Wizard in a Witchy World (10 page)

"We're here for an I.D.," she said. "Got a call."

"How'd I miss you?" the man in scrubs asked.

"Didn't see you at the desk," Gabriella said. "We thought you might be back in the bunks. Didn't find you back there and… I didn't catch your name."

"Jeffery. Who'd you say you were here to I.D.?"

"Benita Barrios," she said.

He shrugged and walked past. "Thought she'd been identified."

"Some sort of screw-up. Police rolled me out of my nephew's birthday party for this crap," Gabriella said.

"Justice never rests," he said. "Are you new? I haven't seen you down here before."

"Yeah. Who else would they send on Sunday?"

"I read you. Ask me, weekends are the best. Stiffs don't talk and the coroner is always in a hurry." He led us into a room with three stainless steel, person-sized tables and a bank of square doors along the back wall.

He walked up to a computer terminal. "You say Barrios?"

"Yes." Gabriella said, breathing deeply. I hoped she'd be able to keep it together.

"Can you hand me your badge? I need to log it," he said.

"Hang on," she said and reached into her purse. "Oh no, I left it at home."

"You know your number?"

"One-nine-six-… Crap! No, I can't remember it. Don't make me go back. It took me forever to get down here," she said.

"No problem. Give me your last name and I'll look it up," he said.

"Trujillo," she said.

The screen in front of him displayed the picture of an ebony-skinned woman. She was attractive, but nothing like Gabriella.

"What is this?" he asked. Before he could finish, I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Don't turn around. This doesn't need to go poorly. We just need to I.D. Barrios."

"Hey, look," he said, raising his hands. "You want to look at a D.B., no skin off my back. Slap me a C-note and I'll forget you were ever here."

I only had sixty-three bucks in my wallet. I held three twenties up so Gabriella could see I was short. She rummaged through her purse and handed me two more.

"Which drawer?" I asked, setting the bills on the keyboard in front of the morgue assistant.

"B-3," he said and started to turn.

"Don't do it," I said. "The less you know, the safer you'll be."

"Not my safety you should be worried about," he said.

"Felix, someone's in the hall," Gabriella said. It was unnecessary as a wave of wet dog smell had arrived just before she spoke.

"Lycan," I said. "Multiple."

The door burst open and Shaggy walked through with a red-haired man and a dirty-blonde haired woman right behind him.

"Thought I told you I was going to rip your head off if you got in my way again," he said.

"Where's Clarita Barrios, Shaggy?" I asked.

"I think I'll leave this to you all," Jeffery said, slinking toward the door.

"You said no witnesses," the woman growled as she pulled her shirt off. I was proud of myself for not finding the action distracting for once. Her motion was followed by the sound of cracking and popping of bones and ligaments as she changed, howling in agony.

A gray wolf sprang from her pants and attacked. From the corner of my eye, I saw the red-haired man begin his transformation.

"
Scutum
," I said, stepping between the lycan and Gabriella. The wolf deflected off the shield, yelping in pain as she struck it. "I can't hold this forever." In truth, I could possibly hold it for two minutes. "Stay behind me."

"Shaggy, we don't need to do this. Just return the girl," I said.

He hadn't transformed, but barked commands. The grey had recovered and moved with the red, trying to flank us. I moved in response, trying to keep Gabriella between me and the steel table behind us. I couldn't hold my shield much longer so I released it.

The red wolf to my left rushed us, growling and snapping as he closed in.

"
Adoleret
," I said at the last moment, releasing the small amount of energy that had charged into my ruby ring. A cone of flame seared the wolf, causing it to instinctively pull off, screeching in pain. The cone extinguished and the ring was drained.

The red wolf's attack had been a gambit to draw my attention. I’d only had a few options and hopefully that one reduced my attackers. Unfortunately, the female gray had recovered and was attacking from the side.

"Wolf's bane brings great pain." Gabriella flicked her hand out of her purse. A flash of light and a cloud of smoke popped next to the gray causing her to howl and stumble, her attack aborted.

"Crap, you're pathetic! We'll just do this old-school. Especially since I've never had the pleasure of kicking a wizard's ass," Shaggy said. "At least they won't have to take your body far." He pulled a pistol from the back of his pants and leveled it at me.

"You're this big, scary lycan and you're just going to shoot me?" I asked. "What kind of chicken shit is that?"

"Dead is dead. Dumbass," he said.

"So you're not going to rip my head off then? I'm disappointed. All bark, no bite?"

"You really want to do this? Fine." He placed his pistol on the table next to him before unbuttoning his shirt.

I smiled and twisted my wrist, causing the barrel of the pistol to orient on Shaggy. The red wolf barked a warning and Shaggy turned, but it was too late. I flicked my thumb and pinched my finger, firing the revolver. There was a deafening bang and the gun spun wildly across the room.

