Wicked Folk Read online

  "What?" Thea asked, turning serious suddenly. "Was it enough he left me to die? Enough he left town and abandoned me? Is that the enough you're talking about?"

  "I waited by your bed for weeks," I said.

  Thea smiled, losing whatever pretense of anger she held. "I'm just kidding. I knew it was going to be awkward. I was just seeing how far I could push it. Who’s this?" she asked, looking at Gabriella.

  "This is my friend, Gabriella," I said. A momentary look of pain from Gabriella prompted me to amend. "My girlfriend. Gabriella, this is Thea."

  "His old girlfriend," Thea added, holding her hand out as if to shake. I noticed that she held it out limply. "And aren't you just the cutest little thing? Felix does seem to like a little variety, right, sweetie? Trading a lot of treble for a … hmm … a little bass?"

  I wasn't sure what she was saying but Gabriella seemed to be clear on it and took offense. "Nice to meet you," Gabriella answered coldly, not bothering to pick up Thea's hand.

  "Don’t be like that," Thea said. "I'm just kidding. I think you fill out those jeans beautifully. Do you have them custom fit? "

  Judy stepped forward. "Thea, if you can't behave, I'll ask you to leave."

  We were saved by an old passenger van pulling up. "Felix!" An olive skinned woman waved as she stepped from the driver's seat, sliding the door behind her open. I took advantage of the interruption and grabbed Gabriella's hand, pulling her around Thea.

  "Oh gawd, it's the mom-squad," Thea complained. "Maybe I will get going. Let's do lunch, eh, skinny? Bring your friend with you. I'll play nice. Judy has my number since you seemed to have forgotten it."

  She followed us out to the drive where five kids, all girls, were pouring out of the van. It had been two years, but I recognized them each, although I was shocked at how much they'd grown in what seemed like such a short period of time.

  Luana Burgio, only a few years older than myself, turned after handing parcels to her kids. "Hugs!" she said and flashed a bright smile at Gabriella as she pulled me in. Luana was a ball-of-fire, single mother of three. "Introduce me to this extraordinary woman you've clearly brought home to show off."

  "One more, one more," Dolly Applebaum, a chubby, gregarious woman danced around the front of the vehicle, arms outstretched. I let go of Luana, who immediately moved on to Gabriella, and hugged Dolly.

  "Sisters, I'd like to introduce you to Lady Gabriella Valverde of Whyte Wood," I said formally, then turned. "Gabriella, Dolly and Luana, two of the finest witches you'll meet this side of the Mississippi."

  The women all nodded and smiled at each other. It felt good to have my friends and family finally meet each other.

  "Can these really be yours?" I asked, looking at the girls "They're so big."

  Thea, who'd become entangled in the small flood of girls pouring from the van, extracted herself and jumped into her convertible. "Let me know if you decide to make it a real party," she called, waving as she roared down the lane.

  A tall girl I knew to be Dolly's, chose that moment to come around the back of the van, directly in line with the gravel being sprayed from Thea's vehicle. It might not have been intentional on Thea's part, but it certainly was dangerous.

  I turned and whispered, "Scutum," projecting a shield just behind the tallest of Dolly's girls, Petaluma. She looked at me quizzically, obviously recognizing that I'd incanted a spell in her direction, but not able to see its end result. Gravel ricocheted harmlessly away and I released the spell.

  Dolly tsked, once the noise had sufficiently abated. "Poor dear, but she's really had a rough run of things."

  "Dolly!" Luana said, looking at me horrified.

  "Oh." Dolly clasped her hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Felix. I didn't mean …"

  "It's true," I said.

  Bad Influence

  "What else can you tell us about the dead guy at Eppy Faire?" I asked the narrow-framed Iris Besset. She was the sixth and final member of Judy's coven and had arrived midway through dinner. After dinner, we'd adjourned to the back deck and were watching the girls play with Maggie in the back yard among the more exotic plants. Having grown up with witches for mothers, they were well accustomed to which plants to avoid.

  "There's not a lot to tell," Iris said, "beyond the fact that his body showed signs of significant post mortem chafing of the skin on his hands and feet. Of course we're not releasing that information to the public and he's not with us anymore. The FBI picked him up shortly after he arrived."

