by Martha Carr
“Hey, Louie,” the bartender called. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and the smear of eyeliner from the night before remained under her eyes. “Your usual?”
“Sure, hit me,” Louie replied, looking around the dim bar.
It was a dive: dingy, smelly, and looking like there should be criminal activity going on in the back rooms. It was just like home, the bar right inside the dark forest. The only thing that was missing were the two Kilomea who wanted to kick his ass on a regular basis. The bartender sat a Stella in front of him and he winked as he brought the beer to his mouth, making the whole thing slightly awkward.
“You comin’ by tonight for our summer luau?”
“Uh, no. I have some business to attend to,” Louie replied, having no idea what a luau was.
“Aw, too bad. Hank over there is gonna roast a pig,” the bartender replied, pointing over her shoulder at the fat greasy cook in the back who was chopping up some sort of meat with, a cigarette hanging from his lip.
“Ohh,” Louie replied with wide eyes. “Man, I’m bummed I’m gonna miss it.”
His stomach turned as he thought about eating the man’s hamburgers the week before. He was convinced that was where another regular, Old Man Harry, had disappeared to. Louie turned his attention to the television over the bar. It was baseball season and Louie had started to follow the teams, though he thought the game would be much more interesting with magic and maybe a couple of dragons.
As he raised his beer to his lips a surge of energy suddenly rushed through him, driving the air from his lungs. He set the beer back down and grabbed his chest as a piece of paper slowly floated onto the bar in front of him. He looked at the bartender, but she was preoccupied with taking selfies on her phone. He picked it up and, pulling it into his lap, tapped it with his wand. Scribbled handwriting appeared, reading, Meet me in the alley. Louie swirled his wand, looking from side to side to make sure the bar was still empty. Light mixed and bent, creating a figure pacing back and forth before poofing into smoke.
“The Kilomea,” Louie whispered, pulling out a five and tossing it on the bar. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Leavin’ already?” the bartender asked, putting her hands on her hips. Louie waved and smiled awkwardly as he pulled his hood up over his head and ran outside into the rain.
He looked both ways, unsure where this guy was, squinting down the alley across the way. A hand reached out from behind Louie and yanked him into the alley behind them. Louie whirled around, the tip of his wand glowing, finding the big man standing in the shadow of the alley.
“Point that thing somewhere else,” the Kilomea growled in a baritone voice.
“Don’t go jacking unsuspecting wizards into the shadows,” Louie snapped back, pulling up his hood and sliding his wand back into his front pocket. “What is this all about?”
“I have news on Sirius,” he whispered. “News I think they now know I have. They’ve been watching me.”
“You need to cool it on the Red Bulls, man. You sound like me. All paranoid.” Louie chuckled.
“It’s not a game,” the Kilomea growled, his glamour momentarily showing his true skin. “Sirius knows your girl is in DC and he is zeroing in on her as we speak. If you don’t do something, they are going to come raining down on her.”
“And you heard this from who?”
“From one of the idiots who agreed to join his new family. His hodge-podge of misfit toys.”
“All right, get out of town,” Louie ordered, handing him a ten-dollar bill. “Take the next bus. We will find you when it’s over. Just keep your nose down.”
The Kilomea ran off into the rain, his hood pulled down over his face. Louie looked at the sky and raindrops hit his face as he pulled his phone from his pocket.
...
“That was when I texted you,” Louie finished, looking across the kitchen table at Leira.
“Can we trust this source?” Correk asked.
“Yeah. he is on our side, and he put himself in serious danger coming to me with that information,” Louie replied, nodding. “I just hope they don’t find him. I’m not a fan of his kind but an ally’s an ally, especially on this world.”
“We need to be ready for him,” Leira stated.
“No, what we need to do is figure out a way to draw him and his goons off this trail and onto another one,” Correk corrected. “The dark families have been sending you into traps this for the past year. It’s time we do the same to one of theirs.”
