CHAPTER ONE: CLEARING THE AIR

~ Marie ~

The paper ball bounced off the mountain of paper already in the wastebasket. The mountain split in two, sending half of it to the floor and all over the other pieces of paper and books on the ground. Marie pressed her lips together but didn’t move to pick anything up. The whole room was a mess. She sighed. Everything could be picked up later once she was done. Right now, the amount of time she had left was dwindling. Tomorrow she’d be leaving for her next job and she still had errands she needed to take care of today.

She sighed in frustration again as she skimmed over what she had written. She knew what she wanted to happen but something wasn’t connecting. Based on her calculations, if she went ahead and used the spell, the person she used it on would end up in critical condition. To top it off, this spell would be a major drain on both her energy and magic. She wouldn’t have enough magic left over to heal them. Marie leaned back in her chair. Something more was needed. 

Marie glanced around. Maybe if she looked over her previous circles she could see where she was going wrong. She lifted a sheet of paper and spotted the envelope she had prepared for Connor. Inside were the copies of the circles from her previous case that he’d asked for. She still hadn’t given them to him. Maybe when she finally ran her errands she could drop by.

“You need a partner. Someone to stop you from being so reckless.”

Connor worried too much. Constantly checking up on her and making sure she was fine. He had been doing that ever since Elena disappeared. Marie straightened up and studied the spell once more. She couldn’t waste any more time. There were still items she needed to buy, a call to make, and an envelope to drop off. She needed to focus.

After another thirty minutes, she decided to go ahead and start on her errands. She shouldn’t push them off any longer. Marie pulled the phone over and went through her address book. She dialed the number and waited. It rang and rang and rang. Three more rings and she would hang up. Marie didn’t want to leave for her trip without getting this done but it looked like she might have to do that after all. Just one more ring left. 

“Lara speaking. How can I help you?” 

“It’s Marie. I wanted to know if you would be able to accept my request.” She had called yesterday and asked if there were any openings in Lara’s schedule but was told that she would need to call back. Today would be her last chance to make an appointment until she came back from her trip. Currently, there was a seal on the Westfall house that prevented people from entering but she knew she couldn’t keep it sealed forever. Eventually, someone would notice the house was empty. Marie wanted the house purified before then. 

“Let’s see…” The voice became cold. As long as Lara never let it affect work, Marie wouldn’t let it bother her. “How about right now? I’m free for the next hour. After that, my next opening isn’t for another two months.” 

“Now is fine.” Marie gave Lara the relevant information before hanging up. She stood up and teleported to the house. A quick scan of the room revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

The room she’d picked to teleport to was the room Adrian had carried her into after the fight with the demon. Everything looked the same. Still neat and tidy. Not that it would have changed. There was nothing in this room that would have been useful to the vampires. The rest of the first floor was untouched as well. Only the second floor had been cleaned out.

Papers, books, and anything else that Adrian considered confidential or valuable had been taken. She had come back and searched as soon as she could but there was nothing of importance left. Marie had wanted to find more information on the demon but if something had been left behind, Adrian wouldn’t share it with her. Marie sighed. There was nothing she could do about it. After she’d healed Mark, she’d been too drained to do anything until yesterday night. Even now, her magic wasn’t completely back.

She glanced around as she walked out the front door and to the gate. The lawn was mostly neat. There were marks from where several cars had parked on the grass but other than that the yard was untouched. Marie pushed the button located on the pole to the left of the gate. The gate slowly opened as she stared down the street. She didn’t know how long it would take Lara to get here. Marie never asked where the woman lived now or where she did her business. Not that Lara would tell her even if she did ask. She went back to the house and sat on the porch.

 Ten minutes passed as she waited on the porch. She should’ve brought a book to read. Teleporting back was an option but what if Lara was almost here? The woman would take one look at the empty house and leave. Marie stood up as she heard the sound of a car. The sound was coming closer. She stared at the gate and soon a white car pulled into the driveway and parked right next to the house. A woman opened the door and got out. 

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Lara swept her blond hair out of her eyes before taking off her sunglasses. The woman’s amber eyes looked Marie over as she approached the porch. Lara made her way up the stairs without a word. Marie went up to the door and held it open for her.

“Where?” 

“Down the hall, in the kitchen, there’s a passageway. The area I need purified is all the way at the bottom.” Lara stalked away without responding. Marie closed the door and locked it before following. Since the gate was opened, it was better not to leave the front door open, even with the seal. She turned. Marie caught a glimpse of Lara as she disappeared into the kitchen. By the time she caught up, the kitchen was empty. Marie stood there, staring at the passageway. Lara had been an escort for about a decade. There were only a few things out there that could take her by surprise. There was no need to follow and protect her. Marie pressed her lips together before she headed into the passageway. There was always a chance something could happen. 

