Insidious Winds (3 page)

“
No. There was another guy yesterday who was
hospitalized with bee stings, but nobody saw the bees either. I haven’t had a
chance to talk to him
.”

“
Then it’s a fair go that the person who sent them
either really likes spiders and bees or really hates them. It’s also likely
that the spiders are real and capable of attacking others. Start by looking for
anyone who’s close to your witch, because this is most definitely contagion
magic. Or look for a dead rabbit, because it could also be that. And this
person will probably have salt everywhere. People who send bugs after others
are definitely getting something in return.
”

“
Right. Thanks
.”

“
No worries. Oh, um, also, if anyone like the NYPD
calls, tell them I was in your apartment all weekend and there was a power
outage
.”

“
Are you in New York
?”

“
No, why
?”

“
Never mind
.”

“
Cheers
.”

“Does Darwin have an idea?” Henry asked.

“How did you know?”

“You have a vacant look when you’re talking to him.”

“He said we need to find someone close to her who has
salt everywhere. He didn’t tell me what to do about Cindy, though.”

“Did you ask?”

“Never mind that. Cindy, do you know who has this
power and would attack you and Luther?” She shook her head. “Stay here and look
after her.”

I went inside to see Meg sitting on the couch with
her mug of coffee… watching static on the television. “She’s faking it,” Meg
said.

“Did your husband fake the bee stings?”

“No. If she would just stop this magic crap, we would
be fine.”

“You think this is because of her magic?”

“Of course. Magic is wrong.”

Movement caught my eye and I looked just in time to
see a door slam shut at the end of the hall. “Please tell me someone else is in
the house.”

“My son, Luke.”

“You mind if I go talk to him?”

“He’s been through enough.”

I searched for the nearest minds. I sensed Meg’s
easily; she was a pretty good person who volunteered, gave to charity, and
loved her family. However, it was a bad time and she felt like a failure
because she didn’t get a promotion at her job. Fortunately, this wasn’t enough
to drive her to attack anyone. Besides, there wasn’t a drop of power in her.

The other mind I sensed in the house was blocked.

“Has your son done anything odd lately?”

“Not anything odd for a seven-year-old, no.”

“What about weird for
him
?”

“No. I mean, he’s on the phone a lot, but that’s just
what kids his age do.”

“Who’s he on the phone with?”

“His imaginary friend. I listened in; he’s not
talking to anyone.” She pointed to the house phone beside the fridge. “We put a
phone in his room last week because he kept talking over the T.V. and bothering
Luther.”

I picked up the phone quietly and listened. For a
moment, there was silence, but not a dial tone.

“Okay,” the boy said. There was silence for another
minute. “But it’s dark out… Okay, when she goes to sleep.” He hung up the phone
and I heard the dial tone.

“Luke isn’t talking to an imaginary friend.” Without
waiting for her to speak, I went down the hall and opened the child’s door.
If
this is considered normal for seven-year-old kids these days, times have
changed
. Aside from the salt lining the doorway and windows, the dresser
blocking the closet door, and the worn-down candles everywhere, there was a
pentagram in a circle with symbols all over it painted on the hardwood floor in
the middle of the room.

Luke was lying on his stomach with a picture book on
dinosaurs. He looked up at me. “You need to leave.”

“Did you see the bees that attacked your dad?”

“The bees attacked him because he yelled.”

“What about Cindy?”

“You need to leave, or he’s going to get you, too.”
The door slammed shut in front of me. Meg ran up to me and tried to turn the
knob. When she couldn’t, she pounded on the door.

“Let me in, Luke.”

“Go away!”

I grabbed Meg’s arms gently as my instincts warned me
this would get really bad if we pissed the kid off. “Go sit down.” She shook
her head, so I was about to use my magic to force her, but Henry and Cindy
entered at that moment. “What happened to the spiders?”

“They disappeared.”

Meg huffed. “This is all your fault,” she said to her
sister.

“Did you teach Luke magic?” I asked.

