Crimson Christmas (6 page)

“Go stand in the circle,” he told the beast. It
obeyed instantly. He didn’t have his uncle’s grimoire, which contained more
knowledge of magic than he would ever attain, but he had listened when Vincent
taught him about protective magic. He even had what he needed thanks to Sylvester’s
attempt to trap him.

When the toymaker started chanting something in one
of the magic languages, Devon took the rag off the table next to the stairs and
stuffed it in Sylvester’s mouth. Ghost appeared on a table with a black satin
sack.

“Good job,” he praised. The cat managed a less vexed
glare. Devon took the sack, emptied it into his palm, and turned to the
creature and the box. “Open it,” he said, pushing his will into the creature’s
mind.

It did. It pulled the decorative ribbon free and
lifted the lid. The sides fell away, leaving behind a larger box. Devon’s
original circle would never have done, but thanks to Hail, he had managed to
adjust it before the box arrived.

As the creature went through box after growing box,
Devon started to feel the energy swarming the magical object. He slipped on the
amulet that the cat had brought him. This was no ordinary amulet; the talisman,
which he had used once before, could absorb the magic of anyone around it.
Devon didn’t want the magic for himself, but he knew it could be trapped inside
the amulet. At least, his super-genius roommate had been able to do so.

Using the amulet was like using his own magic, except
it came from anyone around him. He wanted the amulet to draw out the power of
the box. When the beast pulled the lid off the box again, it didn’t have a
bigger box inside of it. “Go get the kids and bring every one of them back
uninjured.”

The creature flew into the box and Devon turned his
focus to controlling the amulet. He could feel the magic unable to enter him,
as if his sheer will was protecting him. Whether it was the result of his
training or not, Devon was just glad it was going right for once. Even though
it was going as planned, he still had to work to hold the magic inside the
amulet.

Dylan, Mordon, and the boys arrived then. “Did we
miss the party?” Ron asked.

“No,” Devon answered, “the guests are just about to
arrive.” As if to prove him right, the creature flew out of the box carrying
three small kids. It set them down and went back in for more.

“Boys, get them out of the building,” Dylan said.
“What do you need?” he asked Devon.

“Just watch for unexpected catastrophes.” He looked
at the door and saw a frowning clown with a dagger in its hand. “Like that.”

Mordon shifted his fingers into claws and scratched
the clown across the chest. Unfortunately, the evil creature was not a living
being; it didn’t even notice and it damn sure didn’t bleed.

Devon looked around for his gun that Sylvester had
taken, found it on the floor beside the chair, and tossed it to Dylan. Dylan
shot the clown in the head. The animated toy went down.

And then it got back up.

“Daddy, the dolls came alive and want to eat me!” Ron
yelled from in the shop. “Can I kill them?”

“Yes, sweetheart! Just don’t use fire!” Dylan
answered, holding the clown off with a force field. “I’m going to grab the
sword. Can you handle this?”

“Yes,” Mordon said.

Devon had to close his eyes when the room filled with
bright light. When he opened his eyes again, Dylan was gone. “You’re all
insane,” he said. Mordon nodded in agreement.

The winged beast returned with another group of
children just as Ron and Hail made it past the clown. They got the kids, but
the door was crowded by half-plastic girls trying to get down the stairs.
Nothing Mordon did injured the creatures.

One of the dolls got away from the others and reached
for Devon. The second he let his control slip, the excess energy inside him
lashed out and struck the doll. She melted, but since she was half alive at
that time, what was left of her was a gruesome mixture of bones, melted flesh,
and melted plastic.

And then Devon couldn’t breathe. The pain in his
chest wasn’t the problem; he took a lot worse. It was the pressure he felt in
his chest that prevented him from being able to draw in air. He forced himself
to focus through the pounding of his cursed heart in order to regain control of
the wayward magic.

The beast returned again with five little babies,
each wrapped in blankets. The beast laid them gently on the floor before going
back for more. Devon didn’t know how long he could hold onto the power, even
with the amulet. It was churning in him like adrenaline.

Dylan appeared with a katana sword, but not just any
katana sword. The blade was black and emitted a slight blue glow. Dylan handed
the sword to Mordon and used short bursts of energy to scatter the animated
toys out of the doorway. Ron and Hail helped the kids and babies out.

This method worked long enough for the winged beast
to get the remaining children out of the box. Finally, Devon released the magic
back into the box and sat heavily in the chair… which was conspicuous in its
emptiness. Sylvester was gone.

All the animated toys reverted back into their
original, un-monstrous states and collapsed. “Is that it? Are we safe?” Hail
asked, peering down through the basement doorway. “Can we get food now?”

They went upstairs just as Ron found Sylvester’s
brother locked in a closet. “Are you sure he’s clean?” Dylan asked Mordon.

“I don’t smell a single bad intention on the man. His
adoration of children and happiness is almost sickening. If he isn’t innocent,
no one is,” Mordon said. He turned to the man. “I suggest you leave town before
the sheriff finds out your brother’s store is responsible for the kidnapping of
children.”

“Nobody is going to believe that the toys came alive.
What are you going to tell them?” Devon asked.

Dylan and Mordon looked at each other. “They’ll
believe us,” Dylan said.

“What are we going to do about the box?” Ron asked.

“And the monster? Can we keep him?” Hail asked.

“I know what I can do with the box,” Devon said.

“And I know a place to take the ghoul so that it
can’t get into trouble,” Dylan added. “So what did you do to my son?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Devon said, knowing exactly
what the older wizard was talking about.

