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He nodded. “Right.”
“Speaking of the night, why the fuck do these things always happen when we’re ready for bed? Why not in the morning, when we’ve gotten some sleep, had breakfast, and are good to go?” I swung the car left, onto Wyvers Avenue NW. The Greenbelt Park District wasn’t all that far from the Belles-Faire area, where we lived. Wyvers Point Cemetery was on the border between the two.
“I think ghosts prefer the night. Just like vampires. Or maybe there’s just so much activity during the day that they don’t peek out of the woodwork as much. Whatever the case, I suggest we concentrate on physical attack tonight. And you be careful. With only a dagger, you’re set up as the perfect target.” He picked up my bag. “Are you sure you didn’t swipe anything good from Roz last time you were poking around in his duster? No firebombs or anything?”
er 1
“Inhale. Slowly…That’s it. Now…exhale in one, two, three.” Morio’s voice was low in my ear as he knelt behind me, leaning down, his hands on my shoulders, magic tingling through his fingers, into my body.
I sat cross-legged on the floor, wearing a filmy black dress, my arms extended to the sides. In my left hand, I balanced an orb of obsidian. In my right, I grasped a yew wand, carved with intricate symbols etched in silver.
“Focus on the spirit. Keep your gaze on it.” Again, his soft whispers caressed my ear. We were in tune, my youkai and I, as we sat in a flaming Circle under the night sky, in the hidden shadows of a long-forgotten graveyard. The borders of the Circle were ablaze with magical fire—the purple crackle of death magic—and I was doing my best to control it, struggling to multitask the spells we were working on.
We were in a small cemetery, one shrouded with disuse and neglect. The smell of earth hung pungent in my nose, and a scuttling of bugs across the ground made me shiver, but I forced myself to ignore them, doing my best to forget they were there as I stared at the spirit hovering in front of me.
The ghost was luminous in the night, rising above us, spiraling up from the skull that rested on the ground by my feet. I had no idea who the spirit had been, or why it was here. My task was to break through its barriers and destroy it, setting it free to rest, or—if it would not go willingly—sending it into oblivion.
I gathered the rush of energy Morio was feeding me into a focused beam. The rumbling power twisted through my body, a radiant heat, a purple flame. The tingles sparked, crackling through muscle and sinew as the power grew, buoying me up until I spiraled out of my body.
Looming large before the spirit, I struggled to keep control—both of the flames forming the Circle and of those bucking through me like a horse unwilling to take a master. Morio was forcing the power through me faster than I’d ever been able to take it before, and I struggled to keep atop of it. I lowered my head, searching for the key. And there…hiding behind a wayward spark, there it was.
All magic—all energy—had a key, a signature. Control the key, control the force.
Reaching out, I latched onto the signature and the flames flared up. At first they resisted my control, but I wouldn’t let go. After a struggle, they surrendered and quit fighting me. As they gave in to my will, I shaped them, smoothing them into a sheet of fire, a backwash of flame, ready to surge forth at my command.
The spirit seemed to sense my intent and shrank back, wailing.
I raised my palms to it. “Go, go now or I will destroy you.”
The spirit refused to move but instead shrieked and aimed for me, its lifeless sockets staring intently.
I tried once more. “I command you to depart this realm.”
Again, nothing, but it was obvious the ghost was planning something nasty. I sucked in a deep breath and flipped my hands up, my palms facing forward.
“Death took you once; let death take you again.” And then, I summoned the release word. “Atataq!”
The sound of the fire roared through me as it poured from my hands, soaring with the pulse of my blood. The flame carried me with it, rising like a purple phoenix to blot out the moon. I swung astride its back, riding it like I might ride a lover, the rush of orgasm building within me as the flame dove and turned, aiming for the spirit. As the fiery arrow barreled down to knife through the ghost, exploding the spirit into vapor, I came hard and sharp, letting out a sharp, short scream.
The spirit vanished as I struggled to shake out of my sudden passion-filled daze.
Still astride the phoenix, I realized the magical bird was beginning to turn its head. Oh shit. The gleam in its eye told me I was its next target.
Slightly rattled, I heard Morio shout, “Control it! Take control or the fire will go after you next!”
Quickly, I brought my attention back to the key, struggling to regain my hold on it. The phoenix paused.
“Bring it back now. Damn it, do what I say! Roll the power back now—there…you’ve almost got it.” Morio’s voice was abrupt, as a good teacher’s should be.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts and reined in the power, reeling it back. I worked it, coaxing it, stroking it. As it began to submit, I demanded that it retreat. Another brief struggle and the fire finally obeyed, receding like a tide, rolling back to the Elemental plane from which it had come. The phoenix turned to face the silent night and then vanished in a bright flash.
I felt as if a fine dust of ash coated every nerve. I was vibrating, polished and cleansed from the inside out. As the wave of fiery death magic reached my crown chakra, I let go, and Morio took over, siphoning it back out of me into the sky, releasing it to the night, back to the haunted moon overhead.
Exhausted, I collapsed. Morio leaned over me, his eyes gleaming. His long black hair hung straight, and I longed to run my hands through it, to feel the silken strands between my fingers. I wanted to pull my Japanese lover, my husband, between my legs, and quench the fire that had built within me.
“Do you know how much I want you?” he whispered. “Do you know how hungry for you I am? Our magic makes me want to fuck you senseless.”
“Bring it on. I’ll take whatever you have to give me, my love.” I was ready to take him right there inside the Circle of flames. But before we could act, my cell phone rang. It was in my purse, which was sitting on the grass, outside of the magical circle. The ring tone played out “Demon Days” by the Gorillaz, which meant it was Chase. Which meant it was probably important.
