The Late Great Wizard

by Sara Hanover

  Ledgers for the casino, both books. Lists of the whales, the big-time players. A list of the perpetual debtors. Emails concerning their handling. Files on the bribes paid locally to keep some of Richmond’s finest out of their way. Not many of those, I was glad to note, and I did take enough time to see if Carter made their lists and was relieved to see he hadn’t. In fact, he’d been tagged as someone to be wary about. My flash drive gobbled down copies as quickly as it could. Somewhere in there should be mention of my father and what they’d decided to do with him.

  I thought I’d finished when I stumbled across another folder, simply labeled as “Kitsune.” An avatar of a fox-woman decorated it, pretty cool looking even if she did have three tails. It brought to mind her very odd shadow and the possibility of being twin-souled. I couldn’t resist that.

  I should have.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  THE CURSOR BLINKED over the folder and its odd little illustration even as I popped the jump drive out and tucked it in my shoe. You know that thought that tickles the back of your mind, the one that says, you don’t have time for this, you should just run? Always pay attention. It’s usually right. I ignored it and clicked on the folder, pages spreading open to reveal their secrets.

  The Kitsune is a Japanese deity, which I should have guessed, for what self-respecting fox would have three tails? The number of tails indicated its magical strength and prowess, all the way up to nine, which went beyond interesting to just plain gross. At least in the illustration I viewed. It held Joanna’s face, disturbing behind the vixen features, but strangely appropriate, sly and crafty, covetous even as she peered out at me. A Kitsune is meant to be on the good side of things but I already knew better than that.

  Before I had a chance to see if she had a page and graph titled Plan for World Domination, the door opened. I slammed the laptop closed and sprang out of the chair, but Joanna moved quicker, leaping over the table and blocking me into the corner. She didn’t even take a breath as she boxed me in.

  She smiled. “You are so much smarter than you’ve looked.”

  “Thanks. I think. And you, so much meaner.”

  “In the so-called real world? Who has time for that? I’ve been poking at you for years, wondering what it took to make you wake up and totter to the dark side. Did you just now realize that I’m the one who’s been posting all the Internet updates on your sorry lot in life? Reminding people to pity and isolate you? That you couldn’t be trusted, perhaps? Doing everything I could to drive you sideways? So much easier to recruit that way.”

  I hadn’t, actually, but events to date had gone so much farther than that. I shrugged it off, even though it stung that she’d been tormenting me all along. “I have bigger things to think about, like that second soul of yours.”

  Surprise flickered across her face. Then she smiled. Slowly. “Why don’t I just show you?”

  She flicked a hand at me. Before I could blink, let alone dodge, white lightning hit me and I remember flying through the air before the wall stopped me. And that was the easy part.

  * * *

  • • •

  Waking hurt. All over. My stomach bobbed up and down, threatening horrible consequences in the future if the earth didn’t stop moving. Things looked brighter than they should, and the backs of my eyeballs felt fried, not to mention all the bones in my body complained about their treatment. They complained so loudly that I was prepared to find them stacked in a heap in a back alley somewhere, rather than still connected (more or less) and functional. Not as functional as I might hope. While I could sit up, standing seemed absolutely beyond possible, but that might have something to do with the bungee-like cords twisted around my limbs. I peered down at myself. Strike bungee cords. These appeared to be colorful serpents of one kind or another, making me even less likely to try and break free, especially when one lifted its head and hissed at me. Forget zombies. In this state, I couldn’t even outrun a slithering snake. I spared a moment to be disappointed that the maelstrom stone hadn’t saved me this indignity.

  Narrowing my eyes, I peered out at the current view. I sat on the deck of one of those imperial barges I had admired earlier, minus the cocktail crowd and accompanying band. It sailed near empty. Evelyn stood slumped near me, her body half-wound around one of the masts, hanging on for her inebriated life. At least she looked drunk. Sounded it, too, when she waved a finger at me. She had her kimono back on but it kept flapping in the wind, and I could only pray for her that no one was taking a video and posting it. Most interestingly, she hadn’t been tied in place. Too loopy to take advantage of it, but that might not last.

