Witching Bones

by Yasmine Galenorn

  Ember held my gaze for a moment. “This is one of the only times I’ve been tempted to defy her. But there’s no getting around it. It’s something I have to do, even though I’m dreading it.”

  I turned to Angel. “Are you going with her?”

  Angel shook her head. “I would, but neither Court would allow me in, given I’m human.”

  I suspected that Angel had a touch of the magic-born in her, given her empathic abilities, but even if she did, the Fae Queens wouldn’t open their gates to her.

  “What about Herne?”

  Again, Ember shook her head. “No. Because he runs the Wild Hunt, Morgana thinks it’s best if he stay away from the Courts unless he’s on official business. And this is personal. I really don’t want to go in there alone. I was hoping Rafé could go with me to TirNaNog, but he’s still healing up.” She paused, and I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head. “You wouldn’t be up for a trip, would you?”

  I gave her a skeptical grin. “You do realize that I’m more likely to be a liability than a help, don’t you?”

  “You’re one of the Ante-Fae, though. They have to respect you.”

  That made me laugh. I leaned back in my chair, shaking my head.

  “It’s true that my people are the predecessors to both the Light and the Dark Fae. However, neither race wants to admit it. They prefer to think they jumped full-blown into this world, like Venus on the clamshell, or Athena springing out of Zeus’s head. Anything or anyone reminding them that they were birthed from the same stock drives them into a frenzy.”

  “That’s stupid.” Angel blushed when Ember looked at her. “You know I love you, chica, but your people are wacked sometimes.”

  “That’s the truth,” Ember said.

  “Angel’s right,” I said. “I know that you come from both sides, Ember, but the truth is—the Fae—both Light and Dark—are entirely too arrogant. That’s a weakness that will be their downfall one of these days. I’m amazed that the two Courts haven’t killed each other off yet. The war between them has been going on since the beginning of time, or at least since the beginning of their time. If I go waltzing in there with you, it will just antagonize them against you even more, because I’m a reminder that they aren’t quite so powerful as they like to believe.”

  Ember shook her head, a stubborn look on her face. “I don’t care. As long as there isn’t a rule against it, and as long as you don’t mind, I’d feel more comfortable having you by my side.”

  I tried to suppress a smile, but after a moment, my shoulders shook with laughter. “I’ll go with you. Let me know when. If anyone bothers us, they’ll learn exactly why the Ante-Fae consider them no better than toddlers.”

  That settled, I turned to Angel as we started to eat. “So how is Rafé? You said he’s still healing up?”

  She nodded, biting into a pot sticker, then wiped her lips with a napkin.

  “He should be getting out of his casts soon. His arm is almost healed up, and his leg is better. He’ll be walking with a cane for a while. His ribs have healed as well, though Ferosyn has forbidden him to do anything strenuous for a long while. He’ll need physical therapy, considering just how badly his bones were shattered. I’m just grateful that Cernunnos brought in his personal healer. I don’t think Rafé would be so far along if he had stuck with the doctor that he usually goes to.”

  “How is he emotionally?” I asked, finishing my wine and pouring another glass. “That stint must have taken a terrible emotional toll on him.” I had gone with the Wild Hunt on their trip over to the peninsula, and I had seen just how horribly Rafé had been treated. He had been tortured and beaten to within an inch of his life.

  “He has flashbacks now and then,” she said. “I worry that he’s angry at Herne over what happened to him. He hasn’t said anything, but there seems to be this…darkness…inside him, ever since we rescued him.” She paused, then added, “Let’s change the subject, please. I don’t like thinking about what went on. I was wondering—I have some material that a friend gave me. It’s right up your alley. Black velvet with an embossed purple pattern on it—and woven with gold metallic threads. It would make a gorgeous dress, but it’s not my style, or Ember’s.”

  “Sure, drop it by. I can find a tailor to make me something fabulous—” I paused as a noise sounded from outside. Like a crash, followed by a loud yelp that I recognized as Raj’s cry.

