“Then drive,” she said, “My patience wanes.”
He put the van into drive. Turned on his blinker and eased back onto the empty street.
Lighting flashed in the clouds overhead. Thunder rumbled.
Where was he going to find Larry’s delivery driver?
And why?
16
Gem witches tended to think quite highly of themselves. Generally with good reason. They considered themselves akin to royalty in the unseen world. And the beings of the unseen world generally didn’t try to dissuade them of that notion.
Mostly because the gem witches would kill them with extreme prejudice and banish their souls to the darker layers of the bad places.
Unlike wizards, though, gem witches had a sense of humor.
Take for instance the Ruby Witch. When the Lord of Bak’ll sent his army of six armed ogres to conquer her realm, she sent back the ogre’s heads back with snaggle toothed daisies stuffed in their mouths. Aside from the nauseatingly sweet scent the snaggle toothed daisies released, the flowers also jumped from the dead ogre’s mouths and chewed the flesh off Lord Bak’ll’s legs and ate all his children.
Hilarious.
From a certain point of view.
Hilario couldn’t recall any funny stories about the Sapphire Witch. He actually knew very little about her, other than she was one of the lesser gem witches. Which still made her dangerous as all heck.
His dealings with her up to this point had been pleasantly businesslike. His coven boss had introduced him to her. Told her he was available for general errands and such, but please no permanent spells on him. Pretty please.
And she had called him twice for simple things. A delivery of an leather wrapped package to the coven council. A leather with strange markings on it that looked suspiciously like the tattoos of wizard he had seen once. And another, time she had called on him to hold the head of a wizard while she performed some complex ritual. The head had been without a body, but by the time she was done, there was a tiny body growing out the bottom of the severed neck. The body looked like a small dog. Perhaps a chihuahua.
Straightforward and businesslike.
It had lulled him into thinking she might be someone to turn to when he needed a favor himself.
It was a lesson he’d thought he’d learned long ago. Never attract the attention of those more powerful than you. No good could ever come of it.
And mostly wouldn’t this time, either.
But at least Larry’s delivery driver was easy to find.
Especially after the Sapphire Witch peeled back the front of the man’s apartment building.
Hilario stood back by the van. He pulled at the hair on his purple wig. Red brick dust hung in the air, sparkling in the streetlights. It clogged his sinuses and made him cough.
The front of the building lay in a shredded pile of bricks on the sidewalk. The building had once been a stately hotel in old downtown. Just a few blocks from the Stung Sparrow. In its declining years it had been turned into cheap apartments for people with incomes to match.
Now all the apartments along the front came with free air conditioning.
People were screaming. Shouting. Crying.
Lights were on in the now open air apartments. Revealing the sad contents of their resident’s lives.
Though there was one couple on a squeaking bed who hadn’t noticed the change yet.
Waves of power distorted the air around the Sapphire Witch. Her feet left the ground. She floated up the face of the flayed building. Stopped at an apartment near the middle.
Lightning flew from her fingertips. Exploded against the walls of the apartment.
Ozone filled the air.
People screamed. Those down on the street started running in the other direction.
The sound of approaching sirens pierced the air.
Before his coven bosses had released Hilario to the normal world they had warned him to be discreet with his powers. The normal world has mostly lost the belief in magic, his mentor boss had told him, This is to our advantage. We want to keep it that way. Keep your wand in your pants. So to speak.
Apparently the Sapphire Witch hadn’t gotten that memo.
Her voice boomed out: “COME FORTH, RODNEY OF NORTH SOUTHTON APARTMENTS, NUMBER 313!”
And came forth a trembling, skinny man in loose fitting pajama bottoms. He raised his hands, half crouching in fear.
Hilario squinted. The man looked familiar. Had he seen him at the Sparrow? He hadn’t even known Larry’s place did delivery. It sure would have simplified things. This whole evening could have been avoided. He could have called the Stung Sparrow from home, and when he didn’t get an answer, could have dug a couple frozen sausage and pepperoni pizzas from his big chest freezer.
Easy peasy. No ghost stuck in his van. No people crowding his personal space. No adventures running though the night.
No wondering how the heck he was going to explain this to his coven bosses.
“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it!” the man shouted.
Waves of power flowed out from the Sapphire Witch’s hands. The man yelped as the waves folded around him. Lifted him.
The yelp turned into a blood curdling screech of terror as the man flew out of the apartment. Hung threes stories above the ground. His legs kicked. His arms flailed. He tried to swim through the air back to his apartment. His form was terrible. No Olympic medals there.
Screaming man and Sapphire Witch eased toward the brick strewn street.
People were starting to come back. They murmured amongst themselves. Their eyes were wide. Mouths hung open, inviting nasty brick dust inside.
The sirens were getting closer.
Hilario glanced back at the van. Detective Marco stood at the other side. His
