kate storm 04 - witches dont back down (14 page)

"Punch it." I told Désirée. "I'll cast a spell if we see any police.

Désirée Norma-Sue hit the gas.

Onward soldier. Go me.

17. Self-Defense Tactics and Break-Ins.

"
The key to self-defense is to be aware of your environment at all times." Charles Clayton adjusted his wire rimmed glasses. "Be aware and fully committed to the moment."

I liked Charles Clayton. I hadn't expected to. As much as I needed the distraction, I was still slightly irked with Mr. Clayton.

Late last night I discovered Al had recorded several shows on wolves. Two documentaries and three shows pitting wolves against other animals to determine who would win in a battle. One show listed a wolf versus a lion. I didn't bother to look up the info on the other shows, I'd simply deleted them. My neighbor’s tabby cat outweighed Al by a good ten pounds at least.

Basically, I'd come to support my secretary. And to stop thinking about all the possible ways I could die a slow and torturous death.

To discover Charles Clayton was well-spoken, intelligent and knowledgeable was a pleasant surprise.

He'd drawn a crowd of about thirty people. Of all ages. From a young, college age looking student in the front row to an elderly gentleman sitting next to me who looked as if a brisk breeze could blow him over.

Naomi Blue, the oracle who owned
Oracle's Books
, had set out just the right amount of chairs naturally. She'd smiled and nodded towards the last two chairs when Désirée Norma-Sue and I had walked in.

I'd smiled back and tried not to grind my teeth.

I really do not like know-it-alls.

"Make note of buildings, cars, any type of structure as you drive or walk around. You can always take advantage of whatever environment you find yourself in. There are any number weapons - such as branches, glass windows, rocks and even discarded items on the ground you can use to defend yourself with if you are simply paying attention. Plus there are places in which to hide if all else fails." Charles Clayton paused and took a small sip of water from a nearby glass.

I thought he would be taller.

Granted, my idea of a bad ass fighter is really tall, massively built and completely unafraid. Ash has forever skewed my ideal of the ultimate warrior.

Most creatures–humans and non–are going to suffer by comparison.

Still, Mr. Clayton looked as if he stood about five-foot-six tops. He had shaggy brown hair, pale skin with freckles and he dressed like a nerd. Khaki pants, white button down shirt, dark narrow tie. And a pocket protector with three pens over his left severely under-developed pec.

He was also rather slender.

Without knowing any self-defense moves, I could probably pin him by my weight alone. Possibly just my chest would do it.

"The second most important factor is to show no fear. No matter what the circumstances. No matter what the odds." Charles Clayton looked up. For a second I thought he was looking directly at me. "You must advance forward at all costs. Give no ground. You may be terrified and feel as if all hope is lost, but never, I repeat NEVER, show that to your enemy. The moment you show your fear is the moment your enemy will strike."

Be strong. Show no fear.

Could I do that? I had so many fears. Could I hide them all? Every single one of them?

Cursed. Half-bred. Mortal.

I was so many things. Things that didn't add up. No matter which community I was in. I wasn't human. I wasn't a member of the HC.

I didn't fit in. I'd always been forced to make my own way.

And now both my business and my life were on the line.

"To be weak, to present yourself as less than your opponent is to lose. Nature has always shown us that the strong survive. The weak are prey."

Weak.
Human trash, who let you in to our school?

"Lie if you must. To yourself and to your enemy." Charles Clayton pointed his finger at us. "
Embrace
the lie! Gather it in and wrap yourself around it" He made a fist and brought it back to thump his chest with it hard. Once. Twice. "Do what you must to survive because in that moment, nothing else matters, but survival. It's you or it's them. Make sure it’s you!"

Charles Clayton pumped his fist in the air.

Everyone in the audience rose up out of their seats and pumped their arms in the air with him.

Myself included.

I could do this. I could beat Morgause. The other option wasn't worth considering.

****

I ended up buying every single book in Charles Clayton's self-defense series. And I got them all signed too.

