Page 20 of The Prophet

He nods, but an exhaustion fills his eyes that his glamour can’t hide. “Just testing my limits. My mind knows what I used to be capable of, but my body can’t handle it yet.”

“Don’t push yourself too hard.” I squeeze his shoulder. “You’ll improve with time.”

“Tell Savannah that.” He looks away from me. “She has the kids advancing faster than I am.”

“They’ve been training their magic muscles longer.” I give him a gentle shake. “You’ve only been flexing one muscle for a very long time, so of course it’s taking a while to catch up.”

We reach our car, and Flint heads for the passenger side, letting Orianna into the back seat before he takes the front. “Yeah, I know, the pace is just getting to me.”

I slide behind the steering wheel. “Have you talked to Sharpe about it? I bet he can commiserate with you.”

Flint nods as he stares out the window, and I let the topic drop as I drive toward Hopper’s.

As a fire witch, I’ve never worried about any other skill beyond surviving my own magic, which the amulet Darius won for me helps with. I can’t relate to the intricacies of spellwork that Flint once used, and that he’s now trying to reclaim.

We hit stop-and-go traffic through the heart of Clearhelm, but it thins when we reach the access road to New Clearhelm, and the walls of the Grave Yard rise on our right.

This time, the demons didn’t wait for humans to build a wall around the new part of their city. They raised one themselves, with an archway that matches the one at the Bone Yard opening into Clearhelm.

They even provided a sidewalk, to make accessing New Clearhelm safer. The stone blends seamlessly with the nearest business building, seeming to grow out of the structure.

Fanciful structures peek over the top of the walls, inviting the curious to come inside for a visit.

The Grave Yard is far more welcoming than its predecessor. Nickodemus stole the old mayor’s idea for a tourist trap and ran with it, keeping all the revenue they gain for themselves.

Their industriousness makes me smile. Leave it to demons to turn a profit out of a bad situation for them.

Berdherst, the one who threatened to destroy the Bone Yard, must be turning in his grave. Wherever that is. They never found all the pieces of his body.

Distracted by the Grave Yard, I almost miss the dark shape that darts across the road.

“Watch out!” Flint throws his arm across my chest.

I slam on the brakes, the tires screeching against the asphalt, and the driver behind me lies on their horn.

Heart pounding, I catch the swish of a black tail disappearing into the underbrush on the other side of the ditch. The acrid stench of burnt rubber blows in through the vents, and Flint grips the dashboard, his eyes wide.

“Holy fuck.” I double-check both ways in case any more animals want to play chicken with my bumper.

Flint exhales, his grip relaxing. “Close call.”

“No kidding. People need to keep their pets on leashes.” I twist to peer into the backseat at Orianna. “You okay, girl?”

She picks herself up from the floor and barks, her tail wagging.

“Glad to hear it.” I shift back into gear. “Let’s get to Hopper’s before something else tries to ruin our day.”

No sooner do the words leave my mouth than red and blue lights blaze to life behind us, accompanied by the unmistakable bloop bloop of a police siren.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I curse, pulling over to the shoulder.

I roll down the window as the patrolman approaches. “Everything okay, officer?”

He leans on the top of our car to peer inside. “License and registration.”

Flint grabs the paperwork from the glove box while I pull out my license and hand them both over. “What’s the problem, officer?”

He scans my documents and straightens. “Your taillight is busted.”

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