Update
I finished the short story today in a blast of writing. It was a lot of fun. So fun, in fact, that I actually plan to move right into the fourth short, Under a Bad Star, later today.
Current Word Count: 35,813
Scene of the Day
He took the lead without a word, putting the gun between
us and any nasty surprises as we ascended to the second floor.
It certainly wasn’t hard to find our now undefended
puppet mistress.
She stood in a large, round room that was bare, save for
a large, ornate window and a black, leather couch.
As soon as we stepped inside, she spun to face us, and
my heart stopped.
Not because she was impressive to look at, though her
ivory skin, obsidian lips, and Gothic Lolita dress, she actually was.
No, what got my attention was her pure- coal-black eyes.
When Collin had said a demon might be behind the whole
thing, I hadn’t exactly put much credit in the theory.
“I owe ya’ an extra pint when we get back,” I sighed.
The mysterious, demonic anarchist canted her head to the
side and gave us a creepy smile.
Going by the glint of fang showing in the grin, she
wasn’t even just a demon, but a demon
that was riding a vampire.
“Not goin’ to lie, I was hopin’ I was wrong. We’re
gonna’ be drinking the good stuff when we’re done,” Collin corrected.
“Collin Maxwell. Morgana Lugus. I did better than I
thought,” the demon mused.
Her voice vibrated through the air with a physical
force, and I couldn’t hold off the shiver.
“Do ya’ get the feelin’ we’ve been baited?”
“Oh, you have definitely
been hooked, like so many common rats,” the demon agreed. “Two large players
that stand in my way in Arkham. The mess you left downstairs seems a small
price to pay.”
“Yeah, sorry ‘bout tha’. The good news is ya’ won’t be
‘round long enough ta’ need a cleaner,” I quipped.
I brought the blood-soaked dagger up and prepared for
her to make the first move.
“I am curious.
‘afore I finish ya’, I want ta’ know if ya’ got invited inta’ tha’ body, or if
she’s just a victim in yer plans.”
“This blood bag was so weak-willed, she practically
begged to be possessed and given purpose.”
“Fer as lon’ as ‘er body’ll hold up with ya’,” I hissed.
“As you say,” she laughed. “One of those leeches downstairs
was her maker, before I came around, actually.”
“Well, only one’s dead, but she doesn’t seem to be the
luckiest vamp ta’ live, so sorry ‘bout that. Want to join ‘im?”
“Yes, I felt him go.”
She sounded almost wistful about the fact that her body
was condemned to immediate death the second it didn’t have the demon holding
her together.
“So what is the
end game, anyway? You’re goin’ pretty far for all this.”
She sneered at the bar owner, like he, and by extension
I, was an idiot for not being able to read the mind of a vampire with two minds.
“Simple, really. I want chaos. It’s something that
agrees with me. Plenty of us down in the Lower Realms would love the chance to come topside, but
once the damned Crowns split things, it made it a lot more annoying.”
“No neutral zone, plenty a’ chaos an’ blood floods the
streets, magicians go bugshite nuts, an’ poof.
All the chaotic energy any demon could ever dream ‘bout ta’ roam around. Nice
plan,” I conceded.
“’Cept you’re a pain in their ass, too. I mean, you took
down an ifrit solo, and you recently
pissed a Trader off. I go, and you can still kill that tide in a big hurry,” Collin added.
“I really need
to find whoever the hell’s tellin’ tales at yer bar. An’ yeah, that seems ‘bout
the gist of it.”
“Seems kind of short-sighted for a demon, though. I
mean, she shuts down the Zodiac, then what? I can set that up anywhere. It’s
the people, not the bar. Didn’t seem as interested in killing me as she was
runnin’ me out.”
“Could be a young demon. Or, without the wards and the
protection the bar gave ya’, she’da’ sent the kill team next.”
“You’d’ve put it together pretty fast, unless she
somehow got Mick an’ me at the same time. Considerin’ the Fae’re the ones that
did most of the heavy lifting kickin’ their asses to the curb, why not go for
you, first?”
“Ya’ didn’t underestimate me, did ya’?” I asked, turning
to the demoness.
