Warlock For Hire: Arcane Inc. Book 1 Read online

“I don’t know. Just go in and find them.” I hadn’t thought much about what to do once we got here. The extent of my plan was to find them and take the power back. Obviously, it wasn’t going to be that simple. They would put up a fight, and thanks to my short-sightedness, they now had all they needed to fight back and even win.

  “And what, ask them nicely to give the magic back?” she said sarcastically.

  “Worth a try,” I replied and headed inside.

  “Unbelievable,” she muttered and followed.

  The barman informed us that neither Shay nor Craig had shown up for several days. I had a quick feel and couldn’t sense any other magical beings on the premises, so he was telling the truth.

  “I guess that’s that then,” I said, ready to give up.

  “Hang on,” she said, grabbing my arm before I could leave. “They both work here, and Shay lives here. There must be something upstairs that we can use to track them.” Why hadn’t I thought of that?

  “Alright, you distract the barman and I’ll sneak up and get what we need.”

  “I think we should both go up.”

  “Don’t you trust me?” I joked.

  “No,” she said. No joke. I’d say I was offended, but I wasn’t. I wouldn’t trust me either. So far I hadn’t shown any real prowess had I? If it wasn’t for me then we wouldn’t even be in this mess right now.

  “Charming. Alright, let’s go.”

  I put the barman to sleep and the two of us shimmied on upstairs. The flat was a pigsty. Discarded pizza boxes and beer cans littered the floor. There were stains up the walls — I didn’t want to know what they were. Clothing was scattered about. Dirty dishes were stacked high in the kitchen. The bin was overflowing all over the floor. In the bedroom, the floor next to the bed was strewn with used tissues. If there was any doubt in my mind as to what they’d been used for, the porn DVD case by the telly cleared it up. Shay Donahue was a grubby little man and frankly I didn’t want to find him. But I needed to. Ashley grabbed his toothbrush to use to locate him, but I made her put it back because it didn’t look like he’d been using it. Instead, I found a sandwich bag from the kitchen and being careful not to touch them I retrieved a couple of the dirty tissues from the bedroom. She was not impressed when I made her put them in her bag. I didn’t have a bag on me. I hate carrying bags and try to avoid it whenever possible. I don’t like to be weighed down. With our task completed we hurried out before we caught anything from the contaminated flat.

  Tracking a person is fairly easy once you have their DNA. There are several ways you can track someone using magic, but I don’t know them all. I doubt anybody does. The method I use is to take the DNA, burn it, wet the ashes, place them on a map and then use magic to make the ashes show me where the person is. Unless you have a very specific map, the spell will not show the person's specific location, but shows a small enough area. Unless you’re using an atlas, in which case you’re probably wasting your time. We went back to my storage unit, performed the spell and got… nothing. The ashes didn’t move.

  “They’re probably cloaking their location to stop you from finding them,” Ashley said.

  “If that’s the case we might as well give up then,” I said angrily. I’ll admit I was being a bit childish with my temper, but it had been a really horrible day.

  “Don’t sulk, Eddie. It’s very unattractive,” Ashley said.

  “I don't see what else I can do other than sulk,” I said sulkily. “Without the power we can’t do the spell and they’ve managed to cloak themselves. Somehow. How do two people who didn’t even have magic a week ago, know how to do a cloaking spell?”

  “How can you be sure they didn’t have magic a week ago?” she asked.

  “Good point,” I grumbled. I hadn’t even considered that. But why had they come to me then? Why did they want the power in my unit? Was it just because it was an easy catch? The whole thing made no sense. I know I said I like puzzles, but not too many at once. If this had happened after I’d finished with Killian then it would be a different matter. I might even be enjoying it. As it was it was pissing me off.

  “I think we can still track them,” Ashley said. She was looking at something on her phone. Did she have a grimoire on there? That was interesting if she did. Oh, by the way, a grimoire is a book of magical knowledge. I assumed you knew that. How she could convert one onto her phone was an intriguing conundrum. We didn’t have time to go into it now, though.

