Thorns: An Urban Fantasy Adventure by Walt S. Williams

Author:Walt S. Williams [Williams, Walt S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

Claude held up the little plastic eyedropper, studying it with a frown before handing it back to Finn. “So this is it, huh?” he asked, wiping his hand on his pants as if even holding the drug left some filth behind. “We’ve gotten our hands on some at the agency, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in person.” After acquiring the drug, Finn and Kaley had found their way over to a corner booth the older ‘couple’ had secured in their hunt. Claude had a cup of water in front of him, but Finn’s aunt was drinking a cocktail, something pink and fruity that looked delicious and boozy.

Finn examined the liquid inside the plastic bulb closely. “It’s apparently two doses.” It was mostly clear, with the barest pink tint. Occasionally, ephemeral little swirls of purple would dart throughout.

Aunt Jen had a scrunched up scowl on her face. “How’d you manage to get your hands on some?”

Kaley shrugged. “It was easy, really. I just asked a few questions and found a guy who was basically begging to sell it.” Finn nodded. She’d navigated her way through the drug-hunting conversations with surprising skill, slipping out of her normal icy persona to casually start up conversations, poking and prodding around until she found a guy who was willing to sell to them. He wasn’t sure if it was a result of her experience in the service industry or something else, but it hadn’t taken them more than five minutes to find a source. As soon as she’d brought it up to the seller, he’d just about fumbled the dropper into their hands, barely remembering to ask for payment. Of course, by the dilation of his pupils and the smell of his aura, he was high on Thorn himself. She turned to Finn. “What’s the plan now?”

“Well,” Finn said, “the guy said to administer three drops in the eye, so I’ll start there.”

Jen was the first to voice a protest. “Hold on, Finn, you’re going to do it? Is that–”

“Are you out of your mind?” Kaley cried, grabbing his wrist so hard he nearly dropped the Thorn. “I thought – doesn’t that stuff really fuck you up?”

“Perhaps you should let him explain,” Claude said, sounding considerably more levelheaded than the women, but still wearing a frown. “You do have an explanation, right?”

Finn blinked. “Yeah – of course.” His eyes darted between Aunt Jen and Kaley. “I’m almost certain my contract will let me suppress the effects and deal with whatever it does to my aura.”

Aunt Jen leaned forward, furrowing her eyebrows. “Almost certain?”

Finn sighed – he didn’t really want to go into it, but– “Basically, if I can’t, this problem’s a lot bigger than we can deal with.” His contract was Calamity-Class, so he should be able to retain control as long as whoever made the drug didn’t have a stronger contract. If they were stronger than that… Well, they’d probably be doing a bit more than peddling party drugs.

Kaley’s grip tightened on his wrist.

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