “On a call?”

  “Yeah, kind of need to be secretive.”

  “Got it. Well, I’m home safe. Just wanted you to know. I’ll be waiting for you when you get back.”

  “Sounds good. I’m hoping this one won’t take too long. I’ve been thinking about those Hostess Cupcakes in the cabinet for hours.”

  Leira chuckled. “They’ll be there when you get back...unless Yumfuck gets to them first.”

  “Story of my life. I’ll see you soon.”

  Leira hung up and dropped the phone in her lap. She closed her eyes for a moment before staring up at the ceiling. The perp had put up a fight, but nothing she couldn’t handle. Luckily, she hadn’t seen or heard from the dark families in a couple of weeks. That either meant they had bigger fish to fry at the moment or they were planning something. Either way, she was going to enjoy the quiet while she had the chance. Those days were few and far between.

  3

  Correk hung up and switched his phone to silent before shoving it back in his pocket. He was relieved that Leira had called, and it reminded him that he hadn’t turned off his phone. That was the last thing he needed when he was on assignment—his phone to go off. He had been called to Turner’s DC mansion to go over the details of a mission.

  This one was more dangerous than usual, but Turner was confident he could handle it. If Correk had told Leira where he was going she would have insisted on coming, but it was legitimately his danger this time, and she had her own job to worry about.

  He passed through a broken section of fence that ran around the entirety of the property. He was at a dark family’s Horse Country estate in Kentucky. It was bea
utiful out here.

  Hard to believe so much dark magic sweeps through here. Correk pulled in just enough magic to sense the different magic trails left by recent visitors, all of which carried varying amounts of darkness. Turner had provided all the details, including most of the spells and enchantments that were in place to keep people like him out and dark magic like theirs in.

  There was a witch inside the castle who’d had enough of dark magic. She just wanted to get away safely, pay for her crimes, and live a life that maybe included marriage and children—something approaching normal.

  This sounded fantastic, but everyone knew that once you were part of the family, you couldn’t just pack your suitcase and waltz out the front door. If she didn’t die trying to get out, she could end up finding a rather gruesome end when the family sent their henchmen to kill her, or worse, dragged her back to face their version of punishment.

  Correk needed to infiltrate the castle, extract the witch, and get her to Turner for shelter—all without being detected. Were it any other place it would be simple, but not one of the dark families’ lairs. They made sure this place was protected with the most sophisticated spells they could come up with, despite losing much of their library in a fire.

  The spells made it impossible to create portals anywhere on the grounds. There was even a charm spell that let them know if anyone with light magic stepped on to their turf.

  Luckily for Correk, he still had access to Turner’s library. He knew exactly what kind of spells would shield him from their protective enchantments—all but the portal spell. He would have to sneak in and out the old-fashioned way. He stood at the edge of the property and closed his eyes, pulling the magic up from the ground. Symbols flashed on his arms and neck, and his eyes glowed as he whispered a spell, “Enchantments known, the dark magic lingers. Shield me thus, so I may enter.” A bright glow swirled around his feet and moved up his legs, finally encompassing his body. As the light faded, Correk could feel it shrouding him from the dark magic curse.

  He crossed the fields to the barn and quietly moved to the corner. It was nighttime, which helped his cover, but he still had to be careful. The guards’ shift change would give him an opening to enter through one of the back doors. He watched as the wizards and one witch checked their watches, going in through the front doors to check in. Knowing his time was limited, he moved quickly down the hill to the kitchen door. The room was dark and he stood still for a moment, listening for any sign that they knew he was there.

  Silence. He moved carefully through the shadows, stopping before every open doorway and listening. There were several family members in the first room talking about the latest fight and the politics of the place. As much as Correk wanted to listen, he didn’t have time. He waited until they turned their backs to creep past the room and down the hall. He paused at the foyer to look around, but it was clear. He took a step forward but lurched back as one of the elders walked through the entry and down an adjacent hallway, his nose in some sort of spellbook.

  I should have brought Yumfuck with me. He waited until the dark wizard had entered a room and shut the door before quietly moving up the wide stairway. At the top, the hallway split right and left. Correk lifted his eyebrow, trying to remember which way to go. To the right? No, the left. No, wait...what did he say! After a few moments Correk chose the left, hoping he was correct. He hugged the wall as he crept down it and stopped outside the first open door. The lights inside flickered, and two people were talking.

  “I don’t know about this whole deal they made,” one of the witches was saying. “We are a dark family. We’re not in the business of making deals. Leira Berens should be taken care of. She isn’t just going to leave us alone.”

  At the mention of Leira Correk’s ears perked. Deal? What deal? He edged closer and listened.

  “Yes, but times are changing. If we want to come out on top, we need to figure out what is important and what is not. Taking the bounty off Leira Berens’ head keeps her focus on the other dark happenings out there and off us. Plus, we couldn’t find a witch or wizard who could get the job done anyway. It was costing us a fortune.”

