by D. R. Perry
“No, actually.” Bianca frowned. “His ghost isn’t anywhere to be found, so I think it’s much more likely that someone took his body to the Under. The Gattos can’t do that.”
“But Hopewell’s a changeling. He could have taken Tony there.” It all started making sense. “He knows what we can do, and he doesn’t want to give us any more ghostly allies. If Tony’s ghost got trapped in the body by the copper blade, then taking his body away immediately after it got removed would mean he’s stuck down there.”
“Yeah.” Bianca nodded. “Even if someone like Fred or Sir Al found his body down there and brought it back, Tony’s ghost would still be stuck without a monarch's permission to leave. And with Ignacius having moved on, there’s one less pair of eyes on our side.”
We walked out through the sliding glass doors at the front of the hospital. I kept pace with Bianca, focusing my energy on my hand so she’d feel it against hers. She turned her head and gave me a shaky smile and moved her fingers so they curled around where mine would have been. As insubstantial as I was in her world, she made an effort to help me feel I belonged in it. I understood hope and how it intersected with love because Bianca had helped me learn how, and while I couldn’t agree, I didn’t blame Olivia Adler one bit for her irrational reaction to Tony’s death.
“Olivia’s tenacious.” I focused my energy on our mingling hands. Bianca sent a current of her own back. The resulting tingle reminded me of how much closer we were now. How much more connected, and what that meant. “And she’s a woman in love. I happen to know that’s a powerful combination.” I gazed at her. “What do you expect her to do? Give up?”
“I expect her to figure out what actually happened, no matter how painful the truth might be.” Bianca sighed. “She’s got a ton of work ahead of her. Helping Mr. Ichiro will probably be the easiest part.”
“Do you think the truth will hurt her so much?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Olivia specifically?” Bianca looked up at the sky where the moon hung like a lopsided alabaster bowl. “Most of the time, truth is like that—nothing but pain, especially if you have to face it alone. And right now, she thinks she does.”
“Good thing we’ve got each other.” I sent a second surge of energy to my translucent hand, knowing she’d feel a cool tingle.
“Yeah, we’re the lucky ones.” She did the same, sending back a warmth I’d almost given up on experiencing.
“Do you think Olivia can handle her classes, the trial, and investigating what happened to Tony?” I had my own ideas, but I wanted to hear hers.
“I don’t know. She might not be going against Hopewell and the Gattos with Tony like she’d want, but she won’t be alone.” Bianca picked up her pace and caught up with her friend. “She’s got the law on her side, and all of us, too. I guess we’ll have to wait and see exactly what she does.”
We didn’t have to wait long.
Wands Out
A Providence Paranormal College Short Story
Charles and I followed Nox Phillips, running as fast as we could to get there in time. I knew she needed our help to rescue Bianca Brighton and Olivia Adler, but she’d never said from what. Charles didn’t care, but I’m his better half for a reason. I question everything.
At the corner of the block, we saw a blast of light. Even from this far down, I felt its heat and force. I pushed against it with my Air magic instinctively, which let us keep running. Before we turned down the alley next to the shattered building, Nox drew her wand.
“Good thing we slept in today, Ian.” Charles dropped me a wink.
“Yeah.” I grinned at my boyfriend. “We got more sleep than most EMEs.”
The smoldering building caught fire, going up quickly. Olneyville had loads of old buildings, and this one was no exception.
“No, Ian!” Nox’s command stopped my initial reaction to cut and run.
Charles gripped my free hand and his warm comfort eased my fear.
Figures fell from the window and hit something springy. Their contact with the item revealed it—a trampoline. Professor Thurston had explained this just the week before. A glamour, one I knew Nox hadn’t cast. She grasped her wand.
“Stand back!”
Charles and I drew ours, ready to help. Good thing, since she used hers to blast the burning building. We’d been doing exactly this type of exercise in the Advanced Magical Theory Lab on a smaller scale. I added my air to her water, turning the effect into a pressurized blast. Charles used his to dial the water and pressure up to eleven.
“Move, already!” I knew my boyfriend rolled his eyes even though his face turned toward the building instead of me. His tone gave him away.
The people who’d fallen scurried away, making way for the person Charles had seen up there, who was still waiting to evacuate. A humanoid figure appeared at the hole in the wall. I recognized him right away by his trench coat and scuffed Converse All-Stars. Tony Gitano. I ignored the screams coming from my left as I watched the reason for them. A shadow fell on Tony from inside the building.