At the bottom, she found Lara trudging through the area with her right hand covering her nose. The bodies and blood had already been taken care of so neither of them had to worry about stepping on something unpleasant. Adrian had done her a favor in that regard but the scent of death still hung in the air. 

“This stench. A great many people died here.” Lara shook her head as she held her hand out in front of her, palm up. Her voice rose as she chanted in another language. Light gathered in the palm of her hand. It grew brighter and brighter with every word. Marie squinted but tried not to close her eyes completely. The light reached blinding levels before it shattered into a multitude of tiny lights. 

The lights flew around the cavern before sinking into the cavern walls. The places they touched briefly glowed before the light faded away. There was a moment of silence before Lara went into the larger cavern. Marie followed. This place had been cleaned out as well but her scorch mark still remained in the center. Lara raised both hands this time as she chanted. The light that gathered in between both her hands was larger and brighter than the previous one. Marie had to close her eyes and put one hand up to protect against the brightness. She wasn’t able to open her eyes again until almost all the small lights were gone.  

“It’s done.” She looked around. There was no visible change but the air no longer pressed down on her. Marie followed Lara back up the stairs and into the kitchen. She glanced back at the passageway. There was no reason for anyone to go down there anymore. 

“I’m going to seal the passageway.” She wanted to give the other woman a warning before she started. Lara nodded but didn’t move. Marie closed the passageway back up and wrote a spell on the back of the shelf. She used magic to turn the wall behind the shelf solid so that no one would be able to tell that it hadn’t been built that way in the beginning. Marie knelt on the ground and wrote out more script before she closed her eyes and filled it with power. The ground began to shake. Little tremors at first before the tremors grew stronger and stronger. Items crashed to the ground and furniture groaned as it slid across the floor. She felt the area beyond the shelf with magic. Just a little more. Two more tremors rocked the house before everything went still. Marie checked again with magic to make sure the cavern was completely filled with dirt. No one could use it now. 

Marie stood up and turned to find Lara watching her intently. Their eyes met for a moment before the other woman turned around.

“I’ll send an invoice later.” Marie glanced back at the shelf before she went to the hallway. She only caught a glimpse of the front door closing. Marie didn’t really expect anything different from the other woman. She surveyed the area for a moment. The house had become messy and several vases were broken. Several pieces of furniture were now in different spots. Marie went out the front door and took note of the damage. The yard looked nothing like it had before. There were now dips and hills in the lawn where there had been none. The paved driveway now had cracks along it, spreading out like a spiderweb. Some of the cracks were quite large and uneven. And of course, Lara was nowhere to be seen.

Marie carefully headed back to the gate and pushed the button. The gate bounced over several cracks and almost closed all the way but stopped just a few inches short. The wheel got caught on one of the larger cracks. Marie thought about trying to fix it but decided against it. With the area purified, she wasn’t worried about anyone breaking in. Whatever happened to the house now wasn’t any of her business. Marie went back into the house and locked the door before she took the sealing spell off. She took one last look around before she teleported back.

She went over to the table and picked up an envelope she’d prepared beforehand. Marie went out the front door and crossed the street. The building Connor owned was about a ten-minute walk from her house. It had been a while since she’d gone there. Most of the time they met at a restaurant or at her house. He liked to use her as an excuse to get out of his shop. Marie stopped at the intersection. She could’ve called him but she didn’t want him to ask her any unwanted questions. The light breeze brushed her hair back from her face as she crossed the street. The parking lot looked empty from here. He must not have any appointments today.

Marie stopped in front of the three-story building and checked the door. The closed sign still hung in the window. He should have been up already. It was a full hour past the time he should be open. She stared up at the top two floors but couldn’t tell if he was home or not. The upper two floors were his living space while the first floor was his consultation area. That was where he met with clients and went over plans and prices. The basement was where he created his many magical tools. It was also where he spent most of his time. She frowned. Even if he was down there, he wouldn’t have left the store closed. Connor must still be asleep. She glanced up at the top floor again before watching the cars pass.

It should be fine to drop this off and go. He had magic on his mailbox to prevent people from stealing it. Marie pulled the letter out of her jacket pocket and put in the mail slot. The letter should explain everything he needed to know. If there was something he didn’t understand, he could always call her later. Another errand down, one more to go.