  I was on my feet immediately, tipping my chair over as I raced toward the door, with Ember and Angel right behind me. I yanked open the door, screaming when I saw Buck and two other men crowding around Raj, hitting him with sticks.

  I launched myself toward them, conjuring up a ball of fire in my hand. Snarling, I slammed the flame against Buck’s chest. He shrieked as the fire bit into his clothes and began to smolder. As he stumbled back, I backhanded him so hard that he went flying across the sidewalk, sprawling down the concrete steps that led up to my porch. There were only two steps, but the way he shouted made it sound as though he had fallen down an entire flight.

  Ember was shouting something, and I glanced over my shoulder to see her kicking one of the men in the balls. He let out a loud groan, bending over as he staggered back.

  I stomped over to Buck, kicking him in the ribs. If I could have burned a hole through him with my gaze, I would have.

  “What the fuck are you doing on my property? I swear, if you ever come near Raj or me again, if you ever set foot on my property again, I will take a knife and I will gut you. I won’t ask questions, I won’t ask why you’re here or what you want. I’ll just take my blade and rip you open from collar to cock. Do you understand?”

  “Bitch—”

  “Shut up.” I lifted one foot, placing the chunky heel of my boot on his balls, leaning on him just enough so that the pressure was a warning. “I suggest that you do understand, or you’ll never father another child again. In fact, you won’t even be able to practice fathering a child. Got it?”

  The two other men were backing away, the one Ember had kicked in the nuts still bent over. They stumbled their way across the street to Buck’s yard, opposite the cul-de-sac.

  “I’m waiting.” I held up my hand conjuring up another ball of fire, which I held out over Buck’s face.

  “I understand.” His words were garbled, and he was snarling, but I had put the fear of the gods in him. I could see it in his eyes.

  I slowly removed my foot from his genitals, and as he rolled over, trying to stand, I gave him a swift, hard kick, sending him sprawling down the sidewalk, sliding through the snow that was accumulating. He swore, but said nothing else as he stood, giving me a nervous look as he headed back to his house.

  I turned. Angel was cuddling Raj.

  “Raj, are you all right? Are you okay?” I glanced up at Angel, who had been looking him over.

  “He’ll be okay. I called the police. You can’t let them get away with this. They’re members of the HLA, aren’t they?”

  I nodded. “Buck’s been having a lot of meetings over there lately. I think he’s wrapped up tight in the organization. I’ve been doing my best to drive them out of the neighborhood, but no luck so far.”

  I wrapped my arm around Raj’s neck, holding him tight as he whimpered and leaned against my shoulder. Angel unchained him and we took him inside while we waited for the cops. They wouldn’t be able to do much except file a report, and perhaps talk to Buck. But I made myself and Raj a promise right there. Another week wouldn’t go by before I ousted him and his freakshow family from the neighborhood. However I had to do it, I was getting rid of my neighbors once and for all.

  Chapter Five

  The cops were nice enough. Both of them were Dark Fae and neither was thrilled to hear about the meetings of the HLA. But Angel surprised us all when she held out her phone for us to look at.

  “I took some video. It’s only about thirty seconds, but it shows them attacking Raj.” She looked sick to her stomach. “Can you use this agains
t them?”

  One of the cops—his name was Marcus Fjord—asked her to text the video to him. “We can try. Given that Raj is a gargoyle and not a dog gives us more to act on. Given he’s a Crypto, I think we can consider this a hate crime. We’ll do our best to get a warrant for Smith’s arrest. Do you know who the other men were?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea. I probably have seen them over there, but I can’t be sure. Will it go against us that we attacked them? I’m sure they’ll tell you all about that. But they were on my property, and they were trespassing.” At this point, I wished I’d bashed Buck’s head in.

  “That depends on the judge. But we can put some pressure on him right now. Warn him to leave you alone or we’ll be back out here. And we will make arrangements to have this street patrolled more often for the next few days. Unfortunately, it’s hard to reason with people like Smith. They just don’t want to get it.”

