Cabal

by David Delaney

  Morgan had been moved to the couch. His face had been cleaned of most of the blood, and he was still unconscious. I gave his aura the once-over. It was weak, but it looked normal.

  Maddie was sitting at Morgan's feet, one hand resting on his leg. She looked exhausted. Wyatt was hovering around behind her, a worried look on his face. Lucy was kneeling by Morgan's head, stroking his hair gently and whispering encouragements into his ear.

  "It's okay, you rest as long as you need to," said Lucy.

  "How's he doing?" asked Elyse.

  Maddie answered without moving or even opening her eyes. "He's going to be okay. His body is just a lot more fragile, the healing takes more out of him."

  "It looks like it took its toll on you too," I said, dropping Piper into an overstuffed chair.

  Maddie gave us a thumbs-up. "I'll live, but yeah it wiped me. The spell on that ward was deadly. If Morgan hadn't been in such great shape, it probably would have killed him. He's lucky."

  Lucy had grown quiet. She gave Morgan's hair one more soft stroke and then using her magic to enhance her speed turned and leaped on top of Piper. Lucy's hands were instantly engulfed in white-hot fire—she was going to burn the defenseless woman.

  Wyatt reached Lucy the moment before I did. He blinked in and blinked her away from Piper. They reappeared at the back of the living room near the broken window, Wyatt holding Lucy loosely by the shoulders, ready to blink again if she tried to move toward Piper. Lucy shrieked in anger, flailing at Wyatt's hold on her—the only problem was her hands were still blazing with magic fire.

  "Lucy!" I warned, but she was beyond reason.

  Wyatt was many things, but fireproof wasn't one of them. He screamed as one of her hands brushed against his forearm. I'm not sure if it was his cry of pain or the smell of his burning flesh, but Lucy stopped, her magic dying instantly.

  Lucy spun to face Wyatt who was staring at his blistering arm in disbelief.

  "You burned me," Wyatt whispered.

  "Wyatt," she said through her tears. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—it was an accident."

  "You totally burned me," the kid repeated. "I mean seriously, my arm looks like a piece of KFC extra crispy."

  The kid was clearly in shock. Elyse moved behind him, stopping him from accidentally tumbling out the broken window. Maddie hauled herself up from the couch, swaying on her feet a bit.

  "Hey Maddie," I said. "You don't look so good, maybe you should sit back down?"

  "Orson," said Wyatt. "Check out my arm, Lucy toasted it."

  Wyatt was rushing headfirst into hysteria. The pain from the magic-created fire must have been beyond intense. I was actually impressed the kid was still standing.

  Of course Maddie didn't listen to my perfectly sane advice. Instead she shuffled around the furniture, her hands held out toward Wyatt, she looked like a blonde zombie straight out of The Walking Dead.

  "Maddie," Elyse said. "I don't think you have enough juice left, sweetie."

  I stepped in front of Maddie, cutting off her easiest route to Wyatt. She frowned at me and I told her, "Yeah, I know, I'm a big turd, but Elyse is right. You need to recharge and then you can help." Being as gentle as I could I picked her up and put her back on the couch.

  "I know a few healing spells," said Lucy. "They're used for self-healing, but I think I can—"

  I cut her off. "You've done enough." Lucy rocked back on her heels as if I'd slapped her. "Just back off, okay?"

  "Orson," Elyse said, pulling my attention. "We need to do something for the pain."

  Wyatt had gone silent. He was standing very still, holding his burned arm out in front of him. He was really pale and my shifter senses told me his blood pressure was shooting through the roof.

  "I have medicine that will help," said a voice from behind us.

  Piper was back among the living. The lady wasn't stupid. She remained seated, her hands resting in her lap, showing no signs of aggression.

  Lucy took a step toward her, menace in her eyes. I snapped my fingers at her and shook my head. Lucy gave me a withering look but held her ground, crossing her arms in a huff.

  "What medicine? Where?" I asked.

  "I have a fully stocked EMT kit," said Piper. "There's morphine, which he's going to need immediately. It's in a closet down the hall."

