by T. G. Ayer
The hulk stumbled as he ran and even as I wondered if I’d failed to break the spell, I felt the pulsing of magic around me. I’d been able to sense magic for a number of years, and my friend and white witch Natasha had spent months teaching me, helping me to hone my senses. My ability to detect wards and spells enabled me to feel the wave of magic now speeding through the corridor and flowing over me. The power imbued within the golem would now return to its originator, but as much as I would have liked to find him and hold him accountable for his actions, I had other—more important—things to do.
The magic abated, and the giant tottered on his feet. His clay body crumbled into clumps of sand and dust, flowing from him like quicksand. Flowing right onto me. The force of the wave hit me, and I landed flat on my back, coughing and spitting out golem remains.
Growling, I pushed through the sand and got to my feet, barely bothering to dust myself off before I launched into a run. I raced down the corridor to the underground prison the golem had been protecting.
The explosion had brought down many of the walls within the basement of the mansion, but the tunnels had been built to survive the total destruction of the building. So I wasn’t surprised when I was met with a sealed steel door.
Though the door was now revealed to me—having lost the exterior cladding that would have camouflaged it as nothing more than a wall—I was still faced with the total inability to open the damned thing.
“Double fudge,” I said into my microphone.
I could almost see Steph’s eye-roll as she said, “It’s ‘fuck’, Mel. You’re a big girl. I’m sure you can say the word.”
“We’re working. I’m trying to be professional.”
Steph grunted. “So? What the fudge is fudging wrong?”
I grinned. “The door is still well and truly locked. Do your hacking thing and get it open please. From what our intel says, right now they’d be gassing everyone inside, including the guards.”
“Bastards,” Steph said. She fell silent for a few moments and then growled. “I can’t seem to get in. I think there is some sort of block on it. Something that seems to be resisting it. If I didn’t think it was ridiculous, I would have sworn it was a—”
“A magical field?”
“Yup.”
I sighed, staring at the steel door. My silence must have projected my thoughts because Steph said, “Mel. You are not going to jump through.”
“No,” I said calmly, “I am only going to peek inside for the teensiest second.”
“Mel, you’re being reckless. You promised you were not going to put your health on the line. That’s the only reason I agreed to hack for you today.”
“That’s BS, and you know it. You wanted in on the action.”
“This is not the time,” Steph snapped. “Find another way in.”
“There isn’t,” I said calmly. “Besides, the Kitsune’s talisman should keep me safe.”
“Mel! If you think you’re going—”
“Too late.” While Steph had been speaking, I’d found my center and had pulled a blanket of calm over me. Though I hadn’t projected in the last few days, it was just as easy to slip into the astral plane as it ever was. I wondered then why I would have assumed that I’d have lost the ability just because I’d stopped traveling. Probably because I’d been extra careful with everything these days. The talisman had been meant to protect me, and it did. Mostly.
There were times though—mostly when I was alone, when the tokoloshe showed itself, proving it was fully capable of hurting me whenever it got the opportunity.
I focused on the corridor beyond the steel door, studying the darkened passages lit only by red flashing lights. “They have backup generators working here. Hopefully, it means the tunnels are still getting sufficient ventilation.”
“Not unless they have ventilation ducts further from the property. It’s a total mess up here. The whole site has collapsed. I doubt anything is functioning. They’ve turned off gas and power which would explain the generators.”
I nodded to myself. The team up top was smart enough to tick all their boxes. Now I had to tick my own. I scanned the door panel behind me and hardened my jaw. I’d suspected that, considering the underground location, they would have had both electronic as well and manual override systems.
And they did.
The door had a wheel lock not unlike what you’d expect on a submarine. I peered at the instructions and understood then that it was near impossible that any of the prisoners would be able to open it on their own.
“Steph. Someone has to physically be on this side of the door to open it. I don’t see any guards around, so unless we can get someone physically inside here, I really have no choice.”
“Mel,” Steph’s voice held a note of warning that I knew was going to mean a long lecture and lots of me trying to make it up to her.
“Sorry, Steph. I have to do something before this whole place comes crashing down on us.” Even as she started to argue, I cut her off. “Update me on the heat signatures.”
Without missing a beat, Steph confirmed thirteen heartbeats. “Twelve are near enough, and the strongest one is in a room beyond the rest of them.” I looked up and down the passage but before I could ask Steph which way, she said, “Take a left then another left. It’s a single main room at the end of the corridor.”
I followed her instructions, knowing that though it would be much easier for me to just jump, it would take a toll on my strength that I didn’t need. I may as well find out exactly where I needed to go first.
I flitted along the passage and took a left heading straight to the end of the hall. Another door, this time a thinner metal, blocked the way. I projected through and sucked in a shocked breath. The room was small, divided up the center by a wide passage. A dozen cells lined the two opposite walls, each protected by a laser field instead of standard metal bars. I stared hard, trying to understand what powered the fields.
“Is he there?” asked Steph.
“Not that I can see.” I moved through the hall scanning each cell, studying face after face of each captive. “Nope. Not here. He’s probably the one in the next room.”
