Lost Souls

by A. C. Nicholls

  Shock or disappointment didn’t flicker in Joan’s eyes. Not at all. What I saw there was only understanding. She leaned forward, placed the book on the small, round table in front of the fire and laid her glasses on top of it. Then, she sat back and cupped her hands together in her lap. “What about him? There’s nothing to know.”

  “Cut the crap,” I snapped. “I know you blackmailed him. What did you promise him? Money? Power? No, let me guess; you threatened him with a spell. You witches are all the same, taking advantage of your abilities. Using your power for evil instead of good. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “Now wait a minute–”

  “I know about the others, too. Bobby wasn’t the only one, was he?”

  Joan inhaled a deep breath and let it out in a long, painful draft. The flames of the nearby fire lit up her face, her brown eyes gleaming like little hot coals. When a thin smile appeared on her lips, her voice lowered to a calm and knowing tone. “There were many. Can’t an older woman have a little fun?”

  “Not at the expense of others, no.”

  “Well, it’s too late now.”

  I watched her smug grin and felt my face flush a hot red. It took everything I had not to make use of my immortal strength and lift this woman up by her throat, only to choke the life from her traitorous body. Only there was one problem with that; witches had some magic of their own, a dark and mysterious force. Who knew how powerful they really were?

  “You’re done,” I told her, putting a fake confidence into my voice. “I won’t be sending any more spirits for you, and you won’t be blackmailing anyone else. It’s over for you, you hear me? It ends, now.”

  As if she hadn’t angered me enough, Joan tilted her head back and cackled into the warm air. Her wrinkled hands slapped at her knees as she howled mockingly with a tear at her eye. “It ends when I say it ends.”

  “No. That’s enough. I’m taking you in.”

  “What could the police do?”

  “Nothing. That’s why I’m taking you to R’hen, where the Elders can decide your fate.” As I said this, I watched her laugh simmer into seriousness, her smile fading into an insulted frown. Adrenaline rushed through me. If she were to put up a fight, it would be right about now, and I would have to be ready for it.

  “Then…” Joan stood, slowly dusting off her lap while maintaining eye contact. “I suppose you had better make your move, child, while you still can.”

  I knew her sort. The longer I hesitated, the more confidence she would gain. With this in mind, I lurched forward and reached for her arm, preparing to capture her and create a portal to the Vault. Nothing would have pleased me more than to see justice served, but, as I took that one long stride, Joan swung out an arm and swiped at me with shiny steel.

  The silver of the knife glistened by the firelight, whooshing past me and slicing a clean sheet through the air as I jumped back. Joan rushed forward, raising her knife-hand above her head, coming at me with a stabbing motion. I clenched my fist and lunged forward to attack, but stopped dead as I saw Link fly into her hand, sending the knife sprawling across the room, skidding to a stop by the fire.

  “Ouch,” I teased. “Bad luck.”

  Link, who beamed at his success, flew to my side and stayed there. His perfect white wings flickered so fast that the speed gave them a hummingbird quality. My pride had grown in volumes as he’d faced his fears each day, but today that pride was monumental.

  “You think that will stop me?” Joan roared. She slapped her hands together, a green light growing between her palms with a threatening noise that sounded like a jet engine. As the orb grew louder, it also grew larger, until Joan arced her arms and threw the sparking green ball of magic directly at us.

  I pushed Link, throwing him to one side as I dove behind the nearby table. My instincts took over and I heaved the table up onto its side, sending glass and china crashing to the ground in a rainstorm of crockery. Link circled back, landing at my side where I used the table as cover.

  “This old bat is crazy,” he said, almost screaming.

  “Yep.”

  “Can you do something?”

  I wasn’t sure that I could. Although I heard another of Joan’s green fireballs forming in her hands, I had to do something. The first – and perhaps the only – strategy was to dive into her mind. If I could get in there and settle her down, I could force her to turn herself in without major destruction.

  The moment my magic began to take action, my vision blurred. The blast of another shot from the witch blew through the table, piercing a perfect round hole as chunks of splintered wood shot across the room. It happened as if in a dream, while my mind formed an almost spiritual link across the room, like a wire connecting to both our minds. As I made the connection, where I would normally hear a barrage of thoughts, I could only hear an awful warbling sound. My head throbbed with unrelenting pain. Warm blood began to ooze from my nose. It felt like I was holding my breath while staring at a bright light. I severed the connection, my vision returning and the blasting chaos growing louder around me as my senses adjusted.

  “Anything?” Link yelled.

  I shook my head.

  “Right.” Link peered his head out from around the side of the table and glanced around the room. He quickly retreated, looking me dead in the eye. “Wait here.”

  “Link, no!”

  My warning fell on deaf ears. I reached out to stop him, but by then his wings were spread as he soared across the room, swooping and dodging the incoming fire. I didn’t know what he had planned, but I wanted to seize the opportunity. With Link distracting Joan, I began to poke my head out, but then I heard a disturbing, gut-wrenching sound.

  Blunt and abrupt, Link gasped out in pain.

  The room fell silent.

  “You can come out now,” came the voice of a young girl.

