"That means you still owe me for getting us into this trouble," I reminded Orion.
"One punishment at a time," he insisted as he readjusted Toughs' increased weight. "First we need to get to my mom's place."
"Your car or mine?" I wondered.
"Yours. Mine's still at the house," he told me.
I raised an eyebrow. "How did you get here fast enough to become a guard? And on that topic, how'd you get into that outfit with that wand?"
He grinned. "Let's just say I've had a lot of practice getting into their laundry room. They really should lock that back door more securely."
"And you're getting here before us?" I persisted.
Orion shrugged. "Just a matter of knowing a couple of shortcuts, having super-human speed, and just being my normal, insanely talented self."
My face fell and I narrowed my eyes. "You hitched a ride with someone, didn't you?"
Orion's shoulders fell. "Yeah. I knew their white robes were due back from the cleaners today, so he gave me a lift."
"And he let you into the laundry room, too, didn't he?"
"Do you have to ruin all my mystique?"
"Only when it smells like the Kansas City stockyard, and on the topic of bullshit, you weren't bullshitting about your mom being able to hand those Messengers, were you?"
Orion grinned. "You're not starting to care for this shrimp, are you?"
I snorted and studied the heavy load in his arms. "This 'shrimp' has some serious issues. I know kids are supposed to grow up fast, but this is really taking the birthday cake. About a half dozen of them."
Orion pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah. I've read about slow-releasing spells, but I've never seen one, and not one that would be this complicated."
I arched an eyebrow. "Are aging spells hard to pull off?"
He nodded. "Very hard. It's an art every wizard and witch aspires to achieve, and few obtain."
I glanced down at the book in my hands. "Would it be considered a black or white spell?"
"That's one of the ones that falls into a gray area," he told me as we walked down the hall to the stairs. "It really depends on how it's used."
I glanced around us as the wizards pressed themselves against the walls and glared at us. "So none of these guys could do it?"
"I doubt it," he replied.
We walked downstairs and out the front doors. The guards gave us some farewell waves, but neglected to use four of their digits. A chilly wind blew over us as Orion lay Toughs over the back seat. The dark clouds over our heads hid the midday sun and nearly made me forget it was almost noon. Orion took the driver's chair, I the passenger, and we pulled out of the parking lot.
I opened the Black Arts book that lay on my lap and glanced at the back of the front cover. My eyes widened and I whipped my head up to Orion. "You might want to take a look at this."
I opened the book and turned it so he could take a look without giving the driving of the car over to Jesus. He frowned as he read the handwritten inscription aloud. "Gifted to the Apple Hollow library, this 21st day of August 1831, by M from her personal collection." His eyes flickered to me as he raised an eyebrow. "Mab."
I nodded. "Who else would have something this weird to give to a library?"
Orion pursed his lips. "Troy, maybe, or the High Wizard. After that the list gets pretty iffy pretty quick."
I glanced over my shoulder at the sleeping beauty in the back. "So here we have Toughs with her memory wiped and a spell on her Orion arched an eyebrow. "So what are you getting at? That Mab cursed Toughs?"
I sighed and shook my head. "I don't know. I feel like we're missing parts of one of those puzzles with the red cherry in the middle and a thousand white pieces surrounding it."
Orion leaned forward and looked up at the sky. "Speaking of white, I think it's going to snow soon."
Something moved out of the corner of my eyes. I glanced in my side mirror. "How far is it to your mom's house?"
"A few miles. Why?"
I nodded at the reflection. "Because Toughs' biggest fans are wanting more than her autograph."
Orion looked into his mirror and frowned. We had a half dozen Death's Messengers a half a mile on our tail, and they were gaining.
CHAPTER 13
"Hold on!" Orion yelled.
He slammed on the brakes. We fishtailed and skidded to a stop some fifty yards down the road.
"You wanted the other pedal!" I snapped at him.
