Shift (Strangetown Magic Book 2) Read online

  "Shall I tell him or will you?" asked Robin, a look of loathing on her face.

  "I'll tell him." I walked up to Mack, feeling like I was wading through water the air was so heavy with moisture, the temperature still rising. "Mack, you may think quoting Clockwork Orange is cool, or 'hip,' but there's a time and a place for everything. Forcing women against their will is not a joking matter, and I don't ever want to hear you, and I mean ever,"—my voice was getting loud and even though he needed to hear the words, I knew Mack wasn't being cruel on purpose. He's a demon, so there had to be allowances—"use such a flippant tone about such a subject ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

  Mack hung his head and I felt terrible. He didn't understand, how could he? But if he was to remain in our world he had to learn, and the sooner the better. "Sorry. The whole sex thing and the mating rituals you humans have is very complicated. Sometimes you say no when you mean yes and sometimes—"

  "Let me stop you right there," I said, trying not to go ape-shit. "If a woman says no, it means no. There are no exceptions. Understand?"

  "Um, I guess." I knew he didn't. Heck, he'd learned all about humans by accessing random TV shows and news and all that had ever been screened or published online since we had such technology. All accessible via the Pool for Strange such as him, but he did it in no particular order, as he said it was all jumbled up, so no wonder he was rather confused about how we went about doing things. I mean, I'd lived through it all and I was confused!

  "I'm sorry, Mack, I didn't mean to be mean. But it's a touchy subject, for both of us. Those damn soldiers were the worst."

  "Come on, Mack, let's all go home," said Robin, smiling and mouthing a silent, "You okay?" to me. I nodded, asked her the same, and she nodded back.

  Yes, we are old, and yes, bad things have happened to both of us, and no, I will never, ever talk of it. Let's jut say that humanity has always been cruel, and over the centuries it may have improved, but back in what feels like the dark ages, and almost was, men had a very different opinion of women and how they should be treated. Robin and I have left more than our fair share of corpses because of such backward and misguided attitudes.

  "Sorry about the stupid things I said," mumbled Mack, although his mumble is enough to deafen you if you get too close. "I'm trying to figure you guys out, but you know you're all nuts, right?"

  "We know," we chorused, then laughed. Sometimes, it's that or cry, right?

  We hurried home, but there was an uneasiness. Not with each other, but with the city. With the fact the soldiers had arrived so quickly, and by the number of helicopters coming in, the city would be overrun with people trying to boss us around and interfere with our business.

  But more than anything, it was the heat. It was as though we'd swapped climates, gone from the changeable weather the United Kingdom is renowned for and been plonked down in the middle of a rainforest somewhere.

  Almost home, and even Robin was looking red and blotchy. Her usually perfect, pale skin marked like she had the onset of a tropical disease. She was sweaty, too, meaning I was practically dripping. We tried to catch our breath, but it was like trying to breathe through a soggy flannel.

  "Wow, look at that," said Robin, pointing at the road in front of us.

  As we bent down and peered at the tiny sapling pushing through the baking asphalt, it grew before our very eyes, cracking the rough surface as it thickened and sought the light.

  "What's going on?"

  Mack sat down beside us, then got on his belly and put his wide head in his hands. I tried not to let him breathe on me. He's like a one-demon furnace and I was close to blacking out already from the heat emanating from the road. We watched, fascinated, as all around us tiny saplings awoke from their slumber.

  Soon the world was a sea of green.

  Everywhere was the same as we took stock of the street as a whole. Other people were watching the unexpected show, gasping as new plant life erupted from fractured mortar lines between bricks, from the paving, even coming out of the grills of cars unused for the last six months because of the Strange that came and stopped the fuel supplies ever reaching the city. I wondered if that would all change now, that soon the peace I'd come to love would be destroyed by belching cars and the din of traffic.

  Maybe not, especially if the plants kept growing at the rate they were. We'd be a true natural paradise in no time.

  "How is this happening?" I asked, thinking out loud.

  "Ah, me, me! I know this one," said Mack, jumping up and down, waving his clawed hands about, almost eviscerating Robin in his excitement. "This is your thaumaturgic resonance in effect."

  "You what?"

  Mack smiled his freaky-ass smile, flames dancing in his pupils. Still as disconcerting as ever even though somehow it'd stopped sending me half mad as I glimpsed a hint of the hell he liked to call home.

  "You know, thaumaturgy."

  "We know what it is, Mack. A posh word for magic."