I took immense enjoyment in seeing the vampires look as
annoyed and confused as she did.
“Nah,” I concluded with a shake of the head. “She wasn’t
surprised at all I took three a them down by myself, down there. Somethin’
else…”
I snapped my finger when the thought struck me.
“She’s bullshittin’ us. She’s on someone’s orders.
Probably a test, a’ some kind.”
“Lucas?”
I fought the soul-deep chill that name drew, but I think
it still came across by the way his eyes widened.
“Seems a bit too subtle,” I scoffed. Well, guess it
kinder doesn’t matter much, now, yeah?”
“Just bad luck that we came together,” he told her.
“Bad luck, certainly. I do not think it’s bad luck for
who you’re thinking, though.”
“I don’t know. Demons have a bad habit of dying when
they pick fights with me,” he laughed.
Her attention shifted back to Collin, and I saw the
flash of emotion there before she could hide it.
Not that it mattered, since she still lunged for him in
the next second, stony mask be damned.
Collin, for his part, seemed to have picked up on it,
too.
Before she was halfway across the room, the air exploded
with sound twice.
Callous as she was about the vampiress’s death, it
evidently didn’t want to lose the vessel too quickly.
Fangs snapped fully into view as she threw herself out
of the bullets’ ways.
Her black eyes gained a strange, red-hued fog within,
and the air turned frigid.
I felt the dark magic rushing through the air even
before she brought her hand to bare like a weapon.
Electricity roared around her palm, turning the skin to
a solid layer of char.
“Combustio et
cineris, dimidium-sanguinem miser,” she snarled.
Energy rapidly built around her, before the magic ignited
and sent a column of black fire out.
The walls were flash-frozen in a solid sheet of ice as
the hellfire roared to life, draining heat and energy from the world around it
to continue its own existence.
Collin jumped in front of me just as I reached into my
jacket, hoping my sutras weren’t erased with my blood.
“Lig an
lasair olc a Múchadh i réimse na Belisama!”
Water sprang from Collin’s palm, glowing with silver
light.
Light exploded where it hit the black flames, so bright
it almost blinding me.
The light vanished, and so did both of their spells.
A faint tap-tap-tap
was what made me aware of the blood dripping from his palm.
Even with the obvious pain running through him, and the
hole I now saw in his hand, he kept his other arm steadily training the gun on
her in case she threw more magic at us.
“Ya’ know the old language a bit, then,” I mused.
“I picked up enough back home. Not on the level of a
faery, but not bad, I think.”
And I really couldn’t disagree.
There wasn’t much that could stop demonic fire in its
tracks, and most things that could tended to leave messes behind where the
magicians using that kind of magic had stood.
“My turn.”
The demon’s eyes swiveled between us as I carved a
pentagram in the air using the tip of my knife.
It was probably the way the blood left the knife and
remained floating in the air to trace the symbol that caused her to hiss at me.
Once the symbol was set, I stabbed through the center,
and silver flames erupted through the shape.
She backed away several steps before she noticed the
movement and forced it to stop.
“Yer leavin’, now. Don’t let the gate hit ya’ on the way
out to whatever hell dimension ya’ crawled from.”
She started running, only to jump back when Collin fired
at her.
With a huff, I brought the sutras out and threw them
threw the fire.
An unholy scream ripped its way out of her when they
landed on her and imbedded into her skin.
Silver flames leapt and quickly covered her entire body.
“With the power of the gods, I cast thee free from thy
vessel. I command thee, leave, and be henceforth banished to forever roam,
trapped, in your own domain, never to return to this realm!”
I sliced through the pentagram, and the symbol gave with
a snap.
At the same time, the sutras turned in her skin until they formed the symbol.
“Ya’ might be the easiest ta’ go down a yer kind. Don’t
decide to pick a fight with a bull, next time,” I mused. “Solventur in quo egressus es!”
Her mouth fell open in a silent scream, and a pillar of
black smoke began to rise from the vampiress’s every pore.
The vampiress fell limp to the ground, while the sutras
remained in the air to absorb all of the demon’s soul.
