Chapter 9
“Are you sure this is going to work?”
“Do not question me,” Luminaria snapped as she prowled the mouth of the dark alley.
Anna stood in the shadows, her hands in her pockets and her head tucked firmly into her collar and scarf.
She wasn’t scared. She was cold.
Though hanging about in dark alleys as a young witch wasn’t recommended, she wasn’t defenseless. She had a cat possessed by a dark criminal mastermind. While Luminaria would love to be mugged, the mugger wouldn’t love it.
The terms of Luminaria von Tippit’s heirloom contract were simple. She could only use magic if she was attacked with magic. Starvation, sickness, or misfortune could not be fought with a hex or blessing. She couldn’t use a quick curse to slow down a mouse. No, she could only reply with a fireball if one was thrown at her.
Despite that limitation, in many ways she was the perfect person (cat) to have watching Anna’s back.
Luminaria snarled into the darkness. “I can sense dark magic. Far off,” she sniffed the air, her long silver whiskers catching the moonlight, “but still strong enough to taste.”
Almost on cue, Anna sneezed. She reached into her pocket and drew out a hanky.
“This way.” Luminaria trotted off, her tail high in the air.
Anna plunged her hands further into her pockets and tried to ward off the chill by jittering under her coat. It wasn’t a particularly cold night, but her muscles were still locked with an icy rigidity.
The longer she was out here, the more the reality of the situation sunk in.
She was tracking down a seriously strong, seriously bad wizard. On her own with nothing but a possessed cat for back up. While Luminaria was strong, it was still a huge risk.
Oh god I hope this works, Anna thought as she winced, I really don’t want to die.
She followed Luminaria’s trotting form.
Anna’s only comfort was that the soul catcher wouldn’t be there. The wizard would have to find another sacrifice before he could call it again. If Anna got there before he could, she had a chance at winning this.
If she was late … she’d run away.
It was a plan, of sorts.
Luminaria took her on a circuitous route around the back alleys and laneways of town. Though occasionally they came across some pretty shoddy looking types, all it would take was a well-placed evil insult from Luminaria to see them run away.
It took half an hour or so, but soon they came across a strange building.
It was low and shaped like an ordinary house, yet it was squeezed between two huge brick buildings, their sidewalls towering high above the house’s sloped roof and chimney.
You didn’t need to be a genius to realize this house was out of place. You did however need to be a witch to realize it was riddled with magic.
Anna patted at her nose as she held back a sneeze. “Okay, so he’s in there?”
“Yes. Or at least something terribly dark is in there.”
“… You haven’t taken me on an evil sightseeing tour, have you? We don’t have any time to waste; we can’t let him grab another witch. If he calls that soul catcher—”
“Relax,” Luminaria huffed. “He’s in there.”
Anna tipped her head back and breathed. Then she winced. Then she took a hesitant step towards the house. “What is that place, anyway?”
“Oh, it’s probably a bar.”
“What?”
“All truly evil types tend to do their best work in bars, where alcohol and peanuts are in ready reach.” Luminaria trotted forward, heading towards the front door. She had to leap over a white picket fence to reach it.
Anna carefully opened the gate and approached the house with extreme caution. She kept looking over her shoulder as if she expected the place to disappear or a hail of demons to rain down on it from the clouds. Which, to be fair, were both possibilities.
As Luminaria reached the front door, it opened with the kind of creak you associated with crypt doors. A seriously gaunt man stepped out. His eyes were so sunken and his skin so sallow he looked like a skeleton wearing a skin suit. He opened his mouth to say something, probably along the lines of ‘go away.’
He didn’t get the chance. “Get the hell out of my way,” Luminaria snapped as she trotted past him. “Come, vassal.”
Anna didn’t lower herself to mutter a ‘yes, master,’ but she did hurry up the path after Luminaria.
The gaunt doorman didn’t stop them.
Once they made it through the front door, everything changed.
She expected a hovel of a house with a few tables and a couple of cases of fuel-strength ethanol.
What she got was a proper bar. One that didn’t fit in the space allotted by the house.
If she weren’t a witch, she’d scratch her head. Instead, she scratched her arms as they started to itch horribly.
“This way, slave.” Luminaria darted between the patrons.
If the bar last night had been bad, this place was evil with a capital E, underlined and accentuated with neon arrows.
