The Banshee's Embrace (13 page)

             
"Angela," Jacqueline whispered. Her friend sat silent and still, a slight puzzled expression on her face.

             
"Don't worry, Jacqueline," Derek said. "She's fine."

             
"You're a wizard."

             
"Very good."

             
"You were in my kitchen this morning, pretending to be Toby."

             
Derek grimaced." Yes, though as much I loved finally meeting you, being in the guise of that hack was not to my liking."

             
"Why are you doing this? Are you the one trying to kill me?"

             
"Why would I do that? You are more useful alive. You just need a little guidance. It's the Brotherhood that wants you dead. The Spark family has no desire to see that happen."

             
"The Spark Family? So Toby was right. He thought you were one of them." Jacqueline tried to keep calm. She eyed the door, wondering if she could run for it. And just where the hell was Gabe? Wasn't he supposed to be watching for this?

             
"Toby Williams and I go way back," Derek said. "He was once involved with my sister, Gabriella. The Spark and Williams clans no longer mix though. We had a…how can I put this? A parting of the ways."

             
"Sorry to hear that. Maybe we could go to Merlyn's Bar after all and patch things up between the two of you."

             
"No." Derek gave her a grim smile. "I have plans that only include you."

             
She swallowed hard, afraid. What was she going to do? How could she defend herself? That's when it occurred to her that she could do something. Wasn't that the point of this outing she and Gabe had schemed about? To draw out the wizard who killed her husband? To test her powers?

             
"Did you kill Eric?" Jacqueline watched Derek's face tighten.

             
"Erik Huston was in my way. He was tracking me and another associate. However, I was not the one that killed him."

             
"But you would have." Jacqueline nodded, certain she was right. Anger welled in her and with it came the familiar sense of power. If she could just channel it…

             
"None of that." Derek's face twisted into an ugly sneer as he grabbed her arm. "Save your energy."

             
He closed his eyes and whispered something. The words made the world grow dim and the last thing she saw before passing out was Derek leaning closer to her, his lips pressing gently to hers.

****

             
It had been a strange dinner. Angela sat in her car, contemplating the weirdness of it. Everything had been fine and then it was like…well, like she'd missed part of the conversation or dozed off. One moment they were talking about visiting Merlyn's Bar and the next thing she knew, Jacqueline was gone. Derek had gone on chewing his food, polite as ever.

             
"Where did Jackie go?" she asked, looking around the restaurant.

             
"She left, remember? She was complaining about a headache." Derek gave her a smile and pointed at her plate. "I guess you were so busy eating, you didn't even notice."

             
"That's weird.  I don't remember her saying anything."

             
"Maybe you should slow down on the wine then."

             
Angela looked at her wine glass which was empty. Wow. Surely, that hadn't caused her to lose some time…

             
The rest of the dinner had felt off. Derek didn't seem like his usual self either. Her attempts at small talk had been met with polite "yes" or "no" answers. Afterwards, she'd been expecting to go back to the hotel room, but instead, he'd dropped her off at her house with a short kiss and sped away.

             
So strange.

             
Angela climbed into her car, not ready to call it a night, but not sure what exactly had happened. She'd driven to Merlyn's Bar, halfway expecting to see Jackie's car outside of it. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel, debating on whether or not to go in.

             
"What the hell," she muttered.

             
Toby nodded at her when she walked in, already getting out the red cups he used to pour wine in.

             
"How's it going Angela?"

             
"Alright. Is Jacqueline here?"

             
"No. Why would she be?"

             
"She left dinner so quickly. I just thought she might have come here."

             
"Dinner?" Toby frowned. "She went to dinner with you?"

             
"Yeah. With me and my new guy, Derek. But she left quickly. In fact," Jacqueline gave an embarrassed laugh, "I don't even remember her leaving."

             
"You didn't see her get up and go?"

             
"No. And I didn't really think I had that much to drink." She sipped the wine he handed her and made a face. "When the hell are you going to get something worth drinking around here? Would it kill you to pay an extra three dollars for the halfway decent wine?"

             
But Toby wasn't letting the talk of her failed dinner go.

             
"Did anything weird happen? Did Jacqueline seem okay?"

             
"Uh-oh…do I detect a bartender with a case of puppy love?"

             
"Just tell me how she was acting. It's important, Angela!"

             
"Okay! Geez…" She leaned back in her chair. "She did seem a little tired to me and on edge."

             
"But you didn't see her leave?"

             
"No!" Angela glared. "I told you. It was like I dozed off or time stopped or something. One second she was there and the next, poof! Gone."

             
"Time stopped…" Toby shook his head. "What's your boyfriend's name again?"

