by Phil Gabriel
Tight-lipped, Brock said, “No.”
“So, make it work,” I said. “Turn the office into a Broadway play with one audience member and mandated period appropriate clothing; offer her old job back at half her old salary, but it could be double her old salary if she dresses up. Find a way to make it work.”
“You’re going to a lot of trouble to keep a woman you hate near you,” said Brock with a suspicious frown.
“Keep your friends close...” I trailed off.
“And your enemies closer,” he said, completing the thought. “Good idea. You can keep an eye on her in that position.”
Or,” I said, “I could just turn the bitch into a toad.”
Looking at me through narrowed eyes, Brock continued, “That will also cement your reputation as an insanely unpredictable magician. People will be afraid to cross you.”
“Yeah,” I said, pointing to Frost’s body. “Didn’t end well for the last guy who crossed me. I can’t exactly post Frost’s corpse on Facebook to gain karma and warn my enemies.”
Lowering his voice, Brock said, “Speaking of enemies crossing the insane magician”—he darted his eyes to the edge of the forest glade— “there’s something you should know...”
“I know,” I replied. “Don’t worry, our Deal stands. I’ll see you back in New York in a few days.”
Brock was smart enough to realize this was a good time to leave; the Deal was set, and further interaction with me could only serve to ruin the Deal. He walked back to his group and urged them to leave.
“Hey Brock,” I called out as he stepped under the trees.
“Yes?” he said.
“Can you leave me one of the vehicles?” I asked. “Promise to gas it up when I’m done.”
“Don’t worry, it belongs to you now. Keys will be on the dashboard,” he said, and transformed into his hybrid form and disappeared into the woods. The pack hadn’t gone far, just out of sight. They were expecting something.
Standing in the center of the silent, moonlit glade, I breathed the chill forest air. Enjoying a moment of peace before the next trial.
Tucking Frost’s ears into my satchel, I raised Princess high in my right hand. Willing her to blaze with power enough to light up the glade, I shouted, “Alicia! I know you’re there! Get your fat ass out here.”
Twenty-Eight
The Real Enemy Emerges
A wave of mystical energy slammed into me, pushing me back several feet before I could brace and counteract the pressure.
Now they appeared, a quintet of witches, three of whom I recognized; Alicia, Beatrice, and Carol, followed by two others, stepped from the forest. They walked in a unit, each holding a glowing athame blade before her. Alicia’s blade, the Prime Blade, was more ornate and glowed much brighter than the others.
The pack made way for them, scurrying away like dogs from a bear. The remains of the pack disappeared into the forest. My business with them was done.
The five witches stood in a pyramid array, Alicia at the apex, her tight mouth showing only contempt for us. Her severe short let-me-talk-to-the-manager haircut was indicative of her character. To her right stood Beatrice, her hair cut down to bristle on the sides, lanky in the center, and streaked with colors not found in nature. She had multiple piercings in her ears, one in her nose, and I’d bet others in more unconventional places. She had tattoos showing on her flabby arms and more ran down to her cankles. She was sweating profusely but continued pouring heart and soul into the attack.
To Alicia’s left stood Carol, the oldest of the group. She was vain enough to have dyed her hair blond, but the roots were white. She was stronger in magic than the other four, and by rights should have been the leader, but for some reason had accepted the number three spot.
The final two nameless witches held my attention. The leftmost held the leash to Kitty-Sue’s collar, obviously in control. I had never seen Kitty-Sue so angry, yet unable to escape. The magical energy of the collar added to their combined attack.
The rightmost witch held Akiko captive. She was holding a shoe-box-sized vessel of transparent crystal. Inside were the “magic spectacles” that allowed Akiko to see and control magic. Alicia had seen and instantly understood their significance on Liberty Island.
Akiko’s captor was wearing the ring and drawing on its power, adding to the combined attack. Akiko’s ghost form was chained to the ring. She was raining ineffectual blows on her captor. The geas that prevented her from harming anyone kept her from stopping this psychic rape.