Cindy shrugged. “I taught him to make a protective
circle and what salt can do.”

“Then it is your fault!” Meg yelled.

“Go sit down. Henry, go out to the front and guard
the kid’s window.” He nodded and left as Meg sat down on the couch. “I don’t
think Luke attacked anyone intentionally.” I went back into the hallway and
knocked on Luke’s door softly. “Luke? Can I ask you a question?”

“Go away!”

“Who were you talking to on the phone?”

“None of your business!”

“When I was a little older than you, I had a best
friend that I never told my parents about. I snuck out every night for more
than a year to see her.”

“Why didn’t you tell your mom and dad? Did she tell
you not to?” he asked quietly through the door.

“No, but I felt like I shouldn’t tell them. Astrid
was very dangerous to my parents. She wasn’t human.”

The door opened just a crack. “What was she?”

“A vampire.”

“But Mom said vampires don’t exist.”

“Your mom probably never met one. I saw that you
blocked your closet. Is there something in there you don’t want getting out?”
He nodded. “Have you told your friend you were talking to on the phone about
it?” He shook his head. “Why not?”

“He’s not my friend. He
is
the thing in my
closet.”

I held out my hand. “Then you should come with me.”

“No. That’s what he wants. He wants me to leave my
room.”

I looked at the candles through the small gap. “Does
he only come in the dark? Does the dark reach for you?”

“I did it right; I made my room safe. I can come out
when it’s light.”

“Okay. Can I come in?” He shook his head and shut the
door. I closed my eyes and focused on the mind of Alpha Flagstone. Since I knew
Hunt’s mind was blocked, the only way to get ahold of him was through Flagstone
or Maseré, and Flagstone had a mental link with the headmaster.

“Stay out of my head.”

The words were so unexpected that I flinched before
turning to see Flagstone right behind me. “I didn’t even call you yet.”

“Logan sent me.”

“How did you find me?”

“As long as you’re in a dark room and not using magic
to hide yourself, we can find you anywhere.”

“So if I turned on all the lights, you couldn’t find
me?”

“We could find you, but we would have to appear in
the nearest dark place.”

“How dark?” The hallway light was off, but the
kitchen light was on around the corner and the white T.V. screen was bright, so
I didn’t think it was all that dark.

“Never mind that. Logan sent me to tell you to stay
out of the council business. He doesn’t believe you have enough experience with
the paranormal world to risk angering the council, especially when their greed
will bring about their own downfall. Why were you trying to contact me?”

“There’s a child in this room that I think Hunt
should meet.”

“Why?”

“Instinct.”

“You have to give me more than that. I don’t trust
you as much as Logan or Vincent do, so I’m not going to let him walk into just
anything.”

Flagstone was with Hunt and Vincent when they saved
my mother and me from the council. Although both wizards acted like it was no
big deal, they put their trust in me multiple times. Flagstone, on the other
hand, regarded me with respectful distance. He didn’t like me, but he didn’t
seem to dislike me, either.

“There’s a seven-year-old named Luke in there. It
sounds like he came into a lot of power very suddenly a month ago. It wasn’t
anything serious, but a week or so ago---” I stopped as blackness swarmed the
space beside the shifter and Logan Hunt appeared.

“Did he hurt anyone?” the headmaster asked, obviously
having listened in through Flagstone.

“You didn’t let me finish. It was all child-like
tricks at first, but then a week or so ago, things changed. I just talked to
him and he’s been contacted by something in his closet. This something only
comes out of the darkness, can speak to him on the phone without anyone else
listening in, and wants him to leave the protection of his room.”

“Protection?”

“His aunt taught him some stuff. She’s a witch.”

“Wiccan witch or paranormal?”

From what I learned at the university, the difference
was genetic. Any human could study witchcraft, but they didn’t have the same
genetic predisposition as “paranormals.” I found the distinction to be very
vague. “Wiccan, but I think Luke is a paranormal. He doesn’t seem to understand
what’s going on.”

Hunt knocked lightly on the door.

“Go away!”

