37. Damian

Chapter thirty-seven

Damian

" O rville," I called the moment I got home.

The ghost appeared immediately. "I need help, and fast," I said.

Orville looked concerned but nodded. "Do we need to discuss this in the attic?" he asked.

"No, because I need the help of all the ghosts if I'm going to fix what's happened."

Orville's left eyebrow popped up, but he nodded for me to continue. "Molly, the woman who was here the other night, she's been abducted, and we think it might be by a gang of individuals who serve the dark. Can the ghosts search for her? I need to know what I'm up against."

Orville pondered for a few moments, then shook his head. "Mr. Richards," he said, using my surname, which was unusual and alarming at the same time. "Many of the ghosts that sought this place as a sanctuary have moved on. Your willingness to entertain the witch caused most of them to leave, at least for now. I doubt you have a strong enough presence here to do the search."

I stared at him, then shook my head. "I understand," I said, and feeling the anger rising in me, I decided it was probably best to leave well enough alone. "Orville, I won't be requiring your help then. But you should let the others know I consider this a slight against the hospitality offered by my predecessor and me. Just so you know, Owen is in jeopardy too. Not helping me is the same as not helping him."

I probably shouldn't have said that, I was just angry, but when I needed them the most, when we needed them most, they were unwilling to help. And for what? Because I didn't know about the relationship between witches and ghosts? That I'd invited Cary over by accident?

I didn't have time to deal with them right now. I leaped up the stairs two at a time until I reached the parchment. Despite the previous conversation and what I'd thought was me smoothing over the incident, I now had no idea what my relationship with the ghosts was, and hell, if they were holding Cary against me, who knows what could be up.

I used my staff and closed the gap Elias had created that allowed Orville into the attic. I doubted he was a foe, and likely he never would be, but right now, I needed to be careful. Molly's life and possibly others were at stake. I wouldn't be taking any chances.

I opened the parchment and touched the quill to the paper.

"Elias, I need help, and it's urgent. "

The writing began immediately. "Explain how I can help."

I spent the next half hour explaining to Elias what had happened. Then took another half hour explaining how the ghosts had refused to help.

"I've even blocked Orville from the attic," I admitted.

"Good," Elias said. "He has that coming. Just be aware, I've done the same in the past."

I nodded. "Thanks, it's good to have confirmation. Now, how do I deal with this?" I asked.

Elias explained several scenarios, none of them without fault. If I went in, magical guns blazing, there would be a lot of fallout. I'd lost my biggest ally for covert surveillance, and that was the ghosts.

Witches were a blunt weapon to use in a situation like this. If they got involved, the fallout could be even greater, and I knew without any doubt the entity that confronted me in Molly's apartment would sacrifice her to punish me.

When asked how he would've handled things, Elias said he wasn't even sure how he would deal with things until he was dealing with them. "You can prepare for days, but it's not until you're facing your enemy that you know how to deal with them. Magical warfare is not the same as planning battles. There are just too many variables," he'd said.

"Who do you think the man he's looking for is?" I asked, and Elias was stumped.

"It's an odd request. I can't see why he'd want Owen unless it's to hurt you as you suggested, but if you gave him over, that would show you don't have any real feelings for him. I don't think Owen is the man he wanted."

"I agree, so who is he after?"

"You should've had the witches scry for that information. Do you still have the poison you withdrew from Owen?" he asked.

"Yes, I forgot about that. I should destroy it."

"Maybe not, at least not immediately. You need the witches since wizards are not experts in divination, but they should be able to scry for you. Help you see who the vipers are searching for."

I immediately texted Cary, telling him I was headed back and that Elias had recommended they do a scrying with the stuff we got out of Owen. Then I rushed downstairs and was surprised to hear Owen in the library. I went to tell him I would be back and stopped short when I opened the pocket door and found him packing. "Um, Owen, what's going on?" I asked.

He stared at me, a frown on his face. "Damian, I'm going to go home for a while. Let things calm down here. Mr. Stages has set up a small coven from my hometown to meet me at the airport. They'll drive me back home and keep an eye on me while I'm there. Mr. Stages was pretty sure I'd be safe. The vipers have more on their plate and agenda than to worry about me."

I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "I-I didn't mean I wanted to break up," I said, but Owen shook his head .

"Damian," he said and turned toward me. "We only just met, and then we were thrust together by magic. People don't move in with each other after one date. You don't have to feel bad about this not being a real thing, okay? I'm not a kid. I know how things work."

He leaned up and kissed me, just a chaste kiss on the lips, before he turned back and began packing again.

