Page 26 of Warmongers and Wands
And I wasn’t sure I had the skill to do that, even with Hadur lending me his power.
“I’ll need some paper and a pen,” I told the demon. “And a knife or something to etch the spell onto the metal.”
He brought the items over to me, then hovered, watching as I scribbled a few runes on the paper. No, that wouldn’t work. Electrifying the nippers would mean I’d get shocked as well. Which wouldn’t be pleasant. I crossed out the runes. Hadur lurked over my shoulder.
“Can you go somewhere else?” I scowled up at him.
“I thought you’d want my energy to help with the spell.”
He pouted. The demon, a war demon of all things, was pouting.
“I do, but I won’t be ready to cast the spell for a while. I’m not fast. I can’t do these things on the fly. I might not be able to do them all under this moon and astrological conditions, but I’m going to try. Either way, it’s going to take me hours of prep at a minimum before I’m ready to charge anything. So, go…chop a tree, or grab a rabbit for dinner, or read Tiger Beat or something because I can’t work with you watching me like this.”
He grumbled something and headed off. By the time he’d returned and started dinner, I’d made some progress. At this rate I’d possibly have one enchanted weapon by nightfall. Hopefully the werewolves would hold off for a few days so I could do the frying pan and a fork as well, otherwise it was going to have to be me and my stun-gun nippers to the rescue.
The smell of roasted meat was starting to permeate the cabin. My stomach growled, but I pushed on, almost done with the inscribing part of the spell. After dinner we’d charge it. I hated to do these things on an empty stomach.
Hadur stiffened, dropping his spoon onto the table and pivoting toward the door.
Shit. It wasn’t even dark yet. I hadn’t even had time to charge the spell on the nippers. Damn it all, I felt so helpless here in bed with a broken leg and nothing but a frying pan to defend myself with.
“Someone crossed into the circle?” I asked. I wondered if I was strong enough to do a quick enchantment on the frying pan. I doubted I could bluff my way out of this one as I’d done with Stanley. How many had Dallas sent for me? Would my sisters ever find my body? Or the smashed truck? And what would happen to Hadur? He’d remain trapped here and now that the werewolves knew where he was and his situation, they’d ensure no one stumbled upon his cabin ever again.
He came to stand protectively in front of my bed. “A group. I can’t tell how many. Maybe six, maybe ten. I don’t think it’s more than twelve.”
I gently eased my splinted leg to the floor and stood, holding onto the bedpost and checking to ensure my paisley shirt and butt-wrap covered all the important parts. “You go intercept them. Diebin and I will take care of whoever makes it past you to the cabin.”
Suddenly I wished Diebin had stolen a shotgun and some shells from Walmart. A fry pan wasn’t exactly a distance weapon, and I wasn’t in any shape to be grappling hand-to-hand with any foe, let alone a werewolf. Hopefully Hadur was badass enough to take on half a dozen of Dallas’ finest. If not, I wasn’t going to let them kill me, not without giving a few of them some serious concussions with my frying pan.
Hadur went to the door only to have it fly open, smacking him in the face. There was a flash of light that made me gasp and cover my eyes, and a voice shouted a spell of protection.
I nearly cried, because I recognized that voice.
“I’m okay, I’m okay!” I called out. “Stand down. I’m okay, and with friends.”
I blinked open my eyes and saw them—all six of them. My sisters were piling into the cabin, knocking aside chairs and the table in an effort to all squeeze into the room. Hadur was pinned half behind the door, looking bewildered. Diebin had run and hid in a corner. I didn’t blame him. My sisters had that effect on people.
Everyone erupted into conversation at once. Ophelia sat a black bag on the bed and immediately started checking me over. Glenda poured something from a thermos and shoved it into my hands.
“What the fresh hell is that shirt you’re wearing?” Sylvie asked. “It looks like you stole it off a bad ‘70s porn actor.”
“Are your toenails painted?” Babylon pointed at my feet. “Nail polish? When did you get all girly on us, Wynnie?”
I held up my hand, the one not holding a cup of whatever it was that Glenda was urging me to drink, and asked everyone to please settle down.
“I’m okay,” I repeated once they were all silent. “Besides a broken leg, that is. My truck went off the side of the mountain. Hadur found me and brought me back here and took care of me.”
Everyone turned to look at the demon who stared back. “It’s like a coven crammed into my cabin,” he commented. “A loud and intimidating coven.”
“Thank you for helping my sister.” Cassie approached him. “Thank you so much for taking care of Bronwyn. When I think that she could have died in that crash, or lay there in that truck for days waiting for us to find her…”
“Yes, days.” I snapped. “Four days. Did no one notice I was gone for four damned days? What the hell?”
Everyone looked down at their feet.
“I’m so sorry, Wynnie,” Cassie finally said. “I left a few messages on your phone, but sometimes you just don’t call back right away. It wasn’t urgent. I figured you’d call when you got a chance. You’re kinda…you’re kind of a loner. I don’t want to constantly be all up in your business.”
She was right. If it wasn’t urgent, sometimes it did take me a while to return a call. And I did occasionally go a week without talking to my sisters, even Cassie. “Well, you’re forgiven. Maybe I need to start wearing one of those emergency alert necklaces or something.”
