Kicking It

creature’s chest and numbness spiraled up my leg. With the pain and chill came a wave of soul-eating sorrow. Why am I fighting this thing? Why bother. It’s hopeless.

I dropped my leg and stumbled back. The chill dissipated quickly, but the apathetic sorrow was harder to shake. I stood before the creature, and I just couldn’t care that it was hurting people. That it could kill me if I didn’t find a way to stop it.

It just didn’t matter.

“Inspector!”

A body slammed into me, knocking me aside. Then the screaming started. I turned, slow, too slow. Russell stood beside me, his head thrown back, mouth open wide in agony. Dark talons emerged from his chest, and the creature moved as if it were trying to pull sticky saltwater taffy out of his body.

No. Anger burned through me, blotting out the cold traces of false despair. Grabbing Russell, I dragged him backward, far from the shadows around the sedan. Tears slipped from his eyes as he collapsed into himself.

I gritted my teeth and looked from him to the creature. It didn’t know it yet, but it was dead. Right now it was on borrowed time. I fingered the vials on my bandolier, determining the method of the creature’s death. At my sternum, a disk buzzed with a soft heat. Derrick’s charm, healing the last of what touching that creature did to me. He knows. We were going to have to have words. Leaving Russell to a misery I had no idea how to fix, I stormed across the pavement, stopping a few feet from the shadows around the sedan.

Justin had moved at some point and I turned to where he stood, shell-shocked, with the cops. “Sorry about your car.”

His frown deepened. “It’s not so—”

I pulled a vial from my bandolier and tossed it where the creature’s feet should have been. The spell exploded with a surge of brilliant white light.

“—bad. Woman, are you crazy?”

I didn’t turn. I just watched the rapidly spreading fire. The spell would burn out soon, and I needed to know —It’s not there. The creature was gone, and it wasn’t the heat. Light, why didn’t I try that earlier? Well, mostly because the only spell I carried with enough illuminance was highly destructive, which was further evidenced when the car’s gas tank exploded, releasing a blazing ball of fire into the air.

Heat from the explosion ate at my exposed flesh, and I finally turned away. Digging my phone from my pocket, I hit the only number on speed dial.

“How many ambulances do you need?” Derrick asked without bothering to say hello.

I glanced at Russell, definitely, but I also wanted Justin to get checked out to make sure the spell had no more surprises. “Two.” I started toward the Hummer. “Oh, and, Derrick, I need the fire department.”

* * *

The woman gasped, and sat up, blinking her eyes rapidly.

I gave her a moment to orient herself, especially since she had landed in this cell while still unconscious. Not that there was much to see. Four blank walls, an uncomfortable cot bolted to the concrete floor, a basin for water and a bucket. Oh, yeah, then there was the magic circle encasing it all. Definitely not the most dignified surroundings, but witches who turned their powers against others didn’t deserve much.

“Welcome back.”

Vicky’s lips pressed together and her brow crinkled as if she was trying to fight tears. She definitely wasn’t all smiles now. “Where am I?”

I didn’t bother answering. “We need to talk about the shoes.”

“Shoes?” She shook her head and one fat tear slipped down her cheek.

This woman should have been acting, not waiting tables. I leaned over her and let all the rage I felt over Russell being attacked into my eyes. She cringed, shrinking back from me. Unbelievable.

Behind me, the metal door opened and I turned as Derrick walked into the room. I met him at the circle’s edge. The barrier spell blocked everything but sound, so we could talk, but he couldn’t enter and I couldn’t leave without an ordeal, as someone would have to dismiss and recast the circle. I hoped this wasn’t something that would call for that.

“What’s up?”

Derrick frowned and I knew it was bad news before he said anything.

“I had her blood run. The other waitress was right—she’s completely human.”

That meant there was no chance she cast the spell on the shoes. There was a player in this that we were missing.

I nodded my acknowledgment and turned back to Vicky. She’d curled up on the cot and I was pretty sure she was crying. Did she even know what she was doing? Well, I was about to find out. Activating my lie detector, I walked back across the room.

“Tell me about the red heels you were wearing at work tonight.”

She frowned at me. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“They’re spelled. Did you know that?”

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. Which didn’t help me; my lie detector spell required her to speak.

“Yes or no?”

“No, of course not. What kind of spell?”

I glanced at my charm; it hadn’t changed, which meant she was telling the truth. She was as innocent as she acted. I leaned back and let my face soften.

“Where did you get them?”

“Um, I was in the hospital for . . . Well, I was unwell, and one of my customers sent them with a note that said he hoped they’d make me feel better. And they did. When I wore them I felt pretty and happy.”

I tapped my toe but managed to suppress any other sign of my impatience. Now that I knew the witch who’d created this mess was still out there, I was anxious to find him. “Who was the customer?”

“Eddy. He’s a regular.”

That didn’t help me.

“Eddy what?”

“Oh, um . . . Edward Mackenzie.”

Now that was what I needed. I glanced over to see if Derrick was still in the room. He was. He nodded to indicate he’d heard the name and then he hurried out the door. Knowing my partner, he’d have the address and any information in the national witch database about this “Eddy” before the guard in charge of the circle released me.

* * *

It was two hours before dawn when I pulled my Hummer to a halt several houses away from Edward Mackenzie’s front door. I slipped out of the car soundlessly, my obfuscation charms already in place. The street was quiet as I hurried down it, and not even a dog barked in the predawn light.

Unsurprisingly, Eddy’s house looked like all the others, with the lawn well maintained and flower beds identical to his neighbors’. I crept up the drive silently, watching the shadows, but it appeared to be just another house in a quaint neighborhood. You know what they say about appearances.

My lock-picking spell made fast work of the front lock but that was the easy part. Zipping my jacket, I activated a charm that was part of the reason MCIB recruited me in the first place. The charm took power, a lot of it, and one of my rings held raw magic just to power this spell—and it did so only once per charge. But it was worth it. I stepped through Eddy’s household wards as if they didn’t exist. Once I was on the other side of the threshold I shut down the charm and opened my jacket again so I’d have access to my weapons.

I ran into my first shadow creature almost immediately. I’d been looking for the creatures but I still almost missed it. Judging by the way it swung at me, they could see through my charms.

But I had a new secret weapon.

Jumping out of the creature’s reach, I released a crossbow bolt into its chest. The vial in the bolt snapped,