Squinting my eyes as they adjust to the bright sun in the cloudless sky, I take a deep breath of fresh air. This is the first time I have been outside in months–and it feels great. I didn’t see Vithar or Reggie, but they’re probably in the basement where we keep the casting room. The basement is also where Vithar sleeps. When my mom came to visit before I got hurt, he moved from his bedroom upstairs, down to the unfinished basement. It wasn’t an act of chivalry or a kind gesture though. He could sense that she had powerful magic, he just didn’t know what kind and her energy frightened him. After not even one full night in the basement, he used his abilities to complete the work I had put off for so long–and he did a much better job than I ever could have hoped to. I thanked him by letting him claim the space as his own while he lives with me with no expiration date. It seemed like a good deal for me.
I go through a set of simple stretches and feel my muscles–all of them–pull and ache with the atrophied cry of the under-utilized appendages. I start with my arms and shoulders then move to my legs, then hop up and bounce on the pads of my feet a few times.
“Ready, buddy?” I ask Brimstone.
(Ready, Master.) they say.
I hook on his leash (it’s mostly for show) and take off. The speed of my stride surprises me. I keep up a mild pace, not wanting to put too much stress on my body. The light jog feels too easy though, so I put more into it. I glance down at Brimstone and they’re keeping up with me easily. This pace becomes too easy as well, so I decide to really push myself.
“We’re gonna go for it, alright?”
(Yes, please.)
The neighborhood starts passing in a blur of motion. This is the fastest I have ever been and my heart rate finally starts to pick up. I glance down at Brimstone again and they have their tongue lolling out and the wind is billowing in their cheeks. They seem to be enjoying this and show no sign that the jog is even winding them. We keep going. Everything is passing by too quickly to see in detail and I close my eyes, taking in the serenity provided by a good run when your body doesn’t ache. I open my eyes just as my legs collide with a fire hydrant. Flipping ass over teakettle, I let go of Brimstone’s leash and let the fall take me. I keep my limbs close while I bounce across the ground. I hit once, twice then my motion is arrested when my back slams into a car with a crunch of impacted metal.
(Master? Are you okay?) my Hound asks. At least, I think that’s what they said. It’s hard to hear them over the blaring alarm that issues from the jostled car.
I rub the back of my head and groan as I pull my body away from the dented vehicle. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I say. I look back at the car, then scan the area around me. The hydrant down the street has been tilted and is spraying out into the street. There are cracks in the pavement where I bounced and a pedestrian is looking at me wide-eyed and patting their pockets. They pull out their phone and I grab Brimstone’s leash and jet. We sprint back to my house, this time keeping my eyes on any obstacles in front of me, and don’t stop until we’re in my back yard. Huffing from the exertion, I glance at Brimstone and laugh. It is a hearty belly laugh that makes me fall onto my back and cradle my stomach. Brimstone, for their part, starts jumping around me with their tongue hanging out.
That was exhilarating.
That speed was previously hard to achieve without the aid of a vehicle, a burn, or being thrown around by someone much stronger than myself. What’s even more interesting than that is my crash with that car. A demonspawn like myself is heartier overall than a human, but there are limits. We are more durable and have more endurance, stamina, strength and agility depending on our lineage. So, while I am slightly more durable, that car still should’ve hurt–a lot. But I made a dent in it instead and then got up and ran away.
How are we like this? I ask my demon.
What? No, no. I mean, how did I hit that car with such force and only have a little soreness in my back?
This is what you meant? I ask.
My father was right about the assimilation of abilities. I don’t care for the method, but I can’t argue with the results. I feel stronger than I ever have before. Brimstone moves toward me, coming to lick my face again and I push them away successfully.
“I told you those days were numbered, Brimstone. No more face licking.”
Brimstone whines and consoles themself by licking the wrist of the hand that holds them at bay. I sit up and pet their head and down their back. My phone vibrates against my leg and I pull it out of my pocket. I check the screen and I’m glad it didn’t shatter with the impact. The number displayed has been calling me a lot lately, but I don’t recognize it. I consider blocking it, but just ignore the call and slip the device back into my pocket. Standing up, I do a long shaky stretch and let out a yell as it peaks. It feels good to stretch like that. I shake my limbs out walk toward the back door–I’m hungry now.
“Mike?”
I turn to look for who called me. Out of the two houses on either side of my own, only one has a steady neighbor. The other, is an Airbnb.
“Hey, Larry. How you doin’?” I ask.
