Kicking It (33 page)

“Welcome back.”

Vicky’s lips pressed together and her brow crinkled as if she was trying to fight tears. She definitely wasn’t all smiles now. “Where am I?”

I didn’t bother answering. “We need to talk about the shoes.”

“Shoes?” She shook her head and one fat tear slipped down her cheek.

This woman should have been acting, not waiting tables. I leaned over her and let all the rage I felt over Russell being attacked into my eyes. She cringed, shrinking back from me.
Unbelievable.

Behind me, the metal door opened and I turned as Derrick walked into the room. I met him at the circle’s edge. The barrier spell blocked everything but sound, so we could talk, but he couldn’t enter and I couldn’t leave without an ordeal, as someone would have to dismiss and recast the circle. I hoped this wasn’t something that would call for that.

“What’s up?”

Derrick frowned and I knew it was bad news before he said anything.

“I had her blood run. The other waitress was right—she’s completely human.”

That meant there was no chance she cast the spell on the shoes. There was a player in this that we were missing.

I nodded my acknowledgment and turned back to Vicky. She’d curled up on the cot and I was pretty sure she was crying.
Did she even know what she was doing?
Well, I was about to find out. Activating my lie detector, I walked back across the room.

“Tell me about the red heels you were wearing at work tonight.”

She frowned at me. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“They’re spelled. Did you know that?”

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. Which didn’t help me; my lie detector spell required her to speak.

“Yes or no?”

“No, of course not. What kind of spell?”

I glanced at my charm; it hadn’t changed, which meant she was telling the truth. She was as innocent as she acted. I leaned back and let my face soften.

“Where did you get them?”

“Um, I was in the hospital for . . . Well, I was unwell, and one of my customers sent them with a note that said he hoped they’d make me feel better. And they did. When I wore them I felt pretty and happy.”

I tapped my toe but managed to suppress any other sign of my impatience. Now that I knew the witch who’d created this mess was still out there, I was anxious to find him. “Who was the customer?”

“Eddy. He’s a regular.”

That didn’t help me.

“Eddy what?”

“Oh, um . . . Edward Mackenzie.”

Now that was what I needed. I glanced over to see if Derrick was still in the room. He was. He nodded to indicate he’d heard the name and then he hurried out the door. Knowing my partner, he’d have the address and any information in the national witch database about this “Eddy” before the guard in charge of the circle released me.

—

I
t was two hours before dawn when I pulled my Hummer to a halt several houses away from Edward Mackenzie’s front door. I slipped out of the car soundlessly, my obfuscation charms already in place. The street was quiet as I hurried down it, and not even a dog barked in the predawn light.

Unsurprisingly, Eddy’s house looked like all the others, with the lawn well maintained and flower beds identical to his neighbors’. I crept up the drive silently, watching the shadows, but it appeared to be just another house in a quaint neighborhood.
You know what they say about appearances
.

My lock-picking spell made fast work of the front lock but that was the easy part. Zipping my jacket, I activated a charm that was part of the reason MCIB recruited me in the first place. The charm took power, a lot of it, and one of my rings held raw magic just to power this spell—and it did so only once per charge. But it was worth it. I stepped through Eddy’s household wards as if they didn’t exist. Once I was on the other side of the threshold I shut down the charm and opened my jacket again so I’d have access to my weapons.

I ran into my first shadow creature almost immediately. I’d been looking for the creatures but I still almost missed it. Judging by the way it swung at me, they could see through my charms.

But I had a new secret weapon.

Jumping out of the creature’s reach, I released a crossbow bolt into its chest. The vial in the bolt snapped, releasing the spell. At first the shadow continued to move. Then the first pinprick of light formed in its torso. It might have started small, but in less than a heartbeat I had to shade my eyes as light poured out of the shadow.

Once the flash faded I dropped my arm and looked around.

“Like that? I spent half the night working on it,” I said with a smile. Not that the shadow creature could care. He’d been vaporized.

I worked through the house room by room. The creatures made no sound as they evaporated so only the soft twinge of my crossbow accented the night.

Dawn was starting to pour through the windows as I reached the last room. I stopped at the door. A soft snoring sound drifted out of the room.
Eddy, I presume.
What most would-be criminals didn’t seem to understand was that the monsters were hard and dangerous. But the witches themselves? The witches went down easy.

Edward Mackenzie didn’t so much as twitch as I snuck into his room.

His capture?

As fast as a snap of a crossbow.

—

V
icky was cleared of charges and moved to the hospital. She’d been an unwilling accomplice, and really just another victim of the spelled stilettos. Especially once the effects started wearing off and she sank back into her depression. She’d have her own personal battles in the coming months, but this time she’d stick to traditional coping methods. I was betting she’d make it out to the other side.

