I kept myself hunched over as I waddled my way across the parking lot to the nearly-deserted road behind us. A single set of headlights headed our way. I ducked behind an overfilled trash can and watched the sedan park a few spaces away from Ian's vehicle. The door opened and a woman of forty stepped out. She clutched her purse in her bag and glanced nervously over the area. Her eyes fell on the gazebo in the distance. She shut her door and her heels clacked on the pavement as she made her way through the hedges and onto the grass beyond.
Her back was turned to me. Now was my chance.
I darted from my hiding spot and raced across the road to the jungle of apartment buildings. Their tall shadows hid me in their cold embrace, but I paused at the mouth of one of them and looked back. From what I could see the woman had reached the gazebo and they were all in deep conversation, or as deep as Ian could handle. I suspected they would be distracted for only a few minutes.
"Time to go," I whispered to myself.
I sprinted down the alley and into the familiar territory of the urban jungle. My footsteps pounded pavement as I pumped my arms. My old life waited for me. I could feel it.
The streets were punctuated by a car or two and a few people hurrying home, but other than that I was alone. That is, until that one alley. Voices from the mouth of an alley slowed me to a stop. I could see a man's back stick out from the narrow road.
"Come on, sister. Don't you wanna hand over the purse?" a slick male voice cooed.
"P-please leave me alone!" a woman pleaded.
I slunk to the edge of the closest building and peeked around corner. The alley was filled with the usual trash, including a pair of ugly mugs who stood in front of a woman. She clutched her purse to her chest and tried to hide behind her quivering arms. Her head was bent down, and I thought I detected a few glimpses of shimmering tears down her face.
My eyebrows crashed down and I balled my hands into fists. These assholes didn't know how to pick on somebody their own size, but I'd at least give them an equal number to pick on. I stepped into the mouth of the alley and crossed my arms over my chest.
"You guys lost?" I spoke up.
The men swung around. My eyes widened. Nubbins of horns protruded from the sides of their heads, and their eyes were as red as coals, though not nearly as confident as Ruthven's. The things-whatever they were-leered at me. One of them took a step towards me.
"Well, well, what do we have here? Another lost mouse?" he teased.
"No, but you need to get lost," I retorted.
The thing chuckled as he swaggered around behind me. I turned so he was on my left in front of the mouth of the alley, and the other thing and the woman were on my right.
"Would you like to play?" the creature to my left asked me.
"I'll play hide-and-seek. You go hide and I'll come look for you in twenty years or so," I quipped.
The creatures laughed. The other woman tried to slip away, but the monster farthest away from me caught her out of the corner of his eyes. He whipped around and grabbed her by her collar.
"Where do you think you're going?" he snarled.
She shut her eyes and cringed. "Please let me go! You can have my money, but please let me go!"
The monster who held her chuckled. "But what if I wanted to have some more fun with you?" He leaned close and sniffed her. I noticed his nostrils stretched to an impossible size. "You smell really sweet. I bet you taste that sweet, too."
The creature to my left paused and frowned. He leaned down and sniffed me. "This one smells different."
"What? Is she sour?" his pal commented.
He let out a guffaw over his own joke. The woman writhed in his grasp. He whipped his head to her and swung out his hand. His palm slapped her cheek, and the woman let out a cry of pain.
I clenched my teeth and fisted my hands. "Let her go, or else!" I commanded them.
The creature closest to me smirked and raised an eyebrow. He shoved his hands into his pockets and took a step towards me. "Or else what?"
I stepped back, and something in my pants pocket poked my hip. A sly grin not unlike Ian's slipped onto my lips. "Or else this."
I pulled out the packet of talismans and plucked one from the stack. The creature's eyes widened and he stumbled backwards away from me. I leapt forward and slapped the talisman onto his forehead.
The creature let out a horrendous roar that shook the brick walls. It scratched at the talisman, but like the Phantom before the effort only caused its fingers to sizzle and bleed. Purple blood oozed from the wounds and splattered the ground and walls. The thing's partner gaped at his wounded pal. I pushed him away and grabbed the girl's hand.