  I nodded. “I understand. But officers, make no mistake. If Buck comes at me or at Raj again, I will fight back, and I’ll fight dirty. And I will win.”

  Marcus gave me a veiled smile. “You have every right to defend yourself. And you have a right to defend the gargoyle. I take it he’s bound to you?”

  I shrugged. “Not in so many words. He’s not exactly a familiar. I’m more of his caretaker. Raj wouldn’t do very well on his own, given his background.”

  “Understood. All right. We’ll go and have a little talk with your neighbor. Based on this video, we can arrest him and he’ll spend the night in jail. That is, until he or his cronies come up with bail.”

  “I don’t expect that will take him long,” Ember said, scowling. “Can’t you keep him there without bail?”

  “I wish we could, but unless the judge decrees that, you’d best assume that he’ll be out before morning. Unfortunately, for tonight, he’ll only go in on assault charges. Upgrading it to a hate crime requires taking him before the judge and we can’t do that till a court date is set.” They tipped their hats, then headed out into the snowy night.

  I glanced outside as they left, sucking in a lungful of the chill air. It crackled with ozone and smelled like snow. How could a night that was so pristine take such an ugly turn?

  Raj was curled up in his bed, still whimpering. Angel had fixed him up a dish of cat food and we all gathered around him. I stroked his head, leaning down to kiss him on the ears.

  “It’s okay, Raj. Those men will never hurt you again. I promise.”

  Raj looked up at me, his eyes glimmering with tears. I could tell he needed to talk, but he still didn’t feel comfortable in front of Ember and Angel.

  “Would you like us to stay?” Ember asked. “We will, but I feel you need a little alone time.”

  I shook my head. “Thank you, but you’re right. I think Raj and I can use some quiet time. And you should get home before the snow gets too deep.”

  “Will you be okay?” Angel asked.

  I nodded. “I’ll set some extra wards tonight. And I’m pretty sure the cops will keep a close eye on the neighborhood tonight. They seemed more concerned than I thought they would be.”

  “With the Tuathan Brotherhood up in arms, and the Human Liberation Army acting out, the city’s becoming a war zone.” Ember shook her head. “We have to do something, and soon. I love Seattle. I don’t want to see it go down in flames.”

  “I agree,” Angel said. “I suppose we better head out now. Call us if you need anything.”

  “Promise me you’ll call Kipa after we leave?” Ember said.

  “I promise.” I would keep my promise, though I didn’t intend to call him till tomorrow.

  The last thing I needed was for Kipa to go off half cocked in the middle of the night. We would be safe until morning, and I would do what I needed to in order to make my house as much of a fortress as possible.

  After they left, heading into the icy night, I retreated to my ritual room, where I found a couple charms that I hadn’t set yet. They were protection talismans, and I usually kept spares around for times when someone came over who needed help. Once activated, they wouldn’t last longer than twenty-four hours, but that would give us the time and the security that we needed. As I set them on the doors, then called Raj to follow me into the bedroom, it took every ounce of willpower that I had not to go across the street and torch Buck’s house. But I told myself to save it for later, should everything else fail.

  The next morning, after taking care of the ferrets, I made sure Raj was set with his shows and snacks, and that the wards were still working, before I headed to Llew’s shop.

  The snow had continued through the night and there was a good four inches piled on the sidewalk as I left the house. I could drive in snow, but a lot of people were skittish, resulting in a number of spinouts on the roads. The plows hadn’t come through—the side streets weren’t on the schedule to be cleared by the city. It was so slippery that, if I hadn’t had the foresight to have snow tires put on my car, I wouldn’t have been able to navigate the icy streets. I found a parking spot right in front of the apothecary and slammed my way through the door.

  Llew took one look at me and let out a low whistle.

  “Who are you ready to murder?” He pushed aside the ledger that he had been poring over.

  “My neighbor.” I told him what had happened. “I need stronger wards. I also need a house-clearing spell. Something to push all the mucky energy out. And while I’m at it, I need a screw-you candle.”

