Sorcerer: Witch's Woes: Power of Air (Book 3) Read online

  One other really good thing was at least I didn’t have to worry about Jenna’s blind date setups anymore, and she’d really taken to Sierra.

  I knocked out of habit, and then just walked in as they’d always told me to. It wasn’t my fault, Sierra was distracting, at least, that was the story I was going with. With my power I could feel Aiya and Jenna in the kitchen, I hadn’t known she was coming. Mike was through the hall and in the dining room, and he wasn’t alone, I didn’t recognize the second person.

  I walked through the house into the dining room still holding Sierra’s hand, and then nodded toward him, “Mike, how’s it going?”

  Mike waved us over, and introduced us, “Gary, this is Ben and Sierra,” and then he looked back at us and said, “This is Gary, Jenna invited him over tonight.”

  It took me a minute, sure I was a sorcerer of air, the world’s information at my fingertips, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be thick on occasion. It was Mike’s subtle tone of voice that clued me in. Apparently now that I was safely paired up, Aiya was Jenna’s next victim, and tonight was Aiya’s first surprise blind date. I almost laughed but held it in.

  I shook Gary’s hand, and Mike went to grab us a couple of beers. Gary had a nice firm hand shake, dry hands, and made eye contact, though I could tell he was nervous. He was about twenty-five, and was wearing casual pants and a collared shirt. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him at all.

  Strangely, a small part of me felt a little jealousy at the idea of Aiya being with someone, which was ridiculous I knew, but I felt it just the same. Even though she was like a sister to me, I’d always regretted it couldn’t be more, she was just about perfect for me except we had zero chemistry, so I suppose that was the source of my thoughts. I resisted the idea of pulling this guy’s life story out of the ether, Aiya was a big girl and didn’t need me butting into that part of her life. Without any bad vibes coming off of him, I had no good reason to do so.

  “So what do you do Gary? How do you know Jenna?”

  Gary said shortly, “EMT, obviously from work.”

  Mike came back in with the beers, and gave one to each of us, and Sierra squeezed my hand before letting go and heading into the kitchen, I’d assume to say hello to Jenna and Aiya. We made small talk, though we avoided the reason Gary was lured here, lest we draw Jenna’s wrath. We fell back on the tried and true sports talk although in June there wasn’t much going on that way. I could tell Mike wanted to talk to me, but he was too good of a host to leave Gary to his own devices.

  The ladies came out carrying trays of food, and Aiya gave me stink eye when no one else was looking, like it was my fault Jenna was setting her up? I suppose in a way it was for daring to have a relationship. She looked cute in a pair of white shorts, a tight mauve shirt, with a lighter red buttoned blouse over it. In a way I felt kind of flattered by that, she’d dressed to the nines for her blind date with me after all. Although if I remember, at the time, I’d just been flirting with her right before that about getting her in a dress.

  I also realized in that moment, if I moved I wouldn’t get anymore surprise morning invasions from Aiya, which I would miss. Not just for the breakfast, she’d become one of my closest friends, not only because she knew my secret, but simply because of the kind of person she was. More changes, perhaps I’d just have to invade her kitchen instead.

  Jenna said, “Let’s eat,” breaking me out of my speculative thoughts.

  I sat next to Sierra, and across from Aiya who sat next to Gary. Mike and Jenna of course were at the head and foot of the table. There was a nice spread of food. London broil, potatoes, various vegetables, and some dinner rolls. The start of the meal was fairly silent as we all ate. I couldn’t help but notice Jenna was drinking water tonight, and not wine, which was the only clue I needed to know that she knew she was pregnant.

  The topic wasn’t brought up however over dinner however, most probably because Gary just wasn’t that close to them. We kept the conversation to day to day things. It became apparent about halfway through that Gary was not a good fit for Aiya, and he left as soon as he could without giving offense. He wasn’t a bad guy though, and I felt uncomfortable because it was all kinds of awkward. I’d never seen it from this side of things before.