I could tell he was fighting tears, and the truth was, so was I. I didn't want to lose what we'd just started. Yeah, it was fast, and yeah, I know that was weird, but I liked him a lot. Then I thought about Molly being in danger. If these Vipers could abduct her, they wouldn't hesitate to do the same with him.

I held him for several long moments, then when I let go, I said, "We will handle this, but I'm glad you'll be safe. Owen," I said and hesitated until he looked up at me, "be safe, okay?"

He nodded, then smiled and turned to finish packing.

I rushed out the door, Molly's fate driving me, even though everything told me I shouldn't let him go. If I were a light-based wizard, even if it meant a life of loneliness, I couldn't let someone like Owen be in danger just because he was with me. For real, I had to prevent that.

I ran to the witch's office, and it felt good to work my muscles. I was so frustrated with all that was happening: Molly being abducted, and Owen attacked. Now, shit, I was losing him. I could've run for a hundred miles, given the chance.

I paused to catch my breath before going into the office. Luckily, Mrs. Patterson was waiting in the conference room for me, and Cary opened the door so I could join her. "Do you have the box?" she asked when I walked in.

I nodded as I took in the large clay bowl that seemed to be ancient. I guessed it probably was, although I didn't have time to ponder that. We needed to figure things out now.

I put my hand out, and the staff immediately appeared. Mrs. Patterson blinked a few times, and I could tell my staff made her nervous. The message that went through my mind came instantly. "That's not a bad thing." The wizards who preceded me had mostly been wary of witches, even the one witch who'd become a wizard had been leery of her counterparts. However, Mrs. Patterson was helping me, and there was no indication she was or ever would be a threat.

The little box still sat on top of the staff. "Let me begin, and when I gesture to you, dip the box into the water. Just the box, though, not your staff. Gods only know what'd happen if you did that."

I smiled, thinking she was joking, but she didn't smile back. Okay, maybe I should take this more seriously. "We need to know what they want. Who they're searching for," I said.

She nodded and began chanting. The language was Samarian. Knowledge of the ancient language had come down through my predecessors as well. The chant roughly translated to Bring us light; bring us wisdom; bring us answers; resist the night .

She glanced up at me and gestured toward the scrying bowl. I tipped my staff upside down and gently touched the tip to the water, then quickly pulled it back.

Images immediately began to stir. I heard Mrs. Patterson repeat the chanting, but I didn't look up. Instead, I was mesmerized by the flow of color, mostly white flowing in circles around the bowl. Finally, an image began to form, and when it settled, I wondered what the hell a horse had to do with anything. Then a voice in my head corrected me . Re'em .

Sure enough, I examined it closer and saw the single horn protruding from the horse's skull.

"What does this mean?" I asked, but when I glanced at Mrs. Patterson, her head was laid back, her eyes blank. "Shit," I said, and the waters immediately began to stir.

"Words are important," Elias had warned me. So, I drew out my staff again and severed the magical ties between Mrs. Patterson and the scrying bowl. I called out for Cary to bring Mr. Stages, which he did immediately.

"What happened?" the old coven leader asked, and I opened my mouth to tell him, but the words wouldn't come. They can't know about the Re'em. No one can know . A voice echoed in my head.

"The scrying went bad," I finally said. "She needs help."

Mr. Harrison came in behind Mr. Stages, and they began to chant while placing hands on her head. Slowly, she came to and gazed up at me. "You must save him," she whispered, then fell into a deep sleep .

Deep inside, I knew whatever caused me to hold my tongue would also keep her quiet. The knowledge of a Re'em unicorn flowed through me though. Seconds ago, I would've sworn it was just a story people told little kids at night.

Maybe it was a cartoon or a fairy tale, but no, damn it, no, it was so much more. Now that I thought about it, even the Bible had references to the powerful light beast.

My head hurt with the urgency flowing through me. Information about the Re'em unicorn, how rare it was for them to reincarnate. How dangerous it was when they did.

Finally, after several moments of information download, the final blow hit me. If the Re'em fell into the wrong hands, everything would be at risk. The entire universe would be at risk.

I suddenly had an intense need to find Owen and secure him. I had no idea how he was related to the new unicorn, but all my instincts told me he was.

"I've got to go," I said, rushing out of the office and back to the house. Unfortunately, by the time I got home, it was empty.

"Owen," I said on his voicemail when he didn't answer. "You need to stay put. I'm not sure why, but you need to come back home. I'll… I'll try to explain when you get here."

I also texted him, but he didn't return my call or text. Had he turned his phone off? My insides were twisted. I didn't know which way to turn. On the one hand, Molly was missing, and I needed to confront the vipers and get her back. On the other, my instincts were screaming about Owen. The Re'em unicorn, whatever that symbolized, was just the shitty icing on the cake. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.