  I checked her out in the magic spectrum. Her animal aura was back, but still all ragged-looking, she wouldn't be shifting for a while. I gestured for her to move. "Show me." To Elyse I said, "See if you can get him to sit down, maybe elevate his feet."

  I followed Piper down the hallway. I casually shifted a hand into a razor tipped beast-form claw and placed it on her spine as she reached into the closet for the emergency bag.

  "That's a really neat trick," said Piper, as she handed me the small duffle bag full a medical supplies.

  "Yeah, I'm great at parties." I tilted my head back toward the living room. "Move."

  "Can I ask you a question?"

  "Sure, but I may not answer."

  "Will my animal return?" she asked, her voice cracking. "Will I still be a shifter?"

  She was afraid I’d permanently damaged her.

  Good.

  Let her sweat.

  "I really don't know," I said.

  "But if you're the Ollphiest, how could you not know?"

  "Right now, I need you to help fix up my friend, then we'll talk." I grabbed her arm and spun her toward me. "And if anything you do makes him worse, I'm going to let Lucy burn you to ash. Do we understand each other?"

  Piper nodded.

  She hadn't been lying. The EMT bag was like a hospital ER to go. I used to carry an emergency kit in the Corolla's trunk, but all it contained was a bunch of gauze pads, medical tape, a few large Band-Aids, ibuprofen and a couple tubes of Chapstick. Piper pulled out a bunch of those little bottles that real medicine comes in—you know, the kind that doctors stick needles into for six cc's of whatever. She quickly prepared a syringe of morphine and expertly jabbed Wyatt with it. Almost immediately the kid's face relaxed. I smiled when I sensed his blood pressure starting to stabilize.

  "He's doing better," I said for Maddie's benefit.

  Piper wasn't done. She slathered Wyatt's arm with a smelly, thick ointment and after sending Elyse into the kitchen for a bottle of water, set up an IV drip to keep Wyatt comfortable.

  Once Piper was satisfied she turned her attention to Maddie. "You, healer, you need food." To Elyse she said, "My pantry is fully stocked. I suggest a meat and cheese platter, peanut butter with fruit, and lots of Cherry-Coke—and not the diet stuff."

  Elyse arched an eyebrow at me. I shrugged, it seemed Piper was in a helping mood. "Food sounds good, but before anyone leaves the room," I said. "Are there any more surprises of the magical variety that we need to worry about?"

  "There are some spells that have been permanently affixed to the foundation and infrastructure of the house," said Piper. "But nothing lethal."

  "You're going to need to elaborate," I said.

  Piper sighed. "Spells to protect from earthquakes and fires, this is California you know. Also, the house is unplottable."

  That last one got all of our attention.

  "You mean something like the shifter compounds?" Elyse asked.

  "I mean exactly like the shifter compounds," said Piper.

  "Those spells are a closely guarded Society secret," said Lucy.

  Piper smirked. "Secrets are only as good as those that keep them."

  Lucy bristled at the other woman's tone.

  "Lucy," said Elyse, heading off another confrontation. "Why don't you help me grab the food from the kitchen?"

  Lucy had taken up a position between Morgan, who was still blissfully unconscious and unaware of recent events, and Wyatt who was stoned out of his mind. She squeezed Morgan's hand, touched Wyatt's leg, and then followed Elyse out of the room, staring daggers at Piper the entire way.

  "Can we talk now?" asked Piper.

  "I'd rat
her wait a little while longer." I gestured toward my injured friends. "I want them to hear what we talk about."

  Piper sighed. "Can I at least ask one thing?"

  "Okay."

  Piper looked me dead in the eye and said, "You are the Ollphiest, aren’t you?"

  I was expecting the question and was able to keep my face neutral and reply flippantly. "Yep, I sure am."

  Piper's attempt at masking her reaction was comical. Interestingly I didn't sense fear from her, at least not the normal kind of ‘oh crap, I'm about to be eaten by a shark' type of fear. No, it was more like the excited kind of fear you feel when you're about to do something radical, like bungee jumping. Piper was amped at my revelation and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

  "Am I dead?" Morgan rasped.

  I jumped up. "Hey, guys," I called out. "Morgan's awake."

