Chapter 63: Trapped

Mukesh was still laughing when his spell sparked inside the ritual circle.  Instinctively, the group backed away from the flash, huddling together tense and watchful.  The bright spot ignited and flared into a yellow flame sprouting wings of fire and the glowing, flickering body of a bumblebee.  Everyone except Marko relaxed and snickered. The sisters elbowed one another, exchanging amused […]

Chapter 13: Hits and Misses

Detective Hernandez retrieved a brown paper evidence bag from his car and slipped the grimoire inside, under the baleful glare of auction house proprietor Paul Schauman. Hernandez steeled himself for vehement protests and threats which never came.  Instead, there was only resigned acceptance from Paul. His shoulders slowly sagged as the fight drained out of him. “I hate to admit […]

Chapter 17: Ghostly Intuition

Blackhorse parked in the first space he could. The gray car followed suit, quickly pulling into a spot three cars behind him. He sat staring into his rearview mirror, waiting to see if the driver would get out. The day had heated up and he was feeling worse by the minute. A mild headache had intensified, until the blood was […]

Chapter 62: Ulterior Motives

Plum’s troubled expression showed she really upset about my sighting of her doppelganger. Truth be told, seeing it had deeply disturbed me. For those few horrible moments after the blinding burst of light, I was convinced that Plum died right before my eyes. The sense of loss was immediate and gut wrenching. To have finally gained a level of intimacy […]

Chapter 62: Possession

Richard saw the momentary change come over Officer Foster, when he looked at Harriet. The officer’s usual smug, self-assured expression had slipped. It looked like Foster recognized and was surprised to see his sister. Richard looked over at Harriet, in time to see the switch. Samentha had assumed control of her body again. He could tell, because Harriet’s posture changed […]

Chapter 59: Round Two

The spell weavers dropped into defensive stances in front of the antiquities vault force field; knees bent, arms upraised and poised to cast.  From the blazing bright rotating orbs emerged six shadowy figures. Janet and Andrea shielded their eyes from the blinding light. It gradually dimmed, until they could make out the six identically cloaked warlocks forming an offensive line […]

Chapter 10: The Outsider

Detective Blackhorse awoke determined to go and lay eyes on the woman whose name kept coming up in interviews with the townspeople. He wanted to see for himself if there was anything to their suspicions. Normally, he took accusations of witchcraft made against misfits and outsiders with a grain of salt. More often than not, they were baseless and born […]

Chapter 57: Reconnaissance

Marko was still arguing with the spell weaver, when a bang sounded in their midst.  The group ducked, looking around for a shooter. They were bewildered until Janet drew their attention to a red dot of light which suddenly materialized, right in front of her. They watched it grow steadily into a small pulsating orb, that momentarily hovered in place, […]

Chapter 56: Wrongfully Accused

Plum left me alone, so that I could rest, with a promise to send up a dinner tray. She admonished me to eat everything, because I needed my strength. I was sound asleep, before the door closed behind her. What felt like a moment later, a nudge awakened me. Thinking that Plum had forgotten something, I opened my eyes expecting […]

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