  "They probably don’t want you to talk about your walking dead any more than they want us talking about werewolves in Leotown," I said and winced. I hadn't meant to bring it up.

  "What's this about werewolves and the FBI?" Luana asked.

  "I didn't know if you wanted me to spread that around." Judy looked at me apologetically. "I sensed it was something of a secret."

  "I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have said anything."

  "Why were you attacked by werewolves?" Dolly asked. "And why are you sorry?"

  "He's protecting my feelings," Gabriella said. "The lycan were hired by one of my coven sisters. She turned to the left-hand and had the werewolves kill our mistress."

  "Why would she do that?" Dolly asked, her voice pitching higher with every word.

  "Seduced by power," Gabriella answered. "It was horrible. The lycan kidnapped an uninitiated child and killed her mother who was also one of my coven sisters."

  "What did you do? How could you stand against werewolves and left-hand witches?" Dolly asked, sitting forward on her chair.

  Gabriella looked at me for help. She'd already said more than she wanted to.

  "Alone, we couldn't have," I said. "But the fact is, we weren't alone. The Katty Sisters of the Veiled Circle stood with us. A troll princess, Amak, and her cousin, Rose, helped, as well as a newly born lycan who had previously been a policeman. It was hard, but we figured it out."

  "What happened to the coven sister who turned to the left-hand?" Dolly asked, unable to contain herself.

  "Killed by the left-hand mistress."

  "You poor dear."

  "My god-daughter was the real victim," Gabriella said. "She had to watch her mother be killed by lycan."

  "What do you know about Dark Folk?" I asked, looking to change the subject.

  Just then, a new voice from next to the kitchen's sliding glass door interrupted the conversation. "Sorry I'm late." Lace announced.

  Judy stood, grabbed a beer from the cooler and held it out to her. "Nonsense. I'm glad you made it out so you could meet everyone."

  I stood. Now was the right time to rectify things. Lace accepted the beer from Judy and looked in my direction. The lines in her young face were hard and it took no imagination to realize she'd seen more than her share of trouble.

  "I was out of line, earlier," I said. "I'm sorry."

  A flicker of surprise flitted through her eyes and then was gone. "I'm used to being judged."

  Gabriella sidled up next to me and held out her hand. "How long have you been seeking?"

  "Seeking?" Lace asked. "Look, I don't know what kind of goofy crap you're into, but count me out."

  "She was separated from her mother," Judy said. "There were no sisters to guide her."

  "Don't talk about me like I'm not here," Lace replied. "Seriously, if this turns weird, I'm outta here - job or no. My mom was a drunk and a freak. I'm nothing like her."

  "But you've seen things. Felt things," Judy continued.

  "Whispers in the dark, lies on your friend's lips," Gabriella continued. "You are not alone, Lace. We are few and we are your sisters."

  "I knew this job was too good to be true," Lace replied. "You're just a bunch of nutty old ladies." She turned and ran back into the house.

  I wasn't sure why they were pushing her so hard. I jumped from the deck and ran around to the front just in time to see her slam the door of a broken-down, foreign two-door vehicle. The engine grudgingly turned over as she tried to start it.
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  "Go! You piece of shit." She cursed as her foot thumped the floor boards while she pumped the accelerator. The engine caught and she jammed the vehicle into gear.

  "Lace," I yelled into her open passenger side window. "I saw the demon too. You have to stop running. We can help you."

  "Fuck!" she exclaimed and accelerated, throwing rocks from the front tires in her attempt to turn around.

  I reached forward and twisted my hand, pinching and pulling back. There was no guarantee my manipulation would grab the ignition key, but the engine shut off and her brake lights illuminated. When I caught up to her she was bent over in her seat, rummaging on the floor for her keys.

  "Fuck, fuck, fuck," she repeated. Worriedly she glanced through the passenger side window at me. "Leave me alone!"

  "The demon is a ghrelin," I said. "I saw what it did to Willum."

  She stopped fumbling for the keys and looked over at me. "You couldn't have." The comment was not intended for me as much as it was something she couldn't keep in.

  "But you know I'm telling the truth," I said.

