The Changeling Princess (14 page)

CHAPTER 25

We stopped for lunch before picking up Highway 64 into West Virginia. I was starved, but Wade limited his order to a hamburger and a coke.

“
What’s wrong,” I asked.

“
The Warlocks spoiled my appetite. I can still smell the stench from the smoke.”

“
Really?” I said as I took a bite from my second hamburger and picked up a handful of fries. “All that excitement made me hungry. I’m even thinking about having a malt.”

Wade stared at me with his usual grin.
“I know you’re making fun of me, but I can’t get mad at you. There are times when you’re full of the devil, but I know you don’t have a mean bone in your entire body.”

“
Now you’re telling me I’m little Miss Goody Two Shoes?”

Wade looked amused as he motioned to the waitress.
“I’ll have two more hamburgers and a strawberry malt. Wade turned and glared at me. “How can anyone not eat when they’re sitting across from someone who eats like a pig?”

“
As Porky Pig used to say, “It…it takes one...one to know...know one.”

*
* *

We passed through a lot of small towns, but I didn
’t detect any Witches or Warlock scents. The scent of the Warlock brothers kept getting stronger, so I knew we were heading in the right direction.

I pulled into a motel on the outskirts of Charleston at eight-thirty. After we checked in, I parked the car in front of our room and we unloaded our bags. It was a nice motel room, but they eventually all look the same when you
’re traveling across country.

I laid on the bed and stretched my arms over my head. I hadn
’t realized how tiring driving a car all day could be. “I wish you’d learned how to drive, Wade. Why didn’t you take Driver’s Ed?”

“
I don’t know. I just never got around to it. Besides, owning a car was out of the question, so I just put it out of my mind.”

“
My dad has a real good job, so I guess I took it for granted I’d get my own car. I guess I sound like a spoiled rich kid who takes everything for granted?”

“
We’re all a product of our upbringing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a good person just because you’re well off. What’s important is how you treat others. Bobby Sims is a good example. His parents are wealthy, but his only friends are kids who suck up to him. On the opposite end of the scale is Bonita Sanchez. Her parents came to this country with nothing but the clothes on their backs and she works after school to help out at home. She’s friendly to everyone and she’s always the first one in line when it comes to helping others. Outside of a few snobs, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Bonita. So I ask you, who’s really the wealthier of the two, Bobby or Bonita?”

I kissed Wade on the check and said goodnight. Wade
’s heart was as enormous as his courage. That made him a very special guy.

*
* *

After an early breakfast, we had the car packed and we were ready to go at seven thirty. Wade looked concerned as he stared at the car.
“Maybe we should consider washing the car sometime today. It’s so dirty I can barely tell what color it is.”

“
I agree. Stand back and I’ll have it clean in no time flat.”

There was no one around, so I incorporated my power of telekinesis. Wade had a surprised look on his face as the dirt began peeling itself off the car. It took less than five minutes and the car was as shiny as a new dime.

“You’re in the wrong line of work, Janis. You should open up a car wash. The customers would pay an extra two bucks just to watch you wash their car.”

I winked at Wade.
“Maybe I’ll consider your advice in my old age.”

*
* *

My map showed that we were two hundred miles from Cincinnati. I figured we
’d stop there for lunch and then head to Chicago. If we didn’t run into any trouble along the way, we’d be in Chicago somewhere around seven o’clock tonight.

We were about fifty miles from Cincinnati when I picked up the unmistakable scent of Warlocks. I had no idea what we were driving into, so I pulled over to the side of the road.
“Wade, I want you to put the cloaking spell on the car.”

“
Have you located the twin brothers?”

“
No, but I’ve picked up a strong scent of Warlocks.”

Wade got out of the car and took a deep breath.
“I guess they’re too far away for my senses to pick them up. Janis, you’ve got a real super nose.”

*
* *

When we reached Cincinnati, I followed the scent to an upscale neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. I parked across the street from a large mansion with a guard posted in front of a security gate.
“That man is a Warlock,” I told Wade. “I sense more of them in the house, so I’m going to do a quick fly through.”

