The advantage of defeating the apprentice in an abandoned mall was that there was no shortage of supplies. Azucena had no real idea why the place had been left with such a haste – and the lack of inanimate bodies suggested there had not been a calamity – but the building was a treasure trove of all sorts of useful items. Of course, finding something to serve as a rope to tie someone up was generally not hard to come by, as many kinds of wires and cables did the trick as well as a good old woven string of hemp.

After the still-unconscious villain had been secured, the rest of the hostages appeared: a group of four women plus the mysterious boy. They were all shaken but not seriously harmed physically, and she did not dare to ask about mental scars. Those, she had plenty herself. The simple skeleton hunt had turned into a serious rescue mission. Most of the women were local, but did not know each other before their ordeal. He had been picking them one by one. Azucena grimaced more than once as they told, albeit briefly, their story.

Azucena retrieved her van after making sure everyone was in a condition to travel. They all eagerly ensured her they were, and even if they weren't, what was she to do? She asked about the strange totem, and Laura told her Luca – the weird kid – had asked the bastard to build it. Luca, on the other hand, denied any knowledge of such a request. Azucena didn't have much interest in pushing it further. As far as she was concerned, the construction was a kid's fancy and meant nothing more than that. It wasn't that Luca was that talkative anyway.

The first rays of the sun were peaking behind the horizon when she finally stepped on the gas. The apprentice, who was now tied to a tank of gas for the grill that rattled against the wall as she turned to the bumpy old country road, was still unconscious, which was all and well, if a little peculiar. Laura was sitting in the front, the others in the back. Everyone was silent for a long time. That didn't bother Azucena. She had thinking to do.

She had given little thought to all of the Necromancer's apprentices. She knew there were at least a dozen, and at least a couple had been killed since. What were they up to? Up to no good like José boy here, laying low or trying to turn a new leaf? Someone definitely should find out, and she dreaded that the someone might be her. Some of them were considerably stronger than this horny skeleton commander, and if left unattended, might end up following in the footsteps of their master. Azucena cursed under her breath. She should inform someone. Heinz, probably. He would be all over this sort of stuff. Unless, he was currently all over some other stuff. When he got something in his head, he got very singular about it. Phefo, then? He certainly had the skillset to track them down. She was also all but certain the apprentice now tied to her grill's gas tank would be easy to get to talk. He'd know something, if not the current locations of the others. They'd spent years living together, after all.

When Azucena glanced in the back to take a look at their prisoner, she saw one of the women and the boy play dice. She must have made a face since Laura shrugged and sighed.

"That's how we entertained ourselves when José Ignasio wasn't paying attention. Damn, I really need to stop saying the bastard's full name every time."

"Just rolling dice?" Azucena said, but quickly realised Luca was saying something. The game dawned on her. "Oh, he's trying to guess the result of the die?"

"Not just try. He gets it right, every time."

"That's – that's impossible."

"Aren't you a wizard of some sort?"

Azucena snorted. "Of some sort, yes. But even with magic… it's just not possible. The future, by definition, has not happened yet. There is no way to know what has not happened."

Laura seemed unconcerned. "Well, that's what he does."

Azucena stopped the car and turned to the back. Her passengers all stared.

"No, do go on, I want to see", she said.

The woman holding the die shrugged. "Five", Luca said.

She rolled five.

"One." One.

"One." One, again.

"Four." Four.

This went on for several minutes. He got every single die roll correctly. Azucena wasn't exactly a genius at maths, but she knew enough to know that what the kid just did was impossible.

Wasn't it? Thoughts raced through her head. His uncanny ability definitely explained why the apprentice had had such reverence for the child. Yet, it had to be some sort of a trick. It was certain he was Corrupted. At such a young age, it suggested a blood ritual. That was not good news. Still, magic is magic and she damn well knew how magic worked. It did not work like that. It was impossible to predict the future.

But the die…

"Does he do that with anything else or just dice?" She asked.

"Cards," Laura said. Well, cards and dice were same difference. Whatever the trick was, it would probably work on both.

"He can tell what you're going to say next, if you ask him." Well, that was different, but still within the realm of possibility, and barely more than a mentalist trick. Magically enhanced mentalism could be impressive.

"He told me when they were trying to escape, that's how I always stopped them," said the apprentice suddenly. So the asshole was awake. For how long? She hadn't been paying him enough attention to tell.

The women looked shocked. Appalled.

"Why?" asked the one in the back, a small one with a tattooed arm.

