by Bardwynna
Wynna1[at]yahoo.com
Copyright © by Bardwynna, 1998
DISCLAIMER: This Story contains graphic violence as well as references to the occult, and adult language. It also contains sexual scenes involving two mature, adult Women. If you are under the age of 18, this is illegal in your state, or you have a problem with it, then stop reading now and come back when you're more mature. This is the second tale involving Jo Tate and Evan Reilly; the first is called "Mirror, Mirror On The Wall". It is suggested you read the first before beginning this one.
A vaporous cloud had formed above Yoder's body; a ball of swirling mists that, as Jo watched, rapidly coalesced, becoming more solid and opaque. It was like looking through a slightly fogged window; Evan said a few words under her breath and the image cleared into crystal clarity.
I'll be damned!, Jo thought in wonder. This is better'n cable at a fuck n' suck hotel... And I didn't even have to spend the quarter.
They watched as Yoder, on top of a woman in what appeared to be a cheap hotel room, furiously banged back and forth for several minutes, fat ass cheeks wobbling. He stopped, quivered for a long moment, then rolled off her.
"Where's the zoom on this sucker, baby?" Jo leaned forward as the woman's form was revealed.
Evan muttered something, and the image of the women abruptly filled the gazing cloud and froze.
Jo dug a slim pencil camera out of her jeans... she'd picked up the miniature equipment in a spy shop, and it took excellent pictures, but the film was more expensive than the camera itself. She held it up to her eye and snapped several pictures, hoping Evan was right in that, although the images were magical in origin, they might still be captured by mundane equipment. Jo had wanted to consult a parapsychologist, but there hadn't been time.
"Next time, see if you can get the dirty dyke channel," Jo murmured. Evan gave her a raised eyebrow, but spoke the commands that would make the image continue.
They watched as Yoder got dressed, handed the prostitute several bills from his wallet, and departed. As he walked out the door, Jo said, "Ev... Rewind this thing and slow it down. I thought I spotted something."
With a sigh, Evan did, and when Jo said, "Freeze! Right there!," she hastily blurted the appropriate word.
Jo pointed. "See? When he's handing her the cash, she takes it with her right hand but her left comes up, too, over on the side... I bet she's sticking the claw in his jacket pocket. Smooth move. I gotta wonder if this hooker's a dip on the side."
"Dip?"
"Pickpocket." Jo nodded. "Go on... we're just getting to the good part. Want to hold my hand when the bad guys show up? This is gonna be a regular slash fest, and no Freddy or Jason or Michael Myers in sight." She sighed. "I wish I'd brought some popcorn..."
The images continued scrolling, through the peri's sudden, vicious attack... the small creatures abruptly appeared and swarmed around Yoder, who waved his arms, mouth open in a silent scream. When they started burrowing into his flesh, Jo averted her eyes. "Okay, enough's enough. I don't think we need ALL the gory details, do we?"
"Oh, not so tough as you thought, hmmm?," Evan teased, but slashed her hand from side to side and the gazing cloud began swirling again, around and around, disappearing slowly as if being sucked down a drain. When it was gone, she sighed. "Now, let's do the next one. I think it'll go faster this time."
They repeated the ritual for the second victim, Peter Boswell, and finally for Bear McTierney. This last was hardest for Jo; she could barely make out the images in the gazing cloud through her tears. But she gulped them back and took the pictures; it was the same woman, all right, and by the time they'd finished, Jo was ready to hit the street and start searching.
"Let's go," Evan said wearily. "I'll go into fur, colleen, just in case we meet anyone else while we're still in the building." She changed to her shiftself, again becoming the gray-eyed she-wolf.
"You know, baby, every time you do that I get the willies," Jo said. "Okay, to the ambulance bay, faithful sidekick! And try not to piddle on the floor... I didn't see any newspapers around."
Evan shook herself, settling her fur into place, then led Jo out of the morgue.
Their exit from the building was uneventful... when they were both back in the Lincoln and on their way home, Evan back in her skinshape, Jo frowned. "I know it's two o'clock in the morning, Ev, but I want to drive by Sy's place. He's up, always is... Don't think the man's slept since 1972."
Evan nodded and yawned. "All right. But then I want to go home and to bed, Jo. I'm mortal tired." She yawned again, and Jo chuckled.
"Here... Put your head down in my lap, baby. Take a little nap till we get to Sy's lair. No funny stuff, though," she added as Evan slid down and nestled her head on Jo's thigh. "Don't wanna rear end some poor dude 'cause my girlfriend was frenchin' my pussy while I was driving. Try explaining THAT to the traffic cops."
Evan giggled, then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep... It seemed as if only a few moments had passed before she heard Jo's voice saying softly, "Hey... Ev, honey... We're here. C'mon, baby. Wakie, wakie..."
Evan sat up, rubbing her eyes with one knuckle. "Hmmm? Oh... All right."
Sy's lair, as Jo had called it, was situated in a small, solidly middle class neighborhood. But, unlike his neighbors, Sy Cosenza's house was surrounded by a high, barbed wire fence; security lights on tall poles were placed at strategic points in the yard, and the entire place was peppered with video cameras, motion detectors and other paraphernalia.
Jo walked up to the gate, where a black intercom box was mounted next to the mailbox. Thumbing a button, Jo said, "Hello? Sy? Hey, man, open up. It's Jo. I gotta job for ya."
The intercom crackled to life. "Jo? Who's that with you? I'm reading two on the infrared."
"Aw, jeez, Sy! It's my partner, Evan. You remember Ev, right? From the Christmas party? Carrot top, built like a brick shithouse, cool tats in places you ain't seen yet..." Jo winked at Evan and smiled hugely.
"Oh. Yeah, sure, I remember Evan. Hang on a sec." With a hum, the gate slid back slowly. Sy's voice came from the black intercom again. "It's pattern Beta-4 tonight. You remember?"
"Yeah, I know it. Thanks. We're coming in." Jo took Evan's hand and led her into the yard. "Step only where I step, baby. Sy's got the whole friggin' place mined with army surplus shit. He's got explosives rigged on some kinda computerized system; changes the pattern regularly. Real paranoid sonnuva bitch."
They wound around in serpentine fashion until they got to the front porch of the house. A pair of video cameras turned in their direction; the two women waited and finally, the door opened.
"Come on in, ladies," Sy said, carefully staying behind the door.
They went inside, and immediately Sy closed the door behind them; it was six inches of solid steel in a heavily reinforced frame, and it slammed home with a thud. He swiftly threw several bolts, chains and locks, then turned to his guests.
"Sorry about the fuss, Evan, Jo," he said, running a hand over his thinning blonde hair. "One can't be too careful these days."
Sy Cosenza was a medium sized man in his early fifties with sad, hound dog eyes set in permanently dark circles, sagging jowls and a heavily lined forehead.
Jo reached into her jeans pocket, and Sy immediately whipped up a semi- automatic Glock. "Slowly," he cautioned.
Evan sucked in a breath and considered taking him out, but a warning look from Jo convinced her to calm down.
The platinum blonde drew the miniature camera from her pocket. "See? It's just a camera, man. I want you to develop the film... Rush job. I'll pay ya for it."
Sy held out his hand and took the camera, holding it up to the light, the barrel of the gun steady on Jo. After a moment, he lowered the Glock. "Sorry. They've been hanging around again, trying to get to me." He tucked the gun into the back of his pants. "I have to be careful."
Evan was convinced the man was mad... but if Jo trusted him, she would, too. But only to a certain extent. One more threatenin' move, she thought, and I'll be seein' if he's immune to a MAGIC bullet.
She looked around while Jo explained to Sy what they wanted... the windows of the house were covered by metal shutters; electronic equipment, much of it unfamiliar to her, beeped and hummed and glowed. There were weapons everywhere, enough firearms to take a small country by the look of it. Several gas masks, and a full environmental suit with oxygen tank, were in one corner. There wasn't much furniture; just a sagging couch, some halogen lamps, and, oddly enough, not a television in sight.
Sy was saying, "I can have the pictures for you tomorrow. Want me to have them delivered?" The man was clearly nervous; it was apparent he didn't like visitors violating the sanctity of his lair.
"Yeah, that's cool." Jo dug into her pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. "A hundred okay?," she asked, peeling off twenty dollar bills.
"Sure. I'll even throw in some more film; CIA grade, not that retail crap." Sy took the money carefully between his thumb and forefinger, then tossed it into small lidded box of some dull metallic material. He then turned around and marched out of the room without a word.
At Evan's look, Jo sighed. "He's gone to wash his hands. Sy's convinced the government's adding mind altering chemicals to the ink on the money; that box is lead, to keep the spooks from tracking it by the tiny microchips they've implanted in the paper."
"Jo... that man is..."
"I know, baby. Total bug-fuckin' nuts, but real smart. Genius IQ, degrees up the wazoo, went to MIT for Christ's sake. He was gonna be a professor or something, but he went to Vietnam instead. Came back with a hunk of shrapnel in his brain and mucho paranoid delusions." She shrugged. "He may sound crazy, Ev, but you know what they say: If you think somebody's after you, they probably are."
Evan laid a hand on Jo's arm. "Is he dangerous?"
"Um... yeah, probably, if he felt cornered. Way I see it, the only guys likely to bother him are the IRS, 'cause he ain't paid taxes in years, and if those bastards come banging on his door and get blown away, is that such a BAD thing?" She smiled. "I'm kidding. I don't Sy'd actually kill anybody. He just acts like a big, bad motherfucker."
Sy returned, wiping his hands on a towel. They looked red and raw, and he smelled faintly of bleach. "All right, Jo. You'll have your pictures in the morning. Now, if you'll excuse me... I was working on my newsletter when you arrived, and I've got to finish. My reading public needs me."
He showed them to the door, and it slammed shut behind them. Evan asked softly, "Newsletter?"
"Sy doesn't HAVE a reading public." Jo led Evan off the porch and back into the yard, guiding her to the safety of the street. "He does this newsletter every month, then he mails copies to every politician on Capitol Hill, the state, even city officials right on down to the neighborhood volunteer Crimewatch dudes. I gotta friend on the Commission who calls him Mr. Conspiracy."
They climbed back into the car. "Do you think someone's really after Sy?," Evan asked.
"Dunno." Jo started up the Pimpmobile and put an arm around Evan's shoulders. "But if they weren't, he'd be awfully goddamned disappointed."
Evan yawned, then snuggled up to Jo and slept all the way home.
They spent several hours on the street the next night, going from prostitute to prostitute, showing the photographs of the mysterious woman who'd been an accessory in at least two deaths.