I rolled down the car window and morphed into a Mist. I made myself invisible and flew into the house for a quick inspection. This had to be a really quick look. I
’d triggered an alarm and there was a blinking red light in every room I entered. I was back in the car in one minute flat.

“
I heard the alarm system,” Wade said with concern.

“
That surprised me. No one’s ever been able to pick up my scent when I’m a Mist.”

“
They must have some kind of an advanced alarm system and your scent didn’t match any of the codes. There’re probably still trying to figure out what happened.”

“
I didn’t pick up the scent of anything but Warlocks.”

“
Maybe we’ve stumbled onto a Warlock crime family. Maybe these Warlocks control all the gambling and drugs in this area.”

“
I think we should put them out of business.”

“
My thinking exactly. They’re a menace to the city and the entire world would be better off without them. If you look closely, the guard at the front gate doesn’t have any hives on his face. That means we’re no longer dealing with low level Warlocks.”

“
I think it’s time to introduce them to the Changeling Princess.”

We had no sooner gotten out of the car when the guard picked up our scent.
“It’s time to take a nap,” Wade said as he invoked his power of thought control. The guard crumpled to the ground and went to sleep.

We unloaded our swords and shields and I morphed into the Changeling Princess. I held onto Wade
’s hand as we morphed into Mist and headed toward the mansion.

We flew across the grounds and morphed back to our human form after we entered the house. The alarm was blaring, so I threw up a defensive force field.

Several armed Warlocks came running from an adjacent room with handguns and opened fire. When the Warlocks stopped to reload, I dissolved the force field and we opened fire. All that remained were the clouds of foul smelling black smoke that filled the air.

We were on our way upstairs when a Warlock appeared at the top of the spiral staircase. I knew he was a Warlock with advanced powers because he fired an energy beam at us. I blocked the beam with my shield and returned fire. That was the last thing he
’d ever remember before bursting into a cloud of black smoke.

We climbed the stairs and walked to a room at the end of the hallway. My senses told me that this was the last remaining stronghold of this Warlock crime family.

I threw up a protective force field the instant we opened the door. We were met by a barrage of energy blasts from three Warlocks, who were standing in the middle of the room.

We watched as their energy blasts quickly lost their power. As we had done downstairs, I dissolved the force field and we opened fire. We made our way through the foul smoke and approached what appeared to be the chief Warlock. He was seated behind a large desk with a smug look on his face. He acted as if he didn
’t have a care in the world.

“
Apparently you don’t know who you’re dealing with,” he said with an evil smirk. “I pay protection money to Ezra and Ezell, the two most powerful Warlocks in the world. Perhaps you’d like to meet someone they left behind to take care of intruders like you.”

A large metal door opened and out walked a huge Demon. He had limbs like a tree trunk and his height was close to seven feet tall. He was carrying a sword and a shield and he walked straight toward Wade.
“Bring it on, big guy,” Wade said as he faced off against the Demon.

Wade had learned his lessons well because he countered every move the Demon made. The Demon was losing the fight and he was angry. He had slashes on his arms and legs and he was swinging wildly. When the Demon lunged forward, Wade stepped to one side and severed his head with one clean sweep of his sword. The Demon fell to the floor in a heap.

“What kind of creatures are you?” the Warlock screamed. His face was twisted with anger as he reached into his desk drawer for a gun.

I fired a quick energy blast. All that was left of the chief Warlock was the black residue that covered the chair where he
’d been sitting. I turned to Wade with a big smile. “You’ve become really good with a sword.”

“
Thanks, but what do we do with the dead Demon? We can’t leave it here for the authorities to find.”

“
I’ll take care of that.” I grabbed the steel door with my hands and tore it off its hinges. I walked it to the middle of room and laid it on the floor beside the Demon. I turned to the Demon and employed telekinesis, lifting the creature and laying his huge body on top of the door. I burned the remains with my energy beam until there was nothing left but a blackened steel door.

