Morrigan by Jonathan King (cat reading book txt) 📕

home weird things for spells sometimes. Forget it.”

“Forget the cow’s head?!”

“Stop saying cow’s head and get in before she kills you!” Morrigan jerked her thumb at the passenger seat.

“Yeah, sure.” Abel opened the driver’s side door. “Scoot over.”

“Excuse me?”

“Did you learn to drive from television too?” Abel asked.

Morrigan glared at him, but she slid over to the passenger seat. Abel leaped into the driver’s seat and jammed the key into the ignition, cranking it to life. He floored the gas and the car took off down the driveway.

Straight for Cora.

The woman’s eyes glinted like deadly flames in the headlight beams. She snatched at them as they swerved past, but all she caught was air. Heat pricked the back of Abel’s neck, but he didn’t dare turn around lest he see green fire coming from—he didn’t want to know where. He just drove all the faster, hoping the roar of the engine would drown out Cora’s screams of rage. But they echoed in his ears for miles after the house disappeared behind them.

7

Morrigan whooped as they turned onto the highway. “I’m free! After all these years, I’m finally free!”

The tinny tones of “I’ll Fly Away” rang out from Abel’s pocket, and he sighed.

“That your phone?” Morrigan asked.

Abel nodded. “Probably the Reverend wondering why I haven’t come home yet.”

Morrigan held out her hand. “Let me see it.”

Abel pulled away from her. “You’re not gonna answer him?”

“Of course not. I’m not stupid. Just give me the phone.”

Abel pulled it from his pocket and handed it over.

“Thanks,” Morrigan said, and chucked it into the road behind them.

Abel swerved onto the shoulder and slammed the brakes so hard Morrigan had to grab the car door to keep from flying out.

“What are you doing?!” she asked. “We can’t stop now. Cora will be after us any minute!”

“What am I doing?!” Abel shouted, leaping out of the car and running back down the highway toward his shattered phone. “What are you doing? You don’t just take someone’s phone and wreck it like that!”

“You want your dad tracking us with that thing?” Morrigan turned in her seat. “Or Cora?”

Abel ran his fingers through the pieces of his device and glared at her. “Did you hear about people tracking phones on TV too?”

Morrigan crossed her arms. “Are you sure Cora can’t track phones?”

Abel wanted to argue, but he didn’t know what the woman was capable of. Besides, nothing he could say would bring back his phone. So he walked back to the car, hands in his pockets, glaring at Morrigan.

“Believe me, Cora has plenty of ways to track us down, even without a ‘Find My Phone’ app,” Morrigan went on. “I don’t want her finding us until I’m ready for her.”

“I don’t want her finding us at all.” Abel climbed back into the car.

Morrigan leaned back in her seat. “Don’t worry. You’ll be safe once I’ve killed her.”

Abel did a double take. “Once you’ve what?!”

“Are you gonna yell at me anytime I do or say anything now?” Morrigan asked.

“I’m sorry,” said Abel, “but either you’ve gone crazy or I have.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you talking about killing people like it’s normal!” Abel shouted.

“It is normal,” said Morrigan. “It’s kind of in my job description.”

“Oh right,” said Abel. “War goddess.” When he said it out loud, it seemed ridiculous. In fact, the whole night was ridiculous, now that the danger was gone and the adrenaline had worn off. Undead gnomes, green fire from thin air, and evil not-mothers were hard enough to believe, but this was one impossible thing too many.

“You really expect me to believe you’re a goddess?” he asked. “You’re a teenager! You’re handy with a sword, yeah, but anybody could do that with enough training. It doesn’t make you divine, and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to go around threatening to murder people you don’t like…”

He had more to say, but not enough breath with which to say it. The surrounding air seemed thick, trembling, and far too close. His body flashed hot and cold, sweat making red-tinted tracks down his bloodstained skin. And in front of him, Morrigan had grown larger, darker, eyes black holes in a red-splotched skeleton face with dagger teeth. Black wings stretched from her shoulders to the sky, now full of clouds and shadows and fire-red lightning and echoing with the cries of a thousand battles.

This was beyond fear. This was utter dread, the sense of doom of standing in the shadow of a mountain falling from the sky, of a mushroom cloud on the horizon, of an eldritch monstrosity rising from the depths. The despair shook him to his core, to the core of his core, to a core so deep even his most macabre fever dreams hadn’t dredged it.

Abel didn’t realize he’d blacked out until he felt Morrigan shaking him awake. When he opened his eyes, she was the teenage girl he knew, and more concerned than he’d seen her yet.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to use my powers. I guess I got carried away.”

“Carried away. Right.” Carried away like a runaway freight train, Abel finished in his head. “What was that?”

“One of my many talents,” Morrigan said with a grin. “It comes in handy in a battle, making your opponents cower in fear before you even strike a blow. A battle without hope of victory is a battle lost.”

“You should have tried that on Cora,” said Abel.

“Couldn’t. That ankle monitor inhibited my powers too. That’s why I needed you.”

“And to drive the getaway car.” Abel smiled. Morrigan might have dark divine powers he couldn’t understand, but at least he had driving lessons on her.

Morrigan frowned. “I’d have figured it out.”

“It’s a stick shift,” said Abel. “You wouldn’t have gotten it in gear before Cora caught you.”

Morrigan patted the sword by her side. “Never point out the shortcomings of a girl with a sword.”

Abel remembered her swordsmanship earlier. He cleared his throat. “The point is, I’m driving