He shook his head as he fumbled inside the wizard cloak. "We can't outrun them. They're too fast. Aha!" Orion pulled out his small leather bag with the silver dust and grabbed my hand. He poured a little bit into my palm and clasped my fingers around the dust. "Don't throw it until you see the whites of their eyes. Now stay here, I'll be right back." He opened his door and stepped out.
I leaned across his seat and glared at him. "They don't have any white in their eyes!"
"Then toss it when you think you've got a good shot!" he called back as the wind picked up around him.
The swirling breeze swept the fluffy snow off the hard, crusty surface and flung it around the car. The whiteness couldn't blot out the pitch-black clothing of the ghastly groupies as they floated around Orion and the car. Their red eyes affixed to the sleeping young woman in the back of the car.
"Shit. . ." I muttered as I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed through the cramped space between the front seats. My hips needed a little convincing, but I got through and hung over Toughs. I shook my silver-filled fist at them. "Come and get a taste of your own medicine!"
"It's not a good idea to antagonize death's servants," Orion scolded me as he slipped to the rear of the car.
The death-shroud covered creatures of darkness must have taken my words personally. They let loose a choir of screeches that sounded like claws on chalkboard and flew around the car in a clockwise maneuver. They took a page out of Hitler's playbook as they made a blitzkrieg on the car, flinging themselves at the rear like their jobs depended on it.
Orion crammed his hand into the leather pouch and flung a bunch of the silver over the road. Unfortunately, that's the only thing he hit as the Messengers flew out of range of the death sparkles. They hissed and extended their pale, clawed hands. The tips of their sharp fingers clicked together like claws on a linoleum floor. The creatures came together and lined up in single file before they made another go at their attack.
Orion hit the first one with the silver. The creature screamed and flew away. The second one got a dose of the metal, but the last four were too fast for Orion. They swooped in and slashed their claws over his face and body. He flung up his arm to block their blows, but that didn't stop their coming.
"Orion"!" I screamed as I watched his clothes get sliced and diced. Large gashes opened in his arm and blood spilled from the deep wounds.
He staggered back as the creatures flew away. Their injured brethren returned to be the first in line for their next attack. Orion spun around and leapt into the car. He slammed his foot on the gas before he got his door shut. The wheels spun in fast, smoke-inducing circles for a few seconds before the car found traction and flew down the road.
I grabbed the oh-shit handle above the rear passenger door and whipped my head to him. "I thought you said they were too fast!"
He shifted his injured arm and grimaced. "I didn't expect them to kill themselves to get at her. With that kind of determination we'll have a better chance with speed."
I glanced over my shoulder and shook my head. "No we won't."
The Messengers had broken into three squadrons with two apiece in each group. A group each took the sides and one handled the rear of the car as they flew up to us.
The country road on which we drove was surrounded on either side with mountains of snow. Those piles eliminated the shoulder and occasionally slid into the white lines that marked the edge of the lanes. This gave the feel of a tunnel effect for us, especially when the Messengers floated up on either side of the car with their p
ansy cloaks billowing around us.
"Bogeys at all hours!" I yelled.
"Hold on to something!" Orion shouted.
"I am hol-holy shit!"
Orion spun the wheel and the car pulled a dozen illegal u-turns. The rear fender hit one of the creatures. It screamed and flew away with its butt smoking. Orion stuck his arm out the window and opened his palm. The wind caught a cloud of silver dust and spread it around us. The rest of our tag-alongs were doused with the stuff and ran screaming away.
Kind of like how I was screaming at that moment.
"Are you trying to get us killed!" I screamed at him. I was on the back floor with my arms draped over Toughs.
Orion righted the car so we faced down the road and slammed on the gas again. We jumped forward, but the straight direction was better for my stomach.
He leaned against his seat and breathed deep. "Damn, it's been a long time since I did that."
I fell back on my legs and arched an eyebrow at him. "How did you survive your childhood?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask my mom when you meet her."
I glanced at the rear window. "You mean 'if' we meet her."
Orion shook his head. "They're gone for now. It'll take a while for those things to lick their wounds and come back for another try."