While the waitress’s condition deteriorated, the other victims were making steady improvements. None had been released yet, but most were expected to be back home and enjoying a normal life again soon. Russell Lancaster had regained consciousness, and when I visited, he even cracked a smile. Edward Mackenzie, on the other hand, was looking at a very long prison stay and likely a magical neutering.

All in all, a job well done.

“Done” being the key word there.
Now maybe I’d finally get to my vacation.

I locked my weapons in the wall safe—well, at least
most
of my weapons—and then padded barefoot across my room and into Derrick’s. “Tell me I get to act like a tourist now.”

He looked up from where he was packing his suitcase—not a good sign—and shook his head. “We caught a bad one,” he said, lifting a manila folder. “It involves a grave witch.”

I grimaced. If a grave witch was at the center of the case, that meant I’d most likely be hunting dead things. Excessively deadly dead things. On the plus side, grave witches were rare enough that we’d likely identify our culprit easily. “Do we know who we’re looking for?”

Derrick nodded. “A witch named Alex Craft.”

Rachel Caine
has published more than thirty novels, including the
New York Times
and #1 internationally bestselling Morganville Vampires series, as well as the bestselling Weather Warden, Outcast Season, and Revivalist series in urban fantasy. She has contributed to many anthologies, including
My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
,
Hex Symbols
, and
Many Bloody Returns
. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and on the Web at
www.rachelcaine.com.

Since launching her career in 2007, award-winning author
Shannon K. Butcher
has penned more than eighteen titles, including the paranormal romance series The Sentinel Wars; the action-romance series The Edge; and a handful of romantic suspense novels and works of short fiction. Being a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs, and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design and to keep track of all those pesky characters and magical powers. An avid beader and glass artist, she spends her free time playing with colored glass and beads. You can find her online at
www.shannonkbutcher.com.

Chris Marie Green
is the author of the urban fantasy Vampire Babylon series from Ace/Penguin Books. As Christine Cody, she also wrote the supernatural postapocalyptic Western Bloodlands trilogy, and as Crystal Green, she writes romance. She’s working on the Jensen Murphy: Ghost for Hire series and, when she isn’t knee-deep in creating fantasy worlds, she spends her time devouring all the pop culture available to her and avoiding international incidents while traveling. You can get a peek at all her personalities at
www.chrismariegreen.com
or
www.crystal-green.com
, and she’s also on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marie-Green/1051327765)
and Twitter
(twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen).

Faith Hunter
has written the Jane Yellowrock series and the Rogue Mage series, as well as the RPG, Rogue Mage. Several of her novels have appeared on the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestseller lists. Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she has written action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. Under all her pen names, she has more than twenty-five books in print in twenty-seven countries. Faith writes full-time and works full-time in a hospital (for the benefits). She’s a workaholic and playaholic who makes jewelry, collects orchids and bones, travels in her RV with her hubby and two dogs, and loves white-water kayaking. Once upon a time, she also tried to keep house and cook, but since she started writing two books a year, she may have forgotten how to turn on the appliances. You can visit her online at
www.faithhunter.net
and
www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter.

Chloe Neill
is the
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite series. She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest—just close enough to Cadogan House and St. Sophia’s to keep an eye on things. When not transcribing Merit’s and Lily’s adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys—her favorite landscape photographer/husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.) You can find out more at
www.chloeneill.com
,
www.twitter.com/chloeneill
, and
www.facebook.com/authorchloeneill.

Lucienne Diver
is the author of the Vamped series of young adult novels from Flux Books and the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series for Samhain (into which her
Kicking It
story “The Parlor” fits nicely). Her short stories have been included in the
Strip-Mauled
and
Fangs for the Mammaries
anthologies (Baen Books), and she has an essay included in the collection
Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories
(HarperTeen). You can find her online at
www.luciennediver.com.

Christina Henry
is the author of the
Black Wings series (Ace/Roc) featuring Madeline Black, an Agent of Death, and her popcorn-loving gargoyle sidekick, Beezle. You can find her on the Web at
www.christinahenry.net
and occasionally tweeting
@C_Henry_Author.

Rob Thurman
, who has published more than fifteen novels, is the
New York Times
bestselling author of the Cal Leandros urban fantasy series (regarding hot brothers as hot brothers cannot be beaten), the Trickster Novels, several paranormal thrillers including
Chimera
and its sequel,
Basilisk
, as well as the stand-alone
All Seeing Eye
. She has also contributed to many anthologies, including Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner’s
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
,
CarniePunk
, and
Courts of the Fey.
To reach the author and/or peruse character bios and pics, award-winning book trailers, and free wallpaper, go to
www.robthurman.net
,
@ Rob_Thurman
, or check her Facebook. Do check out the Web site bio to see her werewolf superhero, proof that dog rescue is the only way to go.

USA Today
bestselling author
Kalayna Price
draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore. Her stories contain not only the mystical elements of fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery. Kalayna is a member of SFWA and RWA and an avid hula-hoop dancer who has been known to light her hoop on fire.