by Charley Case
But, she’d been practicing with Finn and Victoria to feel the subtle magics that permeated most things, and had become passingly adequate at it.
Mila closed her eyes and reached out with what she thought of as her magic tentacle. It was a creepy image, but reasonably accurate. She formed some of her power into a long thin strand and ran it over whatever she wanted to “see” the magic in. As the faint magic reacted with hers, she started to draw a picture of what it should look like. The process reminded Mila of reading Braille. Luckily, she didn’t need to get a clear picture of what little aura the husk of a man before her retained. She only wanted to confirm that the infernal magic was still in the dead body, and when her tentacle recoiled at the opposing magic, it confirmed her suspicion.
“Do you remember when I told you about Heather’s death?” Mila rose and stood next to Finn.
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Remember how I said she turned to dust when Azoth had pulled all the power out of her like there was nothing left to hold it together?” Finn nodded, and Mila crossed her arms while looking down at the body. “Well, I think the same thing can happen here. He already stripped out the soul and the power that came with it, but before the body could collapse he replaced that power with a little of his. If I can strip the infernal power out of the body, it should crumble to dust.”
“You think you can do that?” Finn’s brows rose.
Mila nodded. “Yeah, I think I can. Why don’t you use a little of that earth magic to fix the holes you put in the road, and I’ll see what I can do with the bodies.”
“If you can do it to the dead, do you think you could do it to the living?”
Mila considered that. “Maybe, but I feel like there would be some sort of safety involved with an active thrall. Otherwise, the Valkyrie would have figured it out a long time ago. I’m betting that it has something to do with the active connection to Azoth.”
Finn clucked his tongue. “Shame. That would have made things a lot easier. I’ll get started on the road, but we should hurry. I knocked Missy pretty hard, but she’s one tough bitch. She won’t stay out forever.”
Mila nodded and squatted again to get to work.
In the end, the process was a lot easier than Mila had suspected. All she had to do was take that magical tentacle and jam it into the body. Her celestial and Azoth’s infernal magics sparked and fizzed, and after a second or two, they canceled each other out. As soon as she withdrew her magic, the body instantly crumbled to fine dust that the light breeze picked up to swirl away into the night.
By the time Finn completed the road repairs and had Missy’s limp body over his shoulder, Mila was finishing with the last body.
“That was quick,” Finn observed, trying in vain to pull Missy’s pleated miniskirt down over her exposed panties. “Stupid thing can’t be six inches long. Who wears stuff like this?” he grumbled, finally giving up and flopping her skinny limp form into his arms and carrying her like a child.
Mila laughed. “Why do you care if her ass is hanging out? She obviously doesn’t.”
“Because when she put on this glorified belt this morning, I’m sure she expected to be walking around on her two feet where the skirt hides the important bits, not bent over my shoulder as I carried her down the street. If she had, she probably would’ve worn pants. Nobody likes their ass on display for the entire world to see. Because she’s insane doesn’t mean she’s not a person.”
Mila leaned over and kissed his arm as they walked toward the condo, giving him an exaggerated sad puppy dog face.
“What?” Suspicion was thick in his voice.
“You are the sweetest man I know. You’re also the most naïve if you think there aren’t people that want other people looking at their butts all day. Have you heard of the Internet? You can find anything on there, even people who like to show off their butts. A lot of people who like to show off their butts.”
“I’m well aware.” Finn’s face went a shade of red. “I once used the computer after Remmy had been goofing around on it. Let’s just say she didn’t close out her tabs, and that she is not shy about what she likes.”
Mila laughed. “You’re telling me you don’t think Missy’s skirt is sexy?”
He cleared his throat. “I didn’t say that.”
“Really?” Mila bit her lip then giggled quietly. “You know, I had a pretty good conversation with Remmy in San Francisco. She made me realize that I gave up something I liked for no good reason.”
“What does that have to do with Missy’s skirt?” Finn turned sideways and went through the front door into the lobby as Mila held it open for him.
“I like her style. Maybe I’ll order a skirt like that. You know, since you said it was sexy and all.”
He grinned down at her. “You would wear something this short out in public?”
“Well, maybe it would be for around the house.” She pressed the button for the elevator.
After a few seconds of silence as they waited for the doors to open, Finn cleared his throat, obviously having run a few scenarios through his head. “I could get into a micro-skirt on you.”
“Yeah, you could.” She drew out the “yeah” and nodded like a frat boy.
“You are so weird.”
“Yeah, I am,” she replied in the same suggestive manner.
Chapter Eleven
Mila followed Finn through the front door, the unconscious Missy still in his arms. Victoria and Remmy were waiting, obviously having watched the battle from the balcony.
Finn made a beeline for the couch where he put Missy before returning to the kitchen and rummaging through the junk drawer, looking for something to restrain her with before she woke up.
Victoria stood over Missy, her face a mix of anger and confusion. Mila felt like she knew what the woman was going through, if only from the outside. Remmy stood beside the tall blonde Valkyrie, her hand rubbing comforting circles on the small of Victoria’s back as she kept her keen goblin eyes on the unconscious woman.