Nox screamed, an incoherent cry of defiance against the fire. She moved up closer to the building, and our combined magics took Charles and me with her. The water we put out increased exponentially. I felt the surge of Faerie magic. The fire should have taken a hit then. Instead, it increased.
The shadow behind Tony solidified into a shambling brute of a man. Built like a linebacker but moving like a Romero zombie, he was the stuff of nightmare. His tattered suit smoldered, skin scorched from the bone on one side of his face. His right hand held a blade that gleamed orange, either copper or lit by the fire, I couldn’t tell. What I could see was that he'd pulled the knife out of Tony's pocket and that it had a pointed tip and sharp edge.
Olivia was flailing in Bianca's grasp. Her hair covered her face, wild and desperate, and I understood. She loved Tony, and would do anything to get him out of that building alive. If it were Charles up there with me scared senseless, I'd want Olivia to warn him for me.
I opened my mouth to shout a warning to Tony but didn’t have the strength to get more than a whisper past my lips. I felt like an utter failure, so I gripped my boyfriend's hand tighter, and my wand too. If I couldn't warn Tony Gitano, maybe I could tear my Air magic away from the conglomerated cast and save the cat.
Sweat dripped off the tip of my nose. Tears mingled with it. The edges of my vision doubled, then all of it trebled. I felt a shock of cold from above and knew that Mr. Waban had finally begun his circle overhead. The fire didn't need our help, and I didn't have the power of speech anymore.
"Ian?"
I couldn't answer Charles, just jerked my chin up.
Nox cried out again, trying to wrangle the stream of water at the goon behind Tony. The magical pressure I'd been fighting eased as the others joined my trajectory and I could see again, but we turned it too late. Another explosion shook the old building just as the goon swung the knife down.
The two figures tumbled like the people on the Tarot card, The Tower. I thought about how Maddie had gotten that card on the first day I remembered meeting her and Nox. I should have known the portent had meaning, even if a Magus turned the card over instead of a Psychic.
The flames died. Over my shoulder came a series of howls and growls. One wolf pointed, and the bears dug. Nox and Charles and Olivia and Bianca held back, but I couldn't help myself. I had to see. Letting go of my boyfriend's hand, I jogged over to look.
They lay in a jumble of limbs, Tony sprawled face-down on top of the goon. The knife's hilt stuck out of his side under the ribs, but his chest rose and fell.
The goon's didn't. His eyes stared, unblinking. Reflected in his glassy eyes was the wheeling shadow of the ice dragon above, passing across the moon.
When the EME crew shouldered me aside, I watched them. One was an Air Magus like me, her wand creating a focused gust strong enough to lift Tony and turn him on his back. He saw me but soon looked past. I turned. He'd filled his gaze with Olivia'
s visage.
The owl shifter stopped struggling and blinked. She and Bianca let the crew hustle them into a second ambulance, separate from the one they'd put the two cat shifters in.
And just like that, they were all gone. It was over. My limbs felt leaden, my face like ice. Maybe that was from all the ice, I don't know. But when Charles rushed to my side and flung his arms around me, I thawed.
Our tears ran like rivers in flood, carrying us down the alley and back to the car we'd come in. Inside, on the way back to campus, my voice returned.
"Next time, I'm gonna make a difference." I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"What do you mean, Ian?" He ran his fingers over my curls.
"I mean, I know what major to declare now, Charles."
That was the night I decided to pursue a career as an Emergency Medical Magus.
Nine Lives
The series continues with Nine Lives, coming soon to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
Connect with the Author
Find D.R. Perry Online
Website: https://drperryauthor.com/
Author Central: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00O6851HO
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drpperry/
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/DRPerry22
Also by D.R. Perry
Providence Paranormal College
Bearly Awake (Book 1)
Fangs for the Memories (Book 2)
Of Wolf and Peace (Book 3)
Dragon My Heart Around (Book 4)
Djinn and Bear It (Book 5)
Roundtable Redcap (Book 6)
Better Off Undead (Book 7)
Ghost of a Chance (Book 8)
Nine Lives (Book 9)
Fan or Fan Knot (Book 10)
Hawthorn Academy
Familiar Strangers (Book 1)
Acting in Kindness (Book 2)
Fire of Justice (Book 3)
Gallows Hill Academy
Year One: Sorrow and Joy (Book one)
For other books by DR Perry please see her Amazon author page.
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