  It wasn’t Joan – I would have known that self-satisfied voice from anywhere. This was more naive, more cruel and mocking. It was younger, and I understood exactly what had happened. I cautiously peered over the top of the broken table, and realized my worst fears.

  Joan still stood by the fire, flanked by her daughters, each feminine face plastered with devious, knowing smiles. The youngest one – Phillipa, I thought – clutched Link by his neck, in the same way that a bullying child holds a defenseless kitten.

  Fury brewed inside me. My hands balled into fists as they shook with tension and rage. Being used was one thing, but seeing Link’s face turn red as he was squeezed like a kid’s doll sent me over the edge. Unfortunately, I was in no position to protest.

  “Now,” Joan said, grinning widely. “Let’s talk business.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  I was in trouble, and I damn well knew it. Not even a magicard could get me out of this mess. Not without creating more chaos. But that wasn’t how I wanted to do things. I wanted Link out of there alive, and I would do anything to make that happen.

  “What do you want?” I asked Joan, practically spitting through my teeth.

  Joan continued to smile, dropping her glowing green hands to her sides, where the colors began to fade to their usual pale white. “Why, the same thing I’ve always wanted, of course! I need you to find the rest of those spirits and send them right away.”

  “And punish those tortured souls? Haven’t you done enough?”

  “Not nearly.”

  While Joan wandered the room, walking around me like a lion stalking a gazelle, I tried to keep my eyes off Link. I hated to see him squirm, to struggle. It scared me that he might think I had a plan up my sleeve – that his only hope involved me pulling a miracle out of the hat.

  It hurt to have to let him down like this.

  Joan returned to the space in front of me, blocking my view of Link and the two little girls who had appeared from nowhere. “Don’t you know how goddamn evil those little shits were? Sure, they pretend they’re all innocent, like helpless little victims.” She leaned in real close, the stenc
h of aniseed hot on her breath. “Being a witch is only a good thing among other creatures. Humans are different; they fear us, mock us, cast us out. You should know that. You were human once, were you not?”

  I nodded, fighting the urge to punch a hole through her face. It would be so easy, but frowned upon in equal measure. I guess that was the downside to having some kind of moral code; acting on your immediate wishes wasn’t always an option.

  “Well then.” Joan Flowers stepped away and returned to her daughters’ sides, running a dry, wrinkled hand over Link’s small head. “It’s time I got something back from the people who made jokes at our expense.”

  I looked at the daughters. How had they become so vile at such a young age? Their expressions were full of disinterest in the situation, but they appeared more than fascinated by the fact that they’d caught themselves a faery.

  “You’re going to send those spirits,” Joan said.

  “I am?”

  “You are. And after that, you’re going to run a few more little errands for me.”

  “Like the errands you gave to Bobby Lutz and his friends?” I snickered, making a mockery of the suggestion. Although Link shook his head at me, indicating that he would rather give himself up than have me play ball, I couldn’t quite bring myself to test her. I’d heard the rumors, and it wasn’t a risk I fancied taking.

  “Oh, at the very least.” Joan waved her hands expressively, like an excitable young girl. Her daughters giggled, working together to hold down Link – their new toy. “But then there will be more. I want you to find me money, to find me jewels and gems. Then, you’re going to use that magic of yours to find me some ancient artifacts.”

  I chuckled sarcastically.

  “You laugh now,” Joan continued, “but you won’t be laughing when you hand over some of those precious magicards. Let’s say… hmm, yes, I think five will do. No? How about ten? Or better yet, how about all of them?”

  In that moment, I sensed a bigger threat. As a Cardkeeper, it was my job to keep those cards safe. I wasn’t about to hand them over to anyone, much less a witch. “No,” I said, desperately seeking some kind of compromise. “Maybe… Maybe I’ll send the spirits and do those other things, but you know I can’t give you those cards.”

  “Does it look like I care about what you want?”

  “No. That’s the problem.”

  “There are bigger problems than that, child.”

  The last ounce of patience drained from my body. Getting blackmailed was one thing, but there was nothing I hated more than to be called a child. Especially considering I’d aged past Joan Flowers years ago… technically speaking, of course.

  “Last chance,” she said, staring at me blankly with those ice-cold eyes. “Yes or no?”

  I looked to Link, who – in spite of being held tight by the two girls – shook his head from side to side. As much as I hated to risk his safety, I had to take his advice. I leveled my gaze on Joan, and shot her my darkest, most daring look. “Go screw yourself.”

  “So be it.”

  In less than a second, Joan’s arms shot out and clasped Link’s head, I rushed forward but she propelled me across the room with a burst of magic. I landed on my back, crashing through the upturned table as the blast ripped through the room in a fiery flash of light. Link’s scream pierced the air, followed by a noise that sounded like falling bricks. I shot to my knees and looked back at the witches, horrified.

  Joan held something above her head, something small and stony. I glared at it, a sickening feeling rising from my stomach and up through my throat. Link’s small, frail body was now a dull, gray statuette. His wings were spread and his screaming mouth was twisted and frozen in a look of horror.

  My heart broke at the same time that my anger caused me to snap.

  “You piece of–”

  “Easy now,” Joan said, threatening to smash the statuette – to destroy Link.

