Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(104)

“Nothing since we got here.” A shot of dark green light sailed toward them, and a hand yanked on Clive’s collar. He pointed his staff at the light as he went down, but the arrow of pure magic flew by, unaffected. The arrow burned a black hole into the Ferris wheel’s base, straight underneath it. “Fuck.” He turned off his phone and put it in his pocket.

“You’re welcome,” Jeremy said.

Clive looked at the suited chest that was squashed by his weight. “Thanks,” he muttered and rose to his feet. “My magic should have stopped it.”

“It felt like death. Nothing you or I did was going to stop it.”

Simone got to her feet with Edarra’s help. “Way to go with the quick reflexes.”

Edarra shook her head. “That would not have been a pleasant way to die.”

“At least we know their ringleader is playing captive audience,” Jeremy said. “While that kind of weapon can only be shot off at a distance, I doubt she’s the type to share that power. She’s watching us.”

“You and Simone concentrate on finding whatever eyes she has here, and Edarra and I will focus on the Ferris wheel,” Clive said.

“Edarra is the best backup you’ll get, but you need more than one person,” Simone said.

Clive took out his phone. “I know.” He waved Edarra to follow him and continued forward.

“Who are you calling?” Edarra asked as Clive put the phone to his ear.

“The Council. This is beyond just us now.”

A large crack rent the air. The ride swung wildly, and Clive could hear children screaming. He dropped his phone and sprinted to the base of the ride. He pointed his staff in the direction of running attendants who tried to stop him. “Away from me.” They turned around in a trance and walked as if drunk in the opposite direction. He whipped his staff to the side, and a cluster of fallen metal poles rolled to his feet. He twisted his fingers and the poles mimicked him and rolled into tight bunches of metal. He floated them to the base of the ride, and they tangled themselves into ropes that secured it.

Edarra wrapped both arms around one of the biggest supports. She pulled and the wheel began straightening. “What do we do now?”

“We hold our position no matter what.” Around them, the energy vamps gathered and joined hands. “This should be interesting.”

Power generated at the base of the vamps’ feet.

They’re going to break the ground under us like they did in the hospital. Clive opened his mouth to call back Jeremy and Simone, but saw there was no reason to as heavy fog rolled into the fair. That takes care of the archer and any other onlookers, he thought. Since I don’t have to worry about making too much of a mess…. Clive struck out with his staff and swung it in a large arc. Lightning erupted under the energy vamps, sending chunks of earth and his enemies flying. Some vamps still stood and reclasped their hands. “Stubborn mules.”

As they chanted, a table whirled out of the eating area and into the air at high speed. It hit a barrier, but more tables flung themselves at them, creating a divider between them and Clive.

Clive smiled. I know more stubborn witches. Since he could give the Ferris wheel his full attention, he had an easier time constricting the poles and forcing them to hold the ride’s weight. “I have no idea how this machine works, so we’re going to have to turn it manually.”

Edarra nodded as she spread her legs for a stronger grip. “I’m already prepared for the hard way.”

The Ferris wheel stopped shaking. “Start bringing the cars down.”

Edarra groaned as she spun the huge circle down so the first car reached her level. “Hurry and jump out!”

The people inside obeyed while staring at Edarra as she moved on to the next one.

When the last car was emptied and the children who were the intended victims were standing off to the side with their own barriers cast around them, Clive told Edarra to move back too. Sweat dripped down his face, and he couldn’t hold the Ferris wheel in place for much longer. On the base of the ride, the poles began snapping. Clive allowed more on the side to break faster and pushed with his magic. With a terrible whine, the ride dropped sideways and crashed so hard that the ground shook. It’s those bastards’ turn. He clutched his staff tight and turned to the pile of tables. He no longer saw any limbs sticking out, and he waved to Simone and Jeremy to release their magic. One after another, the tables collapsed, but behind them was a rusted hole in the fence and no energy vamps. “Dammit.”

Clive’s phone rang. He pulled it out, and a number he had just added showed up on the screen. He pressed the Talk button.

“Interfere again, and your people will die with the Great Mother,” said the vamp, who was really reminding Clive too much of the monsters from his old world. The phone went dead.

He glared at his phone. “I swear by the gods, this offense will not go unanswered.”




JEREMY YANKED off the rest of his torn jacket. This is what happens when you trust people. The truce was barely in place with Desmond before the Great Mother decided that she needed more control over him.

“Please continue. This will be the highlight of my day,” Salvatore said as he walked up to Jeremy and Simone sitting on the concrete edge of the fairgrounds.

Jeremy raised an eyebrow at Salvatore’s unusually unkempt appearance. “What happened to you?”