  “How?”

  “All of the power you had here passed through you at some stage right?”

  “Right.” All the power I collected went through me before going into the glass boxes. There was no other way of taking it.

  “That means that it will still have traces of you and your magic in it. We can use you to find the magic,” she said.

  “That’s… very clever,” I said, thinking about it. It should work. Any magic that comes out of a sorcerer leaves a sort of fingerprint behind. So even though the magic had initially come from someone else, because it had passed through me and singled with my magic it now had my own unique stamp on it too.

  “I know,” she said smugly. Beaming widely.

  “Smugness is very unattractive,” I said, mimicking what she had said a few minutes ago about sulking. It was a lie, though. She was so hot that anything looked attractive on her.

  “Let’s just do the spell,” she said.

  I won’t go into detail about how the spell’s done because frankly I can’t be bothered, plus it’s not that important. So I’ll just say we did it and we narrowed the magic to three locations. Well, two really because one stopped dead on the edge of the map meaning that it wasn’t in Kent. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum must’ve absorbed some of the magic and transported the rest out of the county. Smart. If they’d tried to take it all at once they’d be dead already and the power would be gone. I should’ve thought of that sooner. The other two locations were in Kent. One was in Maidstone, near the town centre, and the other was in Medway. Starting with the closer of the two seemed logical.

  “Alright, let’s go then,” Ashley said.

  “Only place you’re going is home,” I said.

  “What? No way. I’m going with you,” she argued. I could see this was going to be difficult.

  “I’m not putting you in any more danger than I already have.”

  “It isn’t your job to protect me,” she snapped.

  “No, it isn’t. But Killian is adamant that you have to cast the ritual. If anything happens to you then you undo his whole premonition and he’ll start killing people. Starting with your mother.” I knew reminding her of her mother would stop any further arguments.

  “So what am I supposed to do?” she asked in a sulky voice. Look who’s sulking now, I thought, but managed to restrain myself from saying. It confirmed my theory as well; she even looked hot when sulking. That was another reason not to take her — she was very distracting.

  “I don’t know. Go home. Go to the pub. Do whatever you want. Just stay out of trouble,” I said and led her out of the unit. She stomped off down the corridor, clearly not wanting my company any longer. I would’ve preferred to have her company when I confronted Shay and Craig, distracting or not she was a useful ally, but she was too valuable and I couldn’t risk her getting killed. I would just have to deal with them alone.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  I took a taxi to the area near the town centre where the spell said the magic was. Once there I used a quick spell to lead me closer. Now that I knew I could use my own magic to track it I set to work finding it. I used my magic like a bloodhound’s nose, urging it to find something that felt familiar, to find the magic that it had once been mingled with. I ended up outside a former sporting shop at the bottom of Gabriel’s Hill. The unit was vacant now. One of the thieves was hiding inside. I could sense their presence. I couldn’t tell who, nor could I tell how much of the power they’d consumed. Hopefully not much. I could also sense that it was a trap. Why els
e would they be here? I couldn’t think of any other reason. They wanted to lure me in, but for what? It didn’t matter; I had to go in and get the magic back.

  I made my way to the back door which was unsurprisingly already open. No doubt left that way for me. I scanned the door for any magical traps or protections and found none. Further proof that they wanted me to go inside. I opened the door being careful not to make any noise and sneaked inside. Sneaking was probably futile; if it was a trap they would be expecting me. If it wasn’t a trap and they weren’t expecting me then they would have some sort of magical defence in place. They’d already managed to cloak their location so I had some idea of what they were capable of and they were more capable than they should be. That meant only one thing: they had help.

  The private area of the shop was empty and when I walked onto the shop floor my suspicion that it was a trap was confirmed. Craig was standing idly in the centre of the room doing absolutely nothing. Just waiting for me.

  “I take it that grenade I sold you worked well enough?” I asked.

