Well, Mr. Clown, she said, the words echoing in his mind. Why are you disturbing me?
Her lips never moved.
He looked up at her. She was tall. Though her face was almost gaunt, and her frame seemed thin and willowy, he knew her body possessed a terrifying wiry strength. Something he had found out from unpleasant personal experience.
Humble and polite were the most recommended tacts to take with her.
The lenses of her goggles emitted a soft blue glow. He’d never seen the eyes behind them. And prayed he never did.
Why had he thought asking her for help was a good idea?
The Sapphire Witch raised her right hand. Each of the long, delicate fingers had at least three rings on it. Gold and silver in twisting filigree. Diamonds and sapphires twinkled on them.
Woe to the mugger who tried to steal them from her.
Speak, clown, before my amusement wanes, She said.
He bowed his head. “Thank you for an audience, dear lady,” he said, “My friend has been freshly cleaved from his body and his spirit has become stuck in my vehicle. Might you favor us with help in extricating him and helping him move on to a better plane?”
The Sapphire Witch’s sturdy brows descended in a frown.
Where is his body? She said, Is it in the vehicle?
Hilario almost slapped himself in the forehead–but sudden movements around the Sapphire Witch were a bad idea.
Stupid! The body. And fire. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
His hands trembled. Coming here was a mistake.
He was getting too soft here in the normal world. In all kinds of ways.
“Dear lady, his body was destroyed in a fire,” he said. He fixed his eyes on her soft black boots.
An unpleasant silence stretched out. A spot between his shoulder blades twitched. He didn’t turn to see who might be watching him. With luck it would only be Larry.
Finally, the Sapphire Witch spoke again.
You are aware of the problem, are you not? she said.
He closed his eyes. Steeled himself for a blow.
“I have only just now remembered, dear lady,” he said, “I had forgotten the rites for those who have died by flame.”
The Black Angels were there, weren’t they?
“Yes, dear lady,” he said, “I should not have been puzzled by their presence. It was foolish of me. I was overcome with fear and did not think.”
The Sapphire Witch stretched out an arm. Her fingers came close to Hilario’s face. Almost brushing his grease paint coated skin.
Ah, you are still the clown, she said, amusing us all.
He clenched his teeth. Keep his head down.
There were dark powers he could still call upon. Engines of evil that would still do his bidding.
All he had to do was open himself up.
“Please forgive me, dear lady,” he said, “The normal world–”
Will never be your world, clown, she said, why do you persist in staying here?
Because it was better to be disdained for a brief lifetime in the confusing world of the normals, than to spend eternity serving darkness.
But that wasn’t the sort of back talk one gave to a being as powerful and unpredictable as her.
“I ask forgiveness for bothering you, dear lady,” he said.
You certainly are a magnet for trouble, aren’t you, silly clown?
She didn’t know the half of it. Or maybe she did. What did she do in her little tower at the edge of the water? Watch the city? Or was she a sentinel for what might creep up from where the river met the ocean in Korbahn Bay?
It did seem strange to have one of the gem witches living in the normal world.
Though, truth be told, the city had been getting stranger and stranger in the last few years.
A chill ran over him.
“Dear lady,” he said, “Is something going to happen in the city?”
Something is always going to happen. Something happened this night. Something will happen another night. That is the way of things.
“Would there be something specific, dear lady?” he said, “Something in the way the unseen world has intruded upon the human world? Perhaps commingling with normals in ways that have been forbidden?”
Lightning crackled around the Sapphire Witch’s hands. Bright blue bolts shot from her fingers.
Slammed the ground around Hilario’s floppy red clown feet. Every hair on his body stood at attention. His skin crawled. The scent of ozone tickled his nostrils.
He stood very, very, very still.
He made ready to unlock his reserves of light energy. It wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to defeat the Sapphire Witch. But it might be enough for him to make an escape.
But probably not. She could simply slip into the unseen world and call up an army to go after him.
He couldn’t even call for help from the coven. His bosses had made it clear long ago that he was on his own. His penance for his past life. They had implied there might be a day when he had fully atoned for the things he had done.
But they hadn’t told him how. Or when.
Which left him only a single option for dealing with angry witches.
He dropped his knees. His abused joints screamed, but he bit back the pain. He hunched his shoulders and bowed his head.
“Mercy, please, dear lady,” he said, “I did not mean offense.”
Before he could say another word a force grabbed him. Lifted his rotund body from the ground.
He yelped as he accelerated across the parking lot. Pavement flew under him. Left him with a view of