"Come on!" I shouted.
I yanked her down the deep alley. The road stretched for the whole block and beyond. I didn't stop us until we crossed two roads. We stumbled into the mouth of the third alley and I let go of her to lean against the wall. My breaths came out in ragged gasps as I lay the back of my head against the building behind me.
"That. . .was close," I murmured.
"Yes, it was."
My eyes widened and I froze. It was the woman who spoke, but she sounded different, and it wasn't just because she wasn't scared anymore. Her voice was deeper, and there wasn't any gasping in her words. I leaned my head forward and turned to her.
The woman was no longer a woman. Her body was covered in thin, glistening green scales, and her hands were long, pointed claws. Those large, scared eyes were now narrowed and had a yellow hue not unlike Ian's eyes. Her hair trailed down her back and stopped just above her waist. The waist was the start of a long, lithe snake body that slithered six feet behind her.
I tilted my head and blinked at the thing. "You've got to be kidding me."
She chuckled, and when she spoke her long, thin tongue flicked out and tasted the air. "Haven't you ever seen a lamia, mystic?"
I turned to face her, but took a few steps back. "No, and I wish I hadn't," I retorted.
She slithered towards me, matching my steps. "But I'm glad a found you, mystic. I thought to entrap a normal human and eat them, but you will fetch me a great prize when I hand you over to the Whisperers."
My pulse quickened, but I kept my head and pulled out my pack of talismans.
The lamia chuckled. "You can't hurt me with those, girl. My skin is as hard as steel and as poisonous as the worst creature in Australia."
"I'm willing to try," I quipped.
I lunged forward. She didn't try to move. I slapped one on her arm, and stumbled backwards as the paper burst into a green flame and was consumed. The lamia chuckled.
"Now you see what I mean? I am impossible to defeat," she told me. She reached out her talons to me and her tongue flicked across her lips. "Now be a good human and come here."
CHAPTER 4
"Duck!" a familiar voice shouted.
I was more than glad to duck under those clawed hands. Something swished over my head and embedded itself into one of her eyes. It was another talisman, but thrown by a more expert hand. That same hand grabbed mine and pulled me away from the creature as the lamia screamed and clawed at the talisman. The paper was shredded and burned away, but by then we were halfway down the alley.
I glanced at my savior. It was Ian, and he wasn't happy. I looked over my shoulder. The lamia was back in business and quickly slithering her way after us.
"Stop staring and run faster!" he snapped.
"Can't you kill her?" I shouted at him.
"I left my demon-killing sword in my other overcoat, so run!" he ordered me.
Ian nearly tugged my arm off as we raced through the alley and towards the deserted street. We turned a sharp left just short of the alley and faced a rickety old fire escape. He scooped me into his arms and leapt upward. We landed neatly on the first landing of the escape, and he hit the grates running.
Ian's boots rattled the stairs as we climbed to the top of the five-story building. He leapt over the two-foot wall that surrounded the roof and set
me down. He turned his attention to the view over the wall, and I moved to his side and stared down. The lamia stood in the alley just to the left of the fire escape. Her yellow eyes smoldered in the dark light.
Ian grinned down at her. "A little difficult to jump without legs, isn't it?" he teased her.
The lamia's eyes narrowed. She slithered over to the wall beneath us and slammed a clawed hand into the bricks. The creature followed with her other one, a little higher than the first, and she pulled her lower slithery form against the bricks. The sharp scales clung to the rough bricks like velcro. She slammed her hands higher up the wall and her body rubbed against the wall. The combination let her climb up to us, and fast.
"Huh. I didn't know they could do that," Ian commented.
I whipped my head to Ian and glared at him. "Now what, genius?" I growled.
"Now we run. Fast," he told me.
He scooped me into his arms and raced across the rooftop. We were nearly at the opposite end just as the lamia slithered over the wall. She ripped off one of her scales and threw it at us.