She recognized every patron she passed – all of them had their faces up on wanted posters in the MEC HQ.
She couldn’t arrest them all, and she had to keep focused.
She was going to catch that wizard. She made a fist as she followed Luminaria all the way to the back of the bar. “You, sit there,” Luminaria gestured towards a booth. It was suitably gloomy and dank. “I must investigate.” Luminaria darted away.
Though Anna wanted to follow, Luminaria had already wended through the patrons’ legs and out of sight.
With a nervous sigh, she sat down at the booth.
Her body was tense. Of course it was. She was on a stakeout with a possessed cat and no back up. She brought a hand up and pushed it over her face.
“Hiding isn’t going to help,” someone said as they sat down beside her.
Anna jumped, yelping into her hand.
A man leaned down on the table, his face coming into view.
It was Scott. And he looked pissed.
“What are you doing here?” Anna yelped with surprise.
“Saving your ass before it gets kidnapped and sacrificed,” Scott hissed as he leaned towards her.
“But, but, how did you find me?”
“I followed you.”
“What, why?”
“Because, despite your allergies, you’re kind of resourceful, Anna Hope Summersville. I had a feeling you’d find that wizard again. But I wasn’t going to let you do it alone.”
Anna opened her mouth. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. “… So you’re going to help me?”
He laughed quietly. “Hell no. I’m going in there – you’re going home.”
She crumpled her brow. “This is my operation. I found this place,” she whispered so no evil patrons could be disturbed by the bounty hunters arguing in the corner and ruining their night.
“No you didn’t – your cat did. I watched her. She’s pretty useful. I mean, that doesn’t make up for her shocking personality. But she could be kind of handy sniffing down bounties.”
“I’m not leaving,” she ignored his banter. “I’m going to prove—”
“You don’t have anything to prove,” he looked at her evenly, “to anyone. And don’t live your life like you do. Anna, you seem like a sensible girl. Do you really think going after this dark wizard is a good idea?”
Up until now she had. Up until the exact moment he’d locked her in his serious gaze she’d been determined to prove herself.
Now his words were sinking in.
“He’s after witches, love. If he doesn’t manage to get one, he won’t be able to call the soul catcher. Or at least I hope not,” Scott conceded with a shrug. “But the point is, you can leave this up to me.”
Anna closed her mouth.
“That evil cat of yours should be able to get you home with no trouble. I don’t imagine any punk in this town – no
matter how aspiring – would be ballsy enough to take her on.”
She looked down at her hands.
“I’ll have this guy in prison before you know it.” Scott stood, offering a half bow. “Now keep safe, and I’ll see you around, Anna.” He shot her a dashing smile, then he walked off.
She could have ignored him and continued to stake out the bar, waiting for the wizard, but she didn’t. She slowly rose and picked her way to the front door.
As soon as she opened it and the chill night air hit her, it brought with it some much-needed reason.
Scott was right. She couldn’t and shouldn’t do this. She wasn’t up to a task this difficult.
She’d been a fool for coming here.
She rubbed her eyes and walked down the path, figuring Luminaria could get home on her own.
She made it to the gate, opened it, and walked through.
A man – probably a dastard patron hankering for happy hour – walked up to her. “Hold that gate,” he asked.
She stepped out of his way.
He walked past her, and, in one smooth move, grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward, mumbling a spell under his breath as he did. Hot blue sparks spat out of his mouth with every muttered word.
Anna tried to pull back, but his fingers were like steel soldered around her wrist. “Let me go,” she screamed.
The man didn’t respond. He didn’t turn to her, didn’t speak – didn’t acknowledge her in anyway. Instead he reached his free hand out and closed the gate. As his hand rested against the metal, it sent spikes of magic arcing into it like an electrical discharge.
Anna’s whole body began to burn as her breathing came in strangled gulps.
It was the same magic – the same new, evil magic from last night.
As she looked up to see the man incline his head towards her, she realized something even more horrible.
It was him.
The wizard.
He was back.
He pulled his hand from the gate, then kicked it open with his boot. Without a word, he pulled her through.
The world around her changed. Somehow the path leading through the sparse lawn and up to the bar disappeared.
It was replaced with that spiraling staircase.
He’d summoned a travelling hell portal. And if Anna couldn’t fight him off, soon he’d cast another spell – with her soul.
She tried to fight. She couldn’t. He pulled her forward.