Finally, they hit paydirt. "Yeah, I know her," the woman said. She wore a silver tinsel wig, neon pink tube top, and a chartreuse leather miniskirt that left little to the imagination; bright crimson lipstick was a startling contrast to her rich black skin. "That's Wanda. We call her Wonder Woman 'cause she does the freakshow stuff mostly."
"You know where this Wanda hangs out, Kadijah?" Jo handed the prostitute a fifty and waited.
Kadijah licked her lips and accepted the bill, folding it into quarters and tucking it into her top. "Yeah... how come you wanna know?" She eyed Evan up and down, fake eyelashes fluttering, then slewed her coffee brown eyes back to the tall platinum blonde. "You want a threesome, honey, I can provide. Or maybe you want to try something your old lady ain't gonna give you. The black berry's got the sweetest juice, you know." She leaned closer to Jo, who drew back a little.
"Naw, sweetheart. This is strictly business." Jo flashed Evan a grin. "B'sides, I get enough at home to keep my motor running happy."
"Uh-huh." Kadijah snorted. "Whatever. You ever change your mind, you call me, hear? For you, I gotta special rate. Specially you wanna go solo."
Evan suppressed the urge to grab Kadijah by her augmented breasts and shake her. "Listen... all we want to know is where we can find Wanda. So quit flirtin' around, and just tell us."
The prostitute snorted again and rocked her head back and forth, hands on her hips. "Huh! Listen to her, Miss Thang over there. Whatcha gonna do, Miss Thang? You gonna get all mean and tough on Kadijah? Gimme attitude? Fuck you! I ain't gotta take no shit from you, white ass, fake orange headed, freak cunt!" The glittery tinsel of her wig blew in her face.
Evan lost her temper... With a snarl, she reached out and pulled Kadijah to her, shoving her face close and showing her teeth. "Tell us where we can find Wanda, or I'll be showin' you how mean and tough I can be!"
She shoved the other woman back, and Kadijah stumbled on her stiletto heels, nearly falling. "Diseased whore's get!" Evan followed the prostitute, staying intimidatingly close. "Talk! Now! Or I swear to Lugh I'll beat you till you can't move!"
Kadijah's eyes were wide as she took in Evan's threatening stance. "Shit, lady! I was only fooling around! Chill! Chill! Okay, momma, you want to know where Wonder Woman hangs out? Try Augustine Street, okay? Augustine Street!" She continued in a mutter to herself, "Damn crazy bitch!"
Evan panted, and Jo wrapped a hand around her arm, leaning down to put her mouth close to the smaller woman's ear. "Way to go, bad cop. My turn now."
The platinum blonde smiled at Kadijah. "Sorry 'bout that, sweetheart. My old lady gets hung up on stuff, you know? Anyway, thanks for the info and stay safe." She shoved a twenty at the prostitute, who took it with a trembling hand, and led Evan away.
Back in the Pimpmobile, driving through the light traffic, Jo said, "I coulda sworn you were being jealous or something back there, Ev. You didn't think I was serious or nothing about Kadijah, right?"
Evan was silent, breathing heavily through her nose. Finally, she said, "I've no right to be jealous, truly. If you want to see Kadijah, or anyone else..." She gulped. "I don't mind."
The effect of these words was instantaneous. Jo wrenched the wheel to one side, pulling up into a supermarket parking lot. It had rained earlier, and small puddles of water reflected the bright yellow and green sign above the store, as well as the glaring sodium lights.
Slamming the Lincoln into park, Jo shifted in her seat to face Evan directly. "Just what the fuck is that s'posed to mean?," she asked vehemently.
"I don't..." Evan shook her head. "Nothing, colleen. Nothing."
"Don't gimme that shit! Goddammit, Ev! We've been living together for six months... I know I ain't so good with words, for sure I ain't no poet or nothing, but I love you. I want us to stay together." She scrubbed at her pale hair, making it stand up in spikes. "Whaddya mean, it's okay for me to want other women? I don't want nobody but you!"
"I..." Evan was flustered. "I only thought..."
"Look. You're my main squeeze, right? I mean... I love YOU. It ain't easy for me to say, 'cause I ain't had much practice, but I need you, Ev. I don't care you're older'n me, I don't care you gotta run around in a fuckin' fur coat sometimes, I don't care about magic or nothing... I just care about YOU. You ain't gotta worry I'm gonna dump you for some other woman, baby. Ain't gonna happen, not in this lifetime."
Evan started to cry. "But Jo... You don't understand."
"Then explain it to me. I'm listening." Jo folded her arms across her chest, trying to dull the ache in her heart.
"Colleen... It's not just a question of love. I love you as well. But... do you not see? You'll grow old, Jo... and I'll remain the same. I've held myself away from love and commitment for a long time because of that." Tears dripped down her cheeks. "I'm immortal. You're not. I'm not sure I can stand watchin' you slip away, year after year, until you breathe your last and I'm left alone again."
"Oh. Shit." Jo unfolded her arms and laid a hand on Evan's knee. "Okay. I think I see where you're coming from. But lemme ask you a question: Would you rather stay alone forever, or would you rather have somebody with you, somebody who loves you, even if it's only for a little while?" Her blue eyes searched Evan's.
The Celtic woman sighed, then snuffled. "I don't know. I don't know which is worse or which is better; I've been through them both." She accepted the worn handkerchief Jo offered and wiped her face. "I do love you, Jo. Somethin' fierce. Just for right now... can we take it a day at the time?"
Jo drew her hand back. Well, at least she ain't telling me to take a flying leap, she thought. "All right, baby. Whatever you want. I ain't proposing yet; but someday, I'm gonna get down on my knees and ask, and you'd better have an answer for me, like a definite yes or no, okay?"
"Okay." Evan nodded and blew her nose delicately.
Jo started the car again and pulled out of the parking lot, back out onto the street. "And no more of this, 'it's okay to see other people' shit, either. I don't want nobody else, and if I catch you making eyes at some other dyke, I'm gonna get real pissed real quick."
Evan gave a small chuckle. "No worries on that score, colleen. Now... where to?"
"Well... I know this little place on Augustine Street that's got these killer chili dogs," Jo replied with a smile. "Smothered in stewed onions. And they sell Maalox, too."
Evan rolled her eyes. Jo and her stomach, she thought... It's a wonder and a mystery to me how she stays so thin. "And after? I take it we're goin' to look for this Wanda?"
"Got it in one!" Jo turned right and they headed into the outskirts of the downtown area... a rough neighborhood that was not quite a complete slum, but deteriorated a little more, night after night, in a slow, downward spiral of corruption and vice - The Hinterlands.
Jo ate three chili dogs to Evan's one, and was sucking on a cold Coke as they wandered down Augustine Street. Small shops had metal grills over their fronts; there was a prevalence of bars, pawn shops and tattoo parlors. The neon sign over one bar read, "The Sacred Fist" - and from the dozens of motorcycles parked out front, it was a biker hangout.
Jo stopped to admire one gleaming chromed machine. "Mmm... Always wanted me a Fatboy," she said dreamily.
"No. Absolutely not, Jo Tate." Evan clung to Jo's hand possessively. "You're not gettin' any murder-cycle. I'm not havin' to identify your body after you get yourself killed."
"Aw, c'mon, baby. It ain't THAT dangerous." Jo's eyes gleamed as she fantasized about the wind in her hair, Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" blasting through her helmet, throbbing machine between her thighs, bugs in her teeth. Ugh. Ick. Back to the throbbing machine... Oh, yeah...
"The way you drive, colleen, you'd be dead in a week." Evan tugged Jo onward. "B'sides, I'll not be gettin' on one of those things."
"What? You never wanted to be a hot biker chick?" Jo drew the Celtic woman closer, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"No," Evan replied pertly. "Oh, Jo... wait a moment. Is that not Wanda up there?"
Jo peered... A small group of hookers was congregated just up the street from where they stood. As she watched, a Ferrari cruised up, and a cluster of women scurried over, bending down and posing, while the rest cat-called and whooped.
One of the women was smoking a cigarette, leaning back with one leg bent, foot resting against the brick wall. She wore a lavender fake fur midriff top, a short white skirt slit up both sides, and knee high plastic boots. Her strawberry blonde hair was caught up in two ponytails, and as the Ferrari glided away from the curb with its triumphant passenger, she spat and took another moody drag off her cigarette.
"Yep. That's the one, all right. C'mon, Ev. Let's go ask Ms. Wanda the Wonder Woman a few questions," Jo said.
When they approached, however, something in their stance must have made Wanda suspicious. Shooting them a look from heavily outlined eyes, she flicked her cigarette away and began walking rapidly up the street, the small trick bag over her shoulder banging into her hip.
"Shit. There she goes..." Jo began walking faster, Evan right at her side. Wanda looked over her shoulder, then took off at a dead run, racing down the trash littered sidewalk.
"Goddammit! You go fur, Ev. I'm gonna try and cut her off this way," Jo gritted as she veered off and sprinted down an alley.
In mid-stride, Evan changed to her shiftself and the she-wolf put on an astonishing burst of speed, loping after Wanda... past a trio of winos, who shook their heads, muttered something about Sterno, and went back to sleep huddled in their Salvation Army coats.
As Wanda scuttled around a corner, Evan managed to grab the hem of her skirt and dug her paws in, legs straight, causing the woman to fall, sprawling, on the sidewalk. ::Jo! I've got her!,:: she sent.
Wanda rolled over, eyes wide as saucers in her pinched looking face as she took in the massive wolf whose bright orange ruff was standing around her head like a mane. Sobbing, the woman scrambled in her trick bag, finally pulling out a canister of Mace. Before she could press the trigger, however, a foot kicked it out of her hand.
It was Jo; the tall platinum blonde was gasping for breath, and leaned over, hands on her knees. "Jesus Christ, woman! We just wanna talk to ya, that's all! What's with the Roadrunner act?"
Wanda's mouth worked, but no sound came out. She got to her knees, and was clearly thinking about bolting, but Evan came forward on stiff legs, growling. The prostitute's eyes rolled back in her head and Jo grabbed her arm, hauling her to her feet. "C'mon, sister. No fainting, now. The nice doggie ain't gonna hurt ya."
::I'm goin' to get you for that, Jo,:: Evan sent, but she sat back on her haunches and stopped growling.
"See? Nice doggie." Jo held Wanda up, supporting her weight with a hand around her waist. Her other hand reached into the trick bag and pulled out a wolverkin claw. "Oh ho! Whadda we got here?"
Wanda suddenly struggled to pull free. "Lemme go! Don't touch that, it's mine! Put it back!"