“Luke, I am the headmaster of a magic school. Can I
come---” The door burst open and Luke stepped back to let Hunt in. The door
slammed shut as soon as the headmaster was inside.

I looked at Flagstone and he shrugged. “This happens
quite a lot. Most kids trust him immediately. You were one of the few
exceptions. During the entire trip across the country, you never once let him
sit next to you.”

“Well, the council did send him to kill me.”

“He would never have hurt a child.” Darkness spread
from the corner to engulf the shifter until he vanished completely.

Cindy came to investigate then. “Were you talking to
someone?” she asked.

“Yeah.” The door opened then and Hunt came out. “How
is he?”

“Powerful. He needs to learn to control his wizard
magic.”

“Who are you?” Cindy asked. Meg came up behind her
and the hallway was getting very crowded.

“My name is Logan Hunt. I am the headmaster of
Helena’s Academy of Supernatural Arts, a school for children with paranormal
abilities or who have paranormal parents.”

I made a mental note to ask him later what the story
behind the name was.

“I’ve heard of you, but I thought you ran a
university,” Cindy said.

“What are you talking about?” Meg asked. “Luke is
normal.”

“I’m confused,” Cindy said. “I thought these things
were genetic. Meg and Luther are the least magical people I know.”

“It can skip a generation. He has caught the eye of a
very powerful and dangerous entity. It is in the middle of the school year for
the children’s school, but I think he should start now.”

“Luke isn’t going anywhere,” Meg said.

“In that case, we will get out of your hair,” Hunt
said, motioning for me to leave the hall. As we headed for the door, Cindy
argued with her sister. They ignored us as we went out the front door.

“You can’t really drop it that easily.”

“His mother will get the final say whether we argue
with her or not. Right now, her concern is driving her to hold him close. Thus,
trying to scare her with the truth will only make her hold on tighter.”

“But the one who’s been talking to him? It’s Krechea,
right?”

“It is, yes. I believe he plans to recover from the
loss of his makeshift familiar by stealing the power of children, particularly
those who recently discovered their magic. Luke told me his father hit him only
once and a moment later, all the glass in the house broke. He has been learning
on his own since to focus and visualize by playing pranks.”

Henry joined us silently and the headmaster didn’t
seem surprised that the shifter was with me. “So someone’s magic can be dormant
until a traumatic event?”

“In some cases. Many wizards are raised with
paranormal parents and are taught how to control their actions before they even
know they have magic. Of course, most wizards have to focus to control the
energy and that takes years. Luke is like you; his magic is powerful enough to
react to his state of mind.”

“And Krechea was drawn to that?”

“I suspect he was drawn to Luke’s magic before it was
realized and that he provoked Luke’s father.”

“And you can protect Luke at the school?”

“My wards are stronger over the children’s school and
all of the teachers are trained and prepared for this kind of situation.”

“So you’re just going to let Meg turn you away
without explaining anything?”

“Of course not. Rosin will explain the situation. He
has a talent for assuring concerned mothers.” We stopped in front of Cindy’s
house. “Where are we?”

“Oklahoma.”

“I will get you back to your apartment.”

“Maybe we should go back by plane,” I said. Henry
nodded his agreement, reluctantly.

“If you are going to attain the last key, you should
get used to the shadow pass. You may need to use it suddenly.”

“How safe is it?”

“It is not safe at all, but do consider how little
magic it takes to interfere with electronics.”

As often as my own phone got fried from sparks of my
magic, I should have realized that it was the cause of the trouble we had on
the plane. I just hadn’t considered that my magic would affect something as
massive as a plane. The scary truth was that it could have been a lot worse.
“You’re right.” That didn’t make the shadow pass any less unpleasant.

Hunt made a motion with his hands and the
streetlights all died. The darkness was unnaturally obscure, though. I felt him
take my arm right before the air changed. The gravity was stronger, the air was
cold and stale, and the ground was soft and uneven. My instincts warned me that
I was in a very dangerous place and surrounded by very dangerous creatures.