Elemental Shadows

by Phaedra Weldon

  Only this wasn't a party.

  Fred insisted on sitting at the end of the table. Since I always sat on the end nearest the door, he sat on the opposite side and scowled. Grey sat at my left and I idly stroked her neck. I could feel her muscles taught and ready under her luxurious fur. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Fred.

  After a few awkward moments, and me feeling like the whole scene was too surreal for daytime TV, Emily broke the ice. "Miss Hawthorne…can I call you Samantha?"

  "Sam's fine."

  "Oh good. Sam, we're here on behalf of the local Eldership to ask you a few questions about Arden Vervain."

  Kyle and I glanced at one another. Arden Vervain was the self-appointed Witch Queen of New Orleans, and she was Kyle's aunt. I'd met her twice now.

  That was enough.

  "What about her?" Kyle asked as he sipped his tea.

  "What's Vervain's relationship to you?" Fred asked. He had a lot of tension in that voice.

  "She's my aunt."

  "Not you," he pointed at me. "Her."

  "My name is Sam, Fred. Use it." I continued to pet my wolf. "Arden is Kyle's aunt. There is no relation to me."

  "Don't be a dumb bitch—"

  "Fred!" Mr. Air said. It was only the second time he'd said anything. And then he looked at me. "We're aware of Miss Vervain's proposition to the Eldership, during an emergency meeting a few weeks ago."

  I pursed my lips. "You mean when the Changelings were attacking their parents and eating people's faces off."

  He blanched. Renn Faire boy had a weak stomach. "Yes. During that time Mr. Alfonso Higgins was killed. He was this area's Grand Master, in case you weren't aware."

  "I was informed of that after he was killed."

  "The meeting was held in her home in the Garden District and at that time she promised—"

  Fred stood at that moment and slammed his fist down on the table. Grey growled and stood. "Where is that damn head? We know you have it because Vervain said she'd seen it here. We demand you hand it over to the Hive now!"

  I was on my feet before I knew it.

  So was Kyle.

  And the Sylph at my neck was also on alert, whispering in my ear.

  I'm usually a pretty patient person. Or I hope I am. I try to be. But this was just out of hand. And getting ridiculously stupid. The man wasn't spouting nonsense though.

  Up until two weeks ago I did have a head in my basement. It was the head of the former Obsidian Queen, Medbh. And the head talked. Given the Faerie's inability to lie, if I asked the head a direct question it would have to tell the truth or say nothing.

  Most of the time the damn thing kept quiet, but when she did tell the truth, I learned a lot. My biggest complaint about her had been her off-key, colorful rendition of bawdy pop songs.

  And she didn't sensor.

  Did have was the key two-word phrase here. It wasn't there anymore, but apparently that information wasn't shared with the local magic benders. "First off, no one gave you permission to invade my home and my place of business. I am not a member of your community, nor do I participate in your archaic foolishness." I said all that as I bent forward and put my left hand on the table and pointed the index finger of my right hand at the table for emphasis.

  "Second, the head Arden had no business telling anyone about isn't here anymore. It's gone. So you don't have to worry about it anymore."

  "Where is it?" Miss Water asked. She and Emily were the only ones still seated. I didn't remember when Mr. Air stood up.

  "It's back in Alfheim where it belongs." That wasn’t the exact truth. The actual head, which resembled a ceramic doll’s, was still in my basement. But whatever part of Medbh had possessed it was indeed in Alfheim.

  Fred made a rude noise and came from around the table toward me. "You really expect us to believe this nonsense about a fairy place called Alfheim? That's bullshit and you know it. You're hiding the head because of its power. And I plan on filing charges against you so I can tear this building apart piece by piece to find—"

  He got a little too close as Grey's growl magnified and she leapt from my side at his face.

  Grey and the Sylph acted either by coincidence or in unison. Either way, Fred didn't stand a chance.

  Grey moved first as she growled, showed teeth and lunged at him. Fred, being a Cleric and Fire Sponsored, thought he would attempt to barbecue my wolf.

  As I raised my hand to grab at Grey and pull her back, the Sylph assumed I wanted power.