Jo held her arm in a tight grip. "Nuh-uh, cookie. How's about you tell me where you got this little pretty, huh? Who gave it to you?"
Wanda struggled some more, but soon realized it was futile. Jo was a lot stronger than she looked. "I don't... I can't tell ya, okay? It's just this thing, right? Why you wanna hassle me? I ain't done nothin'."
"Yeah, yeah, right." Jo let go of Wanda but kept the claw in her hand. "Let's go someplace private-like. You gotta story to tell me about this here claw, and I'm dying to hear it. In detail."
Wanda shook her head, wisps of strawberry blonde hair sticking to her sweaty face. "No way. He'd kill me if I told."
"Who'd kill you?"
"I already said too much." Wanda tugged at the hem of her fake fur top. "I gotta go. Gimme that thing," she said, reaching for the claw, but Jo snatched it out of reach.
"Listen, cookie. You got a coupla choices here: either you can be a good girl and cooperate, and I'll make sure you're protected and stuff, or I can just beat the hell outta ya and get what I want anyway. Up to you." Jo cracked the knuckles of one fist ostentatiously. "I been needing a good workout anyhow."
Wanda was clearly scared out of her wits, but while she wasn't exactly bright, she wasn't stupid, either. She licked her lips nervously and said, "Okay. I'll tell ya what ya wanna know. Only, you gotta protect me from him! He can do stuff... weird stuff, magic stuff. I mean..." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "He's like some black magic dude or something. He can kill people just like that!" She snapped her fingers.
"Okay. Where you wanna go talk? After, I'll make some arrangements."
"We can go to the Palm Court. It's just down the street. I'll meet ya there."
"No way, sister! You think I'm dumb or something? You come with us, all nice and quiet, and I'll even chauffeur you there in style." Jo grabbed Wanda's arm again. "C'mon. March."
::She very scared, colleen,:: Evan sent. ::I can smell the fear in her.::
::Yeah, I know. She's just a kid,:: Jo replied silently. If Wanda was twenty, she'd be surprised. ::We'll take her to this Palm Court place... Must be a hotpillow joint.::
::Hotpillow?::
::Rents rooms by the hour. Never order room service in a hooker hotel, Ev. And never eat the popcorn in a porno theater.:: Jo's mental image of what they might use for butter in such a place made Evan's ghostly giggle echo through her mind.
The platinum blonde and the wolf escorted Wanda to the Lincoln, garnering very little attention. The street people had seen stranger sights...
But a man dressed in stinking rags looked up as they passed... then hurried to the nearest pay phone.
A few moments later, he spoke into the cracked receiver: "Hello? Let me speak to Ms. Ishtar... Yeah, I'll hold. But it's important."
His eyes narrowed as he watched the big black Lincoln drive away.
The Palm Court turned out to be just what Jo predicted: a motel dedicated to the prostitution trade. Jo rented a room for two hours from the bored clerk, paying cash, then got them all inside.
A Queen sized bed was covered in a stained gold lame bedspread; the rest of the furniture consisted of a cheap formica nightstand, a table with a TV bolted to the top, and a rickety chair. The place stank of stale cigarette smoke and disinfectant, with an underlying odor of rank sweat and sex that made Evan wrinkle her muzzle and wish her nose wasn't quite so sensitive.
Evan was still in her shiftself as a wolf, having communicated to Jo that since Wanda was nervous already, there was no need to have her further frightened by what she would believe to be a werewolf. Jo had agreed, commenting wryly, ::She's already damned near pissed her panties. Wouldn't want her doing a brown shower act without getting paid.::
Wanda perched on the end of the bed and lit a cigarette. Evan sniffed the smoke, suddenly craving one herself.
::No way I'm asking, Ev. It's weird enough, you acting like Rin Tin Tin. B'sides, you'd look silly with a coffin nail hanging out of your muzzle, and how ya gonna smoke anyway? Not like you got lips or nothing.:: Jo smiled as Evan got up and nosed her leg.
"So, Wanda... You got my full attention, here," Jo said out loud. "How's about you tell me how you got in this shit."
Evan sat down by Jo, listening intently while Wanda spoke.
"There's this guy, right? I met him a couple of months ago at this club, you know, that one over by the Masonic Hall? The Hairy Eyeball?" Jo nodded, and Wanda continued. "Anyways, he told me he was a magician, could do all kinds'a stuff. Showed me some real freaky things. He gimme a lot of money, told me to plant this claw on my next john. I figured it must be kinda a joke or somethin', so I done it." She shrugged and tapped her cigarette ash on the floor. "Month later, same deal. Then, a coupla days ago, he gimme another one, only I kinda forgot. He was majorly ticked when I called him and told him I didn't do it. But he paid me anyway, and I was s'posed to do it again tonight. Then you guys showed up."
Evan sent, ::Ask her if she knows the men are dead.:: To herself, she thought, what's that noise? Sounds like a refrigerator... Maybe the soda machine outside.
"Lemme ask ya, cookie... You know what happened to those guys you planted the claws on?" Jo dangled one arm down and laid her hand on Evan's head, stroking the soft fur with her fingers.
Wanda shook her head. "Nope."
"They're dead. Both of 'em. Plus, a cop who had the first two claws on him. The police ain't happy campers right now."
The cigarette dropped from Wanda's nerveless fingers and began to smolder on the dirty gold pile carpet. She quickly crushed it out with one boot. "Oh, my God!," Wanda exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "Oh, my God! What'm I gonna do? I don't wanna go to jail! I didn't do nothin' wrong! You gotta help me!"
"We will." Jo stroked one of Evan's upstanding ears absently. "You know this magic dude's name? Where he lives? Anything?"
"I dunno." Wanda used one finger to rub off streaks of runny eyeliner from beneath her eyes. "No, wait. Told me his name was John Smith, like I was gonna b'lieve him, right? But he said something this one time... Said he lived in the Gray Lock, whatever that means."
::Gray Lock?:: Jo scratched her head with her free hand but continued petting the wolf. ::Mean anything to you, Ev?::
Evan cocked her head to one side. ::Mmmm... A little to the left, Jo, my ear itches:: she instructed, then, ::Let me think... Oh! Ask her if it could be the Gralloch.::
::Gotcha.:: Jo turned her blue eyes back on Wanda. "Maybe it was the Gralloch? The old Conservatory place down south?"
"Yeah, maybe." Wanda crossed her legs and began to wag her booted foot up and down. "Sounds like what he said. Hey, I got his phone number, too. Hang on a sec."
Evan was getting annoyed. What IS that noise? Her ear began flicking back and forth.
As Wanda started sifting through the contents of her trick bag, pulling out packages of condoms, lipstick, keys and a few bills, looking for her employer's phone number, Jo sent, ::I got an idea... We get outta here, I'm introducing her to Sy.::
::You jest, colleen!:: Evan sounded shocked. ::Whyever for?::
::Huh. Sy may not look it, but he's a pretty good guy under all that tin-foil- hat paranoia shit. We can rig up protections around his house, and for sure he can protect Wanda from any mundane threat, right?::
::Hmm... You just might be onto somethin' there...::
The humming noise that Evan had been hearing just on the edge of her perception got louder... and she suddenly realized what it was. ::Jo! Get Wanda in the bathroom! Now!::
Without questioning, Jo leaped across the room, snatched the startled prostitute up, and hustled her into the bathroom, Evan on her heels. As she slammed the door shut, Jo sent, ::What the hell?::
Evan sat down facing the door... and abruptly shifted to her skinshape, making Wanda scream and slide down the wall to huddle against the toilet.
"The peris. They're coming," the Celtic woman said shortly. "Lock the door."
Jo's face paled...
"Whadda we do?," Jo asked, nervously scrubbing her hands on the front of her jeans.
"I'm going to set up a protective shield. This ceramic tile will hold an electric charge." Evan began to chant the Rann of the Iron Shield, pulling every scrap of power she could from the faint ley lines near the motel, as well as pooling her own personal energy, and the reserves in the rings she wore on each finger.
Wanda was still screaming... Jo bent over and slapped her sharply, rocking her head back. "Willya shut the fuck up, cookie?," she said to the hysterical prostitute. "We got problems enough without you making us deaf."
"I don't... what... what's happening?," Wanda whimpered.
Jo squatted down next to the terrified young woman and put a hand on her knee. "Listen... Some really, really bad shit is fixing to go down. Now, me and my partner, Ev, we're gonna take care of you. But you gotta be quiet, okay? Let us work."
"How... I mean, she was a wolf..." Wanda started crying again.
Jo blew out an exasperated breath. "I'll explain later." Rising, she muttered, "If there IS a friggin' later." The tall blonde shifted to her Othersight in order to see the magical energies Evan was manipulating.
The humming was loud enough now that she could hear it, too. As bars of blue- white energy began forming up around the door and settling against the walls and ceiling, Jo stepped back a half pace, eyes wide... the wooden door was beginning to splinter under the force of the peri's attack.
"Oh, SHIT!," Jo spat, then began transferring her own magical resources to Evan, praying they could get the protections up in time.
Evan never faltered, continuing chanting while the door was rapidly chipped away, holes appearing in the smudged white surface... Sweat pouring down her brow, she gasped the last line of the spell and stepped back herself, bumping into Jo.
The door was reduced to splinters and sawdust in a few moments... and the women had a clear view of what was going on in the other room.
All the furniture had been reduced to shreds and tatters; even the television was nothing but a heap of twisted metal and wires. Small forms buzzed in mid- air, looping and hovering on blurred iridescent wings, just beyond the coruscating blue-white shield that Evan had gotten up just in time.
One of the peris came closer... and Jo stared, fascinated. A tiny winged woman, exquisitely beautiful, with over-large black eyes, itty bitty pink nipples and a wisp of down between her smooth legs. As Jo watched, the peri opened her mouth and hissed, showing needle sharp teeth, and reached out one clawed finger to touch the shield.
Jo flinched as a surge of blue-white energy crackled, making the peri shriek in agony and convulse as pure powerful magic seared her flesh. The creature dropped to the carpet with a muffled thud - a charred, smoking corpse that resembled a charcoal briquette.
The death of one of their own seemed to infuriate the peris further. They all began screaming shrilly in rage, and redoubled their efforts to find a hole in the women's defenses. Chunks were ripped from the walls, but the peris were defeated each time by the shield. The screaming grew louder, more frantic, and their flying more frenzied.
Jo put both hands on Evan's shoulders, ignoring Wanda weeping behind them. "Jeez, baby. These things killed Bear and the others?"
