Seeking Witches

by Cailee Francis

  “One day I’d like to meet one of yours,” she replied. Lisa realised a moment too late that she might’ve held back in saying that. Rose’s mother had gone missing after all, but Rose didn’t seem bothered by her comment. If anything, she seemed touched by it.

  “We’ll have to do that then,” Rose agreed with a soft smile. Even though she wasn’t in contact with her succubus mother, she had other relatives on her father’s side. They were all human and non-supernatural, so she and Lisa would need to be careful not to reveal too much information. Often she didn’t need to think about it, so it could be easy to forget.

  “I’ll make a few calls and see what I can find out about necromancers in the city.” As Rose climbed from the sofa, she set the book back on to it. She stole a kiss from Lisa, before making her way out into the kitchen. She hoped the others might figure out some information between them while she talked to some people.

  She’d recently made a friend in Chinatown – Desmond Lee, which she suspected wasn’t his real name. He was a budding occultist and herbalist who’d barely escaped a dragon attack with his life. He’d told her straight out that he owed her bigtime, and while Rose wasn’t going to push to recoup that debt, she could certainly use some information if he had it. She didn’t feel that she owed him that much, but she knew she might come to need his help.

  Rose dialled his number, as she sat down on a wooden chair at Erin’s kitchen table. It was a rustic country kitchen, and it was a bit bare other than for food like biscuits and frozen pizza they’d brought with them. Erin and the others usually only stayed at the cabin during weekends and for coven meet-ups. It was a bit run down, but the building was watertight and had the basics, and that was all they needed.

  The phone rang a few times and then Rose heard a voice on the other end of the line.

  “Hello?”?

  “Desmond!” A moment passed as she waited to see if he recognised her.

  “Rose, is that you?”

  She chuckled. “It’s me. I was wondering if you could help me with something. Are you busy right now?”

  It sounded as though he closed a door. “No, not really. What’s going on?”

  Rose hadn’t been in touch since the day after the dragon incident, so he had more reason to wonder why she was calling.

  “One of my friends was attacked by a draugr. He survived, but he’s not doing so well. I’m wondering if you might’ve heard about any other draugr activity or anything out of the ordinary about the sort who could summon one?”

  “What? That’s not a normal thing to happen,” he exclaimed with a tone of surprise.

  “I know,” Rose replied.

  “If anyone’s summoning one, they’re a freaking necromancer. So I suppose that means you want to know about necromancers in the city?”

  “That’s kind of what I’m looking for, yes.”

  He hesitated, and then Rose heard a murmur of voices in the background. His voice dropped down noticeably in volume. “I’ve heard rumours about one or two of them, but I don’t have a lot of privacy to talk right now, Rose. Can we meet up somewhere?”

  She thought about it and didn’t fancy driving back into town and returning in the dark, and it would mean taking Lisa’s car. Rose knew she could invite him to the cabin, but it wasn’t her home, and she felt justifiably cautious about it.

  “Could you call me back from somewhere more private?” Rose asked. Her voice held a tone of apology.

  “Yeah I could,” Desmond acquiesced. “Where’s a pay phone when you need one?”

  She smiled at that. They had pretty much disappeared in recent times.

  “I’ll be waiting. If it helps, you could take magical precautions so you’re less likely to be overheard?”

  “What about on your side?” he asked, a slight undercurrent of nervousness to his voice.

  “I’m not a witch. I won’t put you on speaker-phone, if that helps?”

  He released a deep breath. “It does.”

  “Is there anything you can tell me for now?” she asked, feeling a bit impatient.

  “Only that there’s reason to be cautious, Rose. I’ll call you back shortly.”

  He hung up and she did the same.

  As Lisa drifted into the room, Rose took her hand.

  “He sounded worried,” she said, gazing up at her girlfriend’s loving face.

  Lisa slipped her arms around Rose, just holding her in the chair as they enjoyed a quiet, comforting moment together in Erin’s kitchen.