Finally, the ethereal body was entirely cast permanently
back to its realm, and the star disappeared with a wave of force.
It took me down to the ground without any resistance,
the last of my strength going with it.
“Fekin exorcisms.
Every damned time,” I swore.
Collin appeared in the greying tunnel of my vision,
staring down at me with a number of emotions my exhausted brain couldn’t bother
to interpret.
“You did a good job, Morgana. That was impressive as
hell.”
“Yeah, no… shite… You
try runnin’ a fekin’ gauntlet.
Next time, I get the damned gun.”
His smirk was the last thing I saw before everything
faded black…
I came to slowly, surrounded in a blissful warmth.
It took me a long time
to care enough to wonder why my threadbare bed felt like I was wrapped in
clouds.
When I finally did, the memories rushed back and turned
that warmth from comfortable to worrying in two seconds flat.
Even with that, shooting to my feet was not the smart choice.
My skull exploded with pain, which quickly radiated
through my whole body.
The bed was the only thing that kept me from cracking my
head open when I immediately pitched over and fell from my ill-advised stand.
A hand went to my shoulder, then, pressing me firmly
into the warmth.
It also sent a crackle of magic through me that dulled
the pain, at least enough that I wasn’t seeing through a haze.
“Take it easy, Morgana. You’re safe, here.”
The voice took a second to register, and I released a
sigh as it worked its way in, soothing my screaming muscles.
“That a Nephilim trick?”
With my vision more or less functional, I really took my
surroundings in.
I was lying in a suede couch half the size of my living
room back at the flat.
Layers upon layers of downy blankets were wrapped around
it, making it into a suitable bed for a near-coma bender, whether from too much
booze or magic.
“Zodiac?” I groaned.
“Back room. I use it for naps between partying,” he explained.
It was the grin that caused me to blush and want to jump
away.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and if you tell me
something I don’t want to hear, I’m going to make my ancestors proud and turn
you into a plant for the next week. Did you put me up where you’ve had sex
before?”
He smirked in response, remaining silent.
Shuddering, I rolled away, only to land with a soft but
still painful thud on the plush
carpeting.
“You want help up?”
“I think you’ll make a nice nightshade,” I huffed,
remaining where I lay until the world stopped spinning.
“You’re Fae. Not your thing,” he laughed.
“Great-gran was from the Unseelie. She had a really
nasty recipe she bought off a witch. I’m sure I could manage.”
I saw him from the corner of my vision as he knelt at my
side, before a strong hand pulled me up until I was sitting.
“I was joking. I
don’t mix business with pleasure,” he assured.
“Your business is pleasure,”
I argued while shoving my way to my feet.
“True. But that couch is expensive. Not for just
anyone,” he laughed.
His mirth died when I swayed, and he managed to steady
me by the shoulder before I toppled.
“Seriously, you shouldn’t be moving around too much.
Mick’s cooking something up that’ll help you out, but it’s not ready yet.”
“Then distract me,” I huffed.
A blush rose at his growing smirk, and I realized how
that sounded.
“What happened after I passed out? The vamp died?”
“Turned to ash the second you kicked the demon out. You
were kinda’ on the floor, so you didn’t see it.”
“Least she went peaceful. The old ones always go through
a livin’ hell.”
“No kidding. Well, by the time I got you downstairs, the
vampires were both up. Twin number 2 really
wasn’t happy about the other one killing his brother. They got into a
fight, if you can really call it that.”
“The Gothic one was older. A lot older, if I guessed right,” I added.
“It sure looked like it. He beat him like a ragdoll, and
even that’s kind of being generous. Kind of impressive, really. Guy got in half
a swing before he was punched full of holes.”
“So he was goin’ easy on me. How nice,” I concluded.
“Looks that way. Sorry?”
“Feh. My ego’s not gonna’ break because a vamp was
toyin’ with me. Ya’ get used to it. Bastards. So we’re not dead, so what trick
did you pull out of your hat next?”
He grimaced at that, and sat at the edge of the bed.
