Arrest, Search and Séance : Book 1 of the Fringe Society by R.D. Hunter (pdf e book reader TXT) 📕

“What’s wrong?” she asked. I glanced pointedly at the amulet still gripped in Trisha’s hand, unable to indicate any other way. She understood.

She snatched the amulet away and, still with only one hand, put it back around my neck. Sweet, blessed relief coursed through me, then dissolved into nothing. I bit my lip to hold back a cry of rage and frustration. I couldn’t face Hawkins like this. I could barely move. The only thing that was keeping me upright at this point was the stupid binding circle.

“Hey, what’s the matter, Girl?” Lacey asked, seeing the pain and fury all over my face. I was prevented from answering by a choked little laugh from Trisha, still held tightly in Lacey’s headlock.

“Her little painkilling necklace is out of juice,” she said in a strangled whisper, her face turning a shade of pink. “And judging by how much energy it was putting out, I’d say she’s in no condition to go to a party. Too bad.” She tried to laugh again, but a sudden pressure on her trachea from Lacey cut it off with a weak little gurgle.

“Is that true?” Lacey asked, looking at me intensely. I nodded.

“It was helping to keep me functional, but I can manage.” That last part was a lie, but I was hoping she wouldn’t notice. “Just help me break this binding and get me inside and I’ll do the rest.”

“How?”

“Check her pockets for two crystals attached together.”

Lacey turned her prisoner around in one deft movement, still keeping her neck trapped in the crook of her arm, and began fishing around in the pockets of her jacket. It didn’t take her long to find two shards of quartz crystal, bound together by a length of twine. Lacey studied it for a moment before crushing it in her fist.

Instantly, the spell holding me tight vanished, and it was all I could do to stay upright. I did my best not to let the pain show on my face, but my friend saw right through me. She was good like that.

“You’re not going to be able to go in like that,” she said.

“I have to. I have to warn them. Hawkins will be here any second and slaughter all of them.”

Lacey sighed. She knew I was right. I had told her enough about Hawkins and the case that she didn’t doubt for one instant he’d make good on his word of killing every magic user he could find.

“Fine. Maybe I can help you.”

“How?” She turned Trisha around to face her. The bitch-witch gasped as the pressure around her throat suddenly released.

“With a little donation from our friend here.” She smiled at Trisha, but it was unlike any smile I’d ever seen on her face. It was too mean and broad. It looked…hungry.

As I watched, she placed both hands on either side of Trisha’s head, and began to feed. All I saw was a reddish glow around the tips of her fingers as she drew out and absorbed the psychic and mental energies from my foe. Her head arched back and a look of intense pleasure flashed across her face as she drank deeper and deeper. Trisha, for her part, struggled for a few seconds by trying to pry her hands away, before her eyes finally rolled back in her head and her arms flopped loosely at her sides.

To say I was horrified would be an understatement. I’d never seen this part of Lacey before. She was usually very careful to keep her vampiric urges under wraps, usually by feeding from the ambient energy produced by large crowds in a state of excitement. Night clubs, raves and sporting events were some of her favorite feeding grounds. But this…this was something different. This was wrong.

“Lacey, stop,” I said. “You’re going to kill her.” My words seemed to have an effect.

My friend looked at me for a moment, her eyes glowing with a scarlet luminescence, but then she blinked a couple of times and her pupils returned to their natural, brown state. She jerked her hands away from Trisha’s head, who promptly crumpled to the ground and didn’t move. I feared the worst.

“Is she…?” I asked, unable to complete the sentence. I mean, yeah, she was a bitch and a half, but I didn’t want my friend to turn into a murderer because of me. Lacey shook her head.

“No, I stopped in time. She’s just out of it. Will be for a while.” She gave me a brief smile, but I could tell it was strained. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem.” I tried to smile back, but it ended in a grimace before I could help myself. The injuries I’d suffered from Hawkins were beginning to throb and ache with renewed fervor.

Seeing my pain, Lacey came over and placed one hand on Gramps’ amulet.

“This is going to suck,” she said, before closing her eyes in concentration.

As I watched, that same scarlet light began radiating from between her fingers, and soaked into the small charm around my neck. Once more, the pain faded into oblivion, and I could stand and move under my own power. I let out a long, slow breath of relief I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. After a few seconds, Lacey stepped back. She looked a little green around the gills, which was something I couldn’t remember ever happening.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I will be. You try throwing up a Thanksgiving Day dinner and tell me how you feel after.” Ewww. Gross. But I felt well enough to continue on, so I owed her. “What do we do with these three?”

The Thing she’d kicked was slowly rising to her feet and the one she’d downed at the start of the fight was beginning to stir. Trisha still showed no sign of coming around.

I went over to the