  “S’hello, Tesha.”

  “Evelyn.” My voice creaked as I answered. “Are you all right?”

  She grinned. “I’m fiiiine.”

  And feeling no pain, although I figured that would end shortly.

  A tall, furry figure slipped in between us, Joanna in fox and human form, barely recognizable as a Kitsune, her tails wagging the air. Evelyn tried to catch one and, failing, giggled at herself before trying again, and giggling again. Joanna swung about and slapped her wrist. “Stop that!”

  “So fuzzzzzzy.” Evelyn rolled her head a bit. “Oh, hi, Tesha.”

  She’d forgotten me already. “And hi, again.”

  She snorted, as unladylike as I’d ever heard her, and certain to have appalled her mother. I almost grinned except my face still hurt.

  The boat rocked as someone joined us, or rather three someones, two tall bodyguard/driver types and Hironori himself, dressed in what I could only identify as samurai garb, complete with a helmet and a sheathed sword at his hip. It might not have been, but that was the best description I could give from my brief dive into Japanese culture. Kitsune Joanna bowed before her father. His sharp gaze swept over us.

  “You’ve done well thus far.”

  “Thank you, Father.”

  He lifted my chin with his index finger and gave a satisfied smile. “We have plans for you.”

  “Got to catch me first.”

  He had a fan in his left hand and gestured it over me. “I believe we already have.”

  “Looks can be deceiving.”

  “And here my daughter reported to me that you lacked spirit.”

  “That was then,” Joanna told him. “Now we contend with this.” She grabbed at my left wrist, my arm snake-bound high and tight, and pried open my fist to show him the maelstrom stone. When it didn’t spit or crackle at either of them, I felt a little more betrayed. Hironori let out a slow hiss of interest as he leaned close to examine my palm.

  “You have unknown depths,” he told me. To Joanna, he said, “This is well done. Have you prepared for this?”

  “Only what the goddess has shared with me. The chaos stone has many rumors surrounding it but few enough facts. I have learned that it can only be given away, unless its possessor is killed and it is taken.”

  Hironori assessed me. “I doubt she will give it up willingly.”

  “Damn straight!”

  He turned, snapped his fingers, and told his honor guard to depart. They did, quickly and efficiently. He evidently wanted no witnesses. Joanna went to one knee. “I know we had plans for Statler’s daughter, Father, but if I can possess the one with the stone, not only will my second soul be released to our use but chaos would come under my dominion. I will still be twice the power I am now, as we wished.”

  One of his eyebrows lowered. “My goals depend on more than you, Joanna. You know that.”

  “Congress,” she answered reluctantly, her fox’s face twisting in displeasure.

  “It is one of the roads we have chosen, you and I, planned for many years. And chaos is . . . chaos. I believe the path we forge is better in many ways. We have trained long for this and we are prepared for it.”

  Joanna looked to Evelyn and then to me. I could see the calculations in her e
yes. Be careful, Dad. Someday this daughter is going to outfox you. Her tails swished from side to side as she rose from her knee and stood, humanlike, despite the fur and form. “Innovation should not be brushed aside, if opportunities present themselves.”

  “And I’m not suggesting we do so.” He nodded to his daughter. “If you cannot persuade her to release her stone to you, there are other methods we can use.”

  “Kill her?”

  “Or simply lop her hand off. The appendage would function much like a monkey’s paw, except that we could be in command of its uses and deviations.”

  Okay, that was cringe-worthy. I had been preparing myself for some defiant bravado if they threatened Evelyn to get me to relinquish my prized possession, but this went beyond that. I glared at the stone inhabiting my hand, feeling deceived by its inactivity. I would have to do this the hard way. Their mild disagreement had revealed a few things to me: Evelyn’s possession was definitely a step Hironori did not wish to skip on his way to more power. And Joanna did not wish to give me up either.

  I didn’t intend for them to have either of us.