  Morgan was shifting around on the couch as if he was considering sitting up.

  "Dude, Morgan, take it easy, man. You weren't napping," I said. "You've been like, almost dead for the past hour or so."

  Lucy came zooming into the room, tossing me a six-pack of Cherry-Coke as she knelt down beside Morgan.

  "Hey you," she said. "Try not to move around too much, you're still healing."

  "Did we win?" Morgan asked, looking around the room. After spotting Piper he said, "Well, I'm assuming the naked lady in the chair covering herself with a throw pillow is Piper. So . . . yay us?"

  It was then that I realized Elyse and I hadn't found replacement clothes after our chase through the hills. "Yeah," I said. "We've been a tad busy, sorry for all the bare shifter bums."

  Elyse entered the living room. She was carrying a tray loaded down with the much-needed snacks. In the kitchen she had scored an apron and so had her sexy bits covered leaving me the odd, naked man out—of course. I lamely folded my hands over my junk. I was glad Wyatt was out of it, he would've been merciless.

  Piper said, "In the same closet we got the EMT bag from, there are clothes, if you wouldn't mind?"

  "Nope, not at all," I said, scooting out of the room.

  I'd half-expected the closet to be full of ladies-only clothing, but was surprised when I found a plastic bin jammed with shorts, sweats and t-shirts in various sizes. I even located a pair of beat-up board shorts that I was able to zip up without too much constriction to my nether regions. I carried the bin out to the living room where Elyse and Piper quickly pulled on clothes. Once dressed, Piper resumed sitting in the same chair.

  Maddie was shoveling mass quantities of food into her mouth, barely chewing before swallowing and then repeating the process. I was happy to see she was looking better in both the regular and magic spectrums. Lucy was helping Morgan take small sips of Cherry-Coke and after a few minutes he was able to sit up unaided.

  Elyse motioned to Piper. "You must be hungry after our little trip up the mountain and . . . well, the other thing. You should have something to eat."

  Piper eyed me, waiting for permission to move.

  Interesting.

  I nodded and she leaned forward grabbing a Coke, a few pieces of salami, and some cheese.

  The leopard-woman recognizes our authority, excellent.

  Or, more likely, she's still freaked from me stripping her animal from her. That train of thought reminded me to check how Piper's healing process was going. I studied her aura for a few moments. Her animal was firmly back in place, but the connection between it and her human aura was still broken, I wondered how long it would take for her to be completely back to normal.

  Maddie let out a loud, long, chunky-sounding belch.

  We all turned to stare at Maddie, who still looked more like the president of a college sorority than a member of a battle-tested team of magic-users.

  Maddie smiled big. "I feel much better." Then cracking her knuckles she added, "Let's get Wyatt back in the loop, shall we?"

  "Are you sure you're ready?" Elyse asked.

  "Not quite a hundred percent, but I'm good, yeah," said Maddie. "Orson, we should take the IV out and stop the flow of goofy juice. I'll burn away what's in his system after I fix his arm."

  "You can do that?" asked Lucy.

  "Yep," said Maddie. "Well, I've never actually done it, but I've got a pretty good idea of what I need to do."

  With Piper guiding my actions I pulled the homemade IV and prepped Wyatt for Maddie's mojo. It was almost anti-climactic. While the burn to Wyatt's arm was severe, it wasn't like he had massive internal injuries. Maddie squatted down in front of Wyatt and gently took his hands in hers.

  Wyatt's eyes fluttered open and a big dopey grin spread across his face. "You're pretty," he slurred. "And your hands are sooo soft."

  "Hush, now," said Maddie.

  I didn’t need shifter senses to see that Wyatt's words had made her blush. I watched the healing energy flow from Maddie into Wyatt and marveled as the damaged skin on his arm began to rearrange itself into fresh, new, unscarred flesh.

  "Well, that's not something you see every day," said Morgan. "I assume, Maddie, you did something similar for me earlier?"

  Lucy answered, nodding. "Yes, but you were in much worse shape. We almost lost you."

  Morgan didn't respond, he just slid his hand over and locked pinkies with Lucy.