  I coughed, climbed to my feet and steadied myself on wonky legs. I couldn’t believe this was happening. My best friend – the only person I trusted with every fiber of my being – had been reduced to a lump of stone. I panicked, struggling to catch my breath. “Is it… permanent? If it is, I’ll… Argh!”

  “That depends.” Joan grinned and stalked toward the back of the room by the fireplace, where she set her new statuette on the mantelpiece. “Only a Belvoir can undo this. That is why you are going to do every little thing that I say. Is that understood?”

  I stared at the lost, fearful eyes of my old friend. How had I let it come to this? I had promised I would protect him, that I would never let any harm come to him. Now that it had gone this far – with the witch making demands and her two little girls laughing like they had just heard the funniest joke in the world – I had no other choice.

  “Is that understood?”

  Shame riddled me. I suddenly felt a huge betrayal to my cause, a justification for the protection of my one and only friend. I was sure I would regret what I was about to say, and as I looked back at the witch, her mouth hung open in eager anticipation of my next words.

  “Tell me what to do.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I’d lost my best friend, the guy I had feelings for had eluded my grasp, and now an ignorant sow was blackmailing me to betray the only people who’d ever had faith in me. Needless to say, it wasn’t my best day as a Cardkeeper.

  With nowhere else to go, I retreated to the VHS store. I figured that if I couldn’t turn to Link for help, then where better to go than the Vault? And as I pictured that dark, sky-piercing tower, my mind briefly lingered on the thought of what might happen if I actually stole those magicards. Considering the guilt I would have to live with, I quickly shook it off and opened the store’s door.

  “Lady Keira.”

  I reared back in shock at the sound of the familiar voice. Across the room, Dalton sat at the chair behind the counter. Still wearing his robe, but now with his hood hanging off the back, his pale features and sparkling blue eyes shone like stars on a dark night.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, trying not to sound rude. Having known him for nearly thirty years, I had never seen him on this side of the portal – in the real world. I don’t know why, but I had always just assumed he couldn’t enter.

  Dalton’s eyes lowered. “I saw your encounter with the witches.”

  “You were watching me?”

  He nodded. “Through the flames.”

  I grunted. As if that explained why he had come to the other side. Then I had a thought. What if he’s come to stop me from stealing the magicards? What if he thinks I’m going to betray him? My face felt hot as I rushed to explain myself. “I wasn’t going to steal!”

  Dalton raised his hands to silence me, but I had to explain myself.

  “I swear to you, I was only coming in for advice.”

  “Calm down, Lady Keira.” Dalton rose from the chair and walked around the counter, wringing his hands together. He perched on the counter, his frail body clicking as he adjusted himself. “I anticipated that you might require aid, which is why I’m here.”

  “You… came to help me?”

  “And to seek aid from elsewhere.”

  I froze. “What do you mean?”

  As if to answer my question, a bell jingled and the door swung open behind me. Startled, I spun around to defend myself, but when I saw a familiar figure enter the store, I felt an enormous sense of relief.

  “Jason,” I wheezed.

  He stood in the downing sunlight, the rich rays lighting up his perfect face. The ends of his hair glittered as if highlighted by God himself. My eyes fell to his hand, where he tightly gripped a black, bulky haversack.

  “I brought the stuff,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  “Not you.” Jason nodded over my shoulder, signaling to Dalton, who still sat on the counter behind me. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  “The pleasure is mine,” said Dalton.

&nb
sp; What the hell is going on?

  I hadn’t introduced the two men, and as far as I could remember, I hadn’t told one of them about the other. Did they know each other a different way? No, that wasn’t possible – Jason had never been to the Vault.

  “Does someone want to clue me in, here?” I said, stepping back to let both of them fall into view. It began to feel like a huge conspiracy against me, as if this were a book series and I was no longer the main character. As if I had never even been the main character.

  Jason closed the door and dumped the haversack onto the counter. “Your friend here gave me a call and said you were in trouble. We both know I can’t resist a damsel in distress.”

  “I hope you can forgive me,” said Dalton, avoiding eye contact. “I was familiar with Jason through hear-say. When I discovered that you two were… friends, I took the liberty of making a telephone call.”

  I didn’t know where to look. Were both of them here to help me? Or to help Link? It didn’t matter. Three were stronger than one, and I couldn’t refuse their help, no matter how awkward it would make things between Jason and me. “You did well,” I told Dalton, before turning back to Jason. “Thank you for coming.”

  Jason shrugged.

  Dalton, on the other hand, chuckled. “It took me thirty minutes to understand how to operate the telephone. Marvelous invention, that is. Like a vocal portal, only without the wonder of magic.”

  I suppressed a smile and eyed the haversack. “What’s in the bag?”

  Jason patted it proudly. “A plan.”

  “A plan for what?”

  “You’ll see. First, you need to decide what we’re doing. You’re probably not so keen on storming the place, if you’re worried about losing Link. So a heads-on approach is out of the question. But I’m guessing – and stop me if I’m wrong – that stealing those cards and handing them to the witches is a no-go?”

  I nodded.

  “So then, we’ll need you to make a decision, and work together to make it happen.”