“Did Penny ever finish those anti-magic shackles? I know she was fairly close after studying the ones you brought back from San Francisco.” Finn pulled out a roll of duct tape as he spoke and considered it for a few seconds before deciding it would do.
“I’m not sure.” Mila headed toward the dojo and Penny’s room on the other side of the open area. “I’ll check. Victoria, can you keep her contained if she wakes up?”
“I can, but it might get a little violent. You okay with some broken furniture?” she said with a tight-lipped frown.
“I’m fine with it as long as no one gets seriously hurt.”
“You know that’s not going to do anything, right?” Victoria said to Finn as he leaned down to wrap Missy’s wrists in the silver tape. “She might look small and dainty, but she’s still a Valkyrie. Even if we lock away her powers, she would be strong enough to rip that whole roll in half.”
Finn hesitated and looked up at Victoria. “What would you suggest?”
She held up her hand, and a ball of glowing celestial magic formed in it. “I suggest we use overwhelming force.”
Mila missed the rest of the conversation as she turned to Penny’s small door situated halfway up the wall beside the full-sized door into the dragon’s room and knocked three times.
There was no reaction after a few seconds, which was odd. Penny was always active to some degree. Even when she was sleeping, she could be awake and alert in moments. When thirty seconds passed with no sign of Penny coming to the door, Mila tried again, this time knocking harder and longer before leaning in to hear any sounds coming from the room.
There was a distinct rustling sound followed by something with a lot of small parts falling over. Ten seconds later the little door opened a crack, and Penny stuck a sleepy face out into the light. She kept her eyes hooded and licked her lips a few times while she slowly focused.
“You okay?” Mila asked, real concern in her voice. She’d never seen Penny th
is out of it before.
After a few seconds, Penny nodded. “Chi shir. Shee?”
A little under the weather? That alone was surprising. She had never known the dragon to be sick in the least. Mila was about to press her further, but the sound of Finn and Victoria arguing about how best to keep Missy under control pressed her to answer Penny’s question about what she needed.
“Did you ever finish the anti-magic shackles? We captured Missy. She’s out for now, but she’ll be waking up any second and we don’t want her to have access to her magic for obvious reasons.”
Penny’s eye ridges rose slightly and she craned her neck around the small doorjamb, watching Finn and Victoria for a second before nodding. “Chi chi. Shir shee.”
Penny’s head pulled back through the gap in the door, and Mila saw her slowly head down the shelf she’d been standing on as she went to get the magic-canceling bracelets she’d finished but hadn’t yet turned into shackles. Mila could only get the occasional glimpse and she didn’t want to pry too much, but what she did see was an unusually slow-moving Penny who was waddling more than walking. Mila figured she must have some joint pain since that was a fairly common symptom for Mila when she had the flu.
A few seconds later, two golden bracelets were passed out of the crack followed by Penny’s head. “Squee shir.”
Mila turned the bracelets over in her hand, inspecting them while she absorbed the information that only a registered person could remove them, and Penny’s directive to be sure that a few people could work them. They were rather plain-looking cut circlets of flexible metal, so to put them on you had to bend the metal and expand the opening to slip them over the wearer’s wrists. It didn’t look all that secure to Mila. She was about to question the design, but Penny’s slowly drooping head made her change her mind. Penny wouldn’t give her something without knowing if it would work or not. She would trust the little dragon’s word on this one.
“Do you need anything? I could bring you a snack or something. Feeding a cold always works for me.”
Penny’s head bobbed up as if she had been falling asleep at the door. She smiled tiredly. “Chi chi.”
Mila nodded and touched her cheek gently. “Okay, if you’re sure you’re all set. Go back to bed. If you need anything, call.”
With a nod, Penny withdrew her head and closed the door with a click.
Mila frowned, but she didn’t want to press her friend if it was only a cold or something. Penny would be back to normal in no time.
Heading back into the living room, Mila ignored the pointless argument over whether Finn could rip himself out of duct tape-wrapped hands, and leaned over the back of the couch and slipped the bracelets over Missy’s wrists.
The argument died away when they saw what she was doing.
The golden hoops became fluid once they were in contact with Missy for a few seconds and flowed around her small wrists, forming a skin-tight continuous ring of golden metal. After another few seconds, the liquid quality of the metal faded and the bracelets became solid once again.
They all watched for some sign that they’d worked, but there didn’t seem to be any difference in the unmoving Valkyrie.
“Did they work?” Victoria asked.
Mila shrugged. “I don’t know, but the fact that Penny said they would is good enough for me.”
“Me. too.” Finn pulled a finger-long piece of purple chalk from his harness and headed for the front door.
They all watched as he wrote an incredibly complicated rune set on the metal door. The design made Mila’s eyes hurt to look at it. He leaned back and studied the whole thing for a second before nodding and pressing his palm to the center of the design. The crackle of magic filled the air as purple energy flowed from his arm and into the rune set. The power built and concentrated into the chalk lines until they glowed brighter than the lights in the hall. There was a flash of power that left green spots in Mila’s vision and Finn stepped back, the rune set pulsing slightly on the door.