We were walking back to the car when Wade commented,
“Ripping that steel door off its hinges was pretty impressive.”

“
I saw Wonder Woman do that in a comic book and I’ve been dying to try it. You’ve got super strength. You can rip the next steel door off its hinges.”

“
What a team we’d make. You can be Wonder Woman and I’ll be Wonder Man.”

I rolled my eyes at Wade
’s humor. There were times when he reminded me of Sherri.

We were both laughing when I noticed the front gate was open.
“What happened to the Warlock you put to sleep?”

“
He probably woke up and decided it was time to find another job.”

CHAPTER 26

We were both in a good mood, but before we resumed our journey to Chicago, I reached across the car and placed my hand on Wade’s forehead. “Maybe you should see a doctor,” I said.

“
Why? I’m feeling pretty good right now.”

“
I bet you’re still pumped up over defeating that Demon with your sword.”

“
Yeah, I am, but what’s that got to do with seeing a doctor?”

“
You skipped lunch and now its dinner time.”

Wade blushed.
“You’re absolutely right. I can’t believe I did that.” We both chuckled.

We probably wouldn
’t arrive in Chicago before nine o’clock, but the delay had been worth it. The fewer Warlocks the country had to deal with, the better off everyone was.

We passed a billboard that advertised
“Colonel Sanders Southern Fried Chicken” ten miles ahead. “How does fried chicken sound, Wade?”

Wade nodded his head.
“I saw the Colonel Sanders sign. He’s probably some cook that retired from the army and started his own restaurant. Some of those guys were great cooks.”

We stopped at Colonel Sanders and looked at the menu posted on the wall behind the counter. We ordered the five piece dinner and a large coke. We sat in a booth at the far end of restaurant and stared at the food we
’d ordered. “It smells good,” Wade said as he picked up a drumstick.

I
’d just picked up a chicken breast when Wade blurted out, “This is really great chicken.”

One bite of my chicken breast and I agreed. This fried chicken was as good as my mother
’s and I didn’t think that was possible. Wade finished his drumstick and went right to work on a chicken breast. He looked like he hadn’t eaten for a week.

We walked out of the restaurant with Wade carrying a takeout bucket of chicken and a large container of coleslaw.
“This is a snack for when we turn in tonight,” he said gleefully.

“
That’s a ten piece bucket, Wade. Is that what you call a snack?”

“
I wanted to make sure we don’t go hungry.” I was trying to keep a straight face as we pulled out on to the highway.

We were about an hour
’s drive from Chicago when Wade opened the bucket of chicken and pulled out some napkins. He looked at me and grinned. “I’m hungry. I suppose you’re going to say something to embarrass me.”

I looked at Wade without cracking a smile.
“Pass me a napkin and a drumstick.”

*
* *

The scent of the Warlock brothers was still faint, but as we got closer we got to Chicago, I picked up the scent of other Warlocks living in the area. That left little doubt that Chicago was infested with Warlocks.

My immediate game plan was to follow the general Warlock scents. It might delay our getting to the Warlock twins, but my instincts told me I was doing the right thing. If I could destroy anything the twins were involved with, I considered that a good thing.

We were up early the next morning, but we didn
’t go out to eat. We had leftover fried chicken and Wade decided that would be a great way to start off the day. It was the first time I’d ever eaten fried chicken for breakfast.

We drove around the city for about three hours. I was still undecided which Warlock scent I wanted to investigate first. We had our swords and shields in the back seat for quick action.

I was cruising near the shore of Lake Michigan when my senses went wild. I followed the scent for about five miles before I pulled off the main road. I pulled into an alley and slowed my speed down to a crawl. I’d traveled about two hundred feet when I sensed we had company. I pulled to a stop and watched a group of Warlocks step out of the shadows and block the path of our car. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw another group of Warlocks standing behind the car. All of the Warlocks were carrying weapons.

