A Grim Situation by Whit McClendon

Author:Whit McClendon [McClendon, Whit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rolling Scroll Publishing
Published: 2019-11-27T22:00:00+00:00

*****

The night air felt cool on my face as I ran, and I reveled in the sensation of movement. My body had finally healed itself, the pain of the gunshot wounds had faded, and I ran at top speed just because I could. Much of the land I crossed was open fields, and I had to watch for the barbed wire fences that separated the arbitrary boundaries between what the humans considered their own property. I didn’t care about that. None of the Fae did. We recognize our own territories, and defend them ferociously, but we hold the humans’ borders in contempt. We go where we choose.

Once I hit the outskirts of Katy, I dimmed myself. No sense in ending up on YouTube, even though the likelihood of anyone recording me was remote at that time of night. I dodged through yards, crossed deserted streets, and jumped fences as I let my innate sense of direction guide me back to the Thornwall estate. I can always tell where I’ve been, a skill that’s helped me many times over the centuries. I slowed down as I approached the Thornwall place, for even though it was supposed to be safe, it wasn’t a time for throwing caution to the wind. I reached out with my magick as I walked up to the back fence where we had previously parked the Jeep, but all was quiet.

I vaulted the fence and crouched next to the tree’s wide trunk. I scanned the branches above me and I picked out the camera Ariana had left there. I grinned. That had been a great move on her part. I hadn’t even seen her do it.

Nothing had changed from the last time I’d been here, except the curtains had been pulled through the broken window by the breeze. I moved towards the back porch, listening carefully to be sure I was alone. No one was there. I could still feel the fading echoes of the dark magick that had been in play earlier, grating on my senses like annoying, out-of-tune music in the air.

I’ve heard it said that there’s no evil magick or good magick, that it’s how you use it that counts. That’s bullshit. Well, mostly. The raw earth-power that magick comes from is neutral in the same way electricity is neutral. But where electricity feels the same powering a lamp or shocking someone to death, magick is different. It takes intent and will to make it work. Focus and emotion. Whatever a sorcerer creates retains the attitude of its creator, the feel of his or her emotions. Evil magick feels just like you think it might: oily, creepy, and thick. A sense of dread accompanies such uses of power. It can even make ordinary humans feel goosebumps when they get near it. Good magick feels bright, airy, and warm. Humans might feel happy, or empowered when they drift close to a place where a lot of good magick was used. Either way, when someone gathers and releases a huge amount of power for good or ill, it leaves a mark.

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