“Is the room accessible?” Steph seemed to have finally dealt with the fact that I had disobeyed her order and was now fully focused on the job at hand. Her voice though, held a note of anger. One I knew meant I was in for an earful when we got home.
“Protected by the same type of magnetic field,” I said as I drew closer and studied the room beyond the vibrating field. “He’s being kept in a cell like the others, but he’s certainly been a lot more comfortable than them.”
“Maybe it’s because he’s special?”
I held my tongue. Just because he was a genius didn’t make him any more special than all the other prisoners out there. The ground vibrated, and the room was suddenly filled with shrieks of fear. One of the children began to cry, and I was about to turn to see if the kid was okay when a voice bellowed, “Stop your sniveling.”
Wincing at the volume, I turned back to the room and found myself staring straight into the gray eyes of the boy I was here to save.
He raised a pale eyebrow and said, “It certainly took you long enough.”
While I could tolerate most arrogance, after fighting my way into the basement, killing a string of demons, and fighting off a golem, I had little patience left for ungrateful, arrogant kids. Even if they were ungrateful, arrogant genius kids.
I stiffened. I was still projecting, and the kid had seen me?
I opened my mouth to confirm if he really could see me, but I stopped myself. I had a feeling this child was the type to lord over someone at every opportunity. Showing surprise or any hint of ignorance would be like dropping blood into the water.
I responded with my own eyebrow and said, “Traffic.”
The boy narrowed his eyes. “What are you waiting for, then?”
A scowl threatened, but I quashed it fast. “The entire building up top has
collapsed. We have to be careful how we proceed.”
It was BS, but I wasn’t sure how magical this kid was. He sighed deeply and turned on his heel, stalking over to a desk which sat facing the right-hand wall. With three taps on his keyboard, the fields disappeared. I watched as he gathered up a few things from his desk and stalked out of his cell.
Wait a second. He wasn’t a prisoner? I wanted to ask him why he was the one with control over the cells, but I figured I’d rather wait and question one of the other kids. Something about the boy set me on edge.
So I followed in silence as he stalked toward the entrance. He ignored the rest of the kids who were following in silence as if controlled by some kind of magnetic attraction to him. He didn’t even glance backward. He seemed to know where he was going and strode toward the main steel door where he paused and looked expectantly at me.
Of course, now he’d need my help.
I jumped, bringing my solid form into the passage. Ignoring the gasps of shock from the children behind me, I lifted the tiny latch at the top of the wheel that released the mechanism, grasped the wheel and began to turn. Soon I had the door open, and the children were filing out of the hallway. In the distance, light flickered from within the smoky halls, and I was about to warn them to stay put when Steph said, “The cavalry’s here.”
“Thank goodness.”
Steph grunted. “Seems a little too easy if you ask me. Where're all the big baddies.”
I laughed softly. “Half a dozen demons and a golem aren't enough?”
Steph laughed too. “Yeah, I suppose they are enough especially when you end your experience with a real live little son of a devil.”
I snorted. “You heard that?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Steph huffed. “Brat could use a paddling.”
“Not sure he’d let them live post-paddle.”
“Oh yeah. There is that.”
Chapter 3
I sank onto the sofa as Steph puttered around in the kitchen. It felt amazing to be horizontal. I sighed and felt my breath leave my body. But when I tried to inhale again I struggled. A heavy weight pressed down on my chest, as if someone sat on me, pushing down with all their weight.
I choked, struggling for air as stars flickered in my vision, fighting for space with giant red spots. My eyes were half open, and as I blinked, I could see him. His form was shadow and darkness and nothing, all coalescing into the body of a man. His features were indiscernible, but I could feel the malice in his expression even if I couldn’t tell a grimace from a smile with my eyes.
I knew what was happening, but even so, I still struggled. I was well aware struggling didn’t help, knew too that all I needed was to keep calm and take slow breaths and he would leave me be. But instinct fought hard, and combined with fatigue from battling supernatural creatures, projecting and jumping when I shouldn’t have, I didn’t have the strength of mind to control myself.
So I choked and struggled, trying to push the tokolosje off my chest.
“Mel!” Steph yelled, and I jumped, suddenly awake and sitting as I coughed and struggled to inhale. “What the hell?”
I took deep breaths, aware that I sounded like I was hyperventilating. I waved her off as she laid the tray down on the table slowly. She’d prepared scones, cheese, jam, and butter, plus coffee and tea. I was famished but I much rather preferred to be breathing first before I tackled the task of eating.
Steph poured the tea, refraining from saying anything as I brought my breathing back under control. Sweat covered my forehead, and I could feel beads trickling down my spine. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a shadowy form scrambled up the wall and sat in the corner of the ceiling. He hung there watching me for a while before fading into nothing.
As he disappeared a loud crack of lightning flashed outside, so bright that through the thin lace curtains I could see the street as clear as the day. Were we in for a storm? Must be something super strong considering the brightness of the lightning forks.
But I’d deal with weather later. Right now I had more important things to think about.
Only recently had he begun to show me more of his features and characteristics. It was almost as if he enjoyed being sadistic. I’d had to be so much more careful these days, especially when he put every danger in my path.