I turned to Wade.
“Did you remember to cloak the car this morning?”

“
Wade had a blank stare on his face. “Oops.”

We needed a plan and we needed it quick. I grabbed Wade by the arm and we turned invisible.
“Listen up, Wade. I’m going to morph into a Mist and we’re going to materialize in between the two groups. I’ll throw up a quick force field and we’ll let them open fire. When they stop to reload, I’ll drop the shield and we’ll open fire. I’ll take the group in front and you take the group in the back.

Wade grinned
“I’m ready when you are.”

I morphed into a Mist and drifted through a crack in the car window as the Warlocks walked cautiously toward the car. When we materialized, we were standing back to back with an eight-foot tall force field surrounding us. I had extended the force field to my car because I didn
’t want it full of bullet holes.

The Warlocks opened fire with a barrage of bullets and low level energy beams. When the Warlocks stopped to reload, I dropped the force field on both sides and we returned fire with a rapid round of energy bolts. With the exception of the lingering black smoke, it was just like target practice at the mountain retreat.

I felt a strong wind at my back. I turned around to see Wade holding his arms in the air. Directly in front of him was a raging tornado he’d conjured up in the alley. The tornado had swept up the remaining Warlocks and they were locked in a lethal death spiral. As Wade commanded the tornado to spin faster and faster, the Warlocks began exploding like balloons on a carnival dart board. When the last Warlock was destroyed, the tornado suddenly disappeared. Wade was wearing an exceptionally big grin.

“
Wade, not a day goes by that I’m not impressed with you—and I really mean that.”

“
Coming from you, there can be no greater compliment. I’m curious though, is there anything that you can’t do?”

“
If you want to know the truth, I’m a lousy cook.”

It took several days, but we eventually made a systematic sweep across the Chicago area. It was worth the effort because we freed three Witch Clans and destroyed four Warlock Clans. Wade joked that we should write a book.

“I like that idea. We could call it Teenage Bounty Hunters.”

*
* *

It was early Sunday afternoon. I followed a scent led me to an exclusive gated community with some of the most beautiful mansions I
’d ever seen. Wade used his power of suggestion and we were admitted through the front gate.

The mansion with the Warlock scent was large enough to be mistaken for a hotel. We parked down the street and I went through my usual procedure of morphing into a Mist for a quick inspection.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Wade as I drifted out of the car.

To my surprise, I found out that I couldn
’t enter the mansion. I returned to the car and morphed back to my human form. “That was fast,” Wade remarked.

“
I couldn’t get in because the Warlocks have erected a force field over the mansion. I think we’ve just hit the jackpot.”

“
You think this is the top of the Warlock food chain in the Chicago area?”

“
I’m sure of it. Who else could afford a setup like this?”

Our attention was drawn to a limousine pulling up to the front gate. The gate attendant had no sooner let the limousine through when another limousine pulled up to the gate. We sat there for close to an hour and watched eight limousines pass through the gate.

“It looks like a meeting of the bigwigs,” Wade said.

“
This could be a really sweet takedown. Let’s get ready because we can’t pass up an opportunity like this.”

We removed our swords and shields from the trunk of the car. I morphed into the Changeling Princess and held onto Wade
’s hand as we morphed into a Mist. We flew toward the mansion and stopped short of the force field surrounding the mansion. “We’re going underground,” I whispered to Wade.

I used the air pockets in the ground and headed downward to a depth of five feet. As I expected, the force field only extended a short distance below ground level. I could hear Wade breathing hard when we surfaced inside the force field.
“What’s the matter, Wade, don’t you like traveling underground?”

“
It’s about as yucky as those foul-smelling Warlocks.”

The alarms were blaring as we drifted under the front door. There were blinking red lights everywhere when we morphed back to our human form. We were standing in a large hallway, so the first thing I did was create a circular force field that covered us from every angle.

A door opened and a Warlock stepped into the hallway directly in front of us. He was accompanied by six bodyguards. These were weird-looking Warlocks because the suits they were wearing were fashioned from the 1930s. They reminded me of mobsters from the early gangster movies.