  Llew let out a long breath. “I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be your neighbor right now. I just got a new batch of candles in, and they’re strong. Do you need the herbs to go with them?”

  I shook my head. “No, I have everything else I need at home.” I lifted the scroll that he gave me, staring at it. “This is the house-clearing spell?”

  “Yes. Of course, you have to do the work that goes with it, but it will set the stage.” He paused, then pulled out a tall black candle. It smelled of wormwood and anise, of narcissus and black pepper. “If you need any help, call. By the way, I’ve been looking over everything I can find about breaking curses. So far, no results. But I’ll keep looking. I won’t stop until I find something that will help the ferrets.”

  “Thanks. I hate this shit. I know the only reason I haven’t been able to drive out Buck yet is because he feels he’s got the HLA on his side. But I tell you, Llew, if he so much as ever lifts his finger toward Raj or me again, I’ll break his neck. I’m not joking.”

  “I know, sugar. I know.” He handed me my package. “Did you want to read the cards here today?”

  I shook my head. “No. Kipa’s coming over tonight. And with what happened last night, I don’t feel comfortable being away from the house very long. But thanks, and I’ll see you later.”

  “I’ll probably lock up early, anyway. With the storm, I doubt we’ll see much business today.” Llew waved as I left.

  I stopped in at A Taste of Latte to buy a sausage muffin, a quint-shot mocha, and a dozen pastries before I headed home.

  When I arrived at the house, everything looked normal, but I noticed Buck was staring at me through his front window. He’d gotten out on bail, apparently. I held up one hand, conjured a ball of fire, and launched it at his front yard where it exploded in the snow, then sizzled out. He quickly closed the curtain.

  Once inside, I first boosted the existing wards with protection oil, then set the ones I’d gotten from Llew. After that, I unrolled the house-clearing scroll. Time to clean out the muck. If nothing else, I hoped that the spell would calm the disrupted energy.

  As I read the scroll, though, I thought it sounded off. It was written in the arcane language of the magic-born. While I was familiar with some of the words, others escaped me. But it didn’t sound like the house-clearing spells that I was used to. Llew must have updated them recently, I thought. Shrugging, I finished my magical work and called Raj over to the sofa.

  “Want to curl up and watch some TV, doodlebug?”

>   He crawled up on the sofa next to me, resting his head on my shoulder. He had spent the night whimpering in his sleep. I was worried that the attack had spurred flashbacks to when Karjan, a demon, had owned him. Besides cutting off Raj’s wings, Karjan had piled on plenty of other abuse on the young gargoyle. Even with the powerful memory-wipe I’d cast on Raj, the witch I had gotten it from had warned me there were triggers that might break through the fog.

  “How did Raj sleep?”

  Raj blinked, looking tired. “Raj had bad night-stories. The men who tried to hurt Raj were in them.” Night-stories was what Raj called dreams.

  I nodded, biting my lip. After a moment, I asked, “Was anybody else in Raj’s night-stories?”

  He shook his head. “No, just the men.” Then, after a pause, he asked, “Why did those men try to hurt Raj?”

  I took his hand in mine. The knuckles were calloused where he had walked on them all these years, but his palms were actually smooth, like a soft leather jacket.

  With a sigh, I said, “I don’t know why they did that. Raj, the truth is, some people are just spiteful and cruel. They hate others who aren’t like they are. There isn’t any good reason. It’s just the way they are. They’re entitled fucknuts and they don’t want to share the world with anybody who’s different. So we have to watch out for them, and try to avoid them. But if they try to hurt us, we’re justified to fight back.”

  Raj was strong. He could probably break heads if he wanted to, though I’d never seen him even come close to trying. He had protected me from a spirit a couple months back, burning a hole through it with what appeared to be nothing less than laser eyes, but that was the first and only time I’d ever witnessed him doing anything like that, and he didn’t remember it when I asked him about it afterward. I had a feeling Raj might have several tricks up his sleeve that I didn’t know about. Maybe that he didn’t know about, either.

  He stared at the TV for a moment. “Raj no like fighting.”