             
"Derek Spark." Angela let out a long sigh. "But I don't see what that has to do with anything."

             
"Derek Spark?" Toby's face went ashen. "This is not good."

             
"Do you know, Derek?"

             
He was quiet a minute, staring off into space. 

             
"Hey, you okay?" She waved her hand in front of his face.

             
"Yeah. I'm fine." He focused his attention back on her. "How would you feel about playing bartender for a little while?"

             
"What do you mean?"

             
"I need to run an errand. I'd like you to run the bar for an hour or so." Toby came out from behind the counter.

             
"Uh…I did some bartending back in college, but that was a long time ago." Angela stood up as he pulled her from the stool she'd been sitting on.

             
"You'll be fine." He led her behind the bar, handing her a calculator and a beer opener. "Use this to add up the tabs and this to open the beer. Show some cleavage and you'll have better sales."

             
"Do I get to keep my tips?" She called after him as he strode away.

             
"Sure."

             
And with that he was out the door.

             
Angela shrugged. Oh well. She liked adventure. Unbuttoning her blouse a little more, she shouted, "I'm running a drink special, boys! Who's thirsty?"

*****

             
Toby walked to his house, fuming.

             
The woman had gone to dinner. She'd left the house and now was in the hands of Derek Spark. Dammit! Why had he ever left her in the first place? What had he been thinking? Give her space? He should have closed in tighter!

             
What if she was dead? Oh, god.

             
"No," he muttered out loud. "Spark wouldn't kill her. He wants her to be his weapon."

             
But Toby was ready to kill Derek.

             
Thoughts of Gabriella drifted through his mind, but he pushed them away.

             
Focus on the here and now with Derek. Don't let him take another innocent woman and hurt her.

             
Once inside his house, Toby went directly to his cellar. Dank and dark, it was perfect for storing his alchemy tools. A would be burglar, a nosey neighbor--neither would want to spend time in such a creepy place. He blew dust off the top of one of his books and began searching through it for a scrying spell.

             
"There you are." He tapped the spell on one of the pages and then pulled out an old silver amulet from a nearby box. Raising it high, he chanted, "Master of Wisdom and fierce skies, let the one I seek materialize. As I will it, let it be done!"

             
The amulet shook in his hand. Holding tight to it, Toby watched steam slowly slip from the metal. Wispy tendrils of smoke formed a pattern in the air and one word become visible: Harrington.

             
Harrington. The only place he knew called that was the local cemetery.

             
Why would Derek take Jacqueline there?

             
It didn't matter. All he needed was to stop the other wizard.

             
He just hoped it wasn't too late.

****

             
"Where am I?" Jacqueline's head hurt and she couldn’t fully open her eyes. The lids felt too heavy.

             
"Some place safe."

             
She knew that voice. Derek. The wizard who'd captured her. Fear grew in her heart.

             
"You don't need to be frightened." He placed a hand on her leg and caressed it softly. "You're just feeling the after effects of a little spell I put on you. It's powerful stuff."

             
"My head hurts." She tried to sit up and forced her eyes to open.

             
"Oh it will for a while. That's part of the process."

             
Jacqueline looked around. They were in a small room with lots of long tables with wheels. Something about them was familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. A sharp stab of pain in her head caused her to cry out.

             
"There, there." Derek soothed, continuing to rub her leg. "It will pass. The spell takes time to get used to. Don't fight it."

             
His voice was hypnotic. She could listen to it all day. Nice. Relaxing.

             
"There you go," he whispered and moved closer to her, touching her hair and massaging her head. "That's better. Don't fight and just listen to me."

             
"Alright." She stared into his eyes. They were so pretty… such a nice hazel color.

             
"You are under my command now," he said. "You will do as I tell you."

             
"Yes." She nodded. "I can do that."

             
"Do you know where we are?"

             
Jacqueline studied the place more carefully.

             
"Some sort of ER room or doctor's office?"

             
He laughed softly and then gave her a brief kiss on the lips.

             
"No. This is the embalming room at Harrington's Funeral Home. It's owned by a friend of mine, one you've met, I believe." Derek nodded to someone behind her.

             
Gabe, the Keeper of Souls, moved in to her line of vision.

             
"Hey, Jacqueline," he said, with a sarcastic smile. "Bet you wish I'd killed you now."

             
"Gabe?"

             
His smile grew bigger and he shook his head.

             
"No. My name isn't Gabe and I'm not the real Keeper of Souls. I was only in that box as part of a bargain I made with your family banshee--you know, the hag that Toby killed for us," Gabe said. "You should really lock up your house more carefully from now on. It was easy to break in and find the box. A little magic helped the hag open it."