  Now, Air can do one of two things to fire. It can feed it, or it can smother it. The Sylph actually used my hand as a conduit to pull the air from in front of the flame so there was nothing for it to feed on. Grey wasn't stopped by anything and pushed Fred backward on the floor by momentum.

  "Sam! Stop her before she kills him!" Emily said.

  I moved to the side of the table to see if Grey was indeed killing him, not that I would have minded. But instead, she had him pinned on his back as she stood on top of his chest like a conquering hero, her snout in his face, growling and drooling on him.

  Good girl.

  I put my hands on my hips and looked at Emily. "She won't kill him. Grey's not like that."

  "She could get put down for attacking a Cleric."

  I turned and shot daggers of defiance out of my eyes at Miss Water. "Really? You really want to go there with me?"

  "Sam…please…tell her to get off of Fred. He's just a very excitable man."

  I looked back at Emily. "He threatened me. He threatened tearing down my house and destroying my life. Why? I told you the truth. I stay out of the community's business, Emily. The head isn't here."

  "Alright. You say it's back in Alfheim."

  "Yes."

  "With whom?"

  "The Obsidian Queen. So if you want it, you have to go through her."

  I knew no one in that room was going to mess with Faerie.

  I put my hand on Grey's back and she instantly calmed. "Come on girl. You did a good thing. Now come sit with me."

  She moved off of him, turned and followed me back to my chair. Once I sat down, she sat down and panted as if nothing had happened.

  Emily helped Fred up from the floor. He dusted himself off and glared at me. I glared back at him.

  "Okay," Emily started. "Let's move on."

  "Not yet." Fred just wasn't going to step away. "How did you manage magic?"

  "Excuse me?"

  "You used magic to put out my Fire. How?"

  I looked at the others. "Anyone see me use magic?" And when I looked at their faces, I realized they hadn't seen the Sylph. In fact, they weren't seeing him or sensing him now.

  How is it an Elemental could hide from a full Hive of Clerics?

  The Sylph shifted against the right side of my neck and tickled my ear…and my view of things abruptly shifted.

  I could see my hand on the table. Only it wasn't just my hand, but a miasma of sparkling red, like glitter in water. The red pulsed and moved and undulated, not just there but around my thighs, and around the table where I touched it. Even around Grey.

  I was covered in it. So was she.

  Was that it? They couldn't sense the Sylph because of Arcane? Was I using it now? Had I somehow, subconsciously cast a protective spell that made an Air Elemental immune to the Clerics's cap on magic?

  Everyone shook his or her head and the red was gone. It was an instance of time, a millisecond of insight. Had it come from the Sylph?

  So I ran with it and gestured at Fred with my hand. "No magic. My Familiar was faster than your draw, that's all. And surely you don't mean to be hating on a Familiar doing their job of protecting their charge, do you?"

  I had him. He sat back.

  But he wasn't happy.

  He knew something had happened and I knew he wasn't going to let this go.

  "Let's move on," Emily said. "I vote to table the discussion on the head. Sam, one of the other things we'd like to discuss is the Malleus Maleficarum."


  "The Witch's Hammer?" Kyle blinked at her. He put his hands in his lap. "What about it?"

  "It was in Higgins' care but it disappeared not long after Arden Vervain entered Higgins' house."

  "You mean the real Maleficarum?" Kyle prodded.

  Fred snorted. "Oh come off it. We know both of you are aware of the Hammer's truth. And what it contains inside."

  Yes we did. But no thanks to any of these Witches. "So we can speak freely about the Covens holding an item bathed in Arcane Magic?" I looked at each of them.

  The only one that looked apologetic was Emily. She spoke first. "If you know why we have it, then you should understand. It's a powerful book, and not something that should be kept safe."

  "You mean from the Magicians." Kyle said. He was more talkative than usual. And to Clerics, no less. Weird.

  "Well, duh?" Miss Water said from her seat on the other side as she smacked her gum. "Those idiots don't see the dangers anyone faces when using that kind of magic. The price it takes on them."