I could feel their fivefold combined magic, augmented by two Artifacts of Power, gnawing away at my defenses. With Princess, I could defeat a coven. Against a coven with two Artifacts? It was only a matter of time before my defenses crumbled.
The bitter realization that both of my friends had been rendered vulnerable due to my actions ate away at my resolve.
“It’s time to take care of the magician,” said Alicia. “He will be no match for the sisterhood.”
Trying to look relaxed, I said, “Is that the best you’ve got? I’ve destroyed covens much stronger than yours.”
Alicia grinned. “But we have your friends to help,” she said, “as well as two Artifacts of Power.”
Beatrice muttered, “The fucking wolves were supposed to soften him up. At this rate, he’ll die before we can tame him.”
I couldn’t last much longer—Frost’s life force was draining at an alarming rate. I could hold out by using my own life force for a bit longer, but the end was clear. Time to try desperate measures.
A mental command to the submission collar, my collar, caused the buckle to open, freeing Kitty-Sue. The freed collar flowed up the leash held in the witch’s right hand, smacking into her palm. Damn, the witch still had the collar in her possession, allowing her to drain energy from it.
Holding the collar, the witch at first looked shocked, then worried that she would be punished for letting Kitty-Sue go, then she had a sly look as she formulated a lie. “Sisters, I unlocked the collar, now we can use it on the magician!”
But Kitty-Sue was free. She transformed into her fox form and scampered into the woods, probably to lick her wounds and regret hooking up with a magician.
Turning my attention to Akiko, I considered my next words carefully. “Akiko-san, I have been proud to have you as my student. But I have taught you as much as I possibly could.”
Akiko stopped her silent screaming, looking at me in puzzlement until I continued, “I release you from your geas.”
Akiko nodded once, then her eyes brightened with power. The witch wearing her ring looked down in horror as the ring’s brightness doubled, doubled again, then doubled yet again. The first hint of cooking flesh as her finger started smoking was sweet in the air.
Horrified, she dropped the crystal box, and it shattered on the ground. Akiko’s spectacles rolled out onto the turf.
She tried to grab the ring to pull the burning circlet off of her finger, but couldn’t grip the incandescent metal. The glow increased yet again, now a ball of plasma that engulfed her hand. She looked on in horror as the hungry plasma crept up her arm.
It ended quickly, one last whispered “Please” as her entire body was consumed by flames. For a moment, a cloud of ashes hung in the air, then it was blown away by the night breeze.
The ring started to drop, but a foot above the ground it was stopped by Akiko’s ethereal hand. All this while I had been continuing my battle with the remaining witches. Akiko felt around the ground until she found her glasses. As she donned the glasses, there were tears in her eyes.
My sweet Akiko had been forced to take a life to save herself. I hated this coven more than ever.
The balance had shifted, but not enough. Akiko’s ring no longer was used against me, but poor Akiko was still in shock at her first kill and not much aid. Kitty-Sue had escaped, but her injuries had forced her to transform and flee. The power of her collar was still being used against me by the coven. A calculation of e
nergy levels still had me losing in a few minutes.
Then a throwing knife, glittering with kitsune magic, flew through the air to impale the left eyeball of the witch holding the collar. Although she was protected by spell-work, it was no match for foreign magic. The witch’s hands flew to her face, dropping the collar, as she tried to extract the blade.
Kitty-Sue, my friend, my bodyguard, my bad-ass ninja-warrior woman, raced out of the forest. In each hand was a blade, charged up with sparkling kitsune magic. She approached her recent captor, who held her hands in front of her body in a pleading gesture, and casually stuck a blade into her tormentor’s throat. She stepped back quickly to avoid the fountain of blood that came from the witch’s slashed throat.
Bending down, Kitty-Sue picked up the collar with her now free hand. She looked at the enslavement device for a moment, then shook her head and placed it in a pocket.