  “It did,” he replied. Not much of a talker; remembered that from our last meeting. Never trust a man who doesn’t have much to say. I think my Nan used to say that. Someone did.

  “For what you got I’d say it was a pretty good bargain too,” I said.

  “I paid what you asked. It isn’t my fault you don’t take proper precautions,” he said.

  I snorted. “So you work for Shay?” I walked out into the centre of the room stopping a couple of metres in front of him.

  “I work with Shay,” he corrected.

  “For who?” I asked. He gave me a look that said he was not going to answer my question. I decided to ask another instead. “Okay. How did you two clowns now about my power stash?”

  “Clowns?” He was offended. “You leave enough power to take on an entire coven laying around and then have the cheek to call us clowns? We came up with a good plan. A plan that not only worked but made you look stupid as well. Who’s the clown really?” He had a point there. Not that I was going to tell him that.

  “Where’s Shay. Is he in Medway?” That’s where the spell said the other small amount of power was.

  “He was.” So he was on the move.

  “Where’s he going?”

  “I’m not going to tell you that.”

  “Alright, don’t then. Why don’t you tell me what this is all about instead?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked. I could see in his eyes that he knew what I meant.

  “This is obviously a trap, so tell me why? What’s the point?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged.

  “What you do you mean you don’t know? It’s your plan.”

  “No, it isn’t.” Further proof that somebody else was calling the shots. Shay and Craig could never have pulled it off alone. Despite what Craig believed, they were a couple of clowns.

  “Where’s the bulk of the power? You and Shay only took a small amount each. Where’s the rest?” I asked. I no longer wanted to hang about talking to Craig; there was something sinister going on I and wanted nothing to do with it. I had enough on my plate. Whoever was ordering them about, playing games with me, could sod off.

  Craig shook his head. “I don’t know. I just follow orders. ”

  “What are your orders?” I asked.

  “Never mind my orders. I have one for you; gather more magic and deliver it to us.” His gall was unbelievable.

  “Not likely.”

  “Is that a no?” he asked. He seemed disappointed. More so than I’d expected him to be.

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

  He thrust his hand out at me and a ripple of magic shot across the space between us. It hit me but was far too weak to have much of an effect. My hair might have moved slightly but that was it.

  “That’s the problem with newbie warlocks,” I said, stepping forwards. He didn’t move but I could see he was scared. “You can’t just take a load of magic and expect to be able to use it. It takes skill. Training. You need a good mentor.” He tried to attack again, but once again his magic failed to achieve anything. “Just this once I’ll show you how it’s done, but I usually charge for this service. ” I flicked my wrist in his direction and sent him flying through the air. He crashed into the wall and fell hard to the carpeted floor.

  Despite how easy I made it look, it actually takes a fair bit of power to throw a man across a room. Some sorcerers seem to do it willy-nilly, maybe you’ve even heard of some that can do it. Well, those sorcerers are pretty fucking powerful and I’d advise you to avoid them. I am fairly powerful, but like I said before, too much power can corrupt the core, so I make sure never to take more than I need. For that reason, throwing Craig had depleted me somewhat, not that he needed to know that.

  He tried to get to his feet, but I hit him with another spell that shoved him back down. I concentrated my power on his lower abdomen. Focused on crushing his kidneys. Judging from the way he curled up and screamed I’d say it was working.

  “There’s no need to make this any more unpleasant than necessary. Tell me where Shay is and where the rest of my magic is and I’ll let you go,” I said, as I came to kneel down beside him.

  “I can’t tell you anything,” he hissed through the pain.

  “Can’t or won’t?” I grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back.

  “Can’t!” he screamed. “She told me not to.”

  “Who?” Finally an indication of the boss.

  He shook his head furiously. “I can’t say.”