"Yes." Evan watched as the peris destroyed the room further in their efforts to get into the bathroom. "I don't know what they'll be doin' when they find they can't get in here."
"Maybe they'll go away," Jo murmured. "I only got the room for two hours." She squeezed Evan's shoulders, then turned and said to Wanda, "We're safe. Hear me? They can't get in. We're safe."
Wanda continued crying softly, hands covering her face.
Jo sighed. "Shit." She sat down on the edge of the bathtub. "I need a drink."
Evan sat down cross-legged near her lover, and propped her elbows on her knees. Jo began kneading the muscles of her shoulders, and she let her head droop forward with a sigh of her own...
The peris kept screaming... and Wanda kept crying.
Jo looked at her watch. "Jesus! They've been at it over two hours, Ev. Think they're gonna get tired anytime soon?"
Evan glanced at the open doorway. The peris were still hovering just beyond the shield... large holes had been eaten into the walls, and other peris were stationed there as well. It seemed as if they were determined to wait as long as necessary to flush out their prey.
They can't be after ALL of us, Evan thought. And we only just met Wanda...
She scooted around to face the prostitute. Wanda had finally fallen silent and stared into space, clearly in shock. "Wanda?," Evan asked softly. "I need to ask you a question..."
A banging on the front door of the motel room startled them. A man's voice came through. "Hey! You only got the room two hours! C'mon in there! Either you pay for another hour or get lost! I gotta business to run here!"
"Oh, shit! It's the friggin' clerk!" Jo got up and walked close to the cracking magical shield, shouting, "HEY! DON'T COME IN HERE, MAN!"
The clerk banged on the door again. "I gotta master key! Open up or I'm gonna do it myself!"
"SHIT! NO, DON'T COME IN HERE!" Jo reached out one hand to the shield, then let it drop. "GODDAMMIT, YOU FUCKIN' IDIOT! DON'T COME IN! THERE'S DANGEROUS SHIT IN HERE, MAN! YOU'LL GET KILLED!"
There was the sound of a key scrabbling in the lock... then the front door was flung open wide and the clerk entered, saying, "I don't give a good goddamn what you people are doing in here, either pay up or..." He suddenly noticed the hovering peris, who had all turned to see the intruder. The clerk continued in a small voice, "get out."
He looked at Jo, her form clearly visible in the open bathroom doorway. "What the fuck...?"
Jo put one hand over her eyes as Evan moved up next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "There's nothing we can do," the Celtic woman said. "You warned him, colleen."
"Yeah, but... aw, shit." Jo peeked out from between her fingers...
The peris shot towards the clerk in a buzzing crowd, swarming around him. He waved his arms wildly, yelling, "Fuck! Get away! G-g-get away from me! Ow!" He'd connected with one peri, who nipped him in return.
He stumbled backwards, hand bleeding, until he got to the threshold and fell over in a heap, panting and chanting, "Fuck... fuck... fuck...," between gasps. The peris immediately formed up at the doorway, then shot off like arrows back to their former positions just beyond the shield that protected the bathroom.
Jo looked at Evan. "Well, I'll be goddamned!" She watched the clerk get to his feet and stumble away. "They didn't have him for a midnight snack! What the hell's going on, Ev?"
Evan frowned. "I think... Jo, do you still have that claw?"
"Yeah." Jo dug one hand into her jeans pocket and came up with the object. "What about it?"
"I have an idea..."
The claw had been placed on the sink. Evan held both hands up to the shield, then glanced over her shoulder.
Wanda was directly behind her, with Jo bringing up the rear, her hands locked around the prostitute's upper arms. If Wanda faltered, Jo would drag her if she had to.
"Ready?" Evan gathered herself, preparing to drop the shield.
"Yeah. Ready when you are." Jo drew in a deep breath and tensed her muscles.
With a muttered command and a slash of her hands, Evan let the shield drop and led the other two women into the motel room, Jo having to literally shove the paralyzed Wanda along.
The peris swarmed around on iridescent wings, dark hair fluttering, eyes wide and unblinking. They hissed, dipping up and down, hovering, claws extended... but they didn't attack.
"C'mon, colleen. I think it's workin'!" Evan led them across the room and out the door as the peris buzzed and hummed. "They'll only attack if the victim's got the claw!"
As soon as her feet hit the sidewalk, Evan sprinted for the Lincoln, keys in her hand. She had the driver's door open as Jo picked up Wanda and carried her bodily to the car, shoving her inside. "Get in, goddammit!," the platinum blonde muttered to Evan, who dived in.
Jo slid into the seat, slammed the door and started the engine. Peris had poured from the motel room, and were squealing and humming in a cloud around the car. But it seemed as if their earlier purpose had been lost... they weren't trying to get inside; they looped around in mid-air confusion, and when Jo got the Lincoln in gear and drove away, they stayed behind.
Jo kept her foot on the gas as they peeled away from the motel, one eye on the rearview mirror... Evan was twisted around in the seat, looking out of the back window... The peris gathered into a cloud again, then shot off into the night with a rising wail, disappearing back where they'd come from.
Jo wiped her sweaty brow with one hand. "Jeez... You are SUCH a fun date, you know that, baby?" She put one arm around Evan's shoulders and pulled her close, planting a kiss on her lover's forehead. "How's Wanda?"
Evan glanced at the prostitute... Wanda was slumped against the passenger door in a dead faint, a thin line of drool snaking down the side of her mouth.
"She's out, Jo. Where to now?"
"Home." Jo sent the Lincoln shuddering around a corner and drove like a maniac through the rain slicked streets... and kept her arm around Evan, who snuggled closer and closed her eyes, deciding this was not the time or place to comment on Jo's insane driving habits.
"Yes," the Celtic woman murmured. "Take us home."
Ellis waited...
Karcis stood in the center of the workroom. Her form was slightly blurred, as if seen through a warped glass. "Soon, master," the Div said. "Soon we will be together... for eternity."
"I don't know. I just don't know anymore." Ellis paced nervously back and forth. "I mean... they killed a cop. That's big trouble."
The story had broken in the newspapers that morning... Headlines screamed, "Serial Killer On Rampage" and "No One Safe From Crazed Murderer!" A few details about the mutilations had gotten out, and the media was having a field day. Charles Columbia, Chief of Police, had held a press conference that afternoon, lamenting the death of "one of their own" and vowing to bring the killer to justice.
Karcis smiled. "He was a man like any other, O master." Her hands slid up her body, along her curves, to clutch and knead her full breasts. "Another life, and I will be yours completely."
Ellis looked at the Div, taking in her perfection. "I don't know...," he whined.
Karcis smiled again... and her form shifted, hair shrinking to a short, curly mop, curves altering, body reshaping itself... until she stood there as a young man, flat muscles and belly, penis bobbing between his/her legs. But the eyes were still crimson, the feathers and bird's feet had not changed. "Just think, O master, what delights await you..." He/she tugged on his/her penis, shaking it a little. "I can give you what no other woman can... I am all things..."
Ellis gulped, his mouth suddenly dry, and tore his eyes away from the sight. " I just...," he began, and stopped. A buzzing hum had sprung up... "The peris! They're coming back!"
Karcis snarled, "No! NO! They have not given me a life!," and shifted back to her female form.
The peris swarmed into the room, screeching shrilly. Ellis covered his ears and shouted, "Make them stop!"
Karcis barked a command, and the peris fell silent. She held out a hand, palm up, and one of the peris backwinged down to perch on her palm. The Div held the creature up, looking it in the eye. "What happened?," she asked, breasts quivering as she drew deep breaths through her nostrils.
The peri squeaked, voice just at the edge of human perception. Ellis dug a finger in his ear and shuddered; the sound was like nails on a chalkboard.
When the peri finished speaking, Karcis was silent... then shockingly, her hand abruptly closed, crushing the tiny creature. Black blood dripped from her fist, and her eyes blazed with crimson fury. "Fools!," she shouted. "You have failed me!"
The remaining peris began squeaking in consternation, banging into one another as they sought to escape their mistress' wrath. Karcis pointed a finger out the open window. "Back! Go back, worthless slaves! Find me a life, I care not what kind, but find me a life and return to me! Go! GO!"
"No!," Ellis exclaimed, trying futilely to stop the peris as they swarmed through the window and back into the night. "You can't... No! Stop them! Now!" He turned to the Div. "We'll try again tomorrow night... You can't just... What if they kill a child or something? You can't... I mean... the others were dirty, they deserved what they got, but..."
Karcis turned her crimson eyes on the spluttering man. "I need a life. I will have a life. So much the better if it be untainted of sin and pure." She drew closer to Ellis, just beyond arm's reach. "I WILL have it!"
Ellis ran shaking hands through his hair and began chanting the commands he'd gotten from Paracelsus' journal, the incantation that would bind Karcis to his will... he reached the end of the spell and stepped back, confident he could now force the Div into obeying.
But to his shock, Karcis laughed, an unpleasant sound that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "You are a fool as well, O master," she said with a sarcastic twist to the last word. "You can command me no longer. I am too strong now and soon, I will be free of the jewel, free to do as I please. You cannot stop me."
As Ellis stumbled back, eyes wide and jaw dropping in shock, the Div continued with a sneer. "And yours will be the final life I need to break my chains forever."
With a wail, Ellis sank to the floor, knowing in his very bones he could not escape... and Karcis' laugh echoed on and on, filling the room with the sound of demonic scorn.
"So what can we do to stop her, Ev?" Jo glanced at her lover, who sat on the other end of the sofa. "Hello? Earth to Lassie! Come in, Ev!"
"Hmmm? Oh..." Evan smiled. "Sorry. I was thinkin'..."
Jo snorted. "Like that's such a surprise." She took another gulp of the sweat beaded bottle of Sam Adams in her hand. "So whadda we gotta do to stop this Karcis?"
"Well... Last time she tried breakin' free - this was around the 1500's or so - the Egyptian mage summoned Al'Quiset, a djinn - not a djinni - to deal with her."
"So how come we can't do the same? And what the hell's a genie, anyhow? Barbara Eden in a harem get-up? What's the diff?"
Evan stifled a laugh. "Ah, no, colleen. See, the eastern mythology has man and angels, but betwixt the two are the djinn and the djinni. Djinn are good, like guardian angels. Djinni are evil, like demons. A Div is a descendent of a djinni. The djinn have power over the djinni; Al'Quiset was able to force Karcis back into the jewel long enough that the Egyptian could renew the bindin's on her.
"But we don't have that option. Most of the djinn are gone... the few who remain are imprisoned in bottles and such. We haven't the time to go searchin' for a magic lamp."