“He had the other guy halfway into the grave when he
noticed me. Stabbed him with his damn earring as soon as he spotted me, and the
guy went up in flames. Some seriously dark magic he’s wearing around.”
“He was the one really running the show, wasn’t he?” I
sighed, already seeing the writing on the walls.
“Well… maybe,” he admitted.
“My luck is stellar,”
I laughed.
“Gets better. Said to give you a message when you woke
up.”
A cold knot of dread tightened in my stomach, but I
forced it to stay out of my expression.
Messages tended to end with a lot of bleeding, when I
was involved.
“What’d the bastard want?”
“He said he’ll be seeing you again, soon. Usual cheese
and cliché. Said his name was Vis, and you better remember it.”
Something stirred in the back of my memory, but I was
nowhere near awake enough to figure it out until I had several days to recover
from this most recent brush with death.
“Wonderful,” I sighed.
“Then, he vanished into thin air.”
“Well that’s… what? As in he pulled an illusion, or the
bastard fekin teleported?”
“Still trying to figure that out, myself, actually.
Anyway, he vanished, and then the building went up with the fire from the other
twin’s death. I got us the hell out, about then.”
“Good on ya’. At least the demon’s out of commission and
can’t start any of this up again, so that’s something,”
I mused.
“Yeah, I don’t think she’ll be comin’ back from the
booting you gave her.”
He turned, then, and rummaged through a backpack I
hadn’t noticed on the floor.
“Now, about your fee…”
It didn’t take him long to finish his hunt, and he
slipped me the check.
The numbers I saw were enough to almost make me
hyperventilate.
“This is a lot more
than I asked for, even without deductions.”
“We’ll call it an entertainment fee. Watching you beat
two demons and three vampires was a show I’ll be remembering for a long time. And the Zodiac woulda’ been
burned to ashes without the assist. I think it’s a fair price.”
I didn’t trust it, really, but it really wasn’t in my
nature to pass up comfortable living for a number of months.
Before I could give a response of any kind, Mikhail
walked in holding a tall glass full of sickly pink, bubbling liquid of
questionable origin.
Seeing the two of us, Collin practically sitting on top
of me, he gave a smirk I didn’t deign with anymore blushing than I’d already
done.
I took the drink with a huff.
“What is it?”
“It’ll make the pain vanish,” the Russian promised.
Shrugging, I downed it in one gulp.
My eyes widened at the amazing, rich flavor that flooded
my senses.
A powerful bite of alcohol soon chased the berries and
fruits, nearly toppling me with shakes.
As soon as it was fully down, my body seized and
electric jolts raced down my spine.
After what was, I was told, only a minute, but felt like
an eternity, the sensation vanished.
Amazingly, every trace of pain I’d had went with it.
“Holy shite,
that is one hell of a brew!” I mused.
To make sure, I experimentally stretched and bent, and
found not a single sign of the damage I’d done.
“You, Mikhail, know how to make a potion!”
Smirking, he grabbed up the glass and headed for the
door.
Unfortunately, with my newfound recovery, my senses also
came back full-blast.
The rush of psychic impressions from the bed nearly
gagged me, and I threw a glare at Collin and his knowing smirk.
“Now where were we?” he mused.
“I was headin’ home, for a nice, long sleep, before I fall too deep into whatever skeevy lay you had
in here last’s head,” I huffed with a large step away from the bed.
I refused to acknowledge the sensation that carried
after me.
“That’s fine,” he mused, lying back in the picture of
laziness. “We’ll be working together again. Count on it.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. Bring me to this room again,
though, an’ I’ll be glad to hunt down gran’s recipe,” I promised.
His laugh followed me as I walked away, the sound
sticking like a second skin.
Between that and wondering just how deep I’d gotten
myself with the Camarilla, I gladly focused on that, instead…
Translation Notes
"Combustio et cineris, dimidium sanguinem miser" - Latin: "Burn to cinders, half-blooded wretch"
"Lig an lasair olc a Múchadh i réimse na Belisama"- Gaelic: "Let this evil flame be quenched in the domain of Belisama"
"Solventur in quo egressus es"- Latin: "Dissolve to whence you came"
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