  I kind of wanted to ask if it looked like a train wreck when it was me in the hot seat, but I held my tongue.

  Sierra and I stayed longer, Aiya as well, and we had an after dinner coffee and some crumb cake for dessert, it was then that Jenna brought up the pregnancy. She seemed to glow when she told us all about it.

  “I have news, I’m pregnant. It’s kind of a miracle, because the doctors are baffled. They tried to get me to do all sorts of tests, but I said no.”

  Sierra, Aiya, and I congratulated her, Mike was giving me the cop stare, and I realized he had been studying me when Jenna gave her news, which meant he knew my surprise was bogus most likely. I wasn’t a very good liar.

  Mike stood, “Can I talk to you a minute Ben, let’s get a beer.”

  Crap.

  Jenna looked startled, and Aiya looked guilty, no doubt because she knew what Mike didn’t. Sierra wasn’t fazed by the abruptness at all, she could probably scent Mike’s rising suspicion after all.

  I got up and followed him into the kitchen, and was a little surprised when he actually handed me a beer, and we walked outside where we wouldn’t be overheard, except for Sierra of course.

  Mike said, “I’ve thought about what you said, and I want to know. Especially since it has something to do with my wife being pregnant, and don’t try to deny it.”

  I sighed, “Fine, but you can’t tell anyone, and you can’t ask about anyone else. I already told you I can only tell you my secret, even then some… beings won’t be very happy with me.”

  Mike raised an eyebrow, “And if I don’t?”

  I shrugged, “You won’t remember it anymore, we won’t be friends, and you won’t even know why. I won’t be happy with that, you and Jenna are family to me.”

  Mike nodded, I knew his cop instincts were screaming, but he agreed to hear me out based on our long friendship.

  I explained, “It was back in July, on my birthday, when I found out I wasn’t just a psychic…” I told him the highlights about myself only, that I was a sorcerer of air and had gotten my childhood memories back. I left out that my family’s enemies were probably still hunting for me, and anything about Aitheria, and it felt… really odd to do it. I ended with telling him about repairing Jenna’s scar tissue, and that the pregnancy part of it was actually all his fault.

  Mike shook his head in disbelief when I finished, “That’s crazy.”

  I shrugged, held up my hand, and created a tiny little baby twister, it rode around the palm of my hand. I figured I’d have to prove it like I did with Aiya, this time around I had the control to do so. Then I fed it just a little bit of fire magic, and it turned into a swirling vortex of flames that started out blue on the bottom, and ran the colors of fire down to orange at the top. It was actually kind of beautiful.

  When I looked up from my hand, Mike looked a little freaked out. Okay, probably an understatement, he’d actually moved his hand to where his gun would be, and was wide eyed with disbelief.

  I wondered for a moment if I’d have to give them up as friends. They meant a lot to me, but maybe I didn’t belong in their world anymore. Still, Aiya was handling it, so I hadn’t given up yet. I cut off the fire I was feeding it, and then released the air after the fire extinguished. I measured him for a moment.

  “Look, if you can’t handle it let me know, I can make you forget I told you anything. Aiya knows, so far she hasn’t asked about any other parts of the supernatural world.”

  I thought telling him his partner could handle it might spark his pride. What can I say? I was desperate.

  He frowned, “She does?”

  I snickered, “Yup, she caught on a lot faster that I was hiding things, probably because she hadn’t known me as well
or as long, no emotions or preconceptions to get in the way of it. She tracked me down and caught me red handed.”

  He asked, “Does Sierra know?”

  I just nodded, and I could see him swallow the next obvious question.

  He sighed, “Alright, I’ll keep my mouth shut, but you know this is nuts right? And thank you for what you did for us, even if the idea of you digging around in my wife kind of freaks me out.”

  I supposed this was the best I could hope for, I’d have to wait and see if he could really handle it. I felt kind of conflicted about it, things were changing, as life tended to do. Even if he could handle it I wasn’t naïve enough to think our friendship wouldn’t change. The only question was would be grow closer from it, or grow apart to be simple acquaintances that nodded at each other at crime scenes?