  “I could have done it,” the other witch snarled.

  “Yes, and if you had failed we would have needed another leader. God knows we need as many leaders from the elders as we can get right now. You know what war is like, and you can help prepare us for the gate opening.”

  Correk leaned back against the wall, his eyes adjusting to the darkness. They no longer had a bounty out on Leira, but they were ramping up their watch of the family’s movements. They couldn’t possibly think she was stupid enough to ignore them just because they weren’t trying to kill her every other day.

  Correk was under the gun. He couldn’t just stand there in the hall eavesdropping, he had to find this witch and get her out. Once that was done, he could go from there.

  He pressed his palms against the wall and stepped forward, the floor creaking loudly. He grimaced, waiting to hear what they’d do. The two witches in the room stopped talking, walking carefully toward the door.

  The elder witch took out her wand and swished it in a circle, producing an orb of light at the end. When she reached the door, she paused before thrusting it through and holding the light high. She looked, but there was no one there.

  “Must have just been the house creaking,” she called as she slammed the door.

  Correk slumped against the wall in an unlit room across the hall, trying to control his breathing. It had been a close call. Slowly he crept down the hall to the third door on the left, and when he reached it a hand grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into the room. Correk turned, ready to fight, but he found a young witch who was breathing heavily and had her back pressed against the closed door.

  “Did Turner send you?”

  Correk nodded.

  “I’m Esmerelda, the one you are looking for.” She walked to the window. “We have to go soon. The guards will be setting up watch on all corners.”

  “Wait.” Correk put out his hand and sent a ball of light to circle her. It pulsed at first, fighting the remnants of darkness inside her, before hovering above her head and sprinkling white sparks over her body. The magic left a shroud similar to the one he had put on himself.

  “That will protect you from the different charms. They won’t know you are gone until you step foot off the property. That means we have to open a portal and jump through before they can get to us.”

  Esmerelda shook her head, pulling the hood of her cloak up. She reached for her bag, but Correk stopped her with a shake of his head.

  “We can’t be weighed down, and the bag isn’t under the spell. Leave it. We will make sure you have what you need when you get to Turner’s.”

  She nodded as the two of them moved toward the door. They cracked it and peered into a hall lit only by the moon’s dancing shadows on the floor. Correk gestured to her, and the two made their way carefully through the castle. Thankfully, it was late, and most of the witches and wizards had already retired for the night. When they reached the end of the hall Correk turned to go toward the main staircase, but Esmerelda grabbed his arm, shaking her head.

  “This way,” she whispered.

  She led him down a hall to an old wooden door that hid the servants’ staircase. The stairs opened into the back area of the house where the servants’ quarters and kitchen were located. Correk didn’t like following the witch, but he didn’t have any time to argue with her. They had to get out fast. They quietly exited and ran for it, making it to the barn without anyone noticing, and stopped to case the area.

  “The shortest route to the edge of the property is straight through this field. No matter what happens, just keep running. I will open a portal as soon as we are over the boundary. Don’t think, just jump through. Do you understand?”

  She nodded and picked up the hem of her cloak so she wouldn’t trip. Correk held up his hand and counted to three, and the two of them took off. As th
ey crossed the pasture, an alarm sounded and the guards’ voices floated over the Kentucky bluegrass.

  “There they go!”

  Correk grabbed the witch’s wrist, and the two of them raced for the edge of the property. The guards behind them were running faster than anyone should be able to. They had spelled themselves, but Correk wasn’t going to let them be caught. Just when they reached the old wooden fence the closest guard dove and grabbed the back of Esmerelda’s cloak. She choked, and frantically reached up to untie the ribbon pulling on her neck while Correk twisted and sent out a fireball—which missed. He turned back, quickly hurtling the fence and tearing open a portal.

  Esmerelda’s eyes grew big as the guard tugged harder. The ribbon came loose just as Correk yanked her with him through the portal. It snapped shut behind them, sparks floating down onto Turner’s hardwood floors. Correk laid on his back looking up at Turner, who stood over them with his eyebrows raised, tapping his cane on the floor.

  “I see you made it.”

  4

  Yumfuck stood outside the theater looking up at the sign. Fan appreciation day for the new Star Wars movie. People stood in line dressed as Princess Leia, Han Solo or Chewbacca. Yumfuck got in line, high fiving the R2D2 standing in front of him.

  “Dude! Outrageous. You made your own character. That is intense…” The young man elbowed his friend waiting in front of him.

  “Look, Peter! A new character.”

  Peter, dressed as Lando Calrissian, did a double take, scanning Yumfuck up and down. “Damn! That is the best fur suit I think I’ve ever seen. Can’t even see a seam!

  Peter asked, “Nuq 'oH ponglIj'e'?”

  “Yumfuck Tiberius Troll.”