In the time between the second witch’s death and Kitty-Sue’s retrieval of the collar, Alicia changed her tactics, erecting a bubble of force around herself and the two remaining witches. When Kitty-Sue tried to approach and attack the remaining witches, she was rudely bounced back. Kitty-Sue tried one of her charged blades against the bubble, with no effect. Alicia had learned enough from the first attack to set up a defense against kitsune blades. Kitty-Sue looked at me and shook her head. She couldn’t help any more.
Kitty-Sue and the still-in-shock Akiko joined me at the focus of the witches’ attack. The attack intensified, seemingly undiminished by the loss of two Artifacts of Power. The bitch was using the life force of her two dead coven members to power her attack, condemning their spirits to oblivion.
I desperately wanted to shift to using the collar for power, but that microsecond of dropped protection would have been suicidal.
Alicia could read the balance of power almost as well as I could. She knew it was a matter of minutes before I burned out. Time to change tactics.
“Kitty-Sue,” I asked, “what did she offer to betray me?”
“She promised to make you my pet, wearing the submission collar I wore,” she responded.
“Akiko-san,” I asked, “what did she offer you?”
“She offered me a human body to inhabit,” she said. “So I could touch again.”
In a wistful whisper, she continued, “I miss touching.”
Damn, that night with Elvis had ruined her.
“Well,” I said, “now would be your chance to betray me and get your wish.”
Akiko gasped, aghast at the thought of betraying me. Kitty-Sue just sniffed at the idea.
“You see,” I said loudly enough for Alicia and her group to hear, “that’s the problem with witches, nobody can trust your offers. I’ll bet you never had any intention of keeping your bargains.”
“All who stand against the sisterhood, even in the slightest, must be eliminated,” said Alicia, proving my point.
Twenty-Nine
Deal with the Devil Women
“Akiko-san,” I said, “this is why magicians cultivate a reputation for strict honesty. If I make an offer, everyone knows I will keep it.” My remarks were aimed at Akiko, but Beatrice and Carol both heard.
“Beatrice, Carol,” I said loudly, “I have an offer for you. Whoever betrays Alicia and swears a truce on behalf of your coven with my group will receive five years’ rejuvenation. Are you interested?”
Beatrice pursed her lips in anger, but made no change in her stance. Carol looked thoughtful but made no moves. They continued pouring energy into Alicia’s attack.
“OK,” I continued, putting on my best face to hide the effort this was taking, “I will sweeten the Deal. Seven years’ rejuvenation and I’ll throw in a weight loss package. Just think, you’ll not only drop to normal BMI, but I’ll make sure your metabolism will be adjusted to prevent any future weight gain.” This offer was aimed squarely at the corpulent Beatrice, but she ignored my offer and redoubled her efforts, sweat pouring down her face.
“OK, I can see you drive a hard bargain. Ten years, weight package, and I’ll make sure your hair never goes gray,” I said, looking at Carol. “All your senses renewed: food will taste sweeter, tangier; the caress of a lover on your silk smooth skin will drive you to ecstasy; lips that are plump and kissable; breath that smells like a babe’s. Choose any look you want: Nordic blond? Sultry Latina? Just imagine: younger, sexier, juicier.”
A tear trickled down Carol’s cheek, but she maintained her attack.
I pushed back with all my strength, burning enormous amounts of power, but only pushing the trio back a step.
Kitty-Sue was more perceptive than me. She saw that I was selling features, not benefits. She commented, “Oh, Scott, they will never betray their sisters. If they go back younger and prettier, they will be the envy of the coven. They couldn’t stand the jealousy of all the others. Imagine becoming younger and sexier than the ones who just yesterday were talking about you behind your back.”
Kitty-Sue had their real feelings pegged, but it still wasn’t enough. Carol was openly weeping, but Beatrice was looking daggers at her. One of the reasons witches always find power in primes is that uneven numbers are harder to knock off balance.
Out of the corner of my left eye, I saw a blur from Kitty-Sue as she threw a blade. It zipped through the air faster than a human eye could follow, traveling straight for Carol. I saw the blade bounce off the force bubble in front of Carol.