  We went back inside, and Sierra and I called it a night quickly. I had no doubt Jenna would have Mike spilling his guts later, and that was okay with me, but the secret was getting thin enough, I wouldn’t be telling my aunt or cousin anytime soon. Most likely never actually.

  It was only after we left that I realized it would have been a good time to tell all of them I was moving soon, I’d have to do that tomorrow, or as soon as possible. When we got home, I stopped thinking about anything but Sierra, as Sierra and I turned in for the night, but put off sleep for a while longer.

  Chapter 3

  Thursday, June 2nd, 2016, 7:33 AM

  “Are you sure about this?” Sierra asked.

  I smiled and caressed her arm, “Yes, I haven’t changed my mind.”

  It was true, I suppose a part of me was stressing the change of such a big step, but I didn’t have doubts about her, or us, so what I said was true, mostly. I was ready to just move in with her and the pack, soon.

  She nodded, “Send me?”

  I stole a light kiss first, but when I let go and tried to step away, she pulled me back against her for a more lingering one before she deigned to released me. I was tempted to make us both late after that, but knew it was a bad idea, although not why.

  She looked great in jeans, boots, and a light shirt, all ready for work. No one was in the trailer yet, I checked, and I had my magic take her straight there. I verified she arrived safely and grabbed another cup of coffee from the kitchen in my travel mug.

  I’d been experimenting with my travel spell, and it seemed my magic was very good at picking locks, and relocking things as it moved me. But there were limits. For instance, if I tried to travel into a highly secured bank vault, it wouldn’t work at all.

  It was time for me to go as well, and I went out the door into the sunshine. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday, back to the normal June temperatures in Chicago, it also wasn’t nearly as humid. It occurred to me as I started toward my office I’d probably be spending a lot more time there when I moved to the suburbs, well, not necessarily, I could always hang out at the house and only come in when I needed to still.

  Another thing I worried about was if anyone would notice my quick movements, it had occurred to me that my phone was hopping towers almost instantly whenever I jumped around the city and especially when I left the city. So far it hadn’t been noticed as far as I knew but I had to exercise a little caution.

  One thing that changed over the last ten days was the walk in business side had picked up a little bit, thanks to all the press I’d gotten from Kira Downs. That was most likely why I felt the need to head over there this morning. I opened up the office and started some coffee going.

  Aitheria sent, “Be careful today.”

  “Is it going to be that bad?” I asked wryly, she never warned me about anything. Which is why I went to high alert for a moment.

  Today did feel weighty, I was hoping I wouldn’t have any more crazy days like the werewolf pack invasion for a while. Last time the crap really hit the fan I’d gotten nine months of relatively easy work. It was a nebulous feeling though, and I couldn’t see what it was. That meant whatever happened, it would be supernatural in nature if the information was blocked.

  Aitheria shrugged, “I can’t get a lock on the information either, so just… be careful Ben.”

  I smiled, “Yes dear.”

  She scowled, “Not funny.”

  I frowned.

  She actually sounded worried, and I was sure her power to gather information was more powerful than mine was. It wasn’t like her to warn me either, but there wasn’t much I could do about it except keep my eyes open and be cautious. I felt the person approaching as soon as they entered my sphere of connected air, and then my sphere of fire as they came in my office. Whatever had her worried, it wasn’t this, the person coming was human, and one I knew well.

  “Are you nuts?” Aiya asked in exasperation, as she walked through the door.

  I replied dryly, “The jury is out on that one, I’ll let you know.”

  She surprised me with a tight hug, despite our lack of chemistry it felt pretty damned nice. She studied me for a moment after she stepped back, maybe she was trying to gauge my mood.

  “I don’t think Mike… he was a little freaked out after you left. I don’t think he’s going to tell anyone, but he gave me the damned third degree after you ran out like your ass was on fire. So thanks for that.”

