by Nichols, TJ
The room was well lit, but there were no candles or incense or other witchy paraphernalia. The room could’ve belonged in any successful corporation. Jude sat in the only vacant chair. Across the large wood table sat three witches he was too familiar with.
The man in the middle was Landstrom. He hadn’t like Jude from the first time they’d met. Jude had no idea what he’d done to offend the witch—probably breathed wrong.
Holling was the dark-haired woman. She like the rules followed. The other woman was Tomlins. She didn’t ask him much, but then she didn’t need to as she could rummage through his thoughts like it was a discount clothing bin. He hoped he had a large sign that read ‘Innocent’ up today.
Jude pressed his lips together, not wanting to say anything that might be misconstrued. They could talk first, but he was itching to ask why he was here. Again. His toe almost tapped the floor as the silence stretched a little further. He was about to crack and speak, but Holling got in first.
“Thank you for coming.” She smiled.
Attending wasn’t optional; he’d learned that the second time he’d been summoned and a snake shifter had been sent to bring him in. That hadn’t been fun. “I couldn’t turn down the invitation.”
“Skip the games, Sullivan. You know why you’re here. You can’t stay out of trouble.” Landstrom rested his elbows on the table. There was a smirk on his lips as though he was far too pleased with himself.
Jude swallowed hard. Seeing Landstrom happy could only be bad. “Actually, I don’t know why I’m here.”
Tomlins leaned over and whispered something, hopefully that he was telling the truth, but he was starting to doubt that now he was here. He’d clearly screwed up, and Landstrom thought he had him.
“You went to Vegas two months ago?” Holling asked.
Jude’s stomach twisted, and a rush of warmth spread over his skin. How did they know about that? “Yes. I thought it might be fun.”
And it had been. It had also been quite profitable. After months of practicing at local casinos to get the slot machines to cough out small wins, he’d gone for a Vegas jackpot. And had gotten it. The memory didn’t make him smile now.
“You got very lucky,” Landstrom said with glee. Landstrom wasn’t talking about the cocktail waiter who’d visited Jude’s room with a bottle of tequila.
“Yeah, you know how it is. Put a hundred bucks in and something falls out.” He had played carefully, spent four hours at the machine, putting coins in and getting small bits back. He’d had to learn the machine and the way its circuits flowed. He’d had to make it look real. No miracle win on the first quarter that would draw the wrong attention.
Tomlins shook her head.
Damn it. She knew that he’d rigged the machine with magic. He had to stop thinking about it, but it was too late. There was no point in playing innocent. “No one got hurt.”
“You used magic for self-gain. You risked exposing the paranormal community, again.” Holling sounded disappointed more than anything, as though she couldn’t understand why he kept screwing up. It wasn’t like he did it deliberately…
Landstrom looked like he wanted to stand on the tallest building in Seattle and crow his delight. “You’re a hazard, Sullivan. From the first time we met you, to now, nothing has changed.”
“That’s not true. I’m careful. I haven’t had any accidents. I haven’t revealed magic to anyone.” But they had covered up his errors before. It was hard to explain why a whole town, really more of a small city, suddenly lost power. Aside from charging things, he generally avoided using magic unless he had to, so that he didn’t accidentally break something. Playing with slot machines had been a way of letting the need to use magic trickle out, and even then the first time he’d tried it the machine had broken. He’d fried its insides. The casino had given him credit, but it had been two weeks before he’d been brave enough to go back and try again. That time he’d gone home one hundred dollars richer.
“You’re lucky the casino didn’t investigate why their jackpot suddenly went off,” Landstrom said. “You put us all at risk.”
“They’re meant to go off.” It was random, wasn’t it?
From the expression on the witches’ faces, he wasn’t so sure. Were they going to make him hand back the money? He couldn’t. He’d already invested it. If he was careful, he never needed to work again. He could do whatever he wanted. When he left the country, they couldn’t follow him, could they?
“You don’t seem to understand how precarious our status is. If we are rediscovered, there will be a fresh round of witch hunts. Or worse, the military will seek to exploit not just witches but every other paranormal being.” Holling spoke calmly and carefully. “Taking a jackpot may mean nothing to you, but what if every witch did it? If we all used our magic to get what we wanted, society as we knew it would unravel. We have to live within human confines.”