“That will keep her in the main area of the condo. She won’t be able to leave or go anywhere but the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. Not sure about the dojo—there really isn’t a rune for that, so I had to make something up. Either way, she won’t be able to leave.” He stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders, then slipped the chalk back into the little pocket on his harness. “Quite the morning. Kicked some ass and took a captive? That sounds like a cause for celebration. Who wants pancakes?”
“Not Penny, evidently.” Mila’s brows rose slightly as she looked at Finn.
The dwarf frowned and glanced at the small door to Penny’s room. “Is she okay?”
Mila shrugged. “She said she wasn’t feeling well. When I asked if she wanted a snack, she said she was too tired. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her refuse a snack. Has she ever slept this much?”
Finn frowned at the door for a good long while as if trying to see through it with his mind. Eventually, his face softened, and Mila swore the corner of his mouth rose slightly in a hint of a grin. “If she’s not feeling well, then it’s best to let her deal with it on her own. She’s a smart one and knows her limits. If she needs help, she’ll ask for it.”
“Well, Penny might not want pancakes, but I do.” Remmy slapped her taut belly through the t-shirt she was still wearing as a dress and headed for the kitchen.
Mila looked back toward Penny’s room for a few seconds, pushing her worry to the side. Finn was right. If Penny needed something, she would let them know.
“You want bacon in your pancakes?” Finn called from the kitchen, pulling Mila back to the issue at hand.
“Bacon in pancakes? Are you people animals?” Victoria asked with disgust.
Finn popped up from behind the counter, a mixing bowl in his hands. He stared at Victoria in shock. “Oh, man. You’re in for a real treat.”
Mila went to the coffeemaker and started making a pot while laughing at the look on Victoria’s face. “Don’t worry. It’s delicious.”
“Do you have any Cheetos you could put in mine?” Remmy settled onto one of the high stools at the kitchen island.
This time, it was Mila’s turn to look disgusted. “Okay, that’s nasty.”
Chapter Twelve
Two hours later, they’d eaten and taken showers in shifts while they waited for Missy to wake up. Mila was worried that Finn had done real damage to the woman and maybe she wouldn’t wake up ever again.
When she brought up her concern, Victoria laughed it off. She was tucked into the corner of the couch reading a novel while Remmy leaned against her and played a game on her phone.
“Valkyries are surprisingly hardy. You might be the only one I’ve seen who can force a self-heal, but we all heal eventually. She’ll wake up. Soon, if my guess is right.” Victoria peered at Missy over the spine of her novel. “Speak of the devil.”
Missy moaned as she reached up to rub the side of her face. The spot where Fragar had smashed into her was swollen and red, but not nearly as bad as it should have been.
Mila and Finn came in from the kitchen. Mila sat on the coffee table in front of the still-groggy Valkyrie, and Finn stood behind Missy, towering over the back of the couch.
After half a minute of rubbing her face and moaning, Missy’s eyes snapped open and she spun to a sitting position, her face wide with shock as she locked gazes with Mila.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” Mila smiled as she sipped her coffee.
Anger instantly replaced the shock as Missy raised a hand and pointed the palm at Mila’s chest. They sat like that for a beat before Missy jabbed her hand at Mila again, then looked at it like it was a jammed gun.
“What the fuck have you done to me?” she shouted, noticing the bracelets and trying to pull them off to no avail.
“You wanted to know where my building was. Well, here you are.” Mila calmly waved a hand around the room like it was a showcase on a game show.
Missy looked around and seemed to notice the others
for the first time. She slowly backed into the couch, pulling her knees up to provide some semblance of protection. That was until she noticed Finn behind her and flinched down into the cushions.
Mila snapped her fingers, getting the fallen Valkyrie’s attention. “Hey, over here. You and I are going to have a conversation. This has all gone on long enough, and we need to end it. Tell me where Azoth is hiding and what his plans are, and I promise you I’ll do whatever I can to free you from his influence. You can get out of this, but you need to help us out. I promise I’ll do my best to protect you.”
Missy stared at Mila, blinking slowly from behind her knees wrapped in her thin arms. It looked like Missy was considering the offer, even going as far as nodding slightly, but when she opened her mouth to speak no sound emerged. She strained, but couldn’t force the words out. She tried one more time, tears in her eyes, then her jaw snapped shut and a distant madness slowly filled her blue eyes.
Mila frowned and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “I want to help you. You made some stupid decisions, and you’ll have to pay for them one way or another, but no one deserves to be that creature’s slave. Give me something. Anything.”
Missy suddenly burst into gales of laughter, her knees falling to the sides so she was sitting cross-legged on the couch. She threw her head back, laughter still belting out of her and tears running down her cheeks.
Mila drew a deep breath, leaned back, and frowned. She didn’t find any of this funny, and it was getting them nowhere. “Don’t you want to be free of him?”
The laughter cut off and Missy’s head dropped to face Mila with a crazed look. “Don’t you get it, little child? I can’t be free. He has hold of me in a way that you can’t pry loose. I’m his creature now and nothing but death will free me, but I can’t kill myself to be free. I’ve tried, and he stopped me with a thought. How do you, the smallest and weakest of us all, think you could compete with his power? He will eat you for a snack before you can say two words.”