“From what I’ve heard, they want Sirius off the map just as much as we do,” Louie interjected. “He is messing with their plans and making a mockery of their legacy.”
“I’m not interested in catering to the dark families, but I need him off my tail and out of my city,” Leira mused. “We need to draw him and his goons away from DC, but it can’t be too far away or they’ll know it’s a trap.”
Leira tapped her finger on the table, thinking about all the areas around DC. Everything was so densely populated on that coast; too many chances for a human to get hurt. Leira remembered an old abandoned house on the outskirts of Vienna, Virginia from her travels last year. It sat on a large piece of property and was owned by some rich family that had lived there for generations. Sirius might believe they were hiding there.
“I got the place,” Leira announced, standing up and pulling energy into her hands. “Louie, I need you to spread the word that we are located at these coordinates.” She threw a stream of energy at his phone, which lit up the screen. “Correk, go there and glamour the place. Make it look like we live there, then hide.”
She opened a portal and looked at Correk and Louie.
“Where are you going?” Correk asked.
“To get some backup,” she replied with a smirk. “We’ll meet you there.”
Leira stepped through the portal and it closed behind her. The sun was still up in Texas, but she knew that Hagan and Rose would be home. She looked around the sanctuary, staring at the animals the Gardener had brought there to live. Some of them were normal—gazelles prancing across the fields—while others were part mechanical, the remnants of the cruel humans on Earth forever attached to them. There was no time to dally though, as much as she loved feeling the Texas sun on her skin once again.
She raced into the woods, jumping over stumps and fallen trees, and turned past the high ridge of elk trees and sprinted down a barely discernable path. When she reached the thatch-roofed cottage she slowed down and carefully approached the small wooden gate. She paused after she stepped through it, and the front door opened. Standing there with a napkin tucked into the neck of his shirt was Hagan, her former partner and closest friend.
“Leira?” He came forward with a look of concern on his face.
“Hagan!” She smiled and gave him a hug. “Good to see you.”
“You too, kid.” He narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on? I thought you were in the Capital hanging out with Abe and such?”
“There has been a change,” Leira told him, pulling him outside and shutting the door behind him. “Sirius knows we’re in DC, so we’re setting up a trap to draw him and his goons away from there.”
“Sirius? I thought he was gone,” Hagan exclaimed.
“Apparently just injured. Now he’s trying to find me and, well, you know…” Leira swiped her finger across her neck.
“Hell, no,” Hagan bellowed. “That’s enough of a reason for me to come out of retirement, that’s for damn sure. Come on in. You can help me explain it to Rose.”
“No need.” Rose was standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow. “I heard from inside. Hello, Leira, dear. You look wonderful.”
“Thank you.” Leira gave her a crooked smile. “Sorry to pull him away.”
“It’s all part of who he is.” She smiled back. “Come on inside. You can’t go chasing down wizards with barbeque on your chin.”
“Right,” Hagan said taking the napkin and wiping his face. “I’ll give Lois
a call. Lacey Trader over at the Silver Griffins is a good idea too. They both can give us a hand.”
“Perfect,” Leira replied, going into the cabin.
She turned to shut the door behind her, stopping when she saw a set of eyes in the distance, the four pupils taking in the entire scene. “Perrom,” she whispered, watching the deep brown of his skin shift to blend with the trees around him. He disappeared into the forest and Leira sighed as a rock dropped into the pit of her stomach, thinking about Ossonia.
She turned and shook her head, knowing it was neither the time nor the place to worry about that. They were throwing together a trap for one of the strongest wizards on Earth in a matter of hours. This was their chance to take a huge player out of the game, to end his reign of greed and dark magic, but they might only get one chance. Leira had to focus and put on her detective hat. Having Hagan with her would make that easier.
He took the phone from his ear and nodded as he shoved it in his pocket, grabbing his blue zip-up hoodie and throwing it over his shoulders.
“They will meet us there,” Hagan told her. “They need you to spike them over the coordinates.”