"Behind us!" I shouted.
It was too late. The scale jabbed into the back of Ian's leg. Smoke rose from the wound. Ian cried out and stumbled. His speed meant our momentum kept us going forward face-first into the ground. He twisted around so he was on the bottom and I was clutched against his chest. We slid across the tar-paper rooftop for several yards before Ian's back hit the roof wall. His head also hit the bricks, and hard. His arms around me loosened, and his head lolled back.
Our troubles got worse when I heard a distinct hiss behind me. I whipped my head around and my eyes widened. The lamia slowly slithered her way across the roof towards us. Her claws were outstretched and her sharp fangs dripped with venom. Each drop of the venom boiled the rooftop tar paper from less paper to more tar.
"I was going to spare your life for the Whisperers, but you've made me so hungry I'm just going to eat you both," the lamia hissed.
I sat up and looked into Ian's unconscious face. A pain of guilt stabbed my heart. This was all my fault. If I hadn't run away we wouldn't be in this predicament.
"Damn it. . ." I murmured.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and a single drop slid down my cheek. The tiny crystalline water drop fell to the ground and splashed into a small puddle.
And from that puddle came a brilliant white light. The light stretched across the rooftop and stopped the lamia in her tracks. She threw up her arm to cover her face and snarled at me.
"What is this horrible light?" she screeched.
The lamia's eyes widened and she let out a scream, but it wasn't because of my light. My eyes widened as I noticed the point of the sword in her gut. The long blade was black and jagged. Its sharp edge glistened with the blood of the demon lamia. Her clawed hands dropped to her sides, and she toppled over onto her side. Her blood sizzled and melted the roof. Tar paper, wood, and metal were consumed. Even her own body wasn't immune to the effects. Her blood spilled over her and destroyed her from without until nothing but a deep depression remained.
The sword, too, was gone.
I stared in dumbfounded amazement at the stroke of insane luck.
"Did I miss something?" Ian wheezed out.
I whipped my head around to find his eyes open and smiling at me. I slowly shook my head.
"I-I don't know," I stuttered.
His eyes fell on the form in the roof, and he managed a weak, crooked smile. "What luck. The lamia's dead. We must have a guardian angel looking out for us."
I shook myself from my stupor and shook my head. "I don't know what that was, but there was this sword and-"
"You see anyone?" Ian asked me.
I blinked at him. "See anyone?"
He sat up and nodded. "Yeah. You said there was a sword. You see who threw it?"
I shook my head. "No."
"Damn. They could have taught you a thing or two about dealing with demons." He struggled to his feet, but I put my hands on his chest.
"Don't move too quickly. You've got a lump the size of a chicken egg on the back of your head," I warned him.
He reached up and brushed his hand across the egg. A wince wrinkled his face with pain. The bricks behind him were in worse condition. They were cracked and bits of their bodies crumbled to the ground behind Ian.
"It's a pretty good lump, but I'll be fine in a day or two," he assured me. He used the broken brick wall behind him to stand, and he surveyed the scene before us. "It's been a long time since I saw a lamia. I forgot how nasty they were."
I followed his gaze to the bubbling remains of the snake witch. "She told me nothing could get through her scales."
Ian smiled. He lit up a cigarette and tucked it into the corner of his mouth. "If an enemy ever tells you they're invulnerable tell them they're lying. Everybody's got a weakness. Hers was her own blood."
I winced. "So her own blood burned her to death?"
"Pretty much," he agreed.
I frowned and turned to Ian. "But who threw the sword? And where did it go?"
He smiled back at me. "Don't you believe in guardian angels?
I snorted. "If that was an angel it has a strange taste in swords. That sword looked like it came out of a pit of hell."
"Maybe our angel is having an identity crisis," he suggested.
I crossed my arms and glared at him. "All right, jokes aside what happened? Who killed the lamia and why?"
He shrugged. "I can't be sure, but on the subject of being serious I hope this means you'll take my warnings seriously."