  “I love you so much,” Lisa told her. “I’ve thought about it and I’m not sure how safe I feel here – I worry about you and the others. Maybe we should all go somewhere else for a while? I know what I said before, but I just get a feeling like it might not be a good idea to stay here right now. Someone knew the others were here, Rose.”

  Rose nodded, as her hand lightly caressed Lisa’s arm. “I’m starting to think more along those lines too. Whoever did this is powerful or kind of stupid, to be meddling with dark forces like that. It’s better if we can present a united front, but I’d rather we were somewhere they had no idea about.”

  “So where should we go?” Lisa asked uncertainly.

  “I really don’t know,” Rose replied. “The others could stay over at our house, but I’d rather a necromancer didn’t come looking for trouble there, now or later.”

  “We could stay at a hotel,” Lisa suggested, “though it mightn’t be ideal.”

  It prompted a nod from Rose. “We could, but yeah – there might be a lot of other people around, who could be hurt if there’s a confrontation. If anyone comes here, they’re going to stand out like a sore thumb. That wouldn’t happen at a hotel, unless they’re dressed or act in a way that suggests ‘unfriendly neighbourhood necromancer’.”

  She grinned at that. “You know those necromancers, always showing off.”

  “Ha, you’re probably right. I think whether we stay here is up to each of us,” Rose admitted.

  A moment later her phone rang, cutting Rose’s conversation with Lisa short.

  “I’d better take this.”

  Lisa nodded, and then slipped back out of the room, returning to the others.

  Rose was expecting it to be Desmond, but it was Agent Heriman.

  “Hello?” she asked, surprised by his voice.

  “Are you alright there, all of you?” His tone of voice was firm, as though he expected there might be trouble.

  “Yeah, we’re all fine here. What’s going on?” Rose asked.

  “Raven was attacked at the hospital. He’s alright, but we want to take the coven into protective custody.”

  Rose rushed out into the living room, where she saw the others sitting around talking… to Agent Heriman.

  “Rose, are you there?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, that’s just not possible,” Rose insisted, before disconnecting the call.

  She’d left her sheathed sword near the lounge. She reached down, quickly drawing it, and then approached the angelic Enforcer.

  “Everyone get back away from him. That might not be the real Agent Heriman.”

  “I’m pretty sure it is,” Lisa told her, easing back over to Rose’s side. “Let’s not do anything hasty, alright?”

  The others stepped away from him as well.

  “Perhaps someone would care to explain to me why I got a phone call from Agent Heriman a moment ago, while he was sitting in here talking to you all at the same time? Both can’t be real.”

  Heriman shook his head. “Not true. There’s a time differential between here and Headquarters. I rang you a minute ago.”

  Rose felt momentarily unsure, but it didn’t make sense. “If that is so, how would you be able to respond to me, and still be here at the same time? One of you isn’t real, and since you’re making excuses, I’m going to guess it’s you.”

  Rose noticed a sudden change in the energy of the room, and a change in stance among the coven members. They were preparing to attack him.r />
  Agent Heriman’s expression changed into something more of a smirk, then he winked and disappeared. He was gone and teleported just like the real Agent Heriman could. It wasn’t an ability most people had; it was rare among mages other than Enforcers.

  “Please make sure he’s gone,” Rose asked the others.

  She couldn’t sense what they were doing, but they paid clear attention to the room around them. Lisa searched the cabin, while Jamie checked outside the window.

  “There’s a motorcycle out near the front gate now. It’s leaving, so it might be him.”

  “Let’s get a better shield up around this place,” Alexis exclaimed fearfully.

  Lisa found no sign of him in the cabin, so thankfully it appeared they were alone for the moment.

  Rose kept back as the coven set to work, and only told them what Agent Heriman had said on the phone once they were done. She still wasn’t sure if he was the real one or not, but she thought so.

  “When Agent Heriman was on the phone, he told me someone attacked Raven at the hospital. Raven’s alright, but it looks like this is more serious than we thought. He suggested we go into protective custody.”

