Emilia slept through moving her out of the magic shop, such as it was. Cary regretted knocking her attacker into unconsciousness, because while he slept, she could not inquire of him what he’d done to Emilia; she had no way to help her apprentice.
Of course one of the problems was that Cary had to lug both Emilia and the unknown magician through Austin’s back alleys amidst the chaos that ensued after the strange magicians’ rather public attack.
Betsy and Max possessed a sufficient knowledge of the city, more than Emilia. Based on her memories, Cary’s student had been something of a hermit. She seldom ventured out of her home, unless required to do so. As a result, Cary only knew the city where she had personally ventured there along with the few routes Emilia had taken regularly.
None of those led far enough away from the scene to keep Cary or Emilia safe.
When she thought about them, Cary did not find herself overly concerned with the fates of Emilia’s friends. She did not despise them, but she certainly did not plan on protecting them with her life. Though Max performed admirably in the role of guide and navigator.
He raised his hand and shushed the group when they came to an intersection between buildings. Betsy’s head swept back and forth behind them as Max peered around a corner up ahead. From the drop in his posture and the way his fingers tensed around the dingy brick, something had gone wrong. Cary knew the truth before he turned back to them with a panicked expression.
“I’m not sure what’s going on, but the whole of the APD is out there now. I don’t think we’re going anywhere with two bodies… I mean.” He winced at his own words. Cary didn’t bother checking Emilia’s memories to determine why what he’d said was inappropriate. She didn’t care.
“Then we turn around and find a new route.” Cary spun as a series of flashing lights took up down at the opposite end of the alley. She swore in Ancient Etruscan and took the steps she needed to reach the intersection up ahead.
Max had spoken true. Many automobiles lined up along the sides of the road, stationary and disabled while their owners conducted some other business. But the stream of movement had been shut down by the authorities. A pair of yellow and white obstacles blocked the roads while police officers directed foot traffic away from the vicinity.
They were certainly looking for someone. Each passerby faced a brief interrogation, but the officer did not stop any of them. Cary's hair stood on end as the lights behind them grew brighter.
“We are caught unless we find a new way out…” She’d no sooner spoken than Max darted ahead next to her.
“There’s something I can try.” He eyed Betsy and mouthed “I’m sorry,” as he crouched and ran toward a nearby vehicle.
Cary would have chastised him, except they could use a distraction. She’d assumed that was what Max had planned. When the doors of the automobile opened up and Max motioned to the group, Cary tilted her head. Max did not own it, at least not as far as Emilia knew.
Betsy swore under her breath at her brother, but scurried out over the concrete path and dove over her brother’s lap. “You promised you’d stop doing that!” She glanced around and motioned to Cary. “But I guess it’s okay for now.”
Four doors greeted Cary as she hefted her dual burdens over to the automobile. “How do I get in?”
Behind them, a male voice shouted for them to stop. Cary ignored them as Betsy climbed between the front leather seats and manipulated a series of levers in the back. The door opened and Cary hurled the unconscious magician indelicately while she shifted her grip on Emilia and cradled her as the engine rumbled to life.
“Go go go!” Betsy shouted at Max and the automobile jolted into the stationary one in the front. It then rammed into the vehicle behind them before it turned out into the street. At the same time, the police officer behind them had taken a firing stance, pointing his firearm at the car.
Cary shifted her body into a stone form and crouched over Emilia as the gun’s barrel flared to life. Several shots struck the side of the car as Max finally tore away from the scene. He plowed through the barricade blocking off the street, forcing the remaining police officers to dive out of the way.
At first, Cary thought their escape assured. Automobiles could manage inhuman speeds, matched only by the swiftest of the Infernim’s denizens. But sirens and flashing lights soon took up the chase as the streets grew congested.
Rather than let her attention drift to their environment, Cary kept her head intentionally lowered and examined Emilia for injury. Her student still breathed, her heart beat a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow. Beyond that cursory examination, Cary could not determine if the magician’s attack had destroyed her mind or caused some dire internal injury. If he’d hurt Emilia permanently, Cary planned to torture him for weeks, until his heart gave out in exhaustion. That or ransom his body and soul for the means to restore Emilia’s health. That possibility sent shivers down Cary’s spine.