  “Oh yes, you can. But first, let me relieve you of a little something.” I took hold of both his hands and squeezed them tight. He knew what was coming and I could feel him trying to fight it, but he was in too much pain and didn’t have the strength. Even if he wasn’t in gut-wrenching agony he still wouldn’t be able to stop me. I searched inside him for the stolen magic and began the process of sucking it out of him. It’s far more difficult to take magic when the other person is unwilling. It’s like syphoning petrol. You just have to suck and suck until you finally get something. I got something. Once I’d latched onto the magic, I started to pull it out. He fought harder than I expected. Really clung onto it. But I was stronger than he was. His whole body shook like he was having a fit. The lights overhead flicked on as the power surged. They grew brighter and brighter and then finally as the power flew out of Craig and into me in one massive whoosh, the bulbs smashed. The force of the transfer pushed me onto my back and I lay there for a minute, letting the power settle inside me. I took my time getting to my feet, mistakenly thinking that now Craig was powerless I had plenty of time to interrogate him. I was wrong. When I sat back up I saw Craig leaning against the wall, a small knife in his hand. His eyes were wide with fright and full of tears. Sweat was dripping down his face, every pore clogged with it. He was frightened. I almost felt sorry for the guy. He put the knife to his throat and before I could do anything he sliced himself open.

  “No!” I screamed. It was too late. His blood spilled out over his chest. He made a hideous gargling noise and looked up at me. Maybe I should’ve tried to save him, but a part of me knew that I wouldn’t be able to. There was nothing I could do to stop death when it was only seconds away. Another part of me didn’t want to. I looked away, not wanting to watch his life fade. When I looked back again he was dead.

  “Oh, what a pity,” a snide little voice said from behind me. I turned and saw Shay had entered the shop through the front door. “Magic wasn’t the only thing we took from your little lock up. We took that potion you used on me too. She made it better. It lasts longer now.” There was that she again. Who was she? She’d obviously used my potion to order Craig to kill himself if he failed. But what exactly had his task been? Subdue me? Kill me? And why? I couldn’t think of anybody I’d pissed off lately. Except for Killian, but unless he’d had a sex change in the last week this wasn’t anything to do with him.

  “What the fuck is all thi
s about?” I demanded. I clenched my fists, getting ready to fight him too, not that Craig had put up much of a fight.

  “Who knows. We just follow orders,” Shay said. I could tell from his smile that he knew more than Craig had, though.

  “Whose orders? Who gave him my potion and told him to kill himself if he failed to do whatever to me?” I demanded.

  “He didn’t fail,” Shay said, pointing at Craig’s corpse.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, a lump rising in my throat. I knew what he meant.

  “He completed his orders. His task was to kill himself in front of you. To teach you a lesson. Or to remind you of an old one anyway,” Shay said. He was so smug. So self-assured.

  “What lesson?” I asked. My throat was dry. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What possible lesson could I learn from watching a guy commit suicide in front of me?

  “You have to figure it out on your own,” Shay said, smiling sickeningly. I’d had enough. I moved my arm to attack, but he got there first. He thrust forward in the same movement Craig had used, but Shay had better control and he was stronger. I hurtled through the air and smashed through the old counter at the end of the room. I landed in a heap, covered in splinters of wood and shards of glass from the counter. My head was spinning, but I needed to focus. I needed to ignore the pain in my torso. I needed to fight back. I tried to direct an attack at Shay, but either my magic failed me, or he was strong enough to deflect it because he didn’t stop coming at me.

  “Don’t worry, Eddie,” he said. “I’m not going to kill you. I just want you to feel what I felt.” As he passed Craig he held out his hand and the bloody knife flew into his palm. I tried to get up, but he pushed me back down. He pulled out a small phial from his jacket and I knew what he was going to do. He was going to make me stab myself like I’d made him. He knelt down before me and something whacked him in the side of the head. He fell to the floor unconscious. Ashley was standing over him, a golf club in her hands. Praise the lord. I’d never imagined that the nervous girl who came to me for help would ever end up saving me. It was one of the few occasions that I was happy to be surprised.