Song of the Day | Idiot Oracle by Paul Dempsey | Spotify | YouTube
Soda landed in an unceremonious heap, her body crunching unpleasantly into tarmac, in front of a pair of shapely legs in tight ripped jeans and glittery platform sneakers.
“Oh good, you got her,” Dawn said with a smile, looking down at Soda. “Darling, I am loving this new look of yours." He turned to the dishevelled group trying to stand. "Well?”
Red was still all floofed up with shock. Soda felt magic stirring behind them, closing the Gate in their wake.
“Didn’t get to have a scrap,” said Darren glumly, dusting off his pants. “Just a lot of angry feelings talk. Boring as batshit.”
“We barely escaped with our lives!” Soda's voice raised half an octave.
She took a big breath then threw up a golden sphere around all of them, telling it to reject any living thing. Then she paused, considering, and pushed it out to the size of the block. She thought about pushing it out more but then decided to stop because everyone was staring at her. She stared back defiantly. Not everyone. Rowan was still where she’d landed, crouched on the ground.
“Hey Rowan, are you alright?” She took a few tentative steps towards her.
Rowan unfolded herself back up to her full height, looking like a blonde Nick Cave in her black velvet suit and Oxford shoes. This is how she dresses for a fight. It was just too much! Was she just like this all the time? Being super hot and incredibly personally destructive? No wonder the dude at the service station was upset about her being there. Rowan turned and her face was blotchy and red with tears, and Soda immediately felt guilty.
“Bit rough hey,” she said with a sympathetic wince, giving Rowan a pat on the arm.
“I was prepared to see her again, I just didn’t think it would hurt this much,” she said hoarsely.
“You are killing me with all of this,” said Dawn loudly, tapping a sparkly foot, hands on his hips.
“Right, right,” Soda mumbled. She was sweaty and pasty, and the shadowy shapes of trees crept into her vision again. “Ummm. Gotta be quick. I went to House Orleans and Captain Pereira taught me how to do some magic with the Stone, and I plugged up the tear in reality but it’s still there and it’ll burst open fully on the Equinox and destroy everything unless we do a ritual to close it, and I met a bunch of Enclave people, and Somnus and Midnight, and then I saw Evangeline being possessed so I ran away and I found these guys in the kitchen on my way out. Then we had an argument with Rene Mwangi, but we escaped.”
“Oh, is that all,” said Dawn faintly.
“No, it isn’t,” said Soda, a bit breathless still. “They know that the third Artefact is a box, and what it looks like. We have to urgently get to Kevin’s house, to see if he’s alright. I think he lives in Sacramento. Is that far from here?”
“Not real close,” admitted Red uneasily.
“We’ll take the Mustang,” said Rowan. “She’s still got some tricks you haven’t seen yet.”
“What like, can she fly, or...” teased Darren.
“This isn’t Chitty Bang Bang,” said Rowan reprovingly.
They all headed for the car, including Dawn.
“I thought you had to stay here?” Red asked him.
“Well I’m already in a lot of trouble for helping you, so I want to come along for the ride,” Dawn said airily, sliding into the passenger seat. “Children in the back please,” he added with a smirk.
Rowan got in, slammed the door shut, and glanced back at them. “Put your seatbelts on. Hold on tight.”
Soda gulped and gripped onto whatever she could reach. Rowan fiddled with some dials that made the engine roar, then flatten into a strange, humming whine that Soda felt in her guts. She planted her foot and they shot off, driving much, much faster than any car should ever be able to go. They were going so fast that the city around them became long streaks of grey interspersed with ribbons of colour. Soda did indeed hold on, white-knuckled and grim. Darren gave her a hearty wink and a little nudge. He looked delighted.
“Are you right?” She asked, half-laughing at his wriggling glee.
“We’re riding in a legend,” he said, stroking the car reverently. “When it was made, there was nothing else like it. Rowan commissioned it specially from the Mad Artificer, Arthur Longshanks.”
“Correct on all accounts,” agreed Rowan from the front. “I’m sure she’s overdue for a service, did old mad Arthur survive the 80s?”
“Mad as a cut snake and drunker than an Irish priest all the way up till last year when he went on his way,” said Darren with a grin. Rowan smiled too, but Soda caught a sad sigh.
“Are magicked cars common now?” Rowan asked him.