Her own master possessed the magical strength needed to heal virtually any wound. But to petition him for aid would be Cary’s undoing. She leaned over Emilia and spoke words Cary should have known better than to utter. “You are mine and I swear upon the Beginning and End, upon the Boundary itself, that I will protect you.”
Their vehicle lurched at Cary’s words and her gaze snapped up to the vista spread before them. A glut of vehicles as far as her eyes could scan without overwhelming her spread before them. Behind, the police vehicles suffered the same delays, though Max had left a wake the police used to shorten the distance between them.
Betsy shouted, “Max,” from the front and Cary tore her gaze from the police behind them. He slumped over, his head hitting the steering wheel. The light blue shirt he wore had a darkened stain spreading across the side and back. “He’s shot! Oh sweet God!”
Cary acted quickly, pulling the teenager out of the driver’s seat, through the space between the two front seats. “I will tend to him. You take the wheel and get us to safety!”
Most of her bravado was just that. Cary knew the theory for how to treat certain forms of trauma in humans, she’d read the texts often enough. But she had no equipment here with which to treat the young man. Their vehicle drifted forward while Betsy stared into the back.
Cary smacked the back of the driver’s seat hard enough to shake the frame. “You need to drive or the police will catch us. Do it now!”
Betsy complied while Cary shoved the strange magician into the front seat. The back had grown cramped enough between Emilia and her. Max’s side bled, but not so quickly as to suggest he’d taken arterial damage. His breathing had turned ragged and his skin was clammy to the touch. As well, his heart beat sounded sluggish to Cary. Shock. Though the damage might not be severe, shock could kill as surely as dagger to the throat.
And there was nothing Cary could do to help. She pressed her hand into the boy’s side and tried to formulate a plan. If they stopped the temporal authorities would catch them and likely slay all four, assuming Max was still alive by that time. If they continued as they were, the boy would certainly die.
“Is Max okay?” Betsy screamed from the front seat, her voice somehow rising above the sirens surrounding them. Two large police vehicles paced them and the men inside demanded they stop.
Cary reached ahead and pinched the unconscious magician’s nose. That failed to rouse him, so she tried poking him gently. No effect either. Grabbing Emilia’s hand as she set Max behind her, Cary started to surrender her chances of stopping the police officers.
As if she acted like conduit between the sleeping magician and her apprentice, a jolt of Prajna flashed from Emilia to the magician. His eyes fluttered open and he sputtered awake. As pleased as Cary was, she did not pause.
Grabbing his throat with one hand, she hissed into his ears. “Take stock of your situation, mortal.” She turned his head to the left and right, showing the magician the young woman driving as well as the two police vehicles in pursuit. “If you do not help us, we will inform the authorities that you forced us in this position. That or I will snap your neck. Blink if you understand.”
His face had started to turn purple, but the magician blinked rapidly at her. Cary eased the tension around his neck and the magician uttered a series of syllables Cary recognized as more Armenian. She’d only ever read the language and heard the occasional snippets, but the meaning was irrelevant. The magic was all that mattered.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
To her infernal sight, the words appeared to flutter out of the magician’s mouth and into the cabins of the cars to either side. The men stopped shouting at them and the two vehicles slowed their pursuit. Cary sighed right as the two large police vehicles swerved into each other behind them, causing an incredible tumult. Rather than gawk, Cary hissed at him, “And now end the pursuit. Ensure they do not find us.”
The magician nodded and spoke a longer series of words, this time in Latin. Cary understood the meaning well enough this time and was impressed to discover the magician was capable of True Aversion. His effect was far more powerful than the simple invisibility spell Cary had taught her apprentice. Rather than just rendering them undetectable, the spell made observers unwilling to focus on the car or its occupants. Other drivers would give them a wide berth, which they already began doing as Betsy scanned the car for her brother.
“Make him heal Max!” Cary nodded to the man at Betsy’s words.
“Do as she says.”
The magician blanched at the sight of blood in the backseat. “I… I am sorry, but I can only staunch the bleeding.”
His English, though accented, was more than adequate. “Do it. Now. When you are done, restore my a… restore the girl.”
The magician nodded at Cary and spoke two twisting spells into the cabin. One wrapped itself around Max, returning a bit of color to the boy’s cheeks. The other spell sought out Emilia and twisted itself into her mouth. She took a deep breath, but did not awaken.
In an instant Cary’s hand was around the magician’s neck. “What did you do to her?”