  Jamie shook his head. “No. I trust us to protect ourselves more than I trust their Enforcers. Let’s just build up the wards on this place and ride it out.”

  “And how long is that going to take?” Alexis asked, annoyed.

  “We can see how things go,” Rose suggested. “If it drags on, we could involve the Enforcers more.”

  No one protested the suggestion but she could only hope her advice was good and wouldn’t lead to any of them being hurt or worse.

  Her phone rang, and she wondered if it might be Heriman – real or otherwise, until she saw Desmond’s initial had popped up on her phone screen. He’d been okay with her listing his number that way in her phone, but he’d discouraged her from using his full name. Now she was beginning to understand some possible reasons for his caution.

  “Hello, this is Rose,” she answered this time, so he’d have less reason to express frustration at her telephone manner.

  Talking on the phone usually wasn’t her favourite thing. It was more like a necessary evil, other than when Lisa called or she called her; then it was different.

  “I’m out in my dad’s garden now and I took some precautions. No one should overhear us,” he explained.

  Rose wondered what kinds of precautions he’d taken – magical ones, probably, unless he was into technology as much as he was the occult. “I’m glad to hear that,” she replied softly, and stepped into the kitchen once again. “We can’t be too careful. What can you tell me about these people?” she asked, avoiding use of the word ‘necromancer’. It wasn’t that she was worried anyone at her end would overhear her now, but she respected Desmond’s preference for caution.

  “I’ve only heard rumours, but I know about two necromancers in the city. One’s a goth woman – she calls herself Lily Devine, but it’s not her real name. I mostly see her at pagan meets and festivals. I think she’s more a medium than a summoner. She probably could summon a draugr, but I can’t see it being her. She’s actually kind of nice.”

  Rose arched an eyebrow. “Okay, so a nice necromancer. Who’s the other one?”

  A few moments passed before he answered. “I’m not actually sure who he is, but I’ve heard things about him. He’s awakened the dead, and that he’s into some fairly heavy stuff. I’ve heard he works contracts for the vampires and the dragons when they need some necromantic activity on the down-low.”

  She realised there must be information out there on how to contact him, even if it was just by word of mouth. Desmond had told her more than she knew before, though rumours didn’t necessarily equal fact.

  “Do you have any idea how I can find him?” she asked, wanting to avoid directly approaching the vampires or dragons.

  “No,” he admitted, “but chances are if it’s him – and if you don’t find him first, he’ll find you.”

  3

  Rose held Lisa in bed that night, listening to the soft sounds of her breathing as she slept. Rose found it hard to fall back asleep and switch off her mind, as she felt she might need to be on her guard.

  They’d cautiously ventured out of the house earlier that night to lay their offering and say a few words near the ritual site where Raven had been trapped, but they didn’t stay out there long, and soon Rose and the coven members retreated to spend the night in the dubious safety of the cabin.

  With a smile, the succubus’s mind turned to Jojo, who was Lisa’s kitten – and probably hers too at this stage. Jojo had burgeoning magical abilities, which had meant it wasn’t practical to leave her with one of their human neighbours. Andrea – one of Rose’s lovers – was minding her for now, so they knew she’d be alright. Jojo might’ve been levitating cans of cat food down from Andrea’s shelves at that moment, for all Rose knew. Despite her special powers, she was still a cat. She loved her food and adored attention from people she knew and trusted.

  Rose was hungry and she tried to avoid paying attention to the fact. It wasn’t the regular, human kind of hunger either, which had been more than satisfied with oven-baked pepperoni pizza earlier in the evening. Rather it was a craving for sensual energy; her body ached for it, craving its sweet sustenance. She knew Lisa would help her feed and there was nothing to worry about, but the approach of the Succubus Moon meant her hunger was more intense than usual. She’d noticed it growing over the past few days, but her self-control was as strong as ever.

