Page 108 of Bite of Passage
“Does that mean if you do this combat magic you’ll become an evil witch?”
Val nibbled her lip.“I don’t know.”
“You’re never going to go bad.I’ve been up close and way too personal with evil.The creature was narcissistic, focused on its own selfish survival at any cost.Maybe you can…” She listened to her inner voice, which she was starting to realize had been her medicinal instincts all along.It pushed her into understanding what was wrong or what might help a person.“Balance the good with the darkness?”
“What are you?”
“Apparently I have the power to understand what helps people—usually to fix their medical problems—in addition to my new state as an immortal fang face.”
Val giggled.“That’s funny.Fang face.”
“A dwarf said it.”
“Dwarves are real?”
“Of course they are.”In the hallway outside her apartment she whispered, “What’s your plan?I still hear one person inside.”
“I’m going to try a transformation spell.If that fails, I guess I’ll just have to go with my gut.”
They stepped into the dark interior of her apartment.Gemma flipped the light switch, but it didn’t work.The musty smell of mildew and the sourness of something slowly rotting assaulted her.This was no longer her space.It was occupied by something dark.Something that?—
Val leaned in and whispered, “She’s been busy in here.It reeks.”
Instinct screamed at her to get out.Run.And never return.She should forget she’d ever lived in this place.
Something dripped.A black substance rested in the shadowy corner over the TV.Given the smell, she half expected to see a body suspended from the ceiling.It was worse.Far worse.The sight of the decapitated head of her neighbor suspended in the air with no visible tethers was not something she’d ever be able to erase.
911.She needed to make the call.
But what were the cops going to do other than arrest her for murder?Then she’d die, the cops would die, and Val might die.Bad plan.
The sound of something moving caught her attention.Darkness slithered around the room, but nothing existed in solid form.
Val muttered in a foreign language and threw a dusty substance into the room.She whispered, “Just evening the playing field.I don’t do shadow play.”
A thing appeared.Gemma would label it a female, based on the shape of its filthy clothing.Everything else about it was androgynous.And putrid.The skin of its face was sallow, pockmarked, and crusted with dried blood.
“The medicinal returns.Finally,” it said in a pitchy and grating voice.
“Why are you stinking up my apartment?”Gemma asked.
The witch glanced around as if seeing nothing amiss.
Val uttered rhyming words, pointing her fingers toward the other witch.How had Gemma not noticed Val’s nails had been re-painted a shimmery purple with silver swirls that now moved on their own?The witch twitched and flickered for a moment, but nothing else happened.
It laughed.Not a happy laugh.A bonafide cackle.The witch threw out an electric blast that knocked both Val and Gemma backward.The undersides of Gemma’s feet prickled as if they’d gone to sleep, and she questioned whether they’d support her weight if she stood.
“Val?”
“The bitch.Transformation spell is a no-go.I can only do entry level magic.”Val sat up and swiped hair out of her face.
“I really need you to step up, Val.”
“Shit, she’s recharging.Move left.”
As they shuffled out of range behind the sofa, Gemma whispered, “I have to get to the TV.”
“I’ll hold her steady.I’ll have to fight fire with fire, and you’ll get a few moments to try to go through the portal.After that, either she dies or we do.”Val removed two silver knives from her backpack, handing one over.