  I had one small advantage. They had a lot of guests coming at eight pm for the dinner and charity bidding and Monte Carlo night, and all these plans had to be wrapped up neatly and put away without a hint of carnage.

  Snake bindings or not, I managed to get to my feet, slow and steady, eliciting only a solitary forked tongue hissing from my right ankle. The snake gave me a lazy eye before putting its head back into place. My head pounded, my temples line dancing in time to my heartbeat, and I took a deep breath to steady myself. After this pair went through me, they were going to go after Brian, with only Steptoe (maybe) and Carter (maybe) to slow them down. The professor in his boyish form might sling a spell or two, but he couldn’t face them for long, not in his current state, and outside of me, I couldn’t be sure of what allies he might have left. Hiram perhaps, although I didn’t know how far his father’s vows of loyalty might extend. This was about more than Brian, though, this was about my dad, and if the flash drive in my sneaker hadn’t fried along with the rest of me, I might have what I needed to exonerate him, maybe even bring him back. That, I did not intend to give up on easily.

  As if reading my thoughts, fox Joanna smirked down at my feet—my bare feet. She shrugged as my jaw dropped in disbelief. “Missing something?”

  I would just have to make certain that I 1) survived and 2) got that laptop from the office. And if the laptop had the files I needed, chances were that another computer elsewhere had the same information. I had no intention of quitting. I let my shoulders slump and my mouth curve down in defeat. No sense letting Joanna know she’d just poked the bear one time too many. I looked up to meet her gaze. “Just counting my toes.” I peeled my lip back in a half smile.

  Hironori chopped his fan through the air. “Enough. We waste time. I do not wish to give Malender warning of what we hope to accomplish. When we’re done, Daughter, we should have the strength we need to be worthy allies. And then . . .” His dark eyes glittered.

  And then Malender had best watch his back, I guessed, and it almost tempted me to let them succeed and watch the power struggle to see whether the mighty Mal or the cunning Hironori was victorious with only one little hitch. We’d get devoured first.

  I threw Joanna a look. “So. What does it take to split a soul out of you? More than a social media post from a mean girl, I’m betting.”

  “I’d like to surprise you, but since it involves you intimately . . .” She stepped toward me and without my volition, my left arm snapped up, free of its serpentine bond. Joanna’s face curved as she leaned in to have a look at the stone she coveted. Her fox ears perked with her keen interest and her whiskers flared. My palm warmed as she moved close and a sense of hope ran through me. I wasn’t all alone after all.

  Just as she moved near enough that I felt pretty confident of an effective strike, Evelyn groaned. Joanna’s attention jerked around.

  “My head hurts.” She put one hand out, seemingly aware that she clung to the boat’s mast to stay on her feet. “Oh gawd. Did I miss the auction altogether? What were we drinking? My father is going to kill me.”

  “Evelyn, run!”

  “What? Where?”

  “Just RUN,” I yelled at her, and she took three wobbly steps in answer, a good effort but not nearly good enough.

  Hironori pivoted and snapped his closed fan down on her shoulder, and she collapsed like she’d been hit with a two-by-four. Joanna and I stared down at the heap of blonde hair and light blue kimono.

  “Now,” he said to his daughter, and tucked his fan into his belt sash, reached a hand over, and withdrew his curved sword.

  Joanna’s face, what could be seen through the auburn fur of her fox guise, paled slightly, but she faced him and threw her shoulders back and her pointed chin up. I had no idea what Hironori planned until he raised his sword high over his head, chanting in Japanese. She confirmed my fear when she braced herself.

  His blade came down. The lantern lights on the boat caught its silvery blaze as it fiercely descended upon Kitsune/Joanna. His voice rose and she called out, her voice laced in pain and obedience. Both seemed a little busy with the ritual.

  It would be a good time to call on whatever strengths I had.