  Ordinarily she’d have been alright for a few days more, but Rose wasn’t sure yet how the approach of the Succubus Moon would affect her. She thought it would intensify her cravings, but its effects could be so much stronger than that. It was part of the reason why she didn’t want to be stuck at the cabin for too long, but Lisa would help her in all the ways she could, Rose knew. Jamie might be in much the same predicament, she realised, because she recalled Lisa telling her once that he was a werewolf. If their stay at the cabin dragged on, it could get interesting.

  Rose sighed softly and then snuggled in against Lisa’s warm shoulder. Despite all the circumstances and worries, being here with Lisa was her own little piece of heaven. Things would be alright – they had to be. She wasn’t accepting any other alternative, at least while she had a choice about it. Her thoughts turned to Heriman and the Enforcers’ offer of protective custody. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  Rose knew it would be hugely helpful to have the Enforcers’ help, but if the necromancer could imitate the Enforcers, where would it leave them? She supposed the same could be said of any of the coven members at the house, but the wards around it should prevent the necromancer from being able to attack anyone inside. They had to do something about this, but they still had to figure out the finer details. Waiting it out didn’t feel like the safest option. It felt more like wasted time.

  Lisa was awake, Rose realised, and she was watching her in the near-darkness with sleepy eyes.

  Rose’s lips curved into a smile, as she sensed she might’ve been caught watching her. She turned more fully on to her side in bed and drew Lisa softly against her.

  “Did I wake you?” Rose asked, closing her eyes for a moment.

  Lisa smiled at that. “I’m not sure. I just woke up and you were looking at me, though your mind seemed far away.”

  That sounded likely to Rose. She already knew her thoughts had drifted to other things. “There’s just a lot going on right now.”

  “I know,” Lisa replied, as she stroked Rose’s lightly-tangled, pink hair. Her fingers tightened, as she leaned in to kiss Rose’s lips. “Mmmm.”

  Rose felt her energy tug ever so slightly on Lisa’s own, as her succubus instincts stirred.

  Lisa was asexual, and for her that meant she didn’t feel compelled to have sex the way some other people do. It wasn’t that she was chaste or didn’t enjoy the time she and Rose shared; she just never had the instinctive urge
to make love. When she did, it was a choice for her, rather than an instinct. Lisa came to Rose in her own way, and her own time, and that was what worked best for both of them.

  Rose was much more strongly driven by her instincts, mainly on account of being a succubus. Just as Lisa did, she loved the beautiful relationship and life they shared together. Rose often craved energy, but she didn’t feel comfortable taking much from her girlfriend. The succubus’s greatest fear was that she might lose control of her instincts and harm Lisa by taking too much energy.

  She knew that would likely never happen, with the possible exception of the approaching Succubus Moon, when her powers and urges might grow to unmanageable proportions. She just knew she had to be careful. Lisa was warm and comfortable beside her, and her kisses were so loving and tender. Rose loved her more than anything, though her desires were so deeply entangled with her succubus nature that it was what she knew of desire and need.

  “I want you so much,” Rose whispered to her, deeply kissing her girlfriend and drawing her closer.

  Lisa kissed her lovingly back, and rolled atop her beneath the blankets, grasping Rose’s hands and lacing her fingers with her own. “You have my heart and more,” she told her succubus girlfriend, smiling at the way Rose gazed up at her.

  “I want you to take some of my energy, even just a little,” Lisa told her, as she pressed Rose’s hands back against the bed. She knew Rose well enough to tell she was hungry.

  A smile played over her lips, especially as Rose was normally the more dominant one, but she wanted to take care of her girl and give her the pleasure she craved.

  It was hard for Rose not to open herself to her girlfriend’s seductive kisses, and her mischievous smile. She’d been aching to make love to Lisa again for a while, but she knew Lisa made her wishes known in her own time. This seemed pretty clear to Rose, and she didn’t want to fight it when she wanted Lisa too.

  “I’ll only feed a little,” Rose promised her, instinctively reaching out with her senses and drawing in the sweet, warm essence of Lisa’s energy. She felt immediately energised and noticed a tell-tale sparkle of pleasure in Lisa’s eyes.