My neighbor, Larry, does not like me as far as I’ve been able to tell, but we haven’t had a lot of talks. It hasn’t been a super good time being my neighbor for the last few years, so I don’t blame him. He’s an older guy, I’d guess mid-50s with a horseshoe of brown, graying hair that wraps around the back of his head from temple to temple and nothing on top. He keeps a pretty righteous mustache trimmed to perfection and a spare tire around his waist. His baby blue polo, plaid shorts, high socks and dad-shoes complete his ensemble of grumpy old father figure. He stares at me from under a furrowed brow as he makes his way to his garage.
“Haven’t seen you in a while. I wasn’t sure if you were still here.”
He probably would’ve been relieved. “Yeah, I had shoulder surgery that didn’t go so well and have had to keep myself resting,” I lie.
“Anna said something like that.”
“I didn’t know you guys talked.”
“She’s very pleasant.”
“I think so too,” I say. “I was just about to get some food. It’s good to see you.”
“Yeah. Glad you’re doing better,” he says.
I nod at him then start to walk inside. That was the first time we've had a conversation where he's not blaming me for something.
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“Oh, hey,” he says, and I look back. “I had someone cleaning my gutters and they said there’s a burn mark across my roof. Do you know anything about that?”
“That’s so weird, I dunno,” I say. “Bye!”
I feel bad. I definitely know something about it. Eph, my boss and Vithar’s mentor, was trying to show me how to use a wand last winter. I did it, but I burned a beam across his roof. I meant to get it fixed for him, but it got lost in the haze of healing. Larry watches me with a disapproving look on his face as I walk inside guiltily.
There are loud muffled voices coming from downstairs as I enter the kitchen to make a sandwich. Whatever those two are discussing, has got them excited. I walk over to the door to the basement stairs and open in.
“You kids keep it down in there!” I yell.
“Mike?” Vithar yells back. “You’re back from your run already?”
“Yeah,” I say, coming down the steps.
“Didn’t go so well?” he asks. I see his sad expression when I take one of the last few steps.
“It went great, actually. I went close to the suburbs. I came back after I smashed into a car.”
Vithar studies my face, then sighs. “That’s the thing I’ve been talking about.”
“What?”
“You remember when I said you say certain things like they’re no big deal when, in fact, they are?”
“Mm-hm?” I say. I know what he’s getting at, but I just get a kick out of playing dumb.
He sighs, resignedly. “So, what happened?”
“So I was running, right? I wasn’t getting tired, so I amped it up until everything was a blur. I took my eyes off the sidewalk for just two seconds and a fire hydrant jumped in front of me. I tripped over it and went skidding across the ground until I slammed into a car and dented it in… It was pretty crazy.”
Reggie moves closer and paces around me, examining. A shiver slithers up my back when he’s behind me. “Are you alright?” he asks. He squints when inspecting my shoulders then finally takes a step back.
“That’s the thing. I’m completely fine,” I say excitedly.
Reggie and Vithar share a quizzical glance.
“Told you,” Reggie says.
“No pain?” Vithar asks.
“Still a little sore around the shoulder joints, but no worse for the wear after the car accident.” I shrug.
“Fascinating,” Reggie replies.
“What are you guys down here yelling about?” I ask.
“Right!” Vithar exclaims. “We think we’ve begun to ‘crack the code’ as it were with Olvira’s journal.”
Olvira was an Archwizard in the same wizard’s guild that Reggie is part of. She was very powerful and was becoming a friend of mine after we’d run into each other multiple times over the last few years. During the coup attempt that happened a few months ago at the wizard’s guildhouse, she was targeted and killed by a runed wizard who killed themself to get her. The guild members that were working with demons all had the same rune burned into their forehead. It seemed that if they were failing in their mission, the rune would burn them and they’d erupt in magical lava. One such expulsion destroyed a good chunk of my front lawn and a back portion of my car. I am fireproof, but this stuff was so magically infused that it would’ve melted me without any trouble. So, when one of these exploded in Olvira’s room, she was vaporized along with her attacker.
She left Vithar her Dirge Crystal and a journal. A Dirge Crystal is something wizards leave behind that acts as a last will and testament. It can have whatever the wizard wants put onto it and only the person the deceased wizard deemed worthy when it was created, can access it. The secrets to unlocking hers, apparently lies in the journal. The journal is written in a code only Olvira understood, so Vithar has to decipher it. Vithar and Reggie mourned her during the months I’ve been down. They were both students of hers and were close. Vithar has done some small side jobs that I normally would have handled while I couldn’t. He said it was so that he could occupy his mind but, regardless of reason, it’s been much appreciated.
