Page 84 of That Mafioso Magic
Xavier looked down at his watch. “Shit, you’re right. Fuck… maybe I should have waited in the car.”
“Don’t you dare… that holy water came in handy, buddy,” I said.
Shanie returned with a sour look on her face. “Well, now that we have that little demonic bitch, can we go?”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I did what I had to do to make that thing weak enough for you to finish whatever spell that was. Its blood was rancid,” she commented.
“Thank you for your help,” I said. “All of you.”
“Whatever,” Shanie said. “By the way, there is a dead body in the master bedroom. I suppose it’s the owner of this house.” With that, she walked past me and out of the house.
“Well, you can’t say she isn’t a humble one,” I said.
“I knew I smelled a body, just didn’t have time to worry about it,” Jewel said.
“Are you going to try to save that person too?” James asked. “Or is the kid your only priority?”
“First off, fuck you for trying to make me sound like some asshole. Secondly, there isn’t a spell that I know of that can restore a soul to a body that wasn’t inhabited by a demonic spirit. If there was, I most certainly would try to save them and the two children who were murdered along with Lacey.”
James held his hands up. “Sorry. So, what do you want to do about the body?”
I sighed, because I felt bad that I couldn’t save the victim. “Set this place on fire because we need to destroy our DNA. The body will be discovered and their soul can have last rights and whatever family and friends they have can say their farewells. Let’s go.”
Jewel nodded and picked Lacey’s little body up. “This spell will last, right?”
I nodded. “At least four hours.”
“Then we need to get the fuck up out of this state, then,” Xavier said as he rose to his feet. “Go, I’ll catch up with you. Gotta burn this place down.”
We were back in the limo and on the road in no time after Xavier did the deed.
“Your end of the bargain,” Shanie reminded me as she handed me a black, glass ball, which looked like a paperweight along with half a dozen roses and a container of dirt. “Will this work?”
“Can I place the dirt and roses inside?” I asked.
She turned the ball in her hand and popped open the rubber cap. “Yes.”
I nodded. “All right, then. How big is the property you want to protect and what do you want to protect it from?”
She gave me the measurements of the property and handed me the glass ball. “From humans and supernal.”
“Humans? I’m surprised you view us as threats,” I said.
Shanie cocked her head. “You aren’t really just human, you know. Mages aren’t humans even though your lot like to think you are. It makes you feel better than us, but you’re as otherworldly as the rest of us. That’s why you have that little council.”
That confused me. “What council?”
Shanie laughed. “Are you seriously telling me you don’t know about the secret council of mages that govern us all?”
I shook my head. “I have never heard of a council. I know of the different clans and those who are lone mages like myself.”
Shanie smirked. “Maybe you aren’t as powerful as you boast.”
“I never boasted.”
“Whatever. The council of douchebag mages call themselves the Echelon Imperial. Bunch of pricks stroking each other’s egos. They claim that they keep us in line so we don’t expose supernals to the human world. Apparently, they are the reason why humans haven’t discovered that we exist even after all these millennia. If there was ever a huge exposure, they worked some spell to erase any trace.” Shanie shrugged. “I suppose we could be grateful, but I do wonder at times, what would happen if the humans did know about us? I mean, could they really take us down with as powerful as we are?”