“You gave him your instincts. Hail has very powerful
protection over his mind; you shouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

“That explains why I couldn’t read his mind.”

“Then how did I know what you were doing?” Hail
asked.

“Because you’re psychic.”

“So are you.”

Before Devon could respond or even come up with a
theory on how he and the kid were connected, Ron shoved Hail towards Devon.
Instinctively, Devon reached out to catch him.

*          *          *

Devon was confused as to why he was suddenly burning
and freezing simultaneously. It was dark and the image that slowly faded in was
even more bewildering.

The black blade of Dylan’s katana glittered in the
scarce light as Mordon aimed and embedded it in Dylan’s ribcage. Heat blossomed
across Devon’s chest, starting small before spreading. It first took his
breath, then his vision, until all he could feel was dark emptiness and
white-hot pain.”

*          *          *

Devon found himself on a couch in the living room of
an apartment that was much nicer than his. He groaned as he sat up, more from
the humiliation than the ache in his chest. Dylan handed him a glass of water.
“Please tell me I didn’t pass out.”

“Nah, you just decided to take a quick nap in the
middle of the store. What happened to your heart?”

“I had an enemy who got my blood before I could kill
him.”

“He was really powerful?”

Devon shook his head. “He was opportunistic and had
powerful friends.” He noticed that they were alone and figured there was a
reason for it. He didn’t want to know the reason. “I think I had one of Hail’s
visions.”

“Yeah, and he had one of yours. It very nearly ended
your life in the store. I was able to heal the immediate damage, but…”

“You couldn’t break the underlying curse. Figures.”
He would just have to settle for having solved another case with no casualties.
At least, he hoped there hadn’t been a death.

“It’s not that. I could break the curse in a second,
but I won’t. A person died in order to curse you; only another death can end
it.”

“Great.”

“I saw her,” Hail said. Devon turned to see the boy
standing in the kitchen doorway.

“You saw Astrid?”

Hail nodded. “She’s okay for now.”

“But?”

“But I saw that you’re going to have to make a
decision. It’s between her or someone else, and I don’t know who the other
person is. I know you choose to leave her there, though. You can’t leave her.
She’s going to lie to you and tell you she can do it on her own, but don’t
believe her. And there was a man who’s going to lie to you, too.”

“What man?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see him, but you know him. At
least you think you do. He had a red ball.”

Leon neatly folded his last
shirt and laid it carefully in his suitcase. He was in no hurry; the dragon
already cleared him from any involvement in the crime.

“What crime?” Sylvester asked in a sinister, hissing
voice.

Leon smirked. Sylvester was right; there had been no
crime. Had there been a crime, someone would have stopped him. No one ever did.
Everyone knew without a doubt that Leon was innocent because he was.

“On to the next town,” Sylvester pestered.

“You lost the salominius.”

“We’ll just have to return to the reaper and get
another one.”

It was always Sylvester who took the children and
performed the rituals, and he was never found. After all, who could find a
person that only existed in someone’s mind?

Rain Oxford is a teacher who has been writing for more than half of her
life. She does most of her writing in a secluded cabin in the woods with a
four-pound Maltese as a companion. When she’s not teaching or creating worlds,
she usually enjoys cooking, playing the piano, or photographing exotic wildlife.

Facebook Page:
www.facebook.com/rainoxfordauthor

Website:
rainoxford.wordpress.com

Amazon Page:
http://amzn.to/1FNgsX0

This book was made with 100% recycled electrons. If you enjoyed this
book, please leave a review. Thanks for reading!

Cindy stepped out onto her porch as I paid the taxi
driver and grabbed my bag.

“So this is what you do?” Henry asked, eying the
house dubiously.

“No, actually. I’ve always stayed away from paranormal
cases.”

“Maybe you should have this time as well.”

“It won’t be that bad.” I studied the house.

“Glad you could make it,” Cindy said. The woman was
about five-three, petite, with dyed-lavender hair. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Henry. He’s working with me now.” Henry and
her shook hands, but I noticed him inhale deeply as his way of sniffing her
discreetly. I also noticed the envelope she held in her left hand. “How have
you been?”

“Up until a month ago, I was doing well. That’s when
weird stuff started happening.”

“Weird as in what?”

“Well, not anything too serious. Freak snow storms
overnight, things floating up into the air, every car on the street won’t
start, you’d set something down on a flat surface and it would slide just out
of reach… and the chairs stacked themselves on the dining room table a few
times.”

“Like poltergeists?”

“Yeah. And there’s something wrong with the
electricity. Then, a week ago, it started getting a lot more serious. Light
bulbs would explode, things would just catch on fire, and the stray cat
population completely disappeared.”

Henry and I glanced at each other and then at the
house. “Was your sister’s husband the only one attacked?”

“Yes.”

“Anyone have any reason to attack him?”

“No. Luther has never done anything to anyone. I’ll
take you over there and you can talk to my sister, Meg. Oh, and I got this in
the mail for you.” She handed me the unmarked envelope and I slipped it into
the inside pocket of my jacket.

Elemental
Book 1:
Dark Waters

Elemental
Book 2:
Hungry Earth

Elemental
Book 3:
Furious Flames

The Guardian
Book 1:
The Guardian’s Grimoire

The Guardian
Book 2:
The Dragon’s Eyes

The Guardian
Book 3:
God of the Abyss

The Guardian
Book 4:
The Demon’s Game

The Guardian
Book 5:
The Wizard’s War

The
Awakening