Jude frowned, not sure where this was going. He did try to live like a human. He considered himself human, a human with magic. “What do you mean?”
“What we mean, what the Coven has determined, is that you are to be given a final test that will determine your fate.” Landstrom laced his fingers and grinned
“What kind of test?” He’d never been good at tests. He’d barely passed the test the Coven gave all new witches to make sure they were safe to go into the world. Maybe he was dangerous.
“The Coven wants to test your commitment to the paranormal community,” Holling said.
That didn’t sound too bad. He didn’t want to hurt the paranormal community or humans. “I am committed to the Coven. I don’t want to be exposed.” Or burned at the stake.
“Good.” Holling nodded. “But this test won’t be easy.”
“What is it?” Would it be today? Panic squeezed his heart hard. He wasn’t ready.
“You’re to go to Mercy South in Colorado to find and stop the creature that’s mutilating cattle,” she said.
“What? How do you know it isn’t a wolf or a bear or something?” This wasn’t the kind of test an electro-mage should be given. He didn’t know anything about animals.
“It’s not. It’s a paranormal creature of some kind.”
A paranormal creature. They were making him actually protect the paranormal community by policing it. “How do I stop it?”
“That depends on what it is.”
“Don’t you have investigators for this kind of thing?” He didn’t even know where to start looking.
“Do you want to quit already?” Something about the way Landstrom spoke sent a warning shiver down Jude’s spine.
Tomlins glared at Landstrom. “We do have investigators. We are giving you this chance. Perhaps you would like to become one and put your magic to use for us.”
He wanted to laugh. His magic had no use. But they were offering him a place with the Coven as though he could be useful.
“I’m not quitting.” But he didn’t sound as sure as he wanted to, and he felt even less certain. This was some kind of trap if Landstrom was happy. “But what if I don’t want to be an investigator?”
Tomlins tilted her head. “Electro-mages are rare. Your skills would be valued.”
Landstrom looked like he’d swallowed a frog and it was stuck in his throat.
What could he do that other witches couldn’t? He was rare…how rare? No, he was going to travel, not get into bed with the Coven.
“We will send an investigator in two weeks. That is all the time we can give you,” Holling said.
Jude frowned. “If I pass, I get to be an investigator?”
He wasn’t entirely sure if that was what he wanted. Part of him never wanted to have anything to do with the Coven after this. The rest of him wanted to believe that he was a good witch and did have a place in the paranormal community. He’d never belonged anywhere.
Holling nodded. Landstrom scowled.
“And what happens if I fail?” If this was a test, there had to be consequences. What if he
wasn’t any good and he couldn’t solve problems?
Landstrom’s smile returned. “You will be stripped of your magic.”
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Afterword
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Other books by TJ Nichols
Studies in Demonology trilogy
Warlock in Training
Rogue in the Making
Blood for the Spilling
Mytho series
Lust and other Drugs
Greed and other Dangers
Familiar Mates
The Witch’s Familiar
The Vampire’s Familiar
The Rock Star’s Familiar
The Soldier’s Familiar
The Vet’s Christmas Familiar
The Siren’s Familiar
Holiday novellas
Elf on the Beach
The Vampire’s Dinner
Poison Marked
The Legend of Gentleman John
Silver and Solstice
A Summer of Smoke and Sin
A Wolf’s Resistance
Hood and the Highwaymen
Writing as Toby J Nichols
Ice Cave
The Lost Sea
About the Author
Urban fantasy where the hero always gets his man
TJ Nichols is an avid runner and martial arts enthusiast who first started writing as child. Many years later while working as a civil designer, TJ decided to pick up a pen and start writing again. Having grown up reading thrillers and fantasy novels, it’s no surprise that mixing danger and magic comes so easily. Writing urban fantasy allows TJ to bring magic to the every day. TJ is the author of the Studies in Demonology trilogy and the Mytho urban fantasy series.
TJ has gone from designing roads to building worlds and wouldn’t have it any other way. After traveling all over the world TJ now lives in Perth, Western Australia.
TJ also writes action/horror as Toby J Nichols.
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