“Yeah, yeah,” mumbled Ichiro.

  “I wasn’t,” I said, dropping my backpack to the ground. “I was trying to assess his wound.”

  I fished around for the first aid kit and took out the necessary supplies.

  “If you have something I can use to sterilize the area I can do the rest,” said Gavin.

  I handed him what he needed and returned my attention to Ichiro.

  “What are you guys doing here anyway?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest.

  “My familiar told me what you were up to and we came to stop you from doing something dumb, but we arrived a little late because someone was trying to finish a snack.”

  “Don’t blame me,” muttered Cuddles. “I ate as fast as I could.”

  I shook my head and angrily shoved everything back in my bag. Gavin winced as he cleaned the gash on his head. I watched as he placed his hand over the wound and slowly started to heal it. He struggled with closing it completely, but at least it stopped bleeding everywhere.

  “Well, you can go back,” I said. “I’ve got things handled.”

  Ichiro moved to block my grand exit and smirked at me.

  “Oh really?” he said. “Do you know what could have come out of the woods and attacked you if you kept up that yelling? And what the hell is up with those shoes? You aren’t freaking twelve years old. You’re stomping through here and may as well have a sign on that says ‘attack me please and rip out my intestines.’”

  I recoiled from the visual he painted and frowned.

  “Well, do you have a better idea?” I snapped.

  “Yes,” he said grabbing my elbow. “Let’s get the hell out of here before something rips us to shreds.”

  “No,” I said twisting free from his grasp. “I’m not leaving without my familiar. I’ve made myself very clear about that point. You guys can leave if you want to.”

  I quickly rushed by him and stomped my way back toward the trail.

  “Fine!” he yelled. “We will leave you. Just don’t come back and haunt us after something eats you, because I’m going to say I told you so!”

  I continued walking on the trail and refused to look back at the guys. I could tell by the crunching leaves that they were still behind me.

  While I couldn’t make out what was being said I knew Ichiro was having a heated exchange with Gavin.

  After a bit more walking, I was able to make out some lights in the distance.

  Is that a town?

  I picked up the pace a bit, but suddenly I was lifted off the ground.

  “Wait, Lettie,” said Cuddles. “It’s not safe.”

  If it was Gavin or Ichiro I would have struggled to break free, but I knew no such thing was possible with Cuddles.

  “Let me grab a shirt for Gavin and then we’ll go into that bar and regroup since you’re dead-set on us dying tonight,” muttered Ichiro.

  He glanced around for a moment before disappearing into the darkness. Cuddles gently placed me back on the ground and ushered me off of the main road.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “Ichiro comes here a lot, so he knows his way around a bit.”

  Before I’m able to ask some follow up questions, Ichiro reappears and hands a shirt to Gavin.

  “Do I want to know?” asked Gavin taking the shirt from Ichiro.

  “Nope,” he replied. “Obviously you can’t walk around shirtless and you can’t put that bloody shirt back on either. So, you can put on the one I got for you or you can stay hiding in the bushes and die alone, while the rest of us die together.”

  “Stop saying that,” I snapped. “Nobody is dying tonight.”

  Ichiro rolled his eyes before jerking his thumb toward the bar.

  “Let’s go inside and figure out what we’re going to do. Here are the ground rules: don’t look at anyone and don’t talk to anyone. Don’t accept anything offered to you either,” he said.

  “Anything else?” I asked.

  “Yes,” he replied. “Try to be invisible and unassuming.”

  I twisted my face to the side in confusion, but he ignored me as he puffed out his chest like a proud peacock and headed for the bar.

  Chapter Ten

  I shrank down a little as we entered the bar. It was dark, but I could clearly make out the faces of the not so friendly.

  Creatures of all shapes and sizes stared back at us and I nearly stopped in my tracks. Gavin nudged me forward and kept me going.

  Ichiro weaved in and out of the crowd and headed toward a small table situated in the corner. He pulled out my chair and motioned for me to sit down. I got comfortable and the rest of the guys did the same.

  A short goblin appeared at the table holding a notepad. I’m not completely sure, but the goblin appeared to be a female. She was squat, with black wispy hair sprouting from her head. A large mole on the side of her mouth had several long hairs protruding out of it.

  “Drinks?” she asked.

  Hell no, I’m not drinking anything from here.

  “Four gruels,” said Ichiro.

  The goblin nodded and bopped off toward the bar to get our drinks.

  “What the hell is gruel?” I asked.

  Ichiro laughed and reclined back in his chair. “Trust me, you don’t want to know. It stinks, it’s slimy, and it’ll put hair on your chest.”

  I rolled my eyes at him before scanning the room. Despite seeing some unfamiliar creatures, nothing looked especially dangerous.

  Stick to the plan.

  I fished around in my bag and grabbed a picture of Cecilia. Before the guys are able to stop me, I get to my feet and make my way to the nearest patron.

  “Have you seen this familiar?” I asked. “Her name is Cecilia.”

  The being frowned and glanced over at his companion, before returning his gaze to me.

  “Oh okay,” I said slowly. “I’ll take that as a no.”

  I moved to the next table and before I’m able to get the words out, Ichiro grabbed my shoulders and started to pull me away.