  I had heard about the price of Arcane Magic all my life. And yet I'd used it. I still hadn't seen a price; at least not something physical, or even mental. Maybe it was something spiritual? Like on the astral? I absently toyed with the rectangular silver charm at my neck. It hung there from a black cord.

  I'd had a few customers notice it and ask if I was deaf or hearing impaired. Apparently they saw markings on it that looked like brail.

  To me—I saw it for what it was. It was still a rectangular silver charm, but for me it pulsed red and sparkled with the Arcane Magic it was made with, housed in an ethereal casing of digital magic.

  Yeah…I was wearing the Malleus Maleficarum around my neck. And no one in the room knew it. Not even Kyle. The only other person privy to this bit of scandal was the Witch who made it.

  Ivan Westerfield, my other employee and member of my small group, had called in sick that morning. At the time I didn't think anything of it. But with the Clerics showing up at my door—now I was starting to wonder if there was a correlation.

  Not one of these Clerics had noticed the necklace or the Arcane feel and smell of it. Just as a side, Arcane Magic smelled like day-old raw chicken left out in the garbage. And it either looked like sparkling red glitter, like the Wicked Witch of the East's shoes as it did for me, or it looked like small, writhing red worms. Scarlet dyed maggots was Ivan's best description I think.

  I shrugged. "Then why not ask them if they took it?"

  Fred sneered. "The Magicians? Please…they're not powerful enough or even organized in a way that would allow them to steal back the Hammer."

  "Are you that narcissistic?" I'd really had it with this ass. "You think your shit doesn't stink? Someone took the book out from under your nose. I'm assuming you searched Higgins' house?"

  Emily spoke. "Physically and magically and we have come up with nothing. It's our suspicion Miss Vervain took it and is holding it. We want to get it back."

  "And no one thought bout the Magicians in the city?"

  All four of them shook their heads.

  I knew I was playing with dry kindling by throwing out suspicion aimed at our long time nemesis. But really…I'd met some pretty good Magicians through the years. The only difference between them and us was as minuscule as the difference between Baptists and Methodists. Baptists dunk and Methodists sprinkle.

  Witches invite the Elementals in to participate in our work, where the Magicians trap them and force them to do their bidding.

  It was all kinda B-movie stuff.

  "And you're sure Arden Vervain has it?"

  "She was in Higgins' house unauthorized after she made her promise. And then again after she failed to deliver the head to the council."

  I knew Arden had gone into the house hours after Higgins was reported dead. I wasn't aware Arden went back into the house. Kyle and I glanced at each other again. Might be a good idea to find out why Arden had been that careless.

  "What do you want from me?" That's what it all came down to, wasn't it? I was feeling a bit cocky myself, since they weren't here to arrest me for using Arcane. Hell, they couldn't even detect it!

  Now Fred looked like the Cheshire Cat and I didn't like it. "We're charging you to find out if she possesses it."

  "Charging me?" I looked at each of them. "I'm not part of this circus, remember?"

  "You're a Witch. And you're an Elemental," Miss Water shrugged. "You don't have a choice. You're a part of the community as much as Mr. Kendrick here."

  "No. I'm not." I sat forward, but this time Grey plopped down on the scuffed hardwood floor for a nap. Apparently she wasn't sensing any real danger now. "I wasn't raised in your world. And you weren't a part of mine. So no, my being an Elemental is my business. I do a job. I help people. And I make a living. End of story."

  Emily pulled a scroll from her robe and unrolled it. Electronic devices didn't always work with magic, and those who used magic on a regular basis couldn't be near them at all. Normally I'd be worried about my shop's register and the computer, but I had a secret weapon. Which had just pulled up in the alley behind the building in his truck. I had no way of sending him a message without accessing Spirit.

  To my surprise, a tiny white screen with bubbles for text appeared in front of me, like the screen on a smart phone. A new bubble appeared with I'LL WAIT TILL THE SPOOKS LEAVE, and then it vanished.

  Ivan had sent me a message. His way.

