by Brea Viragh
“Oh, come on.” Karsia slugged her shot back in a smooth, practiced movement. “If the Claddium wanted us to have zero contact, then they would be here by now. You think they don’t have eyes on us? With Zenon in custody, they’re probably sending out the platoons to wiretap our phones. I wouldn’t put it past them. They can be sneaky.”
“Doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture,” Astix mumbled through the cotton in her throat. She watched Karsia signal for another round of shots, eyebrows drawing together. “Are you old enough to drink now?”
“I’m old enough to hold my liquor better than you.” Karsia sent a wink to the barkeep, keeping and holding his attention. A sort of enchantment in itself.
“And old enough to develop a smartass attitude.”
Astix dug around in her jacket pocket for the picture of her brother, a recent one she’d managed to get from Karsia before their drive over. She spared a glance down at the image. A mirror of herself with thick hair and cheerful eyes. He’d aged, as had she, but she felt the connection even through the paper. Her twin. He was in trouble.
She leaned forward to interrogate the man behind the counter, a stone-cold fox by any measure, and tried not to look as anxious as she felt. The dude kept his answers mild and his face blank, with the instincts of an experienced bartender. He saw nothing, remembered nothing, too many people passing through to pinpoint a single guy. Astix got the sense he was toying with her and enjoying it immensely.
She’d have to remember to corner him before they left. She had ways of getting him to tell her what she wanted. A little turquoise on the temple, for one thing. And a damn good pushup bra.
“Enjoying the party, ladies?” a voice like a siren interrupted.
Aisanna waved her hand and the person seated next to Astix rose abruptly. No magic required. She slid to the empty seat with a wicked grin.
“You invited her?” Astix jerked her head toward the newcomer.
“Six eyes are better than four. It’s basic math,” Karsia said happily.
“I want to find out what happened to Zee the same as you.” Aisanna settled down on the stool, crossing her legs.
“I’ve already asked around,” Astix insisted. “No one remembers seeing him. Not a damn person.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Without your magic? Not much. Do you know who Zee came here to meet?”
“No. Apparently I’m not important enough to be kept in the loop.”
It shouldn’t have been possible, Astix thought. She shouldn’t have been sitting at a crowded bar under pearlescent blue light at eleven o’clock at night. She certainly shouldn’t have been sitting there with her two sisters flanking her. She caught the reflection of their matching heads of reddish-chestnut hair in the mirrored ceiling above.
“I wish we knew what we were looking for.” Aisanna adjusted her seat for a better view of the room.
“The closer we get to the eclipse, the thinner the veil, and the more magic leaks into this world. Look for signs.”
“Signs of what?”
“Rogue magic,” Astix supplied. “Anything chaotic and out of the ordinary. It’s all related.”
She kept her eyes open for anything that could give her a clue about the man Zenon had come to meet. Someone who must know about the eclipse, the rogue magic, and know how to deal with them both. “Any kind of magic signature,” she finished at last.
“Like you said—” Aisanna held up her hands, the crimson edges of the rune just visible beneath the sleeve of her shirt. “I’m not much use with this. I couldn’t sense a signature if it came up and slapped me on the back of the head. Not anymore.”
They sat together at the bar, perusing the crowd as hours ticked by. Aisanna and Karsia ordered several drinks, talking and laughing among themselves. Astix was, as always, silent. She did not drink past her limit, did not partake in the delightful sisterly banter, and shied away from any friendly touch.
It was quarter past midnight when the lapis lazuli around her neck sent a single, deep swell of heat through her skin. Awareness skittered down her spine and the hair on her neck rose.
Aisanna spared her a look when Astix shuddered, her entire body shaking. “What?”
“It could be nothing.” She turned and hooked her ankle for stability, sending her gaze over the crowd, searching the room for the source of the oddity. Someone powerful was in the room, and their attention was focused on her.
Finally, her sisters tuned in to the disturbance. “Where is it coming from?” Karsia asked. Her chair swiveled around until their knees bumped. “Do you feel it? Like struggling to swim through wet cement.”
“I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Whoever it is, they’re shielding.”
“Is it the man we want?”
God, she hoped not. Whatever magic she was picking up, it was dark. Black. Her brother would have been better off running than turning to whoever it was for protection. “We should fan out. See if we can find him.”
Her words were sticky. Her fingers fumbling. She was suffocating, and used the power of the stone around her neck to fight off the invisible attack. Claddium be damned. They could find her now and it would be nothing—nothing—compared to whatever stranger had focused the force of his magic on Astix and her sisters.
Scanning the room, her eyes fell on the mass of bodies, smoke drifting in from a machine in the back. Then she saw him.
A figure wearing a black hoodie was standing toward the back of the room and staring. He was dressed casually, more for a night at the skate park than a club. The hoodie obscured his face and any distinguishing features, and led down to a pair of baggy nondescript khaki pants. His hands were in his pants, posture slouched. An assumed casualness.
The power was similar to what she’d felt before the explosion at her gig. Astix started. Similar, but not exact. Damn.
Even though she couldn’t see his eyes, she felt the chill of his gaze on her and ducked her head until a wave of hair fell over her face, obscuring her mouth. “There’s someone there,” she whispered to her sisters. “In the doorway leading out toward the restrooms.”