“Spike? This isn’t volleyball.
“Whatever…” Hagan wiggled his fingers. “Whatever magically delicious thing you do.”
“You are being offensive in ways you don’t even understand.” Leira chuckled and shook her head, relieved to have her former partner by her side once again.
Hagan leaned over and kissed Rose on the cheek. “Won’t be gone that long.”
“I’ll be here.” Rose smiled, swatting him on the butt as he walked toward the portal Leira had just created. “Come back in one piece.”
“I’ll do my best,” Hagan said as he stepped through.
12
Leira stepped through the portal and waited until Hagan was on her side before carefully closing it. They were behind a large barn on the Vienna property, and Yumfuck ran over to her. Correk was at the edge of the barn with Lois, Lacey, and Louie, who were all nodding in her direction. Correk walked up to Hagan and shook his hand, pulling a sword from his back and handing it to him.
“This might work better than your gun.” Correk winked.
“I’ll never get used to medieval fighting,” Hagan told him, taking the sword. “But this is pretty badass.”
“They have arrived,” Lois whispered, motioning for Leira to come over.
Leira went to the edge of the barn and peeked around the corner at a group of more than a dozen witches and wizards, who were standing on the lawn looking up at the large farmhouse. All were cloaked in black velvet robes and holding their wands at the ready. An angry-looking Sirius appeared in the open front door of the farmhouse.
“They have tricked us,” a wizard grumbled as he came out of the door. “They are not here.”
Sirius, his eyes glowing and clutching his twisted wooden wand, put his hand up, shushing the group. He stepped forward, the light illuminating his withered face and the look of exhaustion in his eyes.
“Wait,” he rumbled, coming down the steps.
The group of magical beings parted, creating a path for him. He stared at the hills in the distance and his frown slowly turned into a smirk. Laughter rumbled in his chest, spilling into the wood and carrying to where Leira and the crew were concealed.
“They may have tricked us, but they are here,” Sirius growled. “Leira, show yourself!”
Leira turned to the others and looked each of them in the face. “You ready?”
“Always,” Lacey replied, rubbing her hands together.
“I’ve been ready,” Lois agreed with a smile. “This idiot has messed with me for far too long. Brother or not, he has seen his last day.”
“For Ossonia,” Correk growled through gritted teeth.
“For Oriceran,” Yumfuck snarled, growing until he towered over them, now eight feet tall.
Leira put her hands on Correk’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. She could feel the darkness creeping into him and the rush of revenge in his blood.
“Be careful,” she warned, forcing him to lock eyes with her. “He knows she is your weak spot, and he will use that to draw you in and trap you. Be smart. Don’t let in the darkness.”
Correk’s expression softened just a bit, and he nodded and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. Leira smiled and turned back toward the house, grounding herself and pulling energy up through her body. Her eyes glowed and her skin displayed wildly flipping symbols. She rolled a ball of energy between her palms and looked at the others, as she slowly stepped out from behind the barn. Sirius immediately raised his wand, ready to strike.
“There you are!” he exclaimed, smiling. “Here I thought you weren’t going to answer the door.”
“I was milking the cows,” she told him through gritted teeth, throwing the fireball straight for his chest as hard as she could.
The others stepped out from behind the barn as Sirius dove to the side, the ball of energy slamming hard against the old farmhouse and breaking the glamour Correk had put on it. Sirius kept his eyes fixed on Leira as he turned over on the ground, anger burning in his chest.
“Kill them all!” Sirius yelled, shooting sparks of dim light toward the clouds.
Both sides took off across the pasture, screaming loudly as they ran into battle. Yumfuck drove forward, swiping his large arms from side to side and knocking anyone in his way to the ground. As he growled loudly spit flew from his pointed teeth and his eyes had turned a dark red. Leira had never seen him so beastly, but she liked it—and they needed it.