"I see your point." Jo sighed. "So if she busts loose, whadda we do about it?"
"We'll have to keep her from killin' the mage that summoned her, for one. Until she does, she can't be fully freed. Then... there's this spell we can do. It'll cause the life energy she's stolen to return to the Wheel - the afterlife, if you will - and out of her reach. Once she's weakened, we can renew the bindin's on her."
"Great. Another shitstorm we gotta wade through." Jo tugged her earlobe. "Well, before we do this, I gotta drop Wanda off at Sy's place. I already called and told him we were coming. Anything else?"
Evan shifted on the sofa until she was pressed against Jo. "Mmm... I can think of one or two minor things that need takin' care of,' she said in a husky purr.
"Does dangerous shit always make you horny, woman?," Jo asked, but she slid one hand through Evan's hair and bent her head, tongue flicking out to trace the other woman's bottom lip.
Evan opened her mouth, allowing Jo access, moaning softly as her lover's tongue slid inside, tasting and probing; her hands gliding up Jo's back, holding her close as their breaths mingled...
"Um... I gotta pee. Where's the bathroom?"
They abruptly sprang apart, startled blue eyes and gray staring at Wanda, who shifted uncomfortably. She'd woken up in a strange bedroom, and hearing voices, had wandered into the living room to see what was going on.
"Uh, yeah... Bathroom's down the hall to the right." Jo made a face to Evan, who laughed softly. "Shit. Okay, I'm outta here. Wanda? You go pee, and then I'm gonna take you someplace safe you can hole up a while." The platinum blonde got off the sofa and stretched. "Ev, I'll meet ya at the Conservatory in an hour." She leaned down and kissed Evan's mouth lightly.
In a few minutes, Jo and Wanda left the apartment, and Evan was alone.
She ran over the requirements of the spell she would be using, and gathered together the components. Going into the second bedroom, which they used as a workroom, she lit candles and stripped down, anointing herself with oil and murmuring a blessing of protection.
Within forty minutes, she'd finished most of the spell and sat back on her heels, the orange hair around her brow dark with sweat. All that remained was a single command and a handful of salt, and Karcis would lose the magical energy she'd stolen. Hopefully, the Div could then be forced back into the jewel. Rising, Evan blew out the candles... then staggered back, clutching the skin above her heart.
Jo!
Danger, death danger, jumbled images that suggested pain and injury... Sheer soul killing fright rose up in the Celtic woman's breast. Jo was in trouble! Gray eyes wide, Evan scrambled into her clothes then headed out the door, not even bothering to lock it in her haste to get away, get to Jo, get there NOW! As she ran down the hallway to the stairs, her lips lifted in a snarl of pure rage.
If anythin' happens to my Jo, she thought savagely, taking the stairs in a controlled foot-flickering tumble, t'is a grand killin' there'll be this day!
Sprinting through the lobby, heart in her throat, she reached out to the mental bond she shared with her lover. ::Jo? Jo, are you all right?::
The answer came faintly. ::Aw, shit... I'm dead. They fuckin' got me, baby... Sorry... Love you...,:: and her mental "voice" trailed off into terrifying silence.
::No! NO! Jo?!! Answer me!:: But there was no reply.
Hitting the revolving door hard with her hands, Evan got outside the building and leaped into the taxi waiting at the curb. "The Gralloch Conservatory, 'Restes!" she barked to the driver. "And hurry! There's a life at stake!"
Orestes the satyr didn't reply; he peeled away from the curb with smoking tires and the stink of burning rubber, and headed for their destination, his hoof planted firmly on the gas. Evan had summoned him earlier, and he'd been waiting for the woman ever since.
Evan leaned back against the seat and panted, her body covered with cold sweat. She felt nauseous, dizzy... Again and again she reached out, calling, ::Jo? Jo? Please, answer me!:: but only silence greeted her efforts.
Leaning forward, the Celtic woman banged her fist on the Plexiglas divider and said, "Go faster, 'Restes!"
His mud brown eyes met hers in the mirror. "Who hurt?," he asked in his rumbling voice, expertly guiding the taxi through traffic.
"My... It's Jo, my Jo, she's hurt, maybe dyin'... Hurry!"
The satyr scratched the wild brown locks that tumbled across his forehead. "Okay," he replied simply, then mashed down on the accelerator hard, making the taxi leap forward with a roar.
Evan was pressed back into the seat as Orestes took her at her word and made the taxi fly. Again and again, the satyr narrowly avoided accidents and ran red lights with complete unconcern. Evan closed her eyes, whispering prayers to the gods to keep the woman she loved beyond all life safe until she could get there.
::Hold on, Jo,:: she sent desperately, hoping Jo could hear her even if she could not reply. :: Hold on, my love. I'm comin', I'm on my way... I love you.::
And the taxi rocketed through the streets on its desperate mission...
It had taken Jo less time than she'd thought to convince Sy to let Wanda stay at his place. She'd concocted a story about the young woman being stalked by "possible government agents, you know, the dudes with all them initials," and Sy had suddenly become fiercely protective.
"Don't worry," he'd said, putting an arm around Wanda's shoulders and hefting a Remington 12-gauge shotgun. "They won't get you here. You're safe. I'll protect you from THEM."
Wanda, having decided to get over her initial fright, was feeling much better. Apparently, she'd convinced herself that the peris were just figments of her imagination. Or something. "You know," she whispered to Jo, "this guy ain't half bad. I'm glad we got outta that motel, though. They had really bad mosquitoes." With a sunny smile, the prostitute accepted a hastily procured soda from Sy, and Jo grinned.
Whoo-hoo!, the platinum blonde thought. Am I a matchmaker or what? Cupid, step aside, son, 'cause Jo's in town and doin' the Dating Game thing!
Indeed, it seemed as if the paranoid Sy was really warming up to Wanda, who listened, fascinated, to his stories, twining a lock of her strawberry blonde hair around and around one finger. Both of them had forgotten that Jo was even in the room.
Which is totally cool by me, she thought. I gotta rig some protections around this joint anyway.
She stalked around Sy's house, muttering an incantation under her breath, and sketching invisible symbols using water and salt she'd gotten from the man's kitchen. Doors, windows, attic trapdoor, the whole nine yards. After she finished, Jo let herself out, making sure she marked the threshold as she left, and climbed back into the souped up Doozy.
"Okay... Nothing's getting in there now. Where to? Where to?... I can go back to the apartment and pick up Evan... no, she's probably left by now," Jo said to herself, checking her watch. "Mmmm... Maybe I'll just cruise on over to the Gralloch, scope things out before she gets there." She started the engine and pulled out of Sy's neighborhood.
The ruined hulk of the Conservatory was dark; broken windows gleamed like jagged teeth in the moonlight. It was nearly 3 a.m., and a soft wind blew from the east, rustling through trees and scattering leaves along the wild, weed- thick grounds.
Jo parked on the street, and spent a moment just looking, probing the building with her eyes, seeking any sign of life. There wasn't any. She got out of the car and sauntered to the boarded-up door, tugging a baseball cap on her head and tucking the black Xena T-shirt she wore into the waistband of her jeans.
Yeah, I gotta be cool, like Xena on TV, she thought with a grin as she walked slowly around the perimeter. Do the whole wild-warrior-momma with an attitude thing. Yi-yi-yi, motherfuckers; drop yer drawers and kiss yer hairy asses goodbye 'cause Jo the Barbarian Wench is takin' names!
As she walked, keeping to the charred walls of the building, Jo began to think about Evan. She's so fine... Got manners like a real lady, so loving, gotta love that bod, too. Ev's fuckin' built! And cool tats. That hair... man, naked with that wicked orange hair, like lookin' at a bonfire or something between her legs... and she cooks and keeps stuff clean, even does my friggin' laundry, she's so caring, so good to me. If that ain't love, I sure as hell don't know what is. And I love holding her, talkin' to her... I can tell her anything... She's my best friend and my baby...
Jo fingered the small box she had been carrying around in her jeans for a month. She'd gotten Evan a ring, had it custom made by this jeweler she knew. Paid cash, too, so her lover wouldn't find it on a credit card bill or in the checkbook. She'd been wanting to ask Evan for a commitment, propose they stay together forever.
Let's mate for life like swans... or wolves... Jo thought.
Suddenly, a slight noise behind her made her whirl around... straight into the baseball bat swinging toward her head.
Dimly, through a brilliant burst of light and pain, she heard Evan's frantic sending, asking if she was okay.
::Aw, shit...,:: Jo sent as she fell, spiraling down into darkness, ::I'm dead. They fuckin' got me, baby... Sorry... Love you...::
And then she surrendered to oblivion.
Ellis paced back and forth, back and forth... He'd tried to run earlier, but Karcis had dragged him back screaming, using her demonic power to shackle him to the workroom.
The peris returned, squealing shrilly in triumph, and began feeding life energy to the Div. Karcis' form brightened, glowing with power, becoming more and more solid until, with a sound like the shattering of pure crystal, some unseen force stretched thinner and thinner finally frayed... and broke into a thousand invisible fragments.
"Free..." Karcis breathed, stretching luxuriously. "Free!"
Ellis stared at the Div, his face haggard. "So what did they kill? An innocent woman? A priest? A child?"
Karcis turned to face the man, eyes blazing bright crimson. "No... If it is any consolation, son of Adam, the sacrifice was old and male, steeped in vice and corruption." She licked her lips. "But it was enough. At last, I am free!" The talons of her bird feet scratched at the marble floor.
Ellis looked dully at the ebony cane of Paracelsus on its stand. The garnet, the Eye of the Beast, no longer glowed; it seemed dark and lifeless, every hint of inner light blown out like a candle.
Karcis suddenly frowned as one of the peris screeched imperiously. "There is a daughter of Eve outside... She has power, that one." The Div gestured. "I want it. Go, man. Bring her to me. Alive."
Ellis felt the ties the demon had placed on him tightening, compelling him to rise. "I won't... You can't make me..."
"You will. You have no choice." Karcis' lips stretched in a mirthless smile. "Make sure you do not kill her. I will sacrifice you both together; that will be more than enough to break the final binding on my power and allow me to dwell in this plane forever. I will become a goddess, and the human cattle will bend down and bow their heads to me... I will only have a small corner of the world, but it will be MINE!" She clenched her hands into fists. "Now, go! Bring me the woman!"
Ellis struggled against the compulsion, but in the end, had no choice but to surrender to it. He watched as his body, no longer under his control, walked downstairs, picking up a baseball bat and gliding through the hidden door to the outside, silently stalking the tall woman in a baseball cap who was sneaking around the building.