Luca didn't say anything.

Azucena considered the information. Would the apprentice lie? Certainly, there was nothing stopping him, but he also had little to gain from inflating the boy's abilities. On the other hand, it could also be explained by mind reading abilities, which were not out of the ordinary for the magically inclined, if unpopular.

Can you read minds?

The boy didn't even look at her. He could be just ignoring her, or trying to hide his true abilities, sure, but she doubted it. He didn't feel antagonistic.

"You're thinking mind reading," the apprentice said.

Did he?

"Never learned that skill, no," he said.

"Why not? It sounds like a cool ability," said one of the other women.

Azucena shrugged. "It gets noisy. And it's really uncomfortable, like peeping on someone."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

The apprentice grinned, and said: "No, you're right, I don't care about the privacy issues. I've just heard that it feels really uncomfortable, and, really, you can't know what someone is thinking. There are things even I don't want to know."

Azucena nodded. Mind reading wasn't a particularly hard skill to learn, but it came with a set of consequences not many people were equipped to handle. She, for one, wasn't.

"I don't think he's telepathic, though," the apprentice continued. "He doesn't seem the type."

There wasn't a "type" for any kind of magic, but of course this asshole thought otherwise. So superficial. Yet, he was probably correct. With telepaths you could usually tell, as that kind of thing changed a person quickly.

"So," Azucena said decisively, "if he's not reading minds, what is he doing?"

The apprentice tried to shrug. She was happy he couldn't. "He's prescient."

"Oh, come on, even you know it's impossible."

"I've heard, yes, but well, there he is."

"It could be a trick."

"The dice and the cards, yes. But the other things, no. Look, don't you think I was skeptical at first?"

"I'm not sure you possess the mental capacity to be."

"Ha, ha. Very funny. I was. But, look, I've spent almost two weeks with the kid, and let me tell you: he knows the future."

Azucena sighed. The women, not being affiliated with magic, could easily have all sorts of misunderstandings, but even as lousy as this guy was with magic, he did possess the basic knowledge. Now, the only question that remained was whether he was telling the truth? There was little to gain from lying, at least as far as she knew. He didn't seem like the type to make some elaborate plans either.

"I need to test him," she said eventually.

The kid raised an eyebrow. He was there. He was a human being, and here she was, acting like he was some sort of a pet. The apprentice certainly thought so, but she was different. She had to be different.

She smiled and looked at him. "I'm sorry, I mean, would you indulge me? Predict the future for me a bit?" Or just tell me how you're doing it, gods damn it.

He nodded.

* * *

Laura flushed the toilet. They had stopped at a small gas station, one with one of those small shops attached. She didn't have any money, or even her card – of course, none of them did – but the lady had promised to pay for whatever she wanted to get. First and foremost, she had wanted to relieve herself in a toilet with actual running water. It was weird how you didn't really appreciate that until you had to go for days without. She was lucky it wasn't that time.

Washing hands was another luxury. She had been able to use wipes she found from the stores to clean herself, but couldn't wait for a real shower. or a bath. A hot bath would be so awesome. Even more awesome than the weird graffiti of hippos in latex catsuits doing, uhh, things, and was that the old queen of England? Laura vaguely remembered the UK having a queen, in her childhood. Must be an old graffiti. Weird, awesome graffiti in a gas station toilet. That was the most normal thing she seen in days.

Exiting back to the store, she saw the other girls and the woman who had saved them, arguing. The lady – Azucena was her name? – looked exasperated.

"What's the colour of the next car, Luca?"

The boy frowned and then answered. "Blue."

"It could take who knows how long until the –"

The was the loud sound of an engine from the outside. A blue truck arrived.

Fernanda shrugged and smiled. Laura liked Fernanda. She had sass. Not enough sass to escape an undead commanding jerk, but enough sass to be fun. She wondered how the girl was in normal life. Did she get to see it? Would they keep in touch? Become friends? Laura sighed. No one taught you what happened after you got kidnapped by a crazy wizard. She'd learned all about algebra and Portuguese grammar and quantum tunnelling and kings of France, but not a single thing that would help when you had to deal with your whole world coming apart due to… magic?

Azucena put her hands on her hips rather theatrically and rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe he has the Farsight. It's not too uncommon thing to have. It doesn't mean he can tell the future."

Laura could see the clerk eyeing the group suspiciously, his hand under the desk where the alarm button was. "Maybe he'll know if the clerk calls the police," she offered. The other looked at her and then the lone staffer.