Of course, Naomi had smiled and made a point to shake my hand on the way out. "Mr. Clayton was very helpful, wasn't he?"

Yes. Yes, he was.

I still didn't tell her that.

Then again I didn't need to. Naomi is an oracle. She already knew.

Damn it. That's so irritating.

Désirée Norma-Sue practically floated back to Love Required
.
She'd gotten Mr. Clayton to sign her gi inspired outfit. Right next to her left breast.

She thought it was totally awesome.

I thought Charles Clayton had been going to pass out while he signed his name. His hand shook which made the letters in his name wobbly and his eyes had almost bulged right through his glasses.

I doubted he had many readers who looked like Désirée.

"Charles Clayton is amazing!" Désirée hugged her chest below his signature and waited while I unlocked the door.

Funny. The door didn't open. I turned the key the other way and the door unlocked.

"Yes, he is." I pulled the door open. "I really liked . . ." I froze. "Oh, shit."

"What's wrong, Sugah?" Désirée poked her head over my shoulder. She shrieked. "Who did this?"

My business was in shambles.

Chairs over-turned, papers scattered all over the floor. The trash can kicked over.

Désirée Norma-Sue pushed against my back as if trying to get by me. I shoved her back. "Wait! I don't know if anyone is still inside."

"I'll check." Désirée tried to hip check me out of the way. She screamed, "Yo! You scum sucking, bottom of the swamp feeding parasite! You in here?"

For a brief second the image of an enormous black slug with a gaping jaw and rotting vegetation dangling from the corner of its mouth popped into my head. Then I shook my head which helped to clear my ringing ears.

"I don't think a burglar is going to answer, Désirée."

I held her back with my body while I sent my magic out.

I couldn't feel a physical presence. Nothing to indicate someone was still inside Love Required.

I did feel something else though.

Desperation.

Wild and chaotic and oddly hopeless.

Whoever had trashed my business had been so distraught while they went on their rampage, they had left behind actual traces of their emotions.

"Do you feel anyone?"

"No. Whoever did this is gone."

"Then let's go in." Désirée shoved her sleeves up. "We need to see if they trashed the offices as well."

"Wait." I managed to move Désirée to the side and shut the door. "Call Phil."

"What? Why?"

"Because Al is with Ash and they are too far away by now. And I don't want to disturb any scent left behind. We need Phil's nose."

The gargoyle sense of smell is legendary throughout the HC.

Désirée tilted her head. "Do you think Phil can track the person?" She pulled her phone out of the deep V in her top and started tapping at the screen.

"I hope so." I rubbed my hand over my belly. The emotions I'd felt were so strong they made me physically ill. I whispered the words to a calming spell before I told Désirée, "I think whoever broke in was human." I bent down to examine the lock. I couldn't tell if it had been tampered with or not. I know nothing about criminal forensic science.

I cast another quick spell, searching for other magic. I couldn't find any evidence that another spell had been cast to open my door either.

And I'd been so upset when we had left earlier, I'd forgotten to set my own protection spell.

I'd also forgotten to lock the door. No wonder it hadn't opened before. I'd left my business unlocked.

Panic will do that to a witch.

"Why do think it was a human who did this?" Désirée asked. A second later her voice melted into pure adoration. "Sugar Bear! I miss you!" She paused for a moment, laughed, then said, "Love of my life, I need a favor. Can you meet me at Love Required
right now?"

I gave up on examining the lock and twisted just in time to see Désirée Norma-Sue's face light up with unabashed joy.

"I'll see you in a minute then." She hit the end button and tucked her phone back into the edge of her top.

Despite everything, I couldn't help smile. There really is good with the bad. And Désirée's absolute love for Phil was a definite good.

"Why do you think a human did this?" She asked again.

"I could feel them. Him. Maybe her." I shook my head. "It was one person and they left a trail of emotions I could sense with my magic."

Désirée Norma-Sue nodded sagely. "Makes sense then. We're not a very demonstrative group," she said, referring to the HC.

I swallowed my snort. "Actually, that's not what I meant."