He swung, careful not use all his strength, straight at her... She turned around, mouth open, hands coming up but it was too late... The bat connected solidly to her temple, and she crumpled in a heap on the ground.
Ellis tossed aside the bat and grabbed the woman's heels, dragging her back inside the Conservatory... and in some small part of his mind that was still able to process thought, he screamed an apology, over and over again...
Evan was out of the taxi before it came to a full stop, wrenching open the door and tumbling out.
She was trembling, but with rage rather than fear. ::Jo! Hang on! I'm here!::
Evan was held in the grip of a profound fury, but she managed to keep a rein on it, locking down the negative emotions and channeling that energy into her magical reserves.
As she ran full-tilt towards the door, she changed to her shiftself, picking up speed and hitting the boarded-up opening with her full weight and the impetus of fear-spawned anger behind her.
The boards splintered under the she-wolf's charge and she was through, falling to the littered floor, claws scrabbling on slick marble, thick orange fur dusted with bits of wood. Her paws slid as she scrambled, muzzle up and casting back and forth, seeking Jo's scent... There! The elusive odor she knew better than her own...
She raced up the stairs, belly low to the ground, tail streaming straight out behind her, following Jo's scent. ::Where are you, love?,:: she sent. ::Jo! Can you hear me?::
Faintly, she heard Jo's reply. ::Yeah... I'm here... Dunno where. Jeez... anybody get the number of the truck that hit me?::
::JO!:: Evan almost shouted in relief. ::I'm comin'... Just hold on...:: She sniffed, orienting herself, then took off down a corridor, nails clicking on the marble floor.
::Hey... No hurry, baby. I ain't going nowhere.::
In the workroom, Jo tugged ruefully at the bonds on her wrists and ankles. She was flat on her back in the middle of a pentagram drawn on the floor; the ropes were fastened to staples set directly in the black and white marble. Beside her, a man who was also tied down alternately wept and giggled... Oh yeah, she thought. He's gone.
She winced as her head throbbed in time to her pulse. Shit... I got one mother of a headache. Suddenly, a figure loomed over her and her blue eyes went wide...
::Um, Ev? Does a Div have red eyes and feet like a friggin' bird's?:: Jo smiled weakly and waggled her fingers in hello as the demon-chick grinned widely, showing needle sharp teeth. ::We gotta live one here, baby. Watch yer ass!::
::Karcis!:: Evan had reached a closed door. Her muzzle quested by the crack, snuffling... Yes... the scent was strongest here. ::Just a moment longer, love. I'm right outside.::
::Be careful. Looks like Karcis is getting a little impatient.:: Jo watched as the Div reached out into the air... and her hand wrapped around the handle of a hook-bladed knife whose razor sharp edge glittered. ::Oh, SHIT!::
::JO!::
But there was no reply.
Evan changed to her skinshape, pushing orange hair out of her face. Twisting her fingers together in a complicated knot, she barked a single word... and with a horrible screech, the door blew off its hinges, flying across the room and sailing through a window, leaving broken glass in its wake.
She jumped through the opening, skidding on the floor and nearly falling, but managed to wrench herself back up and ran, barely registering that she seemed to be in an elaborately ornate bedroom, decorated like something from a whore's nightmare.
The room beside that one was open... she came to a halt at the doorway, hands clutching the framework convulsively.
The Div Karcis knelt at the apex of a pentagram drawn on the floor... Within the center of the symbol, Jo and a strange man were bound. Candles flickered everywhere, wax dripping down and pooling in strange shapes on every flat surface. Karcis held a knife whose hooked blade glinted cruelly; she held her other hand flat on Jo's forehead, forcing her head back and exposing her vulnerable throat.
"NO!," Evan roared, the sound seeming to fill up every available space within the room and rebound back, growing in strength and fury. Without thinking, Evan changed to her shiftself, and the she-wolf, with a howl of pure rage, leaped across the intervening space, straight at Karcis.
The Div looked up, beautiful face twisted in a grimace... A bolt of concussive force slammed into Evan in mid-air, throwing her back and into a wall. She hit hard, cracking the plaster, and slid down to the floor.
Karcis smiled evilly, then said, "You cannot stop me, child of oaks. I am too strong for you. I will kill these two, and then I will be free!" She laid the edge of the knife against Jo's throat, drawing a bead of dark blood that slipped down the woman's pale flesh. "I would kill you as well, but walk away now, and I will grant you YOUR life. What means this mortal to you anyway?"
Evan shifted back to her skinshape, and licked a trickle of blood from her lips. She crouched down on the floor, hands flat in front of her, back bowed, growling softly, the incongruous sound bubbling from her human throat.
Jo lay absolutely still, eyes watering, but she said, "Ev... Will you marry me?"
Evan was startled out of her rage-trance. "W-w-what?"
"I said, goddammit, will you marry me! It's time, baby. Yes or no?" Jo stopped talking as Karcis pressed the knife harder into her neck.
For a long heartbeat, Evan considered, drawing up from her memory everything the other woman meant to her... and how empty her life would be without the tall blonde who had come to be the other half of her soul.
Kernossus and Dana help me, the Celtic woman thought. I cannot live without her. She IS my world... I love her too much to give her up. These misgivin's of mine are foolish. Oh, Jo... I throw my heart entirely into the Cup of Truth and trust to Fate, my soul friend... my love...
Without another moment's hesitation, Evan replied simply, "Yes."
Karcis sneered, "How sweet... Now, will you go, oak child? Or will you die with these mortals?"
But Jo was hardly as helpless as she appeared.
She reached inside, to the power within, and squeezing her eyes shut, sent a lash of energy to the bonds on her wrists. The ropes burned through in a second, and her hands shot up, fastening around Karcis' wrists and forcing the knife away from her throat.
"Do it now, Ev! NOW!," Jo shouted, as Karcis cursed and struggled, the knife coming closer and closer...
Dipping one hand into the pocket of her shirt, Evan uncoiled from the floor and was across the room in a bound, tossing a handful of salt into Karcis' face and shouting the final line of the spell she had set up before...
The Div screamed shrilly, clawing at her face, the knife falling with a clatter. Evan burned through the ropes on Jo's ankles with a word, then dragged her lover out of the pentagram.
Jo panted, "That guy! Gotta be Smith!," and rolled over on her stomach, hand going to the knife she carried in a sheath that hung down the back of her neck. Drawing the blade, she scrambled on hands and knees back to the pentagram, Evan yelling behind her, "Jo! Get out of there!"
"Can't let her kill 'im, she'll get free," Jo muttered as Karcis fell over on her back, bird's legs kicking, sharp talons gouging chunks from the floor dangerously close to the man's head.
She was nearly depleted of energy... Shot my wad with that last one, Jo thought, and started sawing at the ropes on the man's ankles. He wailed, babbling, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!," over and over.
Evan hastened to help as Karcis shrilled, "Kill them! Kill them all!," and the peris swarmed out of the cabinet, humming with deadly purpose.
Jo ignored the buzzing peris, even as one fastened itself on her cheek and bit down, making her swear, "Fuck! Get offa me, you piranha bitch!" She continued cutting through the man's ropes, and another peri started chewing on her ear, blood dripping on her T-shirt. More were coming, lighting on her hair, her chest, trying to get to her eyes...
Getting his ankles free, she looked up to see Evan, a deep gash above her eyebrow dripping blood, and peris clawing and biting at her shoulder and face, slice through the ropes on the man's wrists with a muttered word. Jo grabbed his ankles and heaved, getting him out of the pentagram, then stood shakily above him, reaching up to snatch the burrowing peris off her face and ear, shaking her head violently and jumping up and down to dislodge the rest.
Evan got up, too, then began waving her hands in a weaving motion and chanting hoarsely... Peris began exploding, one after the other, with a sound like popping corn and a wet splattering as bits of wet flesh and black blood hit the floor and walls.
The remaining peris shrieked, their voices rising higher and higher, beyond the human register, and continued swarming in deadly earnest. Jo managed to dredge up a tiny amount of magic from somewhere and threw up a weak shield around herself and the man... Shit! I don't have enough power to protect Ev, too! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!
Karcis began to glow, her screams getting louder and deeper, like the bellowing of a bull in pain.
"Jo! Get him out of here!," Evan shouted, shaking blood from her eyes. "Go!"
"No way in hell, baby! You can't get rid of me that easy!" Jo was in an agony as she watched a peri chew a chunk from Evan's arm. "Shit! C'mere, Ev! C'mere! Get in the shield! C'mon, get in the friggin' shield!" The man was screaming, and Jo kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Not enough power...," Evan gritted as another peri exploded, literally in her face. "I can't... Stay there... I'll be fine... " She was getting weaker, both through blood loss and exertion. She'd drained her reserves and had only a little left.
"GodDAMMIT!," Jo shouted. "Hang on!" She closed her eyes, seeking... and her senses detected an enormous amount of power, right in the room. Shifting to her Othersight, Jo saw it was Karcis who was the source of the magical surge; Evan's spell was sucking the stolen lifeforce from her, gathering it into a shimmering, swirling ball of energy.
Licking her lips, Jo reached out just as Evan screamed, "NO! DON'T! IT'S TOO WILD! YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT!"
I ain't gonna stand here and watch Ev get eaten, Jo thought, and with an effort that made her dizzy, reached out with her senses and took hold of a lightning bolt. ::I love you, baby,:: she sent, and that was her last coherent thought for a while.
Pure power sizzled through her, making Jo's pale blonde hair rise like dandelion fluff around her head. Her blue eyes were wide open, pupils fully blown, lips parted as she emitted a series of high pitched screams, body jiggling up and down convulsively as if she'd stuck her finger in a light socket and cranked up the voltage.
Evan screamed as well: "NO! JO! LET IT GO!"
Now, tell me again why the hell I thought this was a good idea?, Jo thought, suddenly at one distance removed from the searing agony she'd felt before. It was as if a wall had come down between her mind and her body, separating the essential "her" from the burning meat of her flesh.
Suddenly, a presence invaded her mind... "Mortal," a voice breathed, "Let me use you... I can harness the energy and send Karcis back where she belongs..."
Who the fuck are you?, Jo thought wildly.
"Astarte..." The goddess' presence was powerful, with such strong overtones of sexuality that Jo felt a sudden spurt of dampness between her legs.
Great... I'm dyin' over here and my stupid pussy's doing the jungle boogie... Okay, Astarte... I let you take over, and then what?
The goddess' voice was eager. "Send Karcis back into the jewel forever!"