I cast my sights over the unconscious girl. A loose strand of hair fell over her face. I brushed it away and pursed my lips.
Orion glanced over his shoulder at us. "How is she?"
"She's still not awake."
"Then we can give Sleeping Beauty a comfortable bed until she wakes up."
We drove for another fifteen minutes before Orion slowed and turned onto a bumpy dirt road. A plow had come through, and judging by the tire tracks it had been attached to a tractor. A mess at the top of the driveway indicated some trouble, particularly when I noticed a spot where a front tire had sunk into the soft snow of the ditch.
Orion shook his head. "Mom was never good at driving that tractor."
I grasped the back of the front seats and leaned forward between them. "So if you're mom's still around then where's your dad?"
Orion pursed his lips and shook his head. "He passed away when I was a kid."
My face fell. "I'm sorry. I-"
"Don't worry about it," he interrupted as he flashed me his grin. "Mom took good care of me. Without her I wouldn't be the man I am today."
I snorted and glanced ahead at the road. "Then I've got some complaints for her."
I glimpsed a small, two-floor old farmhouse at the end of the straight driveway. A gables red barn stood to the left and across a small barnyard from the house. The tell-tale tractor, which snow up to its cab, sat in front of the large double-doors.
A pack of large dogs raced out of the ajar door as we drove up to the house. The leader was brown with patches of orange. The creatures stopped a half dozen yards short of the car and barked their heads off at us. Some of them circled the vehicle and growled at my door.
Orion stepped out of the car and smiled at the ring-leader. "Hey, Mom."
I blinked at the small creature for a moment before I turned my attention to Orion. "Your mom's dog is called-" The dog stood on its back legs and transformed into a leotard-wearing woman of fifty, "-Mom?"
The woman smiled. I recognized that coy grin anywhere. She also had his unruly hair and near-perfect figure. The big differences I saw were her short stature and how her hands were covered in scars.
"I'm sorry about that," she apologized. "Sometimes I get so excited about visitors that I just can't help myself, and my babies just have to help me." She looked around at all her yapping children and clapped her hands. "All right, that's enough. Back to the barn." The dogs stopped their barking and trotted into the barn.
Orion shook his head as he opened the rear driver door. "Where do you keep finding those mutts?"
She shrugged. "Oh, you know, drop-offs and hand-me-downs." She folded her arms and studied her son. "They come around more often than a certain someone I know."
Orion pulled Toughs out of the car and settled her into his arms. "You'd better get inside before you catch cold in that getup."
His mom put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "I'll have you know the patent is just about ready for this 'getup,' as you call it. Soon everyone in town will be wearing one."
I glanced at Orion. "Your mom's a dog?"
He grinned at me. "Come on. You've seen stranger things than that here."
I pointed a finger at him. "Yeah, but you're a werewolf."
His mother sighed and shook her head. "Every day I wonder what the Tree was thinking when they have him the ability to grow taller than his mother."
"I'm always taller than you," he reminded her as he walked toward the house. "Now do you mind if we go inside? We've got a small problem here."
"It looks rather large," his mom commented as she and I followed him up the short porch and into the house.
"It was smaller an hour ago," I assured her.
Orion's mom stopped in her tracks and grabbed my arm. She leaned forward and sniffed the air around me as Orion proceeded up a flight of narrow stairs that stood against the wall to the left.
"Should I have worn perfume?" I asked her.
She arched an eyebrow. "Only if you had wanted to hide my son's scent. He's all over you."
"In more ways than one. . ." I muttered.
She leaned closer to me and squinted her eyes. "You must be the one he told me about. Bunny Lion, was it?"
"Trixie Lyal," I corrected her.
She smiled and released me. "Of course. You're that nice young lady who's been helping so many of us around here."
I gave her a shaky smile. "I aim to please," I told her even as I aimed my footsteps for the stairs. "Anyway, I really should be getting-"
"We should let her sleep," Orion's voice spoke up. I heard his footsteps before he appeared down the steps to rejoin us in the small entrance area. "If there was a problem with her magic the High Wizard would have told us-"
"Are you bothering those poor men again?" his mom spoke up as she scowled at him.