Shaggy crumpled to the ground as his pack members turned toward me, growling defensively.

I pointed at the body. "You'd better get him to the hospital."

Shaggy howled in pain, writhing on the floor.

"Felix, he's shifting," Gabriella warned.

"Damn, we've gotta get out of here," I said.

I took a step toward Shaggy, which earned me a growl from his red companion.

"
Scutum
." I pushed my faltering shield into the two wolves. The touch of the invisible shield startled them and I used their confusion to kick Shaggy in the abdomen where he'd been shot.

"Felix, what are you doing?" Gabriella asked.

"Go," I said and sidled toward the door. My shield was sputtering and I was glad the wolves couldn't see it failing. I took a chance and pushed at them, which earned me further growling and barring of teeth.

Gabriella and I ran through the door. The last thing I saw was the black wolf that had attacked Lozano trying to gain traction on the tile floor. I pulled the door closed a second before a heavy body crashed into it.

"Help me with this," I said.

Gabriella grabbed the U-shaped handle. I waved my hand across the lock and felt a satisfying thunk as the bolt was thrown.

"That won't hold them for long," Gabriella said as the door bowed outward in response to another heavy body slamming against it. She grabbed my hand and we sprinted down the hallway, sliding around the corner and ducking into the corridor that led to the service entrance.

The sound of breaking glass and the screech of metal hinges alerted us to the fact that the wolves had breached the morgue's door.

"We can't outrun them," I said.

"Can you lock the doors?" Gabriella asked as we burst through the exterior metal door.

"No," I said. I didn't have time to explain that it was an emergency exit door.

We raced up the garage's ramp to the wan light of the late fall afternoon with sounds of pursuit close behind. We reached Gabriella's car and I spun around, knowing we wouldn't have time to unlock the doors.

"Close your eyes!" Gabriella said.

Too late, I saw her drop her purse, a can of something in her hand. A stream of liquid shot past me and hit the closest of our pursuers. The smaller gray wolf skidded to a halt, yowling in pain.

The wind picked up a good portion of the pepper spray mist and blew it back in my face. I stumbled and turned to the Civic, running my hand across the lock on the passenger's side, pulling the door open.

"Get in!" I said.

Gabriella didn't require any prompting and jumped in, scrabbling over to the driver's seat. With tears streaming down my face, I followed behind her, closing the door just before the much larger Shaggy slammed into the vehicle. The window splintered on impact.

Time slowed as Gabriella fumbled with the keys. Shaggy's giant head swept the rest of the glass from the broken window and I pushed away from him, crowding into Gabriella to avoid his snapping maw.

"
Lucem
," I said, holding my hand forward. It was a lame spell for the situation, but the only thing I could think of. My silver ring blazed brilliantly for a moment and immediately extinguished. Shaggy recoiled up and away, slamming his head into the car's door's frame.

The Civic lurched forward and Shaggy snapped his jaw ineffectively, losing his balance. Gabriella swerved into a parking meter peeling Shaggy from the side of the vehicle.

"Are you hurt?" Gabriella asked as she gained speed.

I looked out the back window. The wolves appeared to be gaining on us, but Gabriella wasn't messing around and they soon fell behind.

"Damn, woman, you were brilliant," I said, laughing due to the excess adrenaline.

"Three lycan! I can't believe we got out of there alive." She was panting in her excitement. "How weird is it that the big guy's name is Shaggy? How did Jeffery know to call them?"

I grinned but didn't set her straight. I was pretty sure the guy's name wasn't really Shaggy.

"We were only there for five minutes before the dogs showed up. That wasn't enough time for Jeffery to call. They were following us," I said. "I hope he got out of there okay."

"Drop you at your apartment?" she asked.

She didn’t get it. "You think this is over?" I asked. "Gabriella, they'll find you. We barely escaped with our lives."

"I have an appointment. I'll be safe," she said.

"An appointment? It's Sunday, what kind of…" Then it hit me. "No. You've got to be kidding."

"I'm really sorry, Felix. What happened in your apartment was a mistake. I shouldn't have let it go that far," she said.

"Boyfriend?"

She nodded.

"Shit, Gabriella. That’s cold," I said.

I got another of those pitying looks. "It's not like that. I messed up. I just really need your help finding Clarita."

"Which is it? You messed up or you need help finding Clarita? From where I'm sitting, it feels like you're using me."

"What do you want me to say? They're killing my family," she said.

"This guy, is he going to keep you safe from lycan?"

"I'll be fine. He lives in a high security building. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean for things to go like this," she said as she turned into the gravel drive in front of Mrs. Willoughby's garage.

I opened the door and swung my legs out, brushing broken glass from my lap. "Screw off, Red." I slammed the door behind me. It didn't exactly have the effect I was looking for as the window was missing, so she still had the ability to talk at me as I stalked up to the garage.

"I'm sorry, Felix," she called.