"No," said Luca.

"Fine, whatever," said the guy and threw his hands in the air.

"Well, that could have been an easy guess," Anna said. She was German, a backpacker. Real shit luck to come to the other side of the world and get captured by the fucking lord of the undead like that. "Pick the winning lottery ticket or one of those scratch-off ones."

Before Azucena had time to protest, Luca shrugged and walked to the counter, while the clerk eyed him suspiciously. The boy pointed at one of the scratch-off tickets, and the guy got it for him.

"That's 20 Real," he said flatly.

Azucena put a hand in her jacket pocket and pulled out a handful of crumbled banknotes. After sorting through them, she handed one to the clerk and got the ticket. She got a coin from the pocket and proceeded to scratch it on the counter. Suddenly, her eyes widened. The clerk leaned in. He went pale.

"Y-you can't exchange that here. You need to –"

She glared at him. "I know," she said and pocketed the ticket, turned around and shrugged. "Still, could be a sixth sense thing. The ticket was already there – he just needed to know which one it was."

She looked down and muttered, "not that it's not a useful skill."

Laura wasn't sure if anyone else heard the last bit, but she did wonder. These people had magic. Even if they could not foretell the future, they still had skills well beyond the capabilities of normies like her. Could she, too? She made a mental note to ask.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The others were getting frustrated with their unexpected saviour. They knew the boy knew the future, and all these little experiments had proven as much, but she still refused to believe. Yet, she also knew magic, which made it all the more contradictory. Laura felt their pain. Her parents were, well, conservative. Educated and wealthy, but still utterly stubborn about the threats the whole world was facing, and against overwhelming evidence. And that was before she had to add "the undead" to the list. Sheesh.

Still, she wasn't exactly an expert on magic and supernatural either – another thing the educational system was severely lacking in – so she felt like disagreeing with Azucena just because they thought they saw something wasn't exactly fair either.

And, on the other hand, it wasn't really their responsibility to convince her otherwise. She was about to open her mouth when Fernanda threw her hands up in frustration.

"What would convince you, then? What would be something that your farshit or third sense or whatever could not tell?!"

Azucena stared at the girl angrily, opened her mouth and closed it.

"Ask him about the graffiti in the bathroom. It's way cool!" the clerk offered, unhelpfully.

This time, it was Azucena's turn to throw her hands. "How's that not something –" she exasperated, but stopped when she saw Luca give it a thought.

He scratched his chin and said mischievously: "Three angels sing the praises of Gail. And they also eat ice cream!"

Everyone stared at the boy.

"Who's Gail?" asked Fernanda.

Azucena shrugged. "I've never heard of them."

The clerk furrowed his brow. "I've always wondered who that was."

* * *

Azucena stared at the graffiti. Those were certainly no angels she had ever seen, biblically correct or otherwise. They were vaguely human-shaped and dark-skinned, with four huge bony horns protruding from their backs. They… also had ice cream cones in their… appendages. The being they were apparently praising, if that was indeed what they were doing, was as hazy as its worshippers, but she was fairly certain there was a huge eye in the middle. It was not, all things considered, an extremely rare thing in religious iconography, and the boy could had some sort of sixth sense or third eye. Seeing into the next room barely counted as a party trick in her circles, but…

"How do you know what that thing is called?" she asked Luca.

The boy just shrugged.

"What is it?"

"It's Gail," the boy said nonchalantly. It was clear he was not going to elaborate further.

Azucena sighed in exasperation. "He could just have made up the name, and, well, we already established the possibility of some sort of far-seeing."

"I guess we're not really getting anywhere," Laura said next to her.

Azucena shook her head in defeat. The fact that seeing the future was impossible had become such an unquestionable fact to her that she had not even considered how to actually test it.

She put her hand in her pocket and felt the winning ticket. What was the prize, a million real? Whether actually prescient or not, the boy could be useful. Of course, she knew it was technically wrong. The Corrupted should not use their abilities for self-gain, for that would alert unwanted attention. But, well, she had been living off her savings since before the whole thing with the Necromancer. She was broke. Come to think of it, she had been more or less broke ever since she caught magic. Was it so wrong to be able to enjoy life every now and then?

A thought sprang to her mind. A way to test the boy's ability and, did he turn out to be the real thing, make a fortune doing it. Best yet, since even the Shadow Commission did not know about or acknowledge the existence of telling the future, they could never find out. Suddenly, she was excited about this boy.