Orion nervously smiled and held up his hands. "It's not what you think, Mom. We were trying to ask them some questions and-"
"You know they don't like you coming around there, not since you stole their sacrifice that one year," she scolded him.
Orion dropped his hands and rolled his eyes. "That was fifteen years ago, Mom, and besides, Bill was in on it, too."
She wagged a finger at him. "Don't go blaming Bill for the trouble you get yourself into. He turned into a fine young man, and here you are bothering a group of old men who just want to be left alone."
I folded my arms across my chest and grinned. "I'm starting to like her."
His mom gestured to me. "And what's this about? Why didn't you tell me you were dating again?"
I raised an eyebrow and flickered my eyes to Orion. "Have you started a fan club for all the girls you've dated?"
Orion shook his head. "It's nothing like that, I swear!"
"Not in this house, young man," his mom warned him. She wrapped her arm around me and turned me toward the rear of the house. "Why don't I get us a cup of warm cocoa and show you some baby pictures of Orion."
I glanced over my shoulder and grinned at him. "Sounds great."
"Mom!"
CHAPTER 14
I was treated to cookies, a warm drink with a little nog, and a lot of Orion's humiliation. She plopped a tome down on the kitchen table in the cozy, wood-stove warmed room and smiled down at me. "Feel free to look as much as you want. He was just adorable when he was a baby, and his bottom was just too cute."
"Mom, please don't do this to me," Orion pleaded as he took a seat at the small breakfast table.
I opened the book and snorted. The first page had one picture in the center. It was of Orion as a baby. He lay on his stomach on a bear rug and was as naked as the day he was born.
I gri
nned at him as he sat across from me. "You were so cute as a baby. What happened?"
"He got stubborn, that's what," his mom spoke up as she placed warm mugs in front of both of us. She set a hand on his shoulder and sighed at him. "He's so much like his father, but without the courage to settle down and have a family."
Orion cringed. "We've been through this before, Mom-" She held up a hand.
"I know, I know, but I'd still like some grandchildren before I grow too old to teach them to hunt," she replied.
Orion grinned and patted her hand. "I don't think you'll ever get that old, Mom."
She smiled and turned her attention to me. "And what about you, Miss Lyal?"
I choked on some cocoa and glanced from mother to son. The son had a sly look on his face that I didn't like. "What about me?"
"Are you thinking about settling down?" she wondered.
"I-I never really thought about it much, Mrs. Huntley," I admitted.
She shook her head. "Please, call me Abby, and I'm sure it's just because you haven't found the right man yet." She slipped behind Orion and put her hands on his shoulders. "Now I know my little Johnny isn't-"
"Mom."
"-the best in the valley, but he-"
"Mom."
"-does have steady employment and-"
"MOM."
Abby glanced down at her red-cheeked son. "There's no need to shout, Johnny. I'm right here."
"We didn't come here so you could play matchmaker," he told her.
She sighed and let her hands slip from his shoulders. "I thought as much, but maybe I-"
"Death's Messengers."
She frowned. "What about them?"
He nodded his head at the ceiling. "That girl I took upstairs has a bunch of them on her tail. She needs a safe place to stay until we find out who performed the curse."
Abby arched an eyebrow. "Why not the Wizard Lodge?"
Orion shook his head. "It's already had some trouble with mice, so we thought we'd bring her here."
Abby furrowed her brow. "I didn't recognize the girl. What about her parents? Doesn't she have any family?"
"She doesn't even have her memory," I spoke up.
Abby pursed her lips. "The poor dear. I'll try to make her as comfortable as I can, but how are you going to find her enemy if she doesn't know who it is?"
"Let's just say you might be holding her for a while," he warned her.
His mom took a seat at the table and shook her head. "What trouble you get into, Johnny. And here I was just talking to Widow Snoopy. About your taking a job for the police over the early ship appearance."