I pulled the overhead door up and slipped under it, allowing it to slide down behind me. "Whatever."

I knew it'd been too good to be true. Gorgeous women like Gabriella – strike that – Red, didn't ordinarily pay attention to loner types like me. I sighed, annoyed with my hubris. I shook my head and switched gears. A little girl was missing and if I could do anything about it, I would.

The first order of business was to recharge my jewelry. If Shaggy pulled up right now, things could get ugly. I was surprised that Gabriella - Red - was treating the attack so cavalierly. There was no reason to think the werewolf was tailing me and every reason to think he was after her. Yet, there she was, running off to the symphony with Mr. Perfect. I hated the bastard already. I needed to let go of my anger, but I was struggling.

I breathed in deeply and released slowly, closing my eyes in an attempt to focus. I pulled out a gnarled walking stick I sometimes used when hiking in the Appalachians and with its foot, drew a wide circle in the dirt of my lab. I took my jewelry off, laying it to one side of the circle.

From my shelves, I pulled a can of gypsum and spread the white powder liberally in the trench I'd drawn with the staff. Gypsum, most commonly found in drywall, was a great catalyst for my spell circle. Its fine powder bonded well with the ground.

"
Sphaera
," I said, after stepping over the white border. The translucent barrier popped up around me as I sat, crossing my legs and assuming a classic lotus position. For me, meditation was a critical recovery tool and sitting in the middle of a spell circle was a great way to guarantee I wouldn't be interrupted.

My thoughts flicked back to Gabriella and I pushed them away. The attack at the morgue took another forceful push, but my mind refused to quiet. Images of Victoria Barrios slumped at her front door and thoughts of Clarita being kidnapped jumped to the forefront. I pushed away the distractions and dropped into a deeper meditation. Finally, my spirit relaxed and my connection with the earth strengthened. An hour later, I opened my eyes, recharged.

"
Finis
." I dropped the circle and stood, stretching stiff legs.

The trip to the morgue hadn't been a complete waste. My current theory was that Shaggy was either holding Clarita or worked for whoever was. Either way, he knew where she was. I slipped my jeans off and laid them out on the granite slab, inspecting the right leg where I'd kicked Shaggy. The dark blood stain stood out on the worn fabric. I'd like to say I'd kicked him when he was down just to collect the blood, but that would have only been partially true.

I folded the fabric of the jeans, laid them across my copper pot and looked beneath the counter. The chemist's wash bottle was right where I'd left it, next to my griffin beakers. The police had either missed these or dismissed them as uninteresting. Not having ready access to running water in the lab was one of my only complaints about the space. I'd solved the problem by stocking glass jugs of spring water, one of which I pulled out, partially filling the wash bottle.

A spray of water across the bloody crease in my jeans yielded a satisfying pink stream into my cauldron and I adjusted the jeans to collect as much blood as possible. In the end, I collected half a cup of the pink-tinged spring water. I separated the fluid into three specimen jars, complete with runic inscriptions and a preservation enchantment on two of them. The third I'd be using more immediately.

The next problem I needed to solve, however, was that of storage. The last batch of Lozano's blood and what I'd hoped was Shaggy's had been lost to an ill-timed search warrant. The niggling question in the back of my head was whether the missing samples had been the real reason for the search. Other items in the lab had been broken or destroyed, but not much else had been taken. I was going to do my best to make sure these samples were around when I needed them. The protection enchantment I wanted to use on the extra jars required a chameleon's tail, something I didn’t have. For now, I placed one of the jars on my shelf and hid the other in the garage's open attic, atop a piece of well-weathered plywood.

I placed my spell book next to the cauldron. I remembered most of the steps for the locater enchantment, but I'd ruin my blood sample if I missed a step so I set about scraping, cutting and powdering the components I needed. I was missing two ingredients and as I worked I considered how I might get them. The answer was as close as Mrs. Willoughby.

Leaving the burner on low heat, I ducked beneath the garage's overhead door. It was only five thirty, so I wasn't worried that she might be asleep as I knocked on her back door. The smell of fresh baked bread and the sound of a loud T.V. reassured me of her presence. It took several tries before she finally answered the back door.

"Felix. I wasn't expecting any company tonight," she said. "Come in, come in." She stepped back into her kitchen and looked up at me expectantly.

"Hi, Mrs. Willoughby. I'm sorry to bother you, but I have a splinter and was hoping you would have a needle I could use to remove it," I lied.

"Oh, dear. I'm afraid my eyes aren't as good as they used to be, but I can try," she said.

"No, no. I can do it, but it's in there good. I just don't have a needle."

She walked to the kitchen counter and pulled open a stubborn drawer. "Yes, I've one right here. Are you sure you don't want me to give it a try?" She held out a needle in her shaky hand. I noticed she had an abrasion on the back side of her hand as I accepted.