Jo projected a negative tone. More than that... I give you what you want, you heal Ev and me, fix us up... get rid of those goddamned peris, too.
"Agreed."
How do I know you'll keep your word?
"You do not. Like most mortals, you will simply have to deal with me on a basis of faith." Astarte's voice was amused. "Do you have faith, daughter of Eve?"
Jo thought about Evan... her lover, mouth set in a rictus, was blasting peris left and right, but she was bleeding heavily from dozens of wounds, and wouldn't last much longer, not with the drain on her magic... her body's extraordinary healing powers couldn't keep up with the amount of damage the insatiable creatures were doing to her.
Okay. You gotta deal. But if you cross me, I'm gonna kick your ass, goddess or no goddess!, Jo sent, then braced herself.
She felt herself squeezed further in a distant pocket of her mind as Astarte oozed within, the goddess' presence nearly overwhelming, coil upon coil of divine power filling her like some vast and unimaginable serpent whose scaly length could reach to the stars and back.
"An apt metaphor," Astarte said with a chuckle. "Snakes are sacred symbols of my worship."
Yeah, yeah, Jo sent, intensely worried about Evan. Will you fuckin' get on with it!
Astarte did... The crackling blue-white power that engulfed Jo was abruptly tamed, lightning harnessed to the Sumerian goddess' hand. With a full throated laugh, Astarte began wrapping strands of energy around the struggling Karcis, whose efforts to free herself made the goddess' laugh again... but in cold triumph, without a trace of amusement.
Strand after strand, magic spun as thin as spidersilk, settled over the Div, surrounding her, wrapping her as tight as a mummy. In a few moments, Karcis was nothing but a heaving bundle of blue-white power, and muffled shrieks could be heard issuing from her shroud.
Evan fell to her knees, one eye gone, unable to continue, her face a mask of blood, and Jo screamed to the goddess, DO SOMETHING! NOW, GODDAMMIT!
Astarte sighed... then reached out again and sent the Div back into the jewel with a blast of energy that nearly blinded Jo's mage senses. When she was able to "look" again, she saw the garnet on Paracelsus' cane was a crimson blaze, and deep in the heart of the jewel could be discerned a white, twisting form. As she watched, the criss-crossed bindings were re-woven and reinforced by the goddess, trapping Karcis back in the bitter prison she had known for centuries.
One by one, the peris dropped to the floor, already dying, their tiny bodies rotting rapidly, going from grotesque corruption, to skeletons not unlike those of baby birds, and finally to dust that was lifted up and swirled away on a breath of wind from the broken window.
With the last bit of power, Astarte healed Evan's wounds, wiping away her injuries with a touch, restoring her eye...
"Mortal... there is not enough to heal the both of you." Astarte's voice sounded slightly regretful.
Forget about me. Just heal her, Jo replied.
In moments, Evan was returned to full health, and Astarte withdrew from Jo, leaving behind a sense of smug satisfaction that made Jo frown.
Wonder what the hell she's so friggin' happy about?, she thought, then, Oh, shit!
She was back in control of her body, and Jesus Christ! It felt like every bone in her body was broken. She collapsed on top of the man, having just enough presence of mind to banish the protective shield before pain and sheer exhaustion took over and she whimpered helplessly.
Evan, after staring a long moment at the cane and wondering what had just happened, hastily got to her feet and crossed the room to drop to her knees beside Jo. Rolling her over and off the unconscious man, she winced in empathy, noting the injuries to the other woman's face and ear, the livid burn that ran from her temple and snaked around her throat... And probably goes all the way down her body to her foot, Evan thought. Just like a lightning strike.
Jo clutched Evan's sleeve with a bloody hand. "You... okay?," she croaked.
"Yes, I'm fine, love," Evan replied, casting out her senses, looking for any scrap of magic she could find to use for healing Jo. "Lay still."
"Ev... Look in my pocket." Jo tugged on Evan's arm insistently. "My... pocket..."
"In a moment..."
"No... now. Do it now. Please?" Jo's eyes begged Evan to do as she asked, and the Celtic woman sighed.
"All right, all right..." Evan quickly patted Jo's pockets until she detected a lump, then stuck one hand inside and pulled out a jeweler's box. "What's this? Jo, I need to heal you, we don't have time for this..."
"Open it." Jo coughed up a wad of bloody sputum; Evan wiped it away, then opened the box.
A ring was inside; white gold, a wolf with head thrown back, howling at an opaque gray moonstone. The workmanship was exquisite, and she caught her breath.
"Put it on." Jo waved a hand weakly. "Put it on... Gotta do stuff right, bein' as how we're engaged an' all." She coughed again, then began retching helplessly.
Evan shoved the ring on her finger, tossing the box over her shoulder, then rolled Jo over on her side. She'd breathed the superheated air around her when she'd grabbed the wild magic, and damaged her lungs.
Finally, just as Evan was at her wit's end, she caught a trace of magical energy flowing nearby... She tracked it to its source, and realized it was coming from a church.
The worshippers were singing joyously, a spirited hymn in praise of the Crucified One. A stream of positive energy flowed upward, powerful and pure... but Evan hesitated.
It's like stealin', she thought. I'm not sure I should do this, there could be repercussions... But Jo needs it... I cannot let her die...
She tentatively reached out, and suddenly the power was there, jumping to her grasp as if it had been trained to her hand. Evan sent silent thanks to the Christian God for His generosity, then began chanting the Ranns of Healing that would restore her lover to health.
As she chanted, she had the sensation of vast wings fluttering around her, white flames and gold swirling and dancing on unseen currents, heart-achingly beautiful music floated through her mind... As soon as she finished, and Jo was healed, she released the remainder of the power, keeping back not a jot for herself.
Slowly, the wings slipped away and the music died... and Evan opened her gray eyes to look directly into Jo's blue.
The platinum blonde smiled weakly. "Gee... that was fun. Let's do it again sometime... NOT!"
Evan returned her smile, feeling a profound sense of gratitude, then leaned down and captured Jo's mouth with her own, holding her soul-friend in a tight, warm embrace.
"Berresford Ellis, number five on Forbes' list of the ten wealthiest Americans, and considered to be one of the most eligible bachelors in the world, was discovered this morning wandering the grounds of the condemned Gralloch Conservatory of Music."
The news anchor shot the camera a significant glance, raising his eyebrow for added emphasis, and continued, "Mr. Ellis had been missing for nearly four months before he was found by police, who had been given an anonymous tip. Doctors at Lovecraft Memorial Hospital have reported that while Mr. Ellis is in good physical health, he is severely delusional and his mental state is such that he has been involuntarily committed to Collins Asylum pending further examination. In further news, the police have reported no further success in identifying the serial killer who has recently been terrorizing the city..."
Jo pushed a button on the remote, turning off the television, and settled back on the sofa with a sigh. "Poor Ellis. I gotta kinda feel sorry for the guy. I mean, I know he was an idiot for getting involved with Karcis, but hey! With tits like that, who can blame him?"
Evan punched Jo's arm, making her wince and say, "Ow! I'm gonna have a bruise there tomorrow!"
"Aye, and other bruises as well, if I've anythin' to say about the matter," Evan replied with an arch grin.
Jo grinned back foolishly and pulled Evan close, hugging her tightly. "I love you, even if ya do beat me black and blue."
"I love you, too." Evan snuggled her head beneath Jo's chin, molding herself to the other woman's lean body. "We need to return that cane to Monsieur Duvalier," she said.
"Yeah, later. Right now, I got this problem."
"Mmm? What's that?"
"Well, you see, when Astarte was inside me, she was making all these goddess sex vibes things, and right now, I'm horny as hell." Jo looked down at Evan, and her grin grew even wider. "I could screw a stick shift or something, I got it that bad."
"Oh, really?," Evan purred, raising a tangerine eyebrow. She pushed her hand inside the waistband of Jo's jeans, sliding down to the crotch of her cotton briefs. "My, my, colleen... You're certainly wet..."
"Uh-huh." Jo shifted on the sofa. "Soakin'."
"So I see." Evan felt around some more, rubbing Jo's pussy through her briefs. "I'll have to be doin' somethin' about that. If you flood anymore, we'll be washed out of the apartment entirely."
"Oh, yeah," Jo moaned, raising her hips, hands going to the zipper of her jeans. "Wouldn't want that."
Evan helped Jo skin out of her jeans, then pulled off the bloodstained Xena T- shirt, tossing it on the floor.
As Jo watched, Evan peeled off her own top, letting her full breasts bounce free of their confinement. Jo reached up and gently squeezed one, then tugged the firm flesh, pulling Evan over until she could wrap her lips around the turgid nipple and suck, her other hand sliding around Evan's back.
Evan moaned deep in her throat, arching her back as Jo suckled, pulling strongly, making waves of pleasure shudder through her body.
The Celtic woman reached back and wriggled out of her own jeans, managing to keep from dislodging the nipple in Jo's mouth. Jo nibbled a bit more, then began licking Evan's breasts, first one then the other, and her tongue wandered in warm, wet patterns up the other woman's throat until she reached her lips.
Evan shifted, pressing her lover down into the sofa cushions, and opening her mouth, thrust her tongue past Jo's lips, fluttering and sliding in sweetness and heat. Her hands glided up Jo's arms and she laced her fingers with the blonde's, holding her captive while she sucked on her lower lip, making Jo groan.
"Oh, Jesus, baby... yeah..." Jo began rubbing her sopping pussy on Evan's knee, damp dark blonde fur sliding up and down, wet and hot against the Celtic woman's flesh.
"Mmm... Yes, that's it..." Evan kissed Jo again, sensuous and deep, pressing her knee into the other woman's sex and rotating it in small circles. Jo arched her back slightly and hissed through her teeth, clutching the other woman's fingers in a tight grip.
Evan bent her head down and gently bit one of Jo's small pink nipples, holding it between her teeth and rolling it back and forth. Then her wet tongue began flicking it back and forth rapidly. "Oh, God..." Jo's hips were jerking up and down faster. "Get over here... I want you in my mouth..."
Releasing Jo's hands, Evan turned around, straddling her body, mouth hovering over the blonde's pussy. Jo put one leg up on the back of the sofa, the other foot flat on the floor, spreading herself wide. As Evan pushed aside the lips of Jo's vulva with her fingers and settled down for a long, loving taste, she lowered herself on the other woman's waiting mouth.
Jo looked up at the flamboyant orange curls above her... Murmuring, "Oh, yeah, c'mon baby... you know I love the way you taste," she reached up and pulled Evan's hips down further, thrusting her tongue into the slick red folds.