  “This is not the place,” he hissed in my ear.

  “Sorry guys,” he said, raising his voice a bit. “My girl got ahold of a bad batch of pixie dust, and she is losing her shit.”

  I tried to protest, but his grip was firm as he dragged me back to the table.

  “That’s your plan,” he snapped. “These creatures would sooner eat you than you answer your questions.”

  “Well I won’t know if I don’t ask,” I fired back.

  The goblin returned with our tankards of gruel and placed them on the table. Ichiro was right about one thing, they smelled horrific.

  All three guys happily grabbed the disgusting drinks and downed them. I tried to force the vomit back down my throat as I watched them.

  “Alright, so here’s the plan,” said Ichiro. “We try a spell or two and see if we can summon your familiar.”

  I shook my head and sighed. “That won’t work. That’s the very first thing I tried to do when I got here.”

  “Yeah, but we weren’t here to tell you what you were doing wrong,” replied Ichiro.

  He won’t be happy until I hex his mouth closed.

  Just as I’m about to deliver a few choice words to him, another goblin walked up. This one looked … disturbed. His dark green skin was covered with boils and a few of them oozed puss. His mouth flapped open and a thick strand of drool hung on his lip.

  “Can I help you?” I asked.

  “Ewww no, don’t talk to it,” said Ichiro. “Shoo go away.”

  I scowled at Ichiro before returning my attention to the goblin.

  “He might be lost or something,” I said defensively.

  I waved my hand back and forth in front of his face, but he stared back with a blank vacant look.

  Gavin leaned over and nudged him with his foot.

  “I think something is wrong with him,” he said. “Ichiro’s right, ignore him and maybe he’ll go away.”

  Just then the goblin slowly reached into his pocket and held an envelope up toward me.

  “Don’t touch it,” warned Ichiro.

  Naturally I took the envelope from the goblin’s tiny hand. I turned it over in my hands and studied the outside of it.

  “It has my name on it,” I whispered.

  I looked back at the goblin, but he seemingly disappeared into thin air.

  “Well you’ve done it now,” said Ichiro. “You may as well go ahead and open the damn thing.”

  I turned the envelope back over and ripped it open. There’s a thick piece of parchment shoved inside of it. I wiggled it free and skimmed the page.

  “Well?’ asked Gavin.

  My eyes filled with tears as I read the note again for the third time.

  “It says Cecilia is safe and I can find her in the market. She’s here guys and she’s okay.”

  I grabbed my bag and jumped to my feet.

  “Hold on,” said Gavin. “Let me take a look at that thing. We don’t want to go rushing into a trap or something.”

  I thrust the letter at him, but remained standing.

  “Trap or not, I’m going.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Slow down, Ponytail,” hissed Ichiro.

  I tried to slow down enough for the guys to close the gap between us, but I was a woman on a mission.

  The beings we passed stopped and stared at us. I avoided making eye contact like Ichiro suggested, but it was hard to stop myself from stealing a glance or two. The small street was getting smaller by the second as it became packed with various carts and vendors. Everything was truly transforming into a marketplace right before our eyes. Beings covered in cloaks unpacked their things left and right.

  If this had been under different circumstances, I’d love to take my time and really examine everything.

  “Go left at the fork,” said Ichiro. “That will take us to the center of the market.”

  I nodded and plowed forward through the thickening crowd. I’d never seen so many different species ever before.

  “How do you know so much about Abaddon?” I asked, turning my head toward Ichiro.

  He shrugged his shoulders and blanked his face so it’s expressionless.

  “Misspent youth,” he mumbled.

  I nodded, not wanting to press him any further at the moment. The look on his face made it clear that it wasn’t a topic he was in the mood to discuss.

  I scanned the market again for some sign of Cecilia, but I came up empty.

  Where the hell is she?

  “Would the pretty lady like a fresh batch of lizard lips?” said a man stepping out in front of me.

  He, like the others, wore a dingy black cloak, with part of his face covered. What little bit of his face I could see was covered in bumps and soot.

  “No thank you,” I replied, trying to offer a small smile.

  “I have a bag of dried scarab beetles just in from Egypt,” he said. “Just step this way into my shop.”

  He smiled at me and revealed a mouth full of decaying and missing teeth.

  “She doesn’t want anything,” said Ichiro, trying to pull me away from the man.

  “I think she does,” replied the man. “How about a mouthy cat with wings?”

  “W-what?” I stammered. “Cecilia? You have my familiar?”

  The man pursed his lips and gave Ichiro a smug look.

  “The lady asked you a question,” growled Gavin.

  Cuddles moved closer to us and scowled at the man who in turn took two steps back.

  “Okay, okay,” he said. “There’s no need to crowd me. I don’t have the familiar, but I know where she is.”

  “Please tell me where,” I pleaded.

  The man motioned to his shop again with a gnarled twisted finger.

  “Go through the doors in the back and you will find exactly what you’re looking for and more,” he replied.

  I don’t need more, just my familiar. I’m going to stuff her in this backpack and get the hell out of here.

  I rushed by the man and made a beeline for the doors.

  “You fellas should stay here,” said the man.