"What happened there?" I asked.

"Oh that? Clumsy me. I touched the side of the oven," she said.

"It looks painful."

"It will heal," she said. "When you get as old as me, you learn to accept life's small setbacks."

Her statement made me feel guilty for being one of her life setbacks.

"I've a cream that would make that feel better. Would you mind if I got it for you?" I asked.

"I put butter on it, but all that does is get the attention of Chelsea," she said. As if on cue, a gorgeous black cat nimbly jumped onto the counter and stared at me through green eyes.

I frowned. Old wives’ tales were rarely helpful. "I don't think butter is the right thing. Hold on, I'll be right back."

"Door will be open, dear. Just come on in," she said, sitting down at her kitchen table.

I pushed the needle into my shirt like I was pinning on a flower and ran up to my apartment. Mrs. Willoughby was a frail old woman and it made me sad to think she didn't have anyone looking after her. I scraped a few applications of the salve Judy taught me to make into a container with a clean wooden tongue depressor. Growing up with a big-hearted witch had impressed upon me the value of helping others. The kid in me wished that somehow Judy would know I was helping Mrs. Willoughby.

I knocked on Mrs. Willoughby's door and pushed it open.

"Hello. I'm back," I said loudly. She'd invited me, but I felt a little weird walking into her house, unannounced.

Mrs. Willoughby was petting Chelsea, who was sitting comfortably in her lap at the kitchen table.

"Have you had dinner, Felix?" she asked.

"Not yet, Mrs. Willoughby," I said, sitting down at the kitchen table next to her. "I'll probably have something simple in my apartment."

"Nonsense, I just made fresh bread. It's cheating, really. I used my bread maker. It's not as good as I used to make, but it's close," she said.

"Could I see your hand?" I asked.

"You needn't bother, Felix," she said.

"That wasn't how I was raised and you really shouldn't put butter on a burn," I reprimanded lightly.

She nudged Chelsea from her lap and laid her hand on the table between us. Her thin skin made the burn appear worse than it was.

"I'm going to put a bandage over this, we shouldn't let Chelsea lick it. I don't think the salve would be harmful to her, but you never know," I said.

I placed the small container on the table, dipped my finger into the greenish mixture, dabbed it onto the open sore and covered it with the bandage.

"You've a healer's touch," she said.

I smiled. "I'll leave this with you. Apply it every morning," I said as Chelsea jumped into my lap and thrust her face toward me. I'd been around enough cats to know she was inviting me to give her jaws a good scratching, so I obliged.

"At least take a few cookies with you?" she asked.

My stomach growled loudly in response. I didn't think she'd heard it, but the cookies sounded good.

"That sounds good," I said.

"There's a bag in the freezer, take the whole thing. I'll make more in the morning."

"Are you sure?"

"They're just cookies, Felix. Of course I am," she said.

I wasn't turning down cookies twice, so I opened the freezer door and grabbed the bag, pulling a cookie out and offering it to her.

"Not before dinner for me," she said.

"Thank you, Mrs. Willoughby," I said.

"Call me Katherine."

"I'll check on you tomorrow to make sure that salve is working. Okay?" I asked.

"As you wish," she said.

By the time I'd walked the twenty feet to the garage, I'd already polished off two cookies. The bump in blood sugar was very welcome.

Back in the lab, I pushed the needle through a wine cork I'd retrieved from my apartment. I picked several of Chelsea's black hairs from my shirt, dropped them into the cauldron and then poked my finger with the corked needle, spreading a few drops of blood on the end.

I incanted "
Inveniet
" as I dropped the cork and bloody needle into the mixture. A puff of white smoke slowly escaped the cauldron. After pouring the enchanted liquid back into the specimen jar, I set it on the granite counter. As the contents settled, the cork rose to the top and the needle spun in a circle, finally coming to a rest. I'd become the proud owner of a one-of-a-kind Shaggy compass.

The crunch of tires on gravel and the flash of headlights breaking through the small cracks of the overhead door alerted me to the arrival of a visitor. I quickly pulled my jewelry on and checked the Shaggy compass, which pointed northeast, and more importantly away from the driveway.

Banging on the plywood preceded the sound of Joe Lozano's voice. "Slade. Open up, I know you're in there, I see your lights," he called out.

"Just a minute."

I turned off the burner, pushed my spell book under the counter, jammed a stopper into the jar containing the Shaggy compass, and stashed it in my pocket. I looked around for anything incriminating and didn't find it.

At his insistent banging, I lifted the overhead door, ducked under and lowered it before Lozano could figure out I wasn’t moving the plywood on the side door. I didn’t want to give him a chance to enter the lab if I could help it.

Lozano looked even worse than he had the day before. He stunk of booze, his eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he hadn't shaved for a week.

"What's happening to me?" he asked, grabbing the lapel of the light coat I was wearing.