"Oh?"

I looked through the glass front door at my wrecked office. "No." I shook my head. "Whoever did this wasn't simply distraught." I sighed. "They were utterly desperate."

Love Required has always been where people come to find love. To find hope and meaning in their lives.

Whoever had broken in had given up on hope. They'd given up period.

The HC were never hopeless. They were immortal. They could afford to wait out any bad times in their lives, no matter how long it lasted.

Whatever the person had been searching for in my business, it had been their last push.

As upset as I was with seeing the destruction in my office, I was equally disturbed by the implications the vandal had left behind.

I'd literally felt his or her pain with my magic.

They hadn't found their objective. There was too much negative emotion left behind.

Since he or she hadn't found what they wanted, or needed, where did that leave them? And why had they thought they could find it at Love Required?

18. Bad Nymphs.

Phil arrived less than five minutes after Désirée Norma-Sue's phone call.

He pulled up in his extended cab black pickup truck with chrome hubcaps and a silver bare-branched tree with a bolt of lightning striking its center emblazoned on the side.

Legend has it that the most powerful gargoyle had sprung from a dead tree hit by lightning.

Frankly, I thought a large stone would have made more sense, but every gargoyle I'd met insisted it was a dead tree.

And it never pays to argue with a gargoyle. They're incredibly stubborn and at some point you just know they are going to turn to stone. You can't win.

Phil flung open his door. "You all right, baby?"

If Barry White married a woman who sounded just like Barry White and they had a son, he would sound like Phil. Like an orchestra composed of only the bass instruments. Every time he spoke, each word echoed and rumbled as if it bounced around twice in his vocal cords.

"I'm fine, Sugar Bear." Désirée hurried forward to greet Phil. She was always excited to see him.

They lived together. Saw each other every day. And yet you wouldn't know it if you saw them right now.

Phil emerged from his pickup with the same urgency. The same desire.

When she was a good three feet away, Désirée flung herself forward. Phil caught her in his arms and hugged her close.

Physically they were about as mismatched as a couple could get. Désirée Norma-Sue was tiny. Phil was about two or three times her size. Twice her height and three times her girth.

For a gargoyle, Phil was incredibly rotund.

Most gargoyles are very fit and heavily muscled.

I knew Phil was heavily muscled as well. I'd seen his strength in action. His muscles were just buried. Deeply, deeply buried.

Phil and I had discussed weight and all the issues surrounding the excess of weight several times.

He could have cared less. Phil was happy with himself.

Which meant most of our conversations were about me.

Phil wore a charm that allowed him to stay mobile and conscious during the day. He wore another one to glamour his appearance. Humans saw a tall, very round, dark skinned man wearing a fedora, a button down tropical shirt, cargo shorts and sandals. I could see his skin was actually grayer in color, the point in his ears and the incredibly large hands and feet with dark claws.

Anyone could see the utter devotion in his eyes.

I wish I could take credit for their match, but that was all Désirée Norma-Sue. She'd seen Phil across a crowded floor and had fallen as hard as a fairy could.

"Kate." Phil nodded in greeting. "Why are you two outside?"

"Come see, Sugar Bear." Désirée tugged Phil over to where I stood by the entrance. "Kate is hoping you can track the creep who did this." She flung open the door.

I followed them inside. The destruction and anguish in the air made me wince all over again.

"Damn." Phil set his hands on his hips as he surveyed the damage. He inhaled slowly. "Someone was very upset."

"I know." I said. "Can you smell anything else? Do you think you can track them?"

Phil inhaled again and moved forward. He picked up the small table in the waiting room and set it up right. Then he walked over to my human office and looked inside. He shook his head and whistled.

There went my faint hope we might have disturbed the vandal and spooked him or her before they got to my offices.

Phil walked over to my HC office. The door was closed. Phil opened it and looked inside.

"Any unhappy clients, Kate?"

Désirée stepped forward before I could answer.

"You know everyone loves her, Sugar Bear."

Phil looked over his shoulder at me and raised his eyebrows.