  "I'm afraid you don't have any recourse in this," Emily said as she read from the scroll. "On October 30th of this year, a reported Changeling approached your shop and attempted to enter. This same Changeling was the very one that murdered Higgins in his store before making a straight line from there to you. After that, you went to see Arden Vervain after an Elder Community meeting where you made a deal with her to give her the head—"

  "No I didn't—" I said.

  "No she didn't—" Kyle said at the same time.

  Emily held up her hand. "You will have plenty of time to dispute this record. These are the facts given to us."

  "From whom?"

  "Arden Vervain. She claims you were helping her track down the book. She also claims you betrayed her and one of your own Coven members—"

  "I don't have a Coven—"

  "Please Sam, let me finish. Miss Vervain claims one of your Coven members actually stole the book in hopes of framing her."

  Kyle and I were on our feet. Kyle went first. "No one here stole that book. We never even went in Higgins’s house. That was all my aunt."

  "We know," Miss Water said and held up her hands, then lowered them to indicate we needed to sit. When we did, she continued. "We can verify facts. It's what we do. Neither you or Miss Hawthorne were ever in Higgins’s house." She leaned her head to her shoulder. "But your other member was."

  Shit. Damn. Ivan.

  This was the truth. Ivan had been kidnapped and forced into that house because he could actually see Arcane where others smelled it. He saw it as writhing worms. The scarlet maggots.

  I opened my mouth to protest but Emily waved dismissively at me. "We know you filed a complaint with the NOPD. Your shop was vandalized and you reported Mr. Westerfield kidnapped. You blamed Arden Vervain."

  "Yeah, she threatened me because she wanted that damn head. And I said no. I never joined up with her or worked with her on anything."

  "And you still believe Arden kidnapped Mr. Westerfield?"

  The answer was no. A Leviathan had taken him. But not one of these guys had mentioned Leviathans, much less Revenants. Both of which were vampires in laymen's terms. And if you had to color code them, Revenants were technically good vampires, and Leviathans were…nasty sons of bitches.

  I should know.

  The woman who raised me after my mother died had been one. In fact, she'd ordered the hit on my mom, Elizabeth Hawthorne.

  When did I find out?

  Two weeks ago. And I still wasn't over the shock.

  "Miss Hawthorne?"

&nb
sp; "Ivan said he didn't know who kidnapped him. He was kept bound and blindfolded. He was forced into a house he said he didn't recognize and was told to look for the book."

  "Does he have some sort of magic that would make that possible?" Fred asked. He was looking at me funny.

  I shook my head. "His Gifts are pretty small. He's Dianic. Just a touch of psychometry."

  Emily looked over at Mr. Air and Fred. "That kind of magic could have helped find the book."

  "Yeah but I have that Gift and never found it," Mr. Air said.

  "Exactly. You'd already looked after Higgins’s death and the meeting, and then whoever kidnapped Mr. Westerfield had the same thinking. But it wasn't there," Emily looked back at me. "And he was released back to you?"

  "Yes."

  "Unharmed?"

  "Well no. He'd been beaten. Spent some time on medical leave."

  "We'd like to talk to him."

  I pursed my lips. "He's not here."

  "Yes he is," Miss Water said. "He's in the back in his car." She frowned. "On his phone. Geez…if he can use a phone like that without draining its battery, then his Gift is weak as hell. Why would anyone wanna use his power?"

  Oh man…if only they knew the truth. But I didn't want them to know.

  So it was change the subject time. "Why are you so ready to pin this on Arden?"

  Fred sneered. I sneered back. "It makes sense you wouldn't have heard, since you consider yourself above us."

  I reached over and touched Kyle's arm. He shook his head. "I'm not above anything and I haven't heard anything about my aunt. What are you talking about?"

  Emily leaned forward as she re-rolled the scroll. "It's terrible. Simply terrible."

  "What?" I said that a bit too loud and maybe with a little too much force.

  "Three of the city's Elders have been found dead in their homes since Sunday." Fred crossed his arms over his chest.

  Three Elders? Sweet Lord and Lady! Now they had my attention. "You're not saying there are more Changelings killing random Elders are you?"

  "No. In each death the cause was ruled natural causes officially, but unofficially," Fred's harsh exterior cracked. "They were scared to death."

  "Huh?"