“Do you think he’s one of us?” Aisanna countered.
Karsia was already on her feet. “I think we need to go find out.”
“Hold your horses there, girlie. We can’t go running after every dude in the place. We need more intel.” Aisanna grabbed her sister’s arm and bid her sit down.
“He’s watching us,” Astix murmured. “Why is he watching us so closely?”
“All the more reason to talk.” Karsia refused to be cowed. She craned her neck until she saw above the crowd toward the man. Finally, she spotted him.
“Take it easy, please. Don’t be hasty. You’re always hasty.” No matter how hard Aisanna pulled, Karsia remained standing.
It would be no use fighting with her, with the cold fingers of dread playing a piano concerto on her vertebra. Karsia would investigate despite anyone’s advisement against it.
Astix shook her head at the two. “Stay behind me. And if anything happens—”
“We know how to defend ourselves.”
“You’ll run. Period.” She turned to Karsia and groaned. “Dammit, she’s gone.”
“Bet you money we know where she went,” Aisanna answered.
The two wound through the throng after the rapidly retreating head of the third sister.
People went about their business of dancing, drinking, and finding partners to bed. The familiar hum of magic users filled the air. A frequent haunt for those of their kind, and the dance floor was packed with power. Several people who associated with fire stood by the candelabras while flames licked their fingers. No one paid them any mind. Those with water affinity drew others to them using the pull of their blood. Normal humans were none the wiser. The enchantments written into the walls of the club kept them ignorant and enthralled.
Above the wallop of magic, Astix sensed a stream of cold. It tainted the atmosphere like an oi
l slick on the surface of water. How could one person, whose face she hadn’t seen, disturb her this much? Empathy was not her strong suit, so naturally she decided it must be nerves. The night could play devious tricks on a person. She was worried about discovery. Anxious from being with her sisters. Scared for her brother.
Or maybe they were being targeted.
Her footsteps became heavier each step she took in the man’s direction. This was a bad idea, whispered her psyche.
Still she followed Aisanna and Karsia toward the rear of the club, ignoring grasping hands and numerous male attentions. At last, they approached the doorway where she first saw the man and turned the corner toward the bathrooms.
“Is this where he went?” Aisanna asked in a hushed whisper.
Astix nodded. The man was nowhere. The cinderblocks of the hallway blocked the majority of noise from the main dance floor and Karsia gestured over her shoulder for the others to follow.
Astix started to shake, her hands actually trembling when she reached for the wall to steady herself. She stared helplessly at her sisters.
Incredibly, Aisanna read her fear. “I know you don’t want to be here. Trust me, if there were any other choice, we wouldn’t have pulled you into this. I’m sorry.”
None of them should be there. Aisanna should have been married at her age, with a slew of little ones under her care. Not pale-faced and dragging her sister through a dimly lit hallway at an underground club when she clearly felt sick. And Karsia—well, the girl was better suited for a sorority on a brightly lit campus, flirting with underage men and figuring out which colors to decorate the banners for the upcoming pep rally.
Astix pushed the thoughts away. Her sisters were here of their own volition. The little sprig of guilt she felt was unnecessary.
“Maybe he went into the bathroom.” Karsia took the initiative to push open the door to the men’s room. With three urinals lined to the left and a single stall without any gate to block the occupants from view, it was easy to tell there was no one lurking in the shadows. The women’s restroom was equally empty. Astonishing. Unnerving. A sign.
Karsia came to a halt at the back door. Its lock was broken, the metal hinges bent to let the night inside. She pushed it open and pivoted her head left and right.
“Oh well, guess this is a dead end,” Astix put in optimistically. “Time to go.” A ribbon of unnatural cold still lingered and she trembled.
“No way.” Setting her shoulders determinedly, Karsia walked into the evening. The chill air stung as it reached them, the breeze swollen with the scents of the city.
Something about the smell, about the inky blackness of whatever alley the doorway led to, gave Astix pause. As silly as the whole thing was, danger did lurk for the unsuspecting. Very real threats waited in these kinds of places, dangers with knives, guns, and a desperate taste for innocence. She scrubbed her hands along her arms and hoped the smell of decay was garbage and nothing more.
Wherever the man had gone, he could be lying in wait outside with a weapon and a buyer on the other end of his cell phone. She charged after her sisters, opening the door with such force it banged against the exterior with a crash. Several pigeons took flight, the only sign of life besides the three of them. Where had the owls gone?
And now she realized that the door had led into the back alley where she’d parked her motorcycle. Both Aisanna and Karsia hunched over something on the seat of her bike. There shouldn’t be anything there. Not with the safeguards she had in place.
Astix strode forward and pushed them apart. “What are you two gawking over? A coupon for twenty percent off at Macys?” Though she tried to joke, her voice was unsteady.
“Something you’ll find interesting.” Aisanna slapped the business-card-sized piece of white paper down on Astix’s palm.
Turning it around in her hand, she noted a stamp on the back side. The symbol was three interlocking triangles with a leaf at the center.