“Not really, pretty complicated and it’s out of fashion compared to modern tech anyway,” he shrugged.
“Angie always hated this car,” said Rowan.
“I know,” Soda replied with a half-frown. “She told me.”
“What did you think of her?” Rowan asked, glancing in the rear-view mirror.
Soda’s brow furrowed, troubled. She took a while to answer, while the other passengers looked away awkwardly.
“I thought she was cool,” she finally admitted. “She really does believe the things she says with all her heart, and you gotta admire that. She was really kind to me.”
Red glanced up at her, then patted her knee with his paw. Rowan said nothing, but nodded in agreement. There was another long moment of silence as the city streaked away.
“What did you see, babygirl?” Dawn finally prompted gently. “What are we facing here?”
Soda took a deep, steadying breath, and took them through what had happened. When she got to the part about Evangeline and her monstrous shadow, she struggled. Her feelings about that were confused.
“She…it…they… want to use the force of the Enclave to conduct the ritual. Instead of closing the door, breaking it open. She wants to confront Fate and defeat her in battle, I think. And make everything go down the cosmic drain hole. That’s when I knew I had to get out of there. Oh. And I stole this,” she added casually, as though stealing things was something she did often. The Book hummed under her fingers as she wielded it to the group.
“Holy fuck!” Red shouted, causing Rowan to swerve briefly while everyone gritted their teeth and tried not to lose their stomachs.
“I’m trying to concentrate, please don’t startle me,” said Rowan, her tone suggesting politeness was the thinnest veneer for pent-up violence.
“Sorry, sorry, everyone's on edge at the moment,” said Soda. “Anyway, we don’t have much time left. We need to rescue Kevin and get the drawing of the box. Once I see it, I’ll be able to find where it is, I know it. The Artefacts want to be back together. Then we have to do the ritual to close the door. We’re gonna need more people for that,” she added anxiously. “We had a circle of some of the most powerful sorcerers alive and it barely contained the tear.”
Darren pulled out his phone. “I’ll text the boss, see what they reckon,” he said. “I met your mates,” he nodded to Soda. “Mick and Kitty. They seem like good sorts.”
“They are,” Soda agreed, relieved they’d made it to Lune’s alright. “Are they safe?”
“Safe as houses with the boss,” Darren assured her. “I think Mick has a talent for it though, he’d make a good warlock maybe!”
“Oi! Don’t drag them into this!”
“I don’t think it’s dragging so much as joyful running,” laughed Darren.
Soda’s shoulders hunched. Of course that would be true. And why shouldn’t they? Because Frank was right and all of this is a dangerous bad fucking time, Soda thought glumly. But they were in it up to their necks now.
“Are you a warlock?” Soda asked curiously.
“I’m an apprentice,” he said with false modesty, betraying himself with a smile. “When I finish my training, I’ll be the best.”
“The best warlock?”
“I don’t get too caught up in that Fed name stuff,” he waved dismissively. “I’ll know what I am.”
“The best?”
“Exactly,” he agreed, looking young and full of piss and vinegar. Soda was glad her was on their side.
They streaked across San Francisco like a blur. Now the countryside started to spill out around them on either side of the interstate, rushing shades of green and brown to replace the reflective greys. Less than half an hour later they were in the outskirts of Sacramento when they had to stop abruptly for a huge crowd of protesters rollicking through the city. Soda wasn’t really sure what they were protesting. Some had signs decrying the end of the world, others looked dusted off from the pandemic - NO MORE LOCKDOWNS - others said things like ALIENS WELCOME and I BELIEVE IN FAIRIES.
“I can’t drive through this,” said Rowan, throwing up her hands.
“Here, let me look up an alternative route on maps,” offered Darren, holding up his phone. Rowan scowled as though she was unhappy about the solution, but under his direction they turned left and took off down another street. People were everywhere, in stark contrast to the first few days. Some looked like they were just going about their business, but many looked lost and frightened. Go home! She willed them all. Please hide!
Finally, after Soda thought she might die with impatience, they pulled up in front of a nondescript, low apartment building with some scrubby gardens. They found the right floor and Soda held her breath as they approached. The front door was swinging ajar, and her heart clenched. Rowan glanced ahead and then wordlessly slipped past her into the lead, pulling out her giant gun and cocking it slowly and quietly. As though she could hide with that epic fizz of magical energy. The woman was a walking fireworks show, now Soda could see magic all the time. Rowan gestured for them to wait outside, then pushed the door open. Soda already knew what they’d find. A new kind of magic washed out the door in little fading eddies. It was livid red and smelled metallic.