  Ichiro snorted a response, and Gavin and Cuddles ignored him completely.

  The store had shelves covered in glass jars with various body parts in them. A few of the specimens looked human, but I couldn’t be sure.

  I crossed the room in seconds and reached my hand out to grab the door handle. My nerves were getting the best of me as my hand trembled uncontrollably.

  I clinched my eyes closed and opened the door. A wave of cool air blasted me full force in the face and a dim light shone in the middle of the room.

  There, sitting in the center of the pool of light, was Cecilia, licking her paw and flexing her wings.

  “Cecilia!” I screeched.

  Her head snapped up and the corners of her mouth upturned into a smile. She launched herself into the air with a single flap of her wings and barreled right in to me.

  “I found you,” I whispered, as tears streamed down my face. “I can’t believe I actually found you. Are you hurt?”

  “I’m fine, not a single strand of fur is out of place. I knew you would find me,” she replied. “Took you long enough though.”

  I loosened my grip so she could freely hover in front of me. Her wings made a soft swishing sound through the air.

  “Who the hell are these guys?” she asked, staring over my head.

  I whipped around to face my entourage, having completely forgotten about them being behind me.

  “When I came home and saw that you were gone, I went into full panic mode. I went to the supply store to grab whatever may come in handy, and these guys offered to help me,” I explained.

  Cecilia scowled at the guys and landed on the ground with a thud. “They shouldn’t be here,” she replied.

  “Hey,” I said dropping down to my knees. “What kind of attitude is that to have? None of us would be in this mess had you not thrown a fit. Now stop being rude and let me properly introduce you to everyone. That’s Ichi—”

  The door behind us slammed shut and startled us. Ichiro and Gavin pulled out their wands and had them pointed at the door.

  “Cecilia!” boomed a loud voice from across the room.

  Cecilia turned toward the voice and I reached out to grab her, but she moved too fast for me.

  “No!” I yelled, but it was too late.

  With each step Cecilia took more and more of the room lit up to reveal that we weren’t in room at all. The darkness expanded to show the walls of a dank cave. Cecilia ran up a series of stairs and leapt up on to a perch.

  Gavin reached down to help me to my feet as I stared ahead trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

  “Take out your wand,” he whispered.

  My heart raced and I could have sworn it could be heard by everyone in the room.

  “Cecilia, get over here,” I hissed.

  Suddenly five loud pops sent us scrambling for cover. Gavin, Ichiro, and I fired off several rounds in the direction of the sounds.

  “Don’t hit Cecilia!” I yelled.

  “Well, she better have sense enough to get the hell out of the way!” yelled Ichiro.

  Cuddles transformed into his bear form and roared loudly.

  “Enough!” bellowed a voice.

  As if right on cue, my entire body froze and I could no longer fire off any more shots. I couldn’t move, but I didn’t need to move in order to know the guys were frozen too.

  “I told you I could get her here,” said Cecilia.

  A sinking feeling rumbled in the pit of my stomach.

  What the hell does that mean?

  “You said she would come days ago,” snapped another voice.

  Cecilia sighed and fluttered her wings in annoyance. “She’s here. I never gave an exact time frame.”

  “I’m going to release you,” said the voice. “Do not fire anymore shots at us, or I won’t be so gentle the next time.”

  The invisible force that had us trapped suddenly released us hard enough to knock us off our feet.

  “Your familiar set you up,” said Ichiro, glaring at me.

  “She sure as shit did,” I grumbled.

  Chapter Twelve

  “Calm down,” said Cecilia. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong.”

  “Really?” I asked. “Because I think you tricked me and led me right into a trap.”

  Cecilia flapped her wings a few times before looking up at the being closest to her. I took notice of what was behind her too. Seated in front of us was five cloaked beings, each wearing a deep scowl. I couldn’t readily identify any of the creatures, and none of them were pleasant to look at.

  The one closest to the Cecilia raised his hand and pointed at me. The cloak slid back to reveal an almost skeletal hand.

  “You don’t look like a guardian,” he hissed.

  I turned around to see who he was pointing at. The guys were fanned out around me and there was nothing behind us other than the door.

  “Me?” I asked nervously.

  His hand dropped back down silently as we all exchanged nervous glances with one another.

  “I’m not a guardian,” I replied. “I’m just a witch who was searching for her kidnapped familiar, but by the looks of things, her ass should have stayed lost.”

  “It was time,” said Cecilia. “If I didn’t do something, you’d still be stuck in that house on a regular basis, fretting over your salt delivery.”

  “You did this on purpose?” I asked. My voice broke as I tried to hold back the tears.

  This was a set-up all along.

  “Do you know what I’ve been through just to rescue you?” I bellowed. “My thighs still ache from climbing all those damn stairs. I had to dodge a damn dragon and I’m using a dead guys wand right now!”

  Cecilia stopped fidgeting and stared at me with those big yellow eyes of hers. I remember staring in those same eyes when I was little and feeling so at home and now I just want to uppercut her.

  “You did all of that for me?” she asked, her voice low.

  “Yes,” snapped Ichiro. “And it’s obvious you didn’t deserve it.”

 

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