“
My name is Zarkoff,” the head guy said. “You’ve been creating a lot of trouble for us in Chicago, but I must admit I’m surprised to see how young you are. I’m afraid you’re going to regret coming to this house.” Zarkoff stepped to one side and issued a single command, “Take ‘em out, boys.”

The six bodyguards opened fire with energy beams. The transparent force field I
’d erected deflected the energy beams like buck shot bouncing off a steel door. I looked at Wade and grinned. “I’ll take the three on the left.”

I dissolved the force field and released three quick energy bolts. Wade did the same. The only thing left was left was Zarkoff, waving his hands and coughing from the black smoke.
“I don’t believe it,” he said. “Those were my best bodyguards. No one has that kind of power.”

Zarkoff reached into his vest pocket and removed a large ruby. I felt an intense cold in the room as Zarkoff held the ruby in front of him. Wade acted out of instinct and stepped forward. In one swift motion, he cut Zarkoff
’s arm off with his sword. The ruby went flying across the room as I released a pair of energy bolts directly into Zarkoff’s chest, causing him to dissolve into a cloud of black smoke. I wasn’t going to take a chance he might come up with another cute trick.

“
What kind of a ruby is that?” I asked Wade.

“
I’m not sure, but I know it’s possessed. Another ten seconds and the temperature in the hallway would have been down to zero. Zarkoff must have had some type of protection to protect himself from the immense cold.”

I picked up the ruby and tucked it away for safe keeping. I figured it might come in handy someday.

I followed the Warlock scent up the stairs and down the hallway. I came to a large set of doors and stopped. I motioned to Wade to stand back as I opened the doors with telekinesis. I erected a force field just in case someone was waiting for us.

It was a large room and the d
écor was exclusively1930s. The decor matched the suits the Warlocks were wearing. No one was firing at us, so I dissolved the force field.

At one end of the room was a large table. There were four Warlocks seated on each side of the table with a single Warlock seated at the head of the table. He was probably the chief Warlock who lived here and the remaining Warlocks were the warlords who had arrived in the limousines.

The chief Warlock was smoking a cigar. Hanging behind him was a portrait of him standing beside Al Capone, the famous gangster who ruled Chicago in the 1930s. The chief Warlock was definitely a fan of the Al Capone era.

The eight Warlocks rose to their feet. The head Warlock shouted,
“Don’t let these young punks upset you, boys. Keep your heaters in your holsters and I’ll take care of these kids just like Big Al would have done. I’ll fight force with force.”

A door opened and in walked a huge Demon. He reminded me of the other Demon that Wade had destroyed, only bigger. Everyone backed up against the wall as the Demon came toward us. I fired a series of energy blasts, but the Demon kept coming. I also noticed that the Demon had grown in size after he absorbed my energy blasts.

“He’s a Heat Demon,” Wade shouted. “He absorbs heat and it makes him stronger.”

I changed tactics and employed my power of telekinesis. The Demon stopped dead in his tracks like he
’d been turned into a statue. I removed the ruby from my toga. The instant I released my hold, I hurled the ruby at the Demon. The force behind my throw was so powerful that the ruby became imbedded a good six inches into the Demon’s chest. The Demon roared with pain as I concentrated on releasing the power of the ruby. I watched as the Heat Demon turned into a giant icicle.

I turned to Wade.
“You have the honors.”

Wade focused his energy beam at the Demon
’s chest. The explosion that followed shook the entire room. It was like watching an exploding ice display as the Demon shattered into a thousand pieces.

The Warlocks panicked and reached for their handguns. At the same time, the chief Warlock reached down for a machine gun he had hidden under the table. That was the last move he ever made. We unleashed the power of our energy bolts, causing the room to be filled with a torrent of black smoke. I had to admit that black smoke was becoming one of my favorite sights. The smell still made Wade a little woozy, but he had stopped complaining.