  I flexed my left hand and ran it over me, over the writhing snakes that fell apart as the stone grazed over each one. Scales and serpent heads fell to the deck, and I danced my bare feet away from snapping fangs and forked tongues as they flopped about, dying. Joanna had left my bracelet dangling on my wrist, probably hoping to claim it when she got the stone. I ran my fingers over it.

  “Remy! Remy! Remy!”

  Fog boiled up over the river until I could see nothing but the barge itself, in a halo of muted light, as Hironori stood over his daughter and sliced her in two. The parts stood as one for a moment as the blade hit the deck, Hironori bowed with the effort.

  Remy appeared just in time to see Kitsune/Joanna fall in two different directions.

  She let out a startled cry before dropping into a balanced stance, hands up, her own shield sparkling into place, and I conveniently stood behind her as she faced the Hashimotos. All of them. For the two fox figures curled and thrashed, halves, and we could see them sprouting the missing legs and arms, new paws, whiskers and skulls writhing as they attempted to become whole again. Hironori let out a cry of triumph. I thought he might have been premature. One shaped into Joanna as she’d stood before, but the other grew not in vulpine curves, but sharp spikes and angles, a travesty of the Kitsune silhouette but an echo of the shadow I’d see before. It moved in jerks and fits until it crouched over Evelyn’s unknowing body.

  “Leave her be,” Remy ordered, and crossed the deck carefully, one foot over another, and I followed in her shadow.

  Hironori drew himself up to face us, nostrils flared in his narrow face. “You are too late.”

  “It appears I may be just in time.”

  He curled a lip. “Perhaps if you came as a guardian of the Society, with your fellows as backup, you might survive me. But not now. Not as you are. Your new master holds no sway here. I have not one but two daughters here before me, and together our power is trifold. Retreat now while I allow you.”

  I could see the spiky figure bent over Evelyn, prying and poking at her as if trying to find a weak spot. With each prod, Evelyn let out a weak gasp. The sound of her distress tore at me. I sidled over behind Remy’s shield, and with each step closer, my palm grew hotter. I didn’t know what I could do, but I knew I had to do something, anything, as Evelyn’s cries grew weaker and more pitiful. In front of me, Hironori pulled his sword back into position and began to advance on Remy.

  He, dressed in full samurai gear, and she—well, I must have pulled her out of a cozy evening with a book in front of a fireplace, because she wore stockings instead of shoes, stone
-washed jeans, the kind with those artsy tears in them, a slouchy sweater top, and her hair tied back in a swinging ponytail. She still looked gorgeous enough to make Brian and Steptoe pant, maybe even Carter, although I hoped panting was beyond him.

  And she looked ready to duel Hironori to the death, balanced on the balls of her feet, her arms leanly muscled and tensed as she maintained her shield, her face tight in concentration. I hoped she could hold her own. As I watched, she pursed her lips and whistled, and those slender white and red hounds of hers began to leap out of the fog and onto the deck with clicks of their nails and sinister rumbles.

  Her hounds flowed around us, flanking their mistress, jumping now and then with nips and yips at their targets, bounding back and forth.

  I thrust my hand between the spiked shadow and Evelyn, peeling it away, hoping it would go the way of the shredding snakes—and it did hiss. Coiling backward on its haunches, it bared its teeth and came at me. It grew more and more solid with every hissing breath as it gained strength. It snagged a paw at me and I could feel its claws, like ice, raking over the back of my wrist. It burned like fire and stung like a thousand bees and worse, it felt like sheer evil. I twisted my wrist over and grabbed that paw, crushing it against my stone. I heard it sizzle like scalding water falling on cold stone. The spiky thing let out a squeal and shuffled away from me, out of range, and its voice settled into a low growl. Two hounds bounded in, teeth flashing, and yelped as they caught the shadow’s edges. They retreated abruptly, back by my feet, stomachs to the deck as they still dared to growl in menace.

  I reached out and caught Evelyn by an ankle, determined to pull her out of reach. The hounds, deciding that this might not be as painful as attacking, grabbed the kimono by its sleeves and helped. It would be a close one as to whether we’d disrobe Evelyn completely or get her to safety first.