Tendons bunched and complained under Cary’s grip. But the magician only nodded, “The spell I used, the original spell that deflected onto her, will keep her sleeping for at least four hours. I canceled the effect that would render her powerless until I chose.”
Cary considered snapping his neck anyway. If he spoke the truth, they didn’t need him anymore.
Betsy saved his life. “Why the fuck are you people trying to kill us?!”
With that question hanging in the air, Cary realized that the magician was considerably useful to them. She released his throat, and he brought his hand up to massage the damage her grip had done.
“I am… our organization is not trying to kill you!” his voice croaked out of his injured throat, slipping though narrowed passages Cary had nearly crushed in her rage.
“Who do you work for? Samantha?” Cary cursed herself when she mentioned the name. But rather than let her folly appear on her face, she pressed herself toward the man, demanding his answer.
He recognized the name and wrinkled his nose. “No, we do not associate with that… Wixa.” Cary didn’t know the word, but she didn’t comment, other than to nod so as to prompt the magician to continue. “I work for…”
Before he completed his sentence, a dark miasma filled the cabin. It tasted coppery, with distinct notes belonging to at least three different humans. One third of the cloud flowed into Betsy, who began to shake and cry out while the rest split itself between Max and Emilia. A unifying stench linked the cloud to a familiar subject: Cynthia.
The magician grabbed the wheel of the car before it tore off of the highway, the other drivers swerving to avoid them though they would not be able to explain why they did so later. As a result a series of wrecks sprung up behind them. They pulled over to the side of the road and Cary hissed at the three kids in the car with them.
Betsy seized for a few seconds and a rumbling voice emitted from her throat. She turned her head to the right and spotted the Armenian magician. “You. You found them, did you?” The magician sputtered as Betsy looked around the cabin, scanning with her eyes rolled back in her head, and finding Cary in the back with the other two. “The boy is dying. And Emilia.” The specter speaking through Betsy rumbled as if in anger. “If you damaged her, magician, I will end your…”
The Armenian magician spat a short word at Betsy. Her eyes rolled back down and she spilled out of the car to vomit blood. Max and Emilia shuddered for a few moments more before Betsy collapsed against the car, weeping.
Cary refused to allow either of them to drive from that point. Though her skills came secondhand, by way of perusing Emilia’s memories, Cary was more than capable of manipulating the simple automobile, especially with the Armenian’s magic in place. Betsy sat in the back seat now, with Max’s head in her lap and Emilia leaning on her shoulder.
From Emilia’s memory, Cary knew where to drive them. It was a desperate move, but it was a good deal better than fleeing aimlessly into unfamiliar territory. The Armenian sat in the front flashing angry glances toward Cary.
In Latin, he said, “I know what you are, Maledictus.”
Cary rolled her eyes and refused to favor the magician with so much as a growl. “If you know so much, what exactly am I, magician?”
He sputtered at her and turned red. Of course he had no idea what Cary really was, what she was truly capable of. “I do not need to know the specifics, only what you’ve done to these children…”
A gurgle escaped his lips as Cary’s right hand flashed out and grabbed the magician’s throat. “That only means you do not know. All of the damage done to these young people today lies at the feet of you and your irresponsible comrades.”
“You murdered them!” The little man showed remarkable fortitude to speak with Cary’s hand attached to his neck.
“I did not in fact murder anyone. I possibly maimed one of your companions, but only because they threatened me and my ward.” Cary spoke with a matter-of-fact voice that belied the threat in her words. “You should contemplate the meaning of this. Harm any of these people and I will find a creative end for you.”
“The way you did Elijah?”
Cary snorted. “Your friend found his death at the end of your magic trinket, not mine.” She released his neck and glanced at him angrily.
“What are the two of you saying?” Betsy couldn’t lean forward much with the others draped around her.
“I am letting our hostage know where he stands.”
“Hostage?” Betsy and the Armenian spoke at the same time.
“Indeed.” Cary tilted her head toward him, “what’s your name, magician?”
He hesitated and Cary had to glare at him before he spoke. “You may call me Joshua.”
“Josh here is a member of the… Cabal I would guess.” As if they’d practiced ahead of time, Betsy and Josh gasped together. “And were I a gambling fiend, I would place money on the chance they arrived to capture or kill Ms Olren.”
“That’s not…”
Cary cut Josh off. “You brought a death wand with you. Why?”