  "I don't understand."

  "Sure you do," I said, leaning in the open window. "You just don't want to admit it to yourself."

  "Admit what?" she asked, sitting up, considering me.

  "You're a witch," Judy appeared suddenly at the driver's side window. I startled and banged my head on the doorframe. Judy went on. "Magic runs through your blood and you feel the bond of sisterhood. Do not be afraid."

  "Shit, Judy," I said as I rubbed my head.

  "Good to see I still have a few surprises for you, dear boy," she replied.

  Lace puffed air from her mouth and gave a quick shake of her head. "Let's say I believe you. This isn't going to get weird or anything."

  I smiled sardonically and shook my head. "I'd like to weigh in on this."

  "No, dear," Judy replied, ignoring me. "There is nothing weird about coming to understand yourself. Sometimes we have to let go of our fears and misunderstandings to do so."

  "So far, I've only seen parlor tricks." Lace abruptly turned defiant. "Prove to me that your magic is real."

  "You need no such proof," Judy said. "You've seen the magic and it is part of you."

  "Altum Visu." I inspected the girl in front of me. Her aura was a gorgeous shade of turquoise; bright greens streaks swirling around blue eddies. Her untapped power was significant, glowing brighter than Judy's leaf green behind her.

  "What? Your eyes …" she said.

  "Finis," I said. "Witches have trouble demonstrating magic on command."

  "Displays of power aren’t necessary; Lace already knows the truth. Would you like to come back and finish your beer?" Judy asked.

  Lace sagged, and finally nodded agreement. "Is everyone here a witch?" Lace asked as we walked through the side yard.

  "Yes," Judy answered. "Except for Felix."

  Gabriella covertly caught my eye as we arrived back in the yard and I gave her a quick smile. Dolly and Luana's girls had given up any pretense of noninterest and tracked our progress.

  "Why were you asking about Dark Folk?" Lace asked, accepting her beer from Irene.

  "I've had visions, Lace," I said. "You were in them. You mentioned Dark Folk."

  "It used to be a derogatory term, but people accepted it," she said. "My mother was one of them and was … important."

  "Eppy Clan?" I asked, recalling the name from my vision.

  "That's right," Lace answered, searching my face for more information.

  I already knew from my vision that her mother was Queen of the Dark Folk and Lace was a Princess in line for the title. What I didn't know, and wasn't willing to push, was what it meant to be royalty and why she needed to hide it. That said, I could understand not spilling everything you knew to strangers.

  "Rumor is the Dark Folk practice black magic," Dolly said.

  "I don't know about that," Lace replied. A lie even I recognized.

  Judy shook her head. "Dark Folk are known to sell curses and hexes. That's not exactly black magic, but it's still wrong. The rumors are mostly hogwash. Although, we've had more than a few people come to us looking for a cure from something they believed came from gypsies."

  "The dead man isn't hogwash," Iris said quietly.

  Gia waggled her eyebrows. "Nor was that fungal infection on poor Mrs. Williamson's backside."

  "Does this look familiar?" I pulled out my phone and flipped to the picture of the scar on the woman who'd attacked us back at Big Spring. I handed it to Iris.

  "Identical to the scar on our DB," Iris said after looking at it closely. "Where'd you get this?"

  "This lovely paid us a visit at our campground. She kept telling us to leave," I said. "I'm not even sure how she knew we were there. It's not like we told anyone."

  Lace pulled the phone closer so she could see. "This woman is dead."

  I lifted an eyebrow. "She was when she came into our camp site. What I can't figure out is how she found us."

  "Simplest answers are almost always the right ones," Luana offered. "Something located you and sent her after you."

  "She came from the morgue," I said. "That would have been a heck of a walk for a zombie in the middle of the night."

  "First, she wasn't a zombie, but an undead. Undead under the control of a necromancer aren't going to walk around in the daylight. Daylight breaks the spell and the corpse is ruined." Petaluma, Dolly's thirteen-year-old daughter had surreptitiously placed herself near the porch while we talked. She had appeared to be engrossed in a book and I might have been more careful with the conversation if I'd thought she was listening.

  "Luma, you're supposed to be playing," Dolly reprimanded lightly.