“Really? How much?” I ask. My phone buzzes again and I pull it out just enough to see the screen. It’s the same number that was calling me earlier, and I ignore it the same way I did before. Some people just can’t take a hint.
“Not much yet,” Vithar says.
“But it’s a start!” Reggie adds.
“Well, look at you two,” I say with a smile. “Solving the case like the Hardy Boys.”
“We’re nowhere close to your case clearance, Nancy Drew,” Vithar says.
“I take that as a compliment,” I say with an upturned chin. “So, what’s next?”
Vithar shrugs, “We want to keep going, but it’s taking a lot of time.” My phone starts buzzing again and I just press the button on the side to silence the ringing. It eventually stops, but starts again and I pull it from my pocket.
“I’m sorry, guys. Apparently, I need to take this call.”
“No worries,” Vithar says. He and Reggie start talking again. I answer the phone while taking the steps out of the basement.
“Hello?” I say in a gruff tone.
“Hello, am I speaking with Mr. Mikael Balthazar?” The voice speaking sounds high, feminine and oddly soothing.
“Yes, this is he,” I say, taking some of the gruffness out of my voice.
“Hello, Mr. Balthazar. I apologize for calling so many times, but my employer is a very motivated individual. Do you have a moment to speak?”
“I do,” I say reticently, hoping this isn’t some kind of phishing call. “And please, Mike is fine.”
“Thank you, Mike. My name is Yvonne and I am calling on behalf of Mr. Syed Ramachandran. He is calling in hopes of setting up a meeting with you.”
“Regarding?”
“Regarding a common ancestry you both possess.”
Oh no. Hell no. No, no, no. I am not dealing with another one of my father’s children right now.
“I’m sorry, Yvonne, but I am not interested in a meeting,” I say. The line clicks and a new voice sounds on the line.
“Mikey,” the male voice says. He draws out the ‘ey’ sound, like we’re old friends. “Don’t be like that, bro. I don’t wanna fight you, I just wanna talk.”
“What ‘ancestry’ do we share?”
“Come on, man. You know. Look, I promise that everything is on the level. I’m not interested in this game that he got us pulled into. I just wanna set this straight. Please come meet with me.”
“So you know about everything? How?”
“Christine didn’t only find you, bro. I just have the means to keep myself out of it.”
Whoa. Christine is one of my sisters from my infernal father and the adopted sister of my now girlfriend. It’s all very complicated. She is the reason my demon and I started talking again–and she did it by tricking me and attacking me. She had some pretty amazing powers and was very skilled with them. With said powers, she could get into just about anywhere–even Hell. So this guy saying he had met her and came out of it alive, means that he could be a powerhouse. If that’s the case, maybe he would accept Alastor’s throne. I should at least know what I’m dealing with. If he’s offering the olive branch, perhaps I should accept it.
“I didn’t exactly have the best time meeting my last sibling. What exactly do you want from me?” I ask.
“Literally just wanna get to know you, bro.”
“How do you know about me?”
“I had my people follow her. She went to you after me.”
“How did you have your people follow her? The way she moved made it hard.”
“Like I said, I’m a man of means. I promise all of this will be explained, man. Just come hang with me. If we don’t gel, we don’t gel. No pressure.”
“Where should we meet up?”
“I’ll have a car come get you, no sweat,” he says. He’ll have a car come get me? I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’d rather meet in a public place and have my own means of escape.
“I–”
“I know what you’re thinking, and I’m gonna be honest with you: I’ve known about you since she first made contact. I could’ve come for you at any time if I meant you harm. I seriously just wanna talk to you, dude.”
I can’t argue with that, this guy really has a way with words. If he could track Christine, he could do the same for me.
“Alright. You’ve convinced me. It’ll have to be tomorrow though. I’ve got some things to do tonight.”
“That’s fine, man. Nine o’clock sound okay for the car?” he asks.
“Yeah, nine is good,” I say. “I suppose you don’t need my address?”
“Would it make you feel better to give it to me?”
“Not when you ask like that. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say and hang up. I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Not even a full day finally healed and I’ve got this to deal with now. I glance to the side when I hear the front door opening. Anna sets her purse down on the table next to the door and spots me. She raises her eyebrows and puts her palms up.
“So?” she asks with a smile.
I throw my arms out to show her that they are healed. Instead of saying she understands, she runs across the room and jumps onto me. Her lips smack into mine and she wraps her legs around my waist. I tuck my arms underneath her butt and lift her higher. She feels like she weighs nothing compared to my Hellhound. Making sure not to step down the basement stairs, I start walking up the stairs toward my room. Anna’s lips don’t leave mine while I do.