What? Why did she throw? She knew the blade couldn’t reach Carol. My astonishment was short lived, as Carol jerked at the motion of the blade. Beatrice saw Carol flinch, and interpreted it as a decision to attack Alicia. At the same moment, Beatrice made her decision, attacking Alicia to ensure she was the recipient of the Deal. Seeing Beatrice move to attack Alicia, Carol thrust her blade forward, racing to be the first to pierce Alicia’s black heart.
Alicia sneered, “My sisters will never betray—ACK!” Her words were choked off as two athame blades impaled themselves in her back at the same time. Her sneering expression faded as she found peace for the first time. She fell face down in the dirt, blood pumping out of the two ragged holes in her back as she gasped her last breath and expired. Carol and Beatrice retrieved their blades, blood running down to coat their wrists. The pressure of the magical attack abruptly ceased. Kitty-Sue took a deep breath in relief. Akiko’s glowing form dimmed down to a barely seen wisp.
Beatrice and Carol looked at each other for a moment, a sly look in each of their eyes, and they slowly raised their athame blades in a challenge.
Tired of the slaughter and knowing I might regret it later, before they could attack each other, I said, “Wow, that’s unbelievable! We have a tie! You both get the full package!”
Holding up both hands, I approached carefully. “We have a truce. But you’ll have to allow me to take Alicia’s athame as a souvenir.” Bending down quickly, I tore the blade from Alicia’s lifeless grasp. With the coven’s focus in my possession, they could do little to harm me. I put the blade in my satchel. Kitty-Sue strolled over to the tree ten yards behind Carol and pulled her throwing blade from the wood.
I was exhausted but once the Deal was struck, I had to complete the bargain. Drawing on the energy taken from the vanquished wolf pack alpha, I washed away the tiredness and any minor injuries I had. Damn, I felt good, like a teenager again.
The energy pooled in my body would have lasted me forty or fifty years.
But I had to expend a lot of the energy to fulfill my bargain. In engineering, we have a saying, “Do it fast, do it cheap, do it well; pick two.” Since I had over-promised, and now had two patients instead of one, it would take an enormous amount of energy. Add in that I needed to complete the bargain quickly, and it couldn’t be cheap. So the process wouldn’t be cheap, in effort or magical energy.
“La—” I stopped at their glare; they didn’t like being called ladies. “Let’s put those blades away, please. I can’t work if you hold a knife to me.”
They slowly clea
ned their blades, keeping eyes on each other warily. Not much trust in this coven. Kitty-Sue had them pegged perfectly.
Who to pick first? Hmm, didn’t want to start another fight. “Let’s go in order of coven seniority, please,” I said.
Beatrice looked ready to go for her knife again since Carol was much older than her, but lower in rank. But she reluctantly backed down at a glare from Kitty-Sue and a glimpse of her blades. I glanced at Kitty-Sue and Akiko and tilted my head towards Beatrice; they caught my unvoiced request and led her away from the clearing, explaining that I needed to set a circle and work in peace.
I breathed a sigh of relief as she left. I quickly activated a circle, cutting off external influences.
“Ohh, that’s nice,” said Carol. “I’ve never felt a circle so quiet.”
I led her to the thin section of the fallen tree trunk and asked her to sit. “So, Carol, tell me what you would like.”
“Don’t you know? I want to be younger, stronger, healthier”—she looked down— “and prettier,” she finished in a whisper.
I looked at her large-boned face, with a masculine nose, and considered. Touching both hands to her shoulders, I probed deeper. I saw a body ravaged by age and cancer, although she had evidently worked hard to maintain herself. Inflammation, hardening of the arteries, joints worn, scars from when cancerous lumps had been cut from her body; I could fix all of those.
I regretted momentarily that I could do so much, so quickly, for others. I would love to be able to rebuild myself quickly with magic, but that would be outrageously expensive in energy. Just healing myself earlier had taken more of Frost’s energy than this rejuvenation would take.
“Carol,” I said, “I can make you a Disney Princess if you want. But too big of a transformation will mean your friends and family won’t recognize you. Even if you convince them, they will treat you differently. Maybe they won’t show you the same respect as they do the senior member of the coven.”