  "Petaluma is correct," Iris said. "We're seeing the craft of a necromancer and a darn powerful one."

  "Can I see the picture?" Petaluma asked. "Mom, don’t treat me like a kid. I'm old enough."

  Dolly looked apologetic. "Luma, why can't you just go play with the girls?"

  "Because I grew out of playing with lightening bugs when I was ten," she said. "I know these things aren't zombies because of the scars you're talking about. I'll bet you don't know that those scars show up after the body is taken over. Can I see the picture?"

  "Luma, stop," Dolly said.

  "It's an upside down goat's head," Iris answered. "It was on both bodies. How do you know they were applied after death?"

  "That's easy," Petaluma answered. "Necromancers have no power over the living. The scars are part of their ritual. How far away is Missouri?"

  "I just don't know where she gets all these ideas," Dolly complained.

  "Books, Mom," Petaluma replied.

  That got everyone's attention. Books that had true magic references were highly protected resources and not the sort of thing handed to children.

  "Luma, where have you found books that talk about necromancy?" Judy kept her voice level so as not to let on how concerned she was, but I recognized that tone.

  "In the library, where else?" the girl responded.

  I quietly breathed a sigh of relief. A young witch’s developing powers combined with the right manuscripts could and had spelled trouble. And yes, the double entendre was intended.

  Gabriella pointed to the glossy covered book Petaluma held at her side. "Is that one of them?"

  Petaluma looked at the book in her hand guiltily and then stared at the ground. She was a frail girl, with long, straight black hair that she allowed to fall in front of her face. From my position, it seemed clear there was something off about the book she held.

  "Petaluma Morticia Applebaum, you will answer the question and hand me that book," Dolly ordered, straightening in her chair and leaning over her considerable bulk.

  Petaluma hesitantly handed the book to her mother who pulled the dust sleeve from it, revealing a leather bound sheaf of yellowing papers. Instinctively, Dolly opened the book.

  "Dolly, stop!" I said, sensing power building around her. I jumped to
my feet and grabbed Luma in a running tackle, pushing her to the ground. Dolly, frozen by fear, shrieked as the book ignited in her hands and too late, she let it go. In slow motion, the flaming book fell and exploded in her lap. I turned away and curled protectively over the frail girl as Dolly was propelled violently into the deck's wooden railing.

  I quickly checked Luma who was beneath me. "Are you hurt?" I asked over the sounds of chaos building around us. She struggled to free herself from my arms and scrabbled to her feet.

  "Mom!"

  The scene behind me was madness. While Dolly had taken the brunt of the explosion, Luana was also down. Judy and Gabriella had both jumped into action and were assessing the damage. The explosion had brought the flock of small girls swarming around the porch, screaming for their mothers. There was nothing I could do for the fallen that Gabriella and Judy wouldn't, so I surveyed the scene. Iris, always the calm and sensible one, already had her phone out and was talking with a 911 operator.

  When my eyes found Gia, she was still seated in her wicker chair, her hand resting on her neck; shell-shocked. Lace knelt beside her and held her own hand on top of Gia's. Blood flowed freely over both their hands. My eyes lit on a piece of chair shrapnel sticking out from between their fingers. Gia's eyes looked into my own imploringly. Understanding passed between us - she was in trouble and knew it.

  "Don't move," I said and approached. She nodded, keeping her soft brown eyes locked on my own. I pulled my t-shirt off and folded it over, ignoring the scorched holes that hadn't been there when I'd put it on. Lace accepted the shirt and gently placed the makeshift compress against Gia's neck, next to the protruding steel wire. "We'll keep pressure on it. You have a piece of steel wire in your neck. I don't think we should remove it. Iris has already called 911. It sounds like they're sending flight-for-life."

  Gia nodded her head slightly in understanding.

  I felt Iris's presence as she approached. "That's right, Gia. If we've nicked anything important, removing the object might open it up more. Be brave, sister." It was an unnecessary statement.

  The Georgia I knew was deeper than most people gave her credit for. Some might dismiss the overweight, ebony-skinned, middle-aged woman, but it would be their mistake. We all knew her to be quick-witted, loving, intelligent, and loyal to a fault.