  Maddie kept hold of Wyatt's hands even after his arm was healed. I could see her magic swirling in and out of his body in gentle waves. She must have been clearing out the morphine, because after a moment Wyatt sat bolt upright, his eyes clear and bright.

  "Whoa," said Wyatt. "Now that's a rush."

  Maddie smiled and slapped his knee. "All better, Mr. Murphy?"

  "All better," Wyatt said.

  Lucy sat forward, leaning in Wyatt's direction. "Wyatt, I'm sorry. You know I would never—"

  "I know," said Wyatt, giving Lucy a fist-bump. "So, what'd I miss? I mean I was here, but I was not here. Hey, Morgan, glad you're not dead, dude."

  "Thanks," said Morgan. "And I'm glad Lucy didn't turn you into a human tiki torch."

  "Now that everyone's back to . . . almost normal," I said, turning to Piper. "Maybe we can finally get to the reason why we're here."

  Piper sat up taller, a defiant look on her face. "That's a wonderful idea. I would love an explanation as to why you have invaded my home in the middle of the night and threatened my life."

  "Marcus is alive and we need to find him," said Lucy.

  I don't know what answer Piper was expecting, but Marcus being declared among the living was not it. She sat back in her chair, a dismayed look on her face.

  She finally said, "If that's true, then we're all as good as dead."

  Wyatt spoke for all of us when he said, "Say what?"

  Chapter Twelve

  Piper gestured for another Cherry-Coke, I tossed her a can. She popped the top and took a long pull before speaking. "Marcus was one of the most powerful blood-mages of the past two—maybe even three—centuries, and if he's alive, anyone he considers an enemy is dead, they just don't know it yet. But, I doubt very much that he's alive."

  Lucy scoffed. "So you think we're lying and that we just risked our lives breaking into your house for the fun of it?"

  "I didn't call you liars," said Piper. "But you seem to be very misinformed."

  "Why do you think we're misinformed?" asked Elyse. "Why are you so sure that he's dead?"

  Piper pointed at Lucy. "Because she killed him. Everyone in the magic world knows that story—Marcus' little Valley Girl groupie who somehow wiped out an entire coven including Marcus himself."

  Lucy was on her feet, her hands beginning to glow. "Groupie?" She was shaking. "He murdered my family."

  "Hey, Lucy," I said, stepping between her and Piper. "Put the hot hands away. That didn't work out so well last time.” I glanced at Wyatt. "Piper's answering our questions, let's hear her out. Okay?"

  Morgan coiled a finger through one of the belt loops on Lucy's jeans and gave a slight tug. "Lucy, we're getting good intel, come
on, sit down."

  Wyatt and I exchanged a quick glance. The kid and I were on the same page. Nobody put their hands on Lucy without risking serious bodily injury, but damn if she didn't squelch her magic and drop back down on the couch next to Morgan.

  "I didn't mean any offense," said Piper. "What you did is legendary. I mean, people still talk about it—just not too loudly because nobody wants you to come knocking on their door. Anyway, it's like I said, if Marcus really was alive, then none of you would be."

  I sighed. “Just for argument's sake, let's say he was dead, but is now, only very recently, alive again. Where would we look for him?"

  Piper shook her head, chuckling, probably thinking I was either joking or crazy. When none of us joined in or even cracked a smile, Piper became very still and for the first time that night I could sense fear coming from her.

  "What the hell did you guys do?" Piper whispered.

  "It's a long story," said Elyse.

  Piper started running her hands nervously through her hair. "No, no, no, no." Piper paused and narrowed her eyes at me. "You're not screwing with me, are you?"

  "No, we're not."

  Piper slid out of her chair and sprawled on the floor, wrapping her arms around my feet. It wasn't threatening at all, she was actually shaking.

  "Please, Ollphiest, you must give me back my animal," she begged. "Without it I'm defenseless."

  Lucy's eyes went wide. "You told her who you are? Are you insane?"

  "I didn't say a word, she just knew."

  "Of course I know what he is," said Piper. "I was instructed in all the old ways by my grandmother. And now, I lie at your feet and offer ukwethembeka, but please return my animal."

  "Wait," I said. "I don't even know what you just said."