“I don’t think you want to see this,” said Rowan flatly. Everyone outside cringed. Soda’s eyes filled with angry tears, her throat choked with rage and guilt. This was all her fault. Kevin was just some dumb enthusiastic lonely kid who wanted to learn about magic. Fury propelled her to the door, but she still stopped dead with silent horror.
Kevin’s body had been sat up on the couch, but the shabby carpets in his little apartment living room were dark and stinking with his blood. He’d been badly beaten, and he was so blue it was clear he’d been dead for some time. Probably since last night, not long after she’d told Carter about him. She forced herself to look until she couldn’t stand another moment, and she had to shove past Rowan into the kitchen and puke in the sink. She was far, far too late. Little hiccuping sobs wracked her.
“Oh God, Kevin, I'm sorry,” she choked.
“Hey that’s cool, I forgive you bro,” said a chipper voice behind her. She screamed, whipping around and throwing up a shield so intense she disappeared inside a globe of gold. The others rushed into the kitchen, or tried to but couldn’t, because it was too tiny. They stacked themselves behind Rowan and peered around her.
“Woah woah woah Soda! Ceasefire!”
Soda lowered the shield slowly.
Kevin Zhang was in front of them, looking hale and hearty, apart from the fact that he was floating and slightly transparent. Rowan glared at him with fire in her eyes, and made a grab for his chin, which somehow connected. She examined his forehead with strange intensity, then released him and shook the latent magic out of her hand. He looked puzzled and polite, but let her finish. She said nothing, frowning thoughtfully.
“Kevin!” Soda managed to choke out. “You’re a-a- ghost!”
“Yeah baby!” He agreed with a little shoulder shimmy. “I just like, wasn’t done yet, you know? Unfinished business.”
Soda gripped the edge of the sink, glanced at her spew, made a face, and rinsed it down.
“Well shit kid, we told you to go hide,” said Red sorrowfully, jumping onto the counter.
“Big Red Will Bosby in the flesh, my man! I really was gonna hide, but they got me first, you know? I mean, you know,” Kevin replied, gesturing to his corpse. He seemed awfully pleased for someone who was so recently, horribly, deceased.
“Jeez,” said Darren, wincing as he looked at Kevin’s body. “Didn’t that hurt mate?”
“Ya well, I’m pretty weak sauce,” said Kevin philosophically. “I probably died like, three punches in. That lady was real strong. And there were really weird beast guys with her.”
“Pereira?” Rowan asked sharply.
“Short, angry Latina lady in Call of Duty cosplay?”
“That’s the one,” agreed Soda hoarsely. She knew the Captain was violent, but she thought there was no reason to do this to Kevin. He would’ve helped willingly.
“Why did…” Soda’s words failed, but Kevin frowned thoughtfully at his ruined apartment and answered her anyway.
“Once they were done pummelling me they stuck me with what looked to me like a Mayan ritual knife, then used the blood to create a big portal to go somewhere else.”
“Ugh, was that really necessary?” Soda asked.
“No one’s got a great solution for instant transport,” answered Red, his little nose wrinkling. “More than one way to skin a cat, as they like to say. This is one very grisly, very illegal way.”
“Kevin,” Rowan cut in. “We need to know what the box looked like. Do you have any copies of the page or the book?”
“No copies, milady,” he grinned expansively, “but yo, being dead has benefits! Look at this!” He pressed his misty hands together and then pulled them apart slowly. Hung between them like a net was a shimmering image of an old book page. On it was an inked sketch of a large traveller’s chest, its sides and top covered in ornate carvings of a forest scene. Everyone peered at it with intense interest, then Soda’s eyes widened.
“How are we ever gonna find this?” Darren asked hopelessly.
Soda and Red exchanged doom-laden glances.
“What? What is it?” Dawn was rattled.
“We already know where it is,” said Soda ponderously, staring at the ghostly image. "It's at my house!"
“What?" Cried the chorus of voices.
“Coalescing,” replied Red grimly.
Chapter Nineteen: Kevin's Next Big Gig
Everyone's on edge, the finer points of blood magic, making lemonade