His answer sputtered out and he folded his hands in his lap. After a silent period, he mumbled, “our plan was to rescue her and convince her to accompany us.”
“And if she refused, I am sure you would have graciously gone your ways and never returned again.” Before Josh could open his mouth to speak again, Cary growled. “I do not wish to hear your fetid lies any longer.”
Josh held his tongue, which was ideal. Cary could rip it out, but she might weave over the road in the process.
“Where are we going?” Betsy spoke from the back with a small voice, as if she feared angering Cary.
Raising her eyes to the rear-view mirror, Cary said, “to the Voodoo Garden. I believe Papa Butch will help us.”
“How do you know him?”
All three of Cynthia’s adopted victims were intelligent in their own right. Cary shrugged and gave a false answer. “I do not, but I can read some of your thoughts. This is the best place for us to hide at the moment.”
Betsy sat back and considered Cary’s answer before she said, “Why not leave the state?”
“Because none of you is that familiar with the region and we have limited funds. Papa Butch will help us.” Cary left the rest unspoken: or she would force the matter.
“Even after everything… that happened?” Betsy used a small voice for her question.
Cary glanced at Josh. He must know the power Emilia commanded, so there was nothing to gain by circumspection. “Based on your knowledge of him, Papa Butch is a reasonable man. If anyone would understand the tribulations of an awakening magician, he would. I do not believe he or his daughter will hold Emilia’s actions against her. I cannot speak to the other siblings.” She gave the matter a second’s thought. “They are both fools, those two may bear a grudge against Emilia. But they are irrelevant.”
And I will punish them if they touch her. Betsy would be better off without hearing that particular addendum.
“What about him? Will Butch mind him coming with us?” Betsy found a way to offer penetrating insight while Emilia slept. It set Cary’s roving mind at ease.
“I do not think Josh will pose much danger to Papa Butch.”
“Why do you call him that?”
Cary smirked. “I call him Josh because he bristles each time I say it. I enjoy the sound of his skin wrinkling and his pulse rushing.”
Furrowing her brow, Betsy shook her head. “I… no, I mean Butch. Why do you call him Papa Butch?”
“Because he is the chief Voudoun priest in the area, and the title is a sign of respect. I would prefer to stay on his good side.”
“Oh.” Betsy sat back and checked after Max again. Whatever Josh had done to the boy helped. Like the survivor she was, Betsy appeared able to cope with stress, provided Cynthia was not directly involved. Cary wondered at what might set the young woman off, but put it out of her head as she pulled into the Voodoo Garden.
In the daytime, the nursery lost much of its ominous atmosphere. The neon sign featuring Papa Ghede hardly shone under the sun’s light. If she’d not received such a clear recollection from Emilia, Cary might have worried that this place was legitimate.
When she pulled into the parking lot and the atmosphere changed, Cary knew she’d found the correct place, that Emilia’s memory of the nursery had not been colored by deception or trickery. Old bones littered the Earth a scant few feet below Cary. None of them were happy at her presence. For her part, Cary would have preferred avoid this place, if possible.
But here she could find a healer to treat Max, a spell caster capable of restraining Josh, and someone powerful enough to shield against a blood tracking spell. The only question for Cary was the cost.
“Bring Max, he needs help quickly.” Betsy struggled with the young man, but she tried her best to comply with Cary’s order. Josh stood there dumbly, so Cary snapped at him, “go help her you odious fool.”
Josh hopped at Cary’s furious tone, but he had the decency to look contrite as he rounded the automobile. Eyes fell on Cary and made her skin crawl as she passed over the tar-bound pavement. The residents of the Voodoo gardens knew of their arrival already. Perhaps Cynthia had warned them. If they proved hostile, Cary was more than happy to force assistance out of them.
She stalked toward the door ahead of her group. Emilia hung from her left shoulder, supported as much as Cary could manage while still keeping her right hand free. It wasn’t ideal, but Cary wasn’t leaving anyone in the car alone.
When Cary raised her hand to push the door open an invisible force held her at bay. Josh snorted in amusement behind her. The sound of his mirth cut off as the door opened and a gaunt old man emerged, flanked by his oldest daughter.
“We require your assis…” Cary didn’t finish her sentence.
The old man opened his palm and blew a handful of white powder into her face. She lost consciousness.