She walked to the counter and asked the clerk if they had the lottery machine. They did, but the raffle wouldn't be until Saturday. That was perfect. She looked at the boy.

"Do you know how lottery works?" she asked. Did he need to know?

Luca considered this for a second and then nodded. "You choose numbers and then the man and the woman in the TV tell you if you knew them."

Azucena flashed a smile. "Shoot!"

Luca was very thoughtful again. Everything else they had asked of him had been more or less immediate, or in the case of the girls planning their escapes, a few hours out. This wouldn't happen until three days from now.

"One," he said after careful consideration. Azucena marked it down.

"Two."

Azucena raised her brow but said nothing.

"Thirty-seven," he said, almost enquiringly.

That was a solid good lottery number, she thought.

"Thirteen!" the boy said excitedly.

A cliché, but I'll allow it.

"Twenty-five. Thirty-eight."

She nodded.

"Fifty-five!"

"One more," she said.

"Eighteen," he said very decisively.

Azucena nodded and gave the paper to the clerk for scanning. He looked at it and then at the boy curiously but said nothing. He worried her a bit. After all this… theatre, if Luca was correct, this guy would know for sure something was up. Would he speak? If just to his friends, it would be fine. But it could go viral on social media. She frowned.

"Something wrong?"

She shook her head. "It's alright."

"I'm gonna shit my pants if you win," he said and laughed.

He'd remember, but would anyone believe him?

She headed out to the car, and the women followed, with Luca in tow.

"We want our part of that money," the feisty woman said. Azucena wanted to say her name started with an F?

Azucena stopped. Nobody would believe the clerk, but the women knew.

"If you tell anyone of your experiences, you'll get in a lot of trouble," she said, but her heart wasn't in it.

"Uh-huh," said Fernanda. Yes, that was her name!

"You wouldn't even have known of the boy if I wouldn't have told you," said Laura.

Azucena sighed. But the truth was, if the boy's numbers indeed turned out to be correct, even divided six ways, it would still be more than she ever needed.

"How are you going to explain a sudden influx of millions of Real to your parents?" she asked.

"Oh, I can set up a fund. I have more than enough connections," said the whose name she was sure she had not even heard.

"Are you all loaded or something?" she asked, a bit incredulously.

They all looked at each other. Fernanda and the pale one shook their heads. So, the apprentice hadn't been exclusively targeting rich kids, at least.

"Fine, we'll get rid of that guy there," she said, banging the side of the van, "and go somewhere to plan this out. Anyone want a pizza?"

* * *

Fernanda had insisted the boy stay with them while Azucena took José, uh, wherever she was taking him. She had not idea how these magic types worked, but she could not help imagining it was something like the mafia. If the asshole ended up swimming with the fish, she would not shed a tear. Quite the opposite, in fact. It still made her uneasy. She did not want to get into trouble, not after just getting out of it. Thing had been looking up when she got captured. She hoped her mom had not done anything stupid because of her extended absence. It wasn't like she hadn't gone off the grid for weeks at a time before, but they had only recently started to reconnect, and the relationship was still frail.

Well, it's nothing a little lottery money won't fix.

"Do you think she's coming back?" asked Anna.

Fernanda shrugged. "Luca's with us. If she doesn't I'm sure he can fix us up with some nice new lottery numbers."

The German girl groaned. "Is that all you think about?"

Fernanda glanced at her. "Is there something else I should think about?"

Anna threw her head back. "I– I don't know! Like, all this shit!"

Fernanda shrugged. If she was honest, she didn't want to think about it too much. But she wasn't honest, she wasn't the type to trust strangers, not even after all they went through.

"Oh, come on!" Anna shouted in exasperation. "You're not even a little bit curious? Magic? The fucking undead! What's all it about? I don't think she's been very forthcoming about it."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Have you seen any movies? They must have movies in Germany, right? These magic types are always so super secretive."

"Yes, we have movies in Germany. Movies! It's not like they're real!"

"They could be," said Rafaela. "We don't know."

"Oh, sure, and she's from fucking Hogwarts is she?!"

"She's South American, she would be from –" Rafaela started, but Anna's gaze of death silenced her mid-sentence.

Fernanda took a deep breath. As far as she was concerned, the best way to ensure they all got their money was to stay united. "Let's not fight."

"Oh, she speaks, does she?" Anna snarled.

"I'm just saying – that yeah, there's a lot we don't know. And I do agree with you Anna – sorry Rafe – that we can't really trust movies to tell us about these people."

