Wizard in a Witchy World Read online

  "How'd it go?"

  "I've a month to fix everything and clean up my act," I said.

  Gabriella nodded. "She's scared. You can't blame her."

  "Agreed." I pulled open the overhead garage door. I ordinarily used the side door, but at the moment, it consisted of a sheet of plywood nailed to the siding. The police had sawed through the frame when my protection spell prevented them from breaking the door down.

  "A nice job of rearranging, courtesy of Leotown’s finest," Gabriella said.

  "I’m looking for glass jars with snippets of black cloth in them. When I was being questioned by the police, Lt. Dukats told me they'd found them. I hope they missed at least one," I said.

  Gabriella helped clean up the mess as we searched. "You picked all this from Chamber’s County Rec area?" she asked while shelving the last of the tubers.

  "I’d have had a lot more if I’d brought a bigger bag. I don’t think anyone is harvesting there. Just look at these Cortinarius mushrooms. I’ve never seem ‘em so big," I said.

  She furrowed her brow at me. "I don’t even know what you’d do with a Cortinarius."

  "Maybe I’ll show you someday." I placed large chunks of broken glass into a box. "They really did a number on this place."

  "Maybe you left them in your apartment?”

  "We can look. But I know I brought them down here to preserve them," I said.

  "Then the police probably took them. If they even suspected blood, they'd take them all in for testing," Gabriella said as we exited the garage and ran up to the apartment.

  I pulled the plywood back so Gabriella could enter and flipped on the lights. I sighed, the apartment was still pretty hopeless. Fortunately, my everyday filing system wasn’t all that exacting, so I had that working for me. The two of us picked up most of the mess, searching as we went. I found my stash of empty specimen bottles, but none contained Lozano’s blood.

  "What I can't wrap my head around is why your coven is being attacked by lycan. Do you really think it's all about Clarita?" I asked.

  "I don't know. We're down to three witches in Whyte Wood coven and that's not enough for us to hold our territory," Gabriella said. "Kelli has a family and she's scared. I'd be surprised if she doesn't move to another coven."

  "She can do that?" I asked.

  "Of course. Felicia would hate it, but you can't blame Kelli. If this is a territory grab, she'd be safer in a larger coven. Whyte Wood weakened as Victoria got older. I loved her like my grandmother, but she drove younger witches away," she said.

  "I didn't even know witches had problems like this. Judy's coven was so warm and friendly," I said.

  "But, they made you leave," Gabriella said. "Every coven has its warts, Felix."

  I'd struck a nerve and in response she'd punched back.

  "You don't know anything about it," I said. "No one in Judy's coven was committing murder."

  "You can be an ass. You know that?"

  "Me?" I asked. "Your coven starts a war with god knows who and now you want me to help bail you out."

  "Fine. We'll solve this by ourselves. Felicia didn't want me talking to you anyway" Gabriella shook her head in disgust and stood.

  I stood up with her. "Wait. Don't go. I want to help find Clarita," I said, grabbing her elbow.

  She pulled her elbow free from my grasp. "You've got a dumb way of showing it."

  "I'm just saying…"

  "You're just saying everyone needs the help of the mighty wizard," she said.

  "Shit. Why does everything get so damn complicated with you? I want to help because there's a little girl who saw her mother get killed. I'm just pissed that everyone in this damn town is using me as their punching bag," I said.

  She turned back to me, but I could still feel a wave of hurt and rejection rolling off of her. I stepped forward, placed my hands on her waist and pulled her to me. She resisted for a moment and our eyes locked. I wondered if I'd misread the situation. A smirk played across her face and she wrapped her arms around my neck as we kissed.

  "You really can be an ass," she said, her warm breath caressing my face.

  I was star-struck by the moment we were sharing and wouldn't have cared if she had called me a hippopotamus. I sighed and leaned into her again, not wanting to lose the moment.

  Twenty minutes later, we'd moved to the couch and she finally pushed me away.

  "What would Felicia say about that?" I asked.

  "Moons of the equinox," she said with a deliberate eye-roll. "You suck at being romantic."

  "Sorry. Right. I should just keep my mouth shut."

  She placed a finger on my lips. "That's probably for the best."

  I playfully grabbed her hand, then stopped, distracted by her painted fingernails. "What do you know about Benita?" I asked.

  "We've been friends a long time, she was a lot better than Victoria gave her credit for," she said.

  I held her hand up so that she was looking at it as well. "She'd fight back, wouldn't she? If anyone were trying to hurt her and Clarita, she'd fight back, right?"

  "Of yeah. She was hot-tempered. She'd have gone down fighting," Gabriella said.

  "She'd have her attacker's blood under her nails."

  "Probably."

  "If I could get enough material, I might be able to track them. That's why I took Lozano's blood. I was hoping I'd get some of Shaggy's spit too, but the cops took care of that," I said.

  "Her body has to be in the morgue."

  I stood up and held my hand out to her. "Road trip."

  "They won't let us in."

  "It's Sunday. How many people could there be?"

  "Seriously?"

  "What's the worst that could happen?" I asked.

  "We get arrested and put in jail," she said.

  "It's where I started the day. And do you think they'd really lock us up for visiting a friend who's passed?"

  She looked at me like I was nuts, but took my hand all the same.

  As I pushed open the plywood, she stopped for a second, looking at the jagged opening.

  "You might consider a lock next time," she said.

  "Didn't stop your sisters. So if you think about it, this is your fault," I said as I hid a smile.

  "Don't push it."

  "Seriously, any chance you'd call Kelli and see if she'd ask Andy to come back? I told Mrs. Willoughby I'd fix the doors," I said as we walked down the stairs.

  She pulled out her cell phone and pinched it between her shoulder and chin as she unlocked the Civic. The woman’s driving terrified me. She backed the vehicle out at high speed, caught the phone in her hand, switched to drive, and sped down the hill.

  "Andy will come by tomorrow after work. He has a line on a matching door, whatever that means," she said and tossed the phone into her purse. A few minutes later she pulled into on-street parking.

  "How do you know where the morgue is?" I asked.

  "Started out in the district attorney's office," she said.

  "Started out?"

  "Job didn't fit my personality," she said.

  "That sounds like a story."

  "You'd have the same problem. I can read people and wasn't willing to prosecute the innocent. Turns out that’s not how the system works." She pointed to a ramp that led to a lower level of the building we'd parked next to.

  "In the basement?"

  "Service entrance. No cameras down there," she said. "Hope the door's unlocked. Sometimes they leave it open if they've had intake."

  "How many people will be on staff?"

  "No idea. Skeleton crew on Sunday night, though," she said.

  A chill wind passed through me and I became intimately aware of the fact that we were approaching a morgue. I'd never seen a ghost before, but I also knew better than to look into the mystic plane next to a place where so many dead bodies had been.

  The basement doors looked much like the entry to an emergency room. Wide sliding glass doors stood closed and the lights were turned down.r />
  "Doesn't look too busy," I said and walked up to a steel door ten feet from the glass ones.

  "Where are you going?" Gabriella whispered loudly.

  "Why are you whispering?"

  "I don't know," she whispered back.

  I pulled on the door. It was locked. I waved my hand across the deadbolt lockset and pulled the door open.

  "After you," I said, gesturing at the opening with a smug grin on my face.

  The hallway we entered was well-lit and we followed it to the end. We stood next to the only other door and listened to make sure the coast was clear. Opening the door, we entered another, wider hallway.

  "This way," Gabriella said, turning to the right.

  "Hey, what are you doing down here?" It was a man's voice from behind us.

  "I've got this," Gabriella whispered and turned around.

  "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.
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  "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.

  HOMBRE LOCO

  "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.