Hagan ran to the left, swinging his weapon high and catching one of the wizards in the shoulder. The man grabbed his arm and screamed, dropping his wand. Hagan growled and kept moving past as a deep chuckle issued from his chest. He held the sword in front of him and threw his arm out, catching an approaching wizard in the throat.
He stared at the sword briefly. “This thing is awesome.” A flash of light to the side caught his eye.
He turned just before a fireball reached his head, ducking and slicing through it with the sword. The orb split in half and fell to the ground, sending out sparks in every direction. The wizard’s eyes grew as Hagan stood up again growling at him. The man threw another fireball, this one bouncing off the blade of the sword and barely missing the wizard on its return flight. Hagan stomped over to him, grabbed him by the neck of his robe, and lifted him into the air.
“You messed with the wrong human,” he bellowed, hitting him over the head with the hilt of the sword. He threw the body to the ground and stomped on his wand, breaking it in half. “I missed this.”
Slice right, left, turn and jab. Louie’s sword walked him through every move, injuring one magical being after another while he twisted and turned his wand with the other hand and sent a spray of fireballs in all directions. Lois ducked, but one singed the top of her messy bun. She looked at Louie angrily.
“Friendly fire, bro,” she yelled, turning back and sending a ball of light swirling around the yard that knocked several witches off their feet.
“Nice one,” Louie called. “Sorry about that fireball.”
Lois rolled her eyes and went back to the fight, dodging a fireball only to be hit in the right shoulder by a stream of dark light. The magic spun her around and dropped her to the ground, as smoke rose off her shirt. Correk ran to her and went down on his knees, running his hands over the wound. Light oozed from his palms and covered the burn, shielding it from further injury.
“It’s the best I can do for right now,” Correk commented, helping her to her feet.
Lois rolled her shoulder and nodded. “That’ll do just fine, my friend.”
Across the lawn Leira stood back to back with Lacey Trader, fighting off a ring of wizards who had surrounded them. Leira threw a stream of fireballs which struck the wizards, who shook off the ash and sent new strikes in their direction.
“These assholes are seriously tough,” Leira growled, blocking a s
pell.
“Yeah.” Lacey chuckled, her clothes morphing from business attire to a tight black spandex suit. “They are the misfits; the dregs and hangers-on from the dark families. They are the ones who were never good enough to be on the political side, but good enough to be the muscle. They got tired of having no say.”
“And Sirius gives them that? Duck!” Both girls crouched as a large ball of fire blew over their heads, knocking down four of the wizards and setting their robes on fire. The girls straightened and continued the fight.
“He makes them believe they have a vote,” she replied. “He is a con artist. Always has been, always will be.”
At that moment Lacey spotted Sirius, who was standing on the porch watching his troops battle it out. “Oh, hell no.”
“What?” Leira said turning and watching as Lacey marched through the yard, throwing people out of her way as she headed for Sirius.
Lacey held a dagger in one hand and a wand in the other. “Don’t usually need these, but I figured it was a special occasion since you decided to show up.”
“Fool,” he snarled, sending a bolt of magical lightning at Lacey. She rolled out of the way and looked at him, laughing.
“Come on, old man, that all you got? I thought you were some badass.”
The two fought, exchanging powerful bolts of magic. Lacey moved fast—faster than a normal person, shifting from side to side as she tossed balls of fire in Sirius’ direction. One struck him in the neck and he stumbled over the edge of the porch. He tumbled into the grass and Lacey put her head back and laughed as he scrambled to his feet and looked at his wand, which was three feet away.
“Nah ah ah,” Lacey cautioned, wagging her finger at him.
“Stupid girl,” he grumbled as a witch threw a strike of light directly at Lacey’s head from the doorway.
As Lacey ducked she threw the dagger and it sank into the witch’s arm, sending her back into the house. She turned her head quickly as Sirius dove for his wand, sending out a blast of magic so bright the others had to shield their eyes. When the light dissipated Lacey stood there laughing and Sirius was unconscious on the ground.