She looked down. "Look, I've associated with some, uh, rather unsavoury people in the past, and if you have something to hide – something big – you're not going to handle your differences with anyone with the police or the courts. Like, what are they gonna do, say that they were magicked or something?"

The others nodded.

"But that doesn't mean they're unorganised or don't have hierarchies. Believe me, outside the law, your rep is everything. And if I were to bet, same goes with these people."

"So, what does that mean?" asked Laura. "Is she coming back?"

That depended on where in the hierarchy she landed, and what her ties were. If she were to guess, Azucena wasn't a big honcho in the magic business. More of a foot soldier, but also solitary.

Fernanda looked at Luca. He seemed to be lost in his imagination. He was, also, the key here. She didn't think Azucena owned them anything, and she probably knew they could take care of themselves from now on. But would she come back for the boy? She had the ticket, if it turned out to be the winning one, she didn't need him for money, that was for sure. Fernanda also knew that if the boy's abilities were as unique as Azucena made them to be, he would be more trouble than worth.

She closed her eyes and sighed. "I don't know. Ask the boy. That's his skill, isn't it?"

"She'll be back," Luca said.

And then the door opened.

* * *

Azucena wondered if bringing everyone here would be a mistake. It was her favourite place in the city, and if things turned sour, she might have to abandon it. But she was also dying for a pizza, and there was no restaurant better for the Italian flatbread than this join. It was run by this Argentinian couple, José and Marcus –and let's face it, the best pizza hadn't been made by Italians for a century.

By the looks of it, the others also enjoyed her pick.

"How the hell didn't I know about this place!" Laura said, grease flowing down her chin, eyes gleaming.

"I have to admit," Fernanda said, "this is some first-class pizza."

Azucena grinned. "Told you!"

"What do they put in this sauce, heroin?"

"Oregano, but it looks like weed," Marcus shouted from the back. "That's why all the kids are all over it."

Fernanda looked at her and smiled, until quickly looking away. But that was a real smile. Everyone was looking happy.

"Can't wait to get to a shower, though," Laura said. They had been talking about their plans after the lunch.

"Your parents must be worried," Azucena said, leaning back. She took a sip of her beer and relished the feeling as the alcohol made her muscles relax.

"Not mine," said Rafaela. "They probably haven't even realised I've been gone."

"You don't live home?"

"I do, but it's a big home."

"Mine will be furious," said Laura. "I don't even know what to tell them. I can't just tell them the truth!"

Ah, the good old "can't tell 'em magic is real." She smiled.

"How did you tell?" Anna asked.

"Tell what?"

"Your parents about the magic thing. Or were they in on it too? Is it hereditary?"

Azucena sighed. First, she really, really didn't want to discuss her family. Or think about them. Not now, not ever. Second, she had been in a situation like this before. With people new to the Corruption, sometimes even with people like these women who weren't infected themselves. If they had been, she mused, it would have been easier. Their old lives would have been over, and the faster they got accustomed to that, the better. Now, though, they were just a bunch of young women, ripped out of the comforting lie of mundanity but expected to return to it, but with their eyes open. She knew it was a tough ask, and generally, she preferred the less they knew, the better.

But these four were not going to be content with lies and half-truths, or dodged questions. So she tried something new: unadulterated honesty.

"How much do you really want to know? You're no of my world, not really, and the more you know of it, the more you will yearn it. You might even seek it out, desire the power and the adventure. But I'm telling you now: you are much better off not knowing."

"The fuck do you know about our lives?" Fernanda spat, furiously. Gone was the friendly smile.

Azucena sighed. "You're right, I don't know anything. But very few are worse off than they would be with magic."

The truth was, Fernanda might be. She saw it in her eyes. That women had seen things.

"I say, I wanna know", Laura said. The others nodded. "We can't avoid it, if we don't know."

Oh, how many times have I heard that particular lie.

"Fine, you get it with sex."

A knife dropped.

"Sex?"

"It's an infection. A disease. No one is all the sure."

"Can't you, like, use a microscope or something?"

Azucena shook her head. "If it just was that easy."

"B-but Luca…?" It didn't take long for Anna to come to that conclusion. The boy, on the other hand, was completely nonplussed.

"They call it the Blood Ritual. A transfusion of blood can trigger the same effect."

"So it is a virus or something!" Rafaela exclaimed.

"It's something, alright," Azucena said and took another long swig of her beer. "Now finish your food, we have a trust fund to plan."