They sucked and licked, using their fingers and tongues... Evan began sliding her tongue over and over Jo's hard clit, feeling the other woman tremble beneath her and a fresh burst of thick musky fluid flowed into her mouth.
Jo's squealing, "Ooooh, yeah! Oooooh, oh oh oh! JEEEEEESUS!," was muffled, but she convulsed as she came, clipping Evan's head between her thighs as her ass banged up and down and she quivered, panting and moaning.
As soon as she caught her breath, Jo began licking Evan's pussy again, thrusting her tongue deep inside, over and over, fucking her with that velvety length. Evan rose up, licking her lips, and began riding the other woman's face, hips undulating in waves. Jo reached up with both hands and fastened her fingers on Evan's nipples, squeezing and twisting gently.
Evan threw back her head, wild orange hair falling over her shoulders and back, knowing she was on the verge of an explosion. When Jo sucked her clit, wriggling her tongue carefully on the sensitive tip, she came with a small, breathy howl, pressing back and rocking her hips, smearing her juices all over Jo's face.
After, they lay coiled together on the sofa, sweaty bodies pressed tight, arms around each other.
Evan kissed Jo's shoulder, tracing an old scar with her tongue. "I love you, Jo Tate."
"I love you, too." Jo took a deep breath, praying she wouldn't fuck this up. "Eiobhan Reille." She beamed proudly, glad she'd gotten the bartender from the Ulster Arms pub to teach her the correct pronunciation of her lover's name.
Evan's gray eyes went wide... then she smiled back and traced Jo's mouth with one finger. "Very good, colleen. We'll have you speakin' a proper language in no time."
"Uh-huh. Don't hold yer breath, baby. Blue ain't your color."
Evan giggled... and the morning turned slowly into late afternoon, but not slowly enough for two lovers in love.
This time, when the guards in front of the backstage door to Astarte's office saw the two women coming, they moved aside hastily and opened the door, nodding politely.
"Glad to see you learned some manners, boys," Jo said in passing, reaching out to pat one flinching guard's face.
Evan merely glared, shooting the big men a look from her stormy gray eyes that made them cower.
Once inside, Jo drew a deep breath. Oh, man, this is gonna be sweet... "Helloooo? Yoo-hoo, Ms. Ishtar... Hey, c'mon out, you got com-pan- eeee!"
Astarte walked gracefully from the other room, clad as usual in a designer evening gown... Her hair was twisted into seven braids whose ends had been pinned to the top of her head, making loops of shining brown plaits that framed her impossibly beautiful face. The goddess' scarlet lips stretched in a smile. "Welcome, daughter of Eve and child of oaks! You honor my establish..."
Those words of welcome were never finished. With several long strides, Jo marched up to Astarte, drew back her arm, and with her full weight behind the swing, punched the goddess dead in the face.
Astarte staggered back, one hand clapped to her mouth. Armand Duvalier raced from the other room, putting an arm around the Sumerian goddess' waist. "What do you think you are doing?," he yelled, green eyes swiveling wildly. "Do you know who this is? Do you know who've you just insulted?"
Jo spat, then replied, "Yeah. A double-dealing bitch of a whore goddess who's too good to do her own fuckin' dirty work."
Evan tossed the cane to Duvalier, who caught it in a fumbling grip. "And you, monsieur... You played your part as well."
"Uh-huh." Jo crossed her arms over her chest. "We figured it out... the way I see it played is that you, Mr. French Dude, lost the cane and the journal to some thief hired by Berresford Ellis. That part was true. What you DIDN'T tell us was that you were one of Astarte's worshippers, and the goddess knew what was going down the minute she heard Karcis was on the loose."
Evan continued, narrowing her eyes, "Karcis was a threat to you, Astarte. If she'd succeeded in gettin' herself freed, you'd have a rival for the relatively few devotees you've got. So, she had to go, and fast. But you didn't have enough power to eliminate her yourself... You needed help."
Jo took up the thread again. "So, along comes me and Ev, two mortals who just happened by sheer coincidence to stumble into this friggin' shitstorm, and I bet you got so excited you nearly wet yourself. You wouldn't HAVE to go toe-to-toe with Karcis... Oh, no, WE'D do it for ya. And if we got killed in the process, eh, to hell with us. We're just so much meat to you."
"So you watched, and you waited, and you planned..." Evan took a step closer to Astarte. "And when we'd nearly lost our lives tryin' to send Karcis back where she belonged, you stepped in 'cause we'd raised enough power that you felt confident enough you could do it yourself without riskin' anythin'. Of course, I'd thank you for savin' our lives, but that was just incidental to you, wasn't it? By that time, you'd vanquished your rival and a gesture on your part didn't mean much."
Jo concluded, "So we just come here to say one more thing: fuck YOU!"
The two women waited, holding their breaths, not sure how Astarte would react...
When the goddess threw back her head and laughed, Jo and Evan exchanged a glance and moved closer together.
Duvalier released Astarte and stood to one side, still holding the cane. While the goddess roared with glee, he asked, "The journal?"
"We didn't find it. But without the cane and the jewel, Paracelsus' journal isn't worth all that much, is it?" Evan flicked her hair back in a contemptuous gesture.
Astarte's laughter finally ran down into chuckles, punctuated by giggles. At last, she wiped the tears from her eyes and sat down heavily on a nearby ottoman. "Oh, my," she said breathlessly, "I have not had that good of a laugh in millennia."
Jo frowned. "You think it's funny? Goddammit, I oughta..."
The goddess held up one hand. "No, daughter of Eve. If you hit me again, I will have to take steps. This one I will allow to pass. I deserved it, according to your lights." She still smiled. "You are correct. I did use you both." Her golden brown eyes flickered from Jo to Evan. "If you feel I owe you something for your services, tell me what it is."
Jo sighed. "You don't get it, do you? We're not friggin' puppets... And I really, really hate having my strings pulled."
"Yes... But consider this: We both got what we wanted. You wanted Karcis imprisoned; so did I. She would not have only been a threat to me, Jo Tate. The Div was a sexual predator; she would have drained her victims dry, and gone howling for more. I, on the other hand, am much more benevolent." Her eyes glittered and she touched her cheek. "To a point."
::Well? What now?,:: Jo sent. They hadn't expected this reaction.
Evan thought a moment. ::I, for one, would be content with an apology, colleen. But I doubt we'll get it.::
"I am not so proud as that, child of oaks," Astarte said, picking up the silent exchange. One of her braids had come down and slithered across the shoulder of her satin dress. "I am sorry I used you. Perhaps I was wrong; if I had actively helped you instead of staying in the shadows, it might have been that Karcis would have been trapped sooner."
"Hmph." Jo looked at Evan. ::I think that's about all the apology we're gonna get, baby.::
Duvalier cleared his throat at Astarte's prodding glance. "I believe you were admiring a certain volume of mine, mam'selle Reilly," he said. "It would do me great honor to present it to you as a gift."
Evan's eyes lit up. "The lost Sword of Moses?," she asked. "You'd really give it to me?"
"Yes." Duvalier sighed, rubbing his dark hair with one hand. "I will have it delivered to your apartment tomorrow."
Jo took an aggressive stance. "What about me, huh? Gonna blow me off now?"
"No." Astarte looked at the platinum blonde shrewdly. "What is it you desire from me, daughter of Eve? Physical beauty? Boundless passion? Irresistibility to women or men? Sexual skills beyond all other mortals?"
"Um, no." Jo scuffed one foot on the floor. "Actually... see, there's this girl, Wanda. She ain't got much, and what she does have ain't worth much, if you take my meaning. She got caught up in all this friggin' mess and it wasn't her fault. Anyway... I thought maybe you could give her a job. NOT as a call girl or nothing like that... maybe a waitress or file clerk or something. Help her turn herself around, make a new life. Maybe help her get into school..."
Astarte smiled. "I believe that can be arranged." She walked around to a delicate Louis XVI desk and picked a piece of paper. "This is also for you," she said, handing the paper to Jo.
Jo accepted the paper and turned it over... it was a check, and the amount of zeros after the first digit made her eyes widen. "Holy shit!," she exclaimed. "I mean... thanks! Jeez, this'll come in handy. How come guilt money's always so much more than payin' a friggin' bill?"
"You're welcome." Astarte grinned.
Jo stuffed the check in her pocket. "But that don't mean I ain't still pissed! Jeez, Astarte... Next time, warn a gal, willya?"
"I will keep that in mind. Have your Wanda come to the club tomorrow night; rest assured, I will find her proper employment." Astarte turned around, a clear dismissal; Evan and Jo left the office and headed back through the noisy, crowded club to the outside.
It was about an hour after dusk... The moon was a silver horn of plenty spilling a wealth of stars across the evening sky. Evan put her arm around Jo's waist and sighed. "Well, colleen... Satisfied?"
Jo fingered the check in her pocket. "More or less." She examined the slightly swollen knuckles of her right hand. "Damn. Remind me next time that goddesses have fuckin' hard heads, willya? Hmmm... you know, I hear there's this Greek diner over on Barnabas Circle makes a mean souvlaki..."
Evan laughed, then stood on her toes and kissed Jo beneath the diamond dusted sky, the moonstone on the ring she wore catching the lunar light and glowing, but not more brightly than the happy Celtic woman's gray eyes.
"I love you," she murmured in Jo's ear, and was rewarded by her soulmate's grinning reply, "Ditto, baby... ditto infinity."
And in Collins Asylum, Berresford Ellis, buckled tightly into a straightjacket, rocked back and forth on the floor of his heavily padded cell, whispering in sing-song fashion, over and over like a mantra: "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."
Lt. Hammond Russell turned away from the observation window, fingering his blonde goatee. "Close it up, Ah've seen enough," he said to the white coated attendant.
Whistling the theme from the old 60's TV show, "The Avengers..." Piglet Russell turned and walked away, a file stamped "CLOSED" tucked beneath his arm.
Behind him, Ellis continued to chant, "I'm sorry..."
Moonlight streamed through the high barred window, illuminating the look of lunatic horror on the man's lined face... and the howling wasteland of emptiness in his eyes.
Berresford Ellis wasn't home anymore... nor would he ever be again.
The End
Hope you enjoyed the story. Any and all comments may be directed to Wynna1[at]yahoo.com.
Stay tuned, folks. There's more Underworld Chronicles out there; we've only just begun to scratch the surface.
If you have enjoyed Bardwynna's "I Dream Of Genies", then please be certain to e-mail her at Wynna1[at]yahoo.com and thank her for posting this Story.
Click here for a list of all of Bardwynna's Stories and Poetry at Sapphic Voices Authoresses.
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