I raised an eyebrow. "What warnings?"
"About trying to return to your old life," he explained.
The game was up, but I wasn't about to call it quits. I turned away from him and closed my eyes. "I-I don't know what you're talking about. I-" Ian grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him. He shoved his face into mine, and his eyes lit up with an unnatural glow. His grip on my arm hurt, and his lips were pressed so tightly together that his cigarette was pinched nearly through.
"This isn't a game," he growled. There was a touch of feral wolf in his words that made me shudder. I tried to tear from his grasp, but he held me firm. "Those demons would have killed and eaten you if I hadn't followed your scent."
I narrowed my eyes. "I handled the first two, and you didn't even take care of that last one," I reminded him.
He gestured to the dark hole in the roof. "What about that one? Those first two were stooges. How would you have handled their ring-leader on your own?"
"I don't know. This is your world, not mine," I snapped at him.
He roughly shook me. "This is your world, too, Enid! You're a mystic, and right now mystics are going for a premium on the paranormal market."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned him.
"It means that one wrong move and someone's sold you to a Whisperer," he explained.
"What do you care? What does it matter to you?" I yelled back. I nodded at his overcoat. "You have your business and your secret vendetta and your creepy assistant! I'm just somebody to babysit or order around! I'm nothing!"
"You're-" Ian clenched his teeth and turned his face away. His body relaxed, and he closed his eyes and sighed. "You're right. This isn't fair to you." He opened his hand.
I stumbled back and rubbed my bruised arm. "You're damn right I'm right."
"But then again, life isn't fair," he added as he turned to me.
Ian's eyes opened and showed themselves to be a yellow color. He faced me, and I noticed his body seemed bigger. No, it was bigger. Bulkier and taller. My eyes widened as I watched him transform into his werewolf self. Hair sprouted from his skin, and his hands lengthened into claws no less sharp than those of the lamia. His lips curled back in a snarl that revealed his sharp teeth.
I stumbled back until I hit the corner of the wall around the roof. My palms pressed against the top of the wall as he stalked towards me.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked h
im.
His only reply was a deep, feral snarl. I fumbled for my stack of talismans, but he whacked the pile out of my hands. It dropped over the side of the building to the alley below. I leaned away from the creature and couldn't help looking over my shoulder. The stack of talismans sat at the bottom of the five-floor drop. A snarl brought me back to the situation at hand. I turned my head and froze.
Ian's long, transformed snout was nearly pressed against mine. His eyes burned into mine with such ferocity that my shaking knees nearly dropped me to the ground.
I shut my eyes. This is how it would end. An unheroic death courtesy of a man who I thought was my partner, my friend, my-
"It will not work."
CHAPTER 5
We both whipped our heads to the source of the words. Cronus stood five feet from us. His arms were at his sides and his usual frown was on his face, but it was deeper. For once the cold look in his eyes was directed at Ian.
Ian straightened and shrugged. It was a surreal sight to see such a monster shrug its massive shoulders. "I thought I'd try," he grumbled in that deep, timber-wolf voice of his.
"She innately knows you will not harm her," Cronus commented.
Ian reverted back to his human form and took out a cigarette. "I wish you would've told me that before," he returned as he lit up.
I glanced from Ian to Cronus and back. My mouth flopped open like a fish before I managed to get some control over my jowls. "What. . .what's going on?" I asked them.
Ian tucked the cigarette into the corner of his mouth and turned to me with a goofy grin on his face. "I just thought I'd see if I could get you to do that light again, but according to Cronus that's not possible."
"You. . .you tricked me?" I guessed.
He nodded. "Yep. I don't really like the taste of humans, anyway."
"Then I. . .I was never in any danger?" I wondered.
Ian pursed his lips and shook his head. "No, that ordeal with the lamia was very much real."
"Then I-" I sank onto my knees and clutched my shirt with one hand. My pounding heart couldn't take much more of these twisting and turning surprises. "I really did almost die?"