  I frowned, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw you under the bus. I knew he was a little freaked out, I figured it would give him the opportunity to talk with you, not grill you. Anyway, I didn’t have much choice, he kind of figured out something was up. If he can’t handle it, I’ll have to take his memories and cut ties. I didn’t want to do that.”

  She sighed, “I get it, you know I’ve doubted my own sanity a few times over the last nine months, it isn’t easy to…” she growled in frustration and waved that away, “He’s more rigid than I am, he’s been my partner for a while now. I hope he deals but… he’s the type of person that ties their life to certainties, and you just proved his world was a lie.”

  I shook my head, “What about Jenna, and you know if you ever want out…”

  Aiya looked at me like I’d slapped her, “Don’t you dare, it’s hard sometimes but I’d never give you up as a friend, plus you know, my case closure rate is on the line,” she added slyly.

  I snorted and glared at her, “I love you too.”

  Aiya grinned impishly, my glare just bounced off the raven haired beauty, “I suppose I’m being selfish too, it will be harder to be friends with, and work with you if you have to avoid… you get what I mean. It will be hard on all of us. So I really hope he can handle it, but my gut… To answer your question, Jenna took it really well actually, but then she was all into alternative medicines and has a much more creative and open mind. She was kind of delighted by the idea of magic being real. Speaking of case closures, can you look at something for me?”

  I laughed, “So you came here to berate me and then ask for help? I think I need therapy.”

  She nodded and said deadpan, “Of course I did, I’m a model of efficiency after all.”

  I sighed, “Alright, let me take a look.”

  She pulled out a picture and handed it to me. Allison Blare. She looked wholesome in the picture, long chestnut hair with a reddish tint, innocent smile, total girl next door vibe, but the information I was hit with showed a cynical young woman that was stripping her way through college. Despite that, she wasn’t a bad person, just disillusioned with life, specifically the male species, she’d just finished her freshman year and... it seemed I was destined to run afoul of the mob two days in a row.

  I asked, “Coffee?”

  She smiled and went over to help herself, I don’t know how she drank the stuff black, must be a cop thing.

  She took a sip and then sat down, then she asked, “So what did you get?”

  I frowned, “This is a tough one. She works at a gentlemen’s club. She went in early in the morning, to talk to her boss about increasing her hours, so she could earn more for next semester, and she saw something she shouldn’t have. Ap
parently the basement of the club is used for a waystation, for human trafficking. She got there at the worst time, when they were bringing in some Russian girls, to be… trained.”

  I felt kind of sick to my stomach actually. The girls weren’t being treated well. It was times like these that my decision to only deal with supernatural law-breakers was tested, I’d like to go there and put a stop to it, but this wasn’t a comic book and I wasn’t a superhero.

  Aiya looked surprised and her voice was soft, “Is she dead then?”

  I shook my head, “No, she’s been tied up in the basement. They’re moving her tonight after closing, apparently barely legal woman from here is as big overseas, as imports are for the underbelly of our country. Why kill her if they can sell her?”

  Aiya raised an eyebrow and her voice rang with disapproval, “Imports?”

  I handed back the picture, “Sorry, victims, the whole concept is revolting to me.”

  Perhaps I’d reached a bit too far for that emotional distance, but there were several young teen girls that I wished I could get out of my head.

  She sighed, “You’re right though. This is a hard one, because Mike and I can’t just walk in there without probable cause.”

  I tilted my head, “What if I break the club, will that give you probable cause?”

  She shook her head and quirked a smile, “Break the club?”

  I winked and said as innocently as possible, “You know, the door, walls, other things.”

  Aiya narrowed her eyes, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, we’ll have to stake it out until they bring the girls out after closing.”

  I shrugged, “Just trying to help. There will be five armed guys, including the boss, and all those handy female shields to hide behind, you might want to bring backup. Or, what if you got a judge to approve a raid, say you got a tip that there were underage girls on premises.”