“I know this sign.” She brought the card to her nose and inhaled, her mind conjuring an image to go with the scent. Bay. In particular, the Indian bay leaf with a fragrance and taste similar to cinnamon.
“It’s the icon of a club downtown,” Astix told the others. She let the card drop onto Karsia’s waiting hand. “It’s called Constance. Their symbol is a bay leaf. Only people who practice the darker arts walk through those doors and come out again.”
Constance seemed to be a hotspot for the underground witch community. The club’s use of the bay leaf conjured a more negative connotation of the plant itself.
Its meaning? I change but in death.
Dark users took the saying to heart. They supposed it a metaphor for the way they lived their lives, refusing to conform to anything inside of society’s box. Death was their judge and jury. They bowed to no one.
With the eclipse coming closer, she’d hate to be within a mile of whoever walked through Constance’s doors.
“This is a clue,” Karsia insisted. She pointed to the card. “We need to get down there and see if we can find that man again. Odds are good he’s headed to Constance.”
Astix shoved her hands deep in her pockets. “Only a fool would go there. I didn’t sign up for that. I’ll find some other way to break the curse of the runes. Please, don’t go to Constance. I’m begging you.”
“I’m going to have to agree with Astix on this one, little sis.” Aisanna took a step back. “Don’t shoot the voice of reason, but the air hangs heavy tonight. Did you see the blood on the moon? Let’s go inside and get another round of drinks. We can do our searching another day.”
“We might not have another day.” Karsia stood with arms akimbo as her striking face melted into a scowl. “Our brother is missing and we’ll be dead in a few weeks if we don’t find a way to break the rune curse. You’re going to run away now? When we finally have a solid lead?”
“This is nothing!” Astix jerked her hand toward the card her sister held. Willing it to be true. “Trash blown through an alley that happened to land on my bike. This is not a clue. It’s a sign to stay the hell away.”
Karsia blew off the comment without accepting the warning. “You don’t get it, do you? We may be the only ones standing between the fate of the world as we know it and the evil rising. I can’t believe you want to give up.”
“I’m not giving up. I’m being practical. I value my life. Your life. Which is why I came back in the first place. And you’ll throw it all away by going to Constance. Those people!” She choked down a laugh. “They’re not what you think.”
“I know you’re worried, but you have enough power for the three of us. We’ve always known it. We can handle whatever comes our way even with our magic diminishing. Now, I suggest you strap on your big girl pants and follow me down to Constance. I’ll be leaving with or without you.”
Karsia abruptly turned on her heel and headed in the direction of the parking garage.
“Is she serious?” Astix stared at the rapidly shrinking shadow of her sister.
“Deadly. We had better follow her before she gets into real trouble. I’m…I’m sorry about this. About everything.” Aisanna set off with a dejected hunch of her shoulders.
Astix groaned, her mind and desires challenging her feeling of obligation in a battle she was unaccustomed to fighting. Her eyes grew hot and she drew in a shaky breath. With a strong sense of foreboding melting her heart, she followed her sisters. Hoping her instincts, for once, were wrong.
CHAPTER 6
They decided to leave Astix’s motorcycle in the alley behind the dumpsters and all three piled into Aisanna’s car. More leg room. A faster getaway for the three of them, should that become necessary.
Karsia slapped her hand against the dashboard. “Onward to Constance!”
“What a great idea. Three women, alone, two without the means to protect themselves and the other on the radar for a magic she shouldn’t have,” Astix said bitterly as she strapped herself in. “And we’re going to the one pla
ce we should be smart enough to stay far away from.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Karsia pushed.
“I lost it when I was driven out of the house.”
“Unless my ears deceive me, you just cracked a joke.”
“Stanger things have happened,” Astix said, keeping her face neutral. “Now drive before I come to my senses.”
Aisanna sighed and turned the key in the ignition. “I’m on it.”
Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to a poorly lit structure on the outskirts of town. Boarded windows were in line with the overall aesthetic of the place. The two-story might have been a school or a government workplace in its heyday. Instead, wrack, ruin, and the ravages of time had taken their toll. Trees bare of all leaves stooped under the assault of the wind. Piles of rubble lay forgotten, home to numerous animals and insects.
“This looks disgusting.” Karsia peered through the darkness, her nose wrinkling. “People actually come here? Of their own free will?”
“Why not? You did.” Astix let herself out of the backseat and stared at the shabby façade.
The old courtyard was overgrown with grasses left to multiply in wild abandon and masked hidden pitfalls for the unsuspecting club patrons. The streetlights seemed dimmer here somehow.
The symbol of interlocking triangles around a bay leaf, burned into a plank of wood affixed above the front entrance, was the only outward marking to show what was behind those doors.
I change only in death.
Something about the statement tugged at her, at an answering malignance buried deep. Astix shrugged it off and tried to consider the structure for what it was. A building. Simple as that.
Somehow, she just didn’t buy it.
Karsia rubbed her hands together in preparation, her breath a cloud of white in the frigid night. “Well, ladies, let’s go in and see what we shall see.”
“We need to get in and get out,” Aisanna stated, as though they gathered outside a Starbucks instead of a club known to attract those who practiced the baser arts. “I have other places to be.”