The talisman given to me by Saito, the Kitsune sorcerer, weighed my arm down. The string of charmed red beads remained wrapped around my wrist at all times. I’d fought for that damned magical insurance, and there was no way I’d part with it even for fashionable reasons.
The talisman helped most of the time, it seemed as though the evil spirit acted more when I was home. Saito had mentioned that the sorcerer who’d sent the poltergeist would redouble the strength of his spell when he realized I had the kind of protection the bead bracelet provided.
I’d mentioned it to Natasha, and we’d strengthened the wards twice already, but it hadn’t seemed to help.
Despite the tokolosje’s activity, it seemed like it was no longer able to hurt me physically. So instead, it messed with my mind. Like the suffocation, and the whole crawling-up-the-walls-to-frighten-the-hell-out of-me deal.
I still had the nosebleeds, but that was more so because of the jumps and projections, as if something had placed a block on my cross-Veil travel ability, which meant I strained too hard on every jump, thus the bleeding from eyes and sometimes ears.
I sighed again, and Steph handed me the mug and a plate with a scone slathered in butter, jam, and cream.
I ate in silence, my mind filled with the events of the mission, of High Councilman Michael Carter’s approval when I’d handed the kids over to him, my subsequent fatigue and nosebleeds as Steph had driven me home.
Now she sat across from me, glaring at me so hard I was sure her eyes would pop out of her head soon. Then she sighed and sat back against the cushions. “You need a shower or a soak?” she asked softly.
I smiled at her, sadness filling my eyes. “A shower. I might fall asleep and drown in the tub if I soak for longer than ten seconds.”
“I’d save you.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“What’s the thanks for?” she asked as she wiped crumbs from her mouth and sipped the last of her coffee.
“In advance. Just in case.”
She rolled her eyes and got to her feet to clear away the things. At any other time, I would have told her to leave it, but there were two reasons I stopped myself. One, because she seemed to want to do something to keep herself busy. And two, because I knew that come morning the walls, ceiling, furnishings, and carpets would have been pasted with butter, jam, and scone crumbs.
The poltergeist had a nasty streak and would smear anything on every available surface if we left stuff out. He was odd in his behavior. If something was sealed or wrapped in any way, he left it alone. But the moment anything was ever left out on a plate or in a cup, it was a free-for-all. Thankfully, this behavior too seemed to be exclusive to our home.
I followed Steph to the kitchen and waited as she washed up. Then she followed me to my bathroom where she waited as I showered and brushed my teeth. I never used the bathroom alone, having had too many near-death experiences in the room.
With Drake gone, I’d stopped sleeping alone too. Partly because without Drake in the house, Steph felt pressured to keep an eye on me. Partly because the spirit had the tendency to attack in the middle of the night and had almost suffocated me to death on three different occasions.
Not that I believed he really wanted me dead.
Sometimes I suspected the paranormal activity within the early hours was aimed more at setting me off-balance, making sure I never dropped my guard, and thereby exhausting me to no end.
An exhausted enemy is an enemy easy to defeat.
That sounded like a quote, and I’m sure someone famous must have said it. I sighed. I was so supremely tired, and I could understand the urge some people would have to just end it all. I was far fr
om truly suicidal. I just craved peace, wished deeply for peace and for my life to cease being this dangerous.
As Steph took a shower, I sat on the bed, going through my messages, hoping to see something from either Saleem or Drake. Wasn’t it just fate that both the men in my life were gone when I needed them the most. Neither of them knew what I was truly going through. If they had they’d never have left. But the last thing I needed was for them to neglect their own familial needs just for me.
Saleem had left for Mithras a few days ago, and I was still to hear from him. I’d known even before he’d left that he’d be in for something insurmountable. I just wasn’t able to tell him what I knew. I’d visited his mother Queen Aisha on more than one occasion. The woman was lonely and craved company as much as I craved peace.
Oddly enough, Aisha’s prison was the only place where my demonic shadow didn’t manifest itself. Probably one of the reasons I enjoyed going to see her.
The problem was the poltergeist no longer kept his activities to my physical presence. He seemed to want to haunt me during projections as well. And so he posed a very dangerous predicament for me, as I constantly feared that he would endanger the lives of my clients. Although there was one particular client, who would likely have benefited from a face to face with a live poltergeist.
Saracen Webster—what the hell kind of name was that for a kid in the first place—was a boy genius who also happened to be a mage. After his attitude earlier, I’d been tempted to encourage the spirit to manifest if only to frighten the kid.
But I’d retained some measure of self-control. A good thing too for Saracen.
I sighed, and my mind drifted to another kid.
Ari.
My own personal missing kid: my sister. And where was Samuel right now? And was he still in the same realm as the hooded figure I’d run into on my last trip to see him? I’d encountered a danger there, and Samuel had seemed to know it too. His grim expression as he’d glared at me demanding I leave, remained ingrained in my memory. Had I left when he’d told me to, it was likely that I would have avoided the whole drama with the mysterious hooded figure. I’d begun to suspect that the person was female. Just the profile and the way she’d moved.