  "Aha, well, that's where you're wrong," he lectured, pointing a large red finger at us, claws way too close for comfort. "Thaumaturgy means magic, yes, but it's magic that changes the world in a physical way. In this case your world. Hmm, and mine, I guess, now that we're world roomies."

  "Will you get on with it, please? I'm so damn hot and tired and hungry I need to go home."

  "Sorry, babes, don't get your knickers in a twist. This is your wonderworking in action. It's the effect of so many Strange using so much magic all at once. Not to mention the Rift itself coming then going, then coming then going then—"

  "Mack!"

  "All right, chillax. I feel your need for sleep, sister."

  "You better bloody hurry up and get up-to-date with your language skills, you're driving me nuts here. What's wonderworking?"

  "Guess you've never heard it before. It's an old word, but I think I've translated it right. It's when magic can have a lasting and true effect on the physical world."

  "That happens all the time," said Robin.

  "Yeah, but not like this. All that energy, all that disturbance, it created an imbalance in the Pool, both local and worldwide, and now everything has gone back to how it was, only more so. And this heat, and the plants, it's wonderworking. Magic affecting the physical realm." Mack stroked his long, red horns, smiled wide again, then stuck a claw up his nose and scraped out something gross.

  "Okay, so it'll settle down, and leave, right? So everything goes back to normal?"

  "Don't ask me, I'm new here. I don't know how you've got things set up, but in my home world we'd never let things get this far. You guys live on the edge, and me likey."

  "Oh, that's just great, Mack. Thanks for all your help," I said, dripping sarcasm like my head was dripping sweat.

  "No problemo, I'm here to help."

  "Come on, let's go."

  We trampled through a field of sprouting greenery. This was all we needed. No more Rift, just a city full of soldiers and a wonderworking that was turning our home into something right out of the Amazon jungle. What next, bloody dinosaurs?

  A few more minutes and we were home, standing on the top step of the church, now Swift Central. I glowered at the buzzing helicopters before we stepped inside. I closed the door and peace descended.

  For about half a second before my mother, Queen Bitch, shouted, "What have you done, you stupid children?"

  You'd think she'd call us women, what with us being older than most cities, but no, she had to be a pain in the ass, same as always.

  You Can't Choose Your Family

  "I am in no mood for listening to anything you could possibly say," I snapped, breezing past her. She caught my arm in a grip like Pumi's and stopped me dead in my tracks.

  She was furious, actually seething, and she's normally cooler, calmer, and more collected than Robin after a full-body massage. "Don't you ignore me. I'm your mother and your Queen."

  I pulled my arm free and stared right into her cold, beautiful eyes. "And I'm your daugh
ter and I'm ready to drop. This can wait. I just saved the damn city, and I come home to this!" And with that I headed for a shower.

  You know what? Sometimes I want to just run away and go where nobody knows me, but I've done that enough times in my life and it never works out like I think it will. No, I was staying put, but I'd be damned if I'd be lectured about whatever she'd got upset over. I would do as I pleased and I bloody deserved a break.

  My house, my rules. Hell, my life, my rules.

  The small bathroom was heaven on earth. It was quiet, it was cooler, but best of all it was empty. People are nice and all, some of them, but I need time alone to recharge my batteries. People drain me of my energy, and I had scant left for dealing with family that were off on one.

  I turned the shower on, stepped out of my clothes—okay, I hopped about trying to get my combats and boots off, then slid off everything else, soaked and stinking, and jumped into a freezing cold shower. I could have stayed there for a lifetime.

  Ten minutes and I was as clean as Mack's nostril after a good picking, and so cold my teeth were chattering and bits of me were sticking out and hard, but maybe that was because I'd been thinking about Pumi.

  Not wanting the freshness to end, I sprayed perfume and moisturized, forewent the towel so my skin was wet and cool, and padded to my bedroom. I needed to spend time sorting everything out, but for now chaos would have to reign until things settled down.

  The air was warm against my skin, and the water was already drying, but I felt like a new woman, or at least a better old one. Before I could stop myself, I was lying on the bed and asleep.

  *

  I awoke with a terrible cramp in my stomach, feeling like someone was crushing my waist in a vice or wringing me through an ancient mangle—now that's something I don't miss. How anyone found the time to do anything when it took forever to wash and dry clothes I don't know. They were certainly hard times compared to today. See? I can do old lady when I need to.

  The pain wasn't any nasty magic, though, I was just hungry. More like famished. I was low on energy like never before, my head thick with confusion, unable to think straight. And I hurt. Deep-seated pain in my bones, as though I'd been gone over with a meat tenderizer. A side effect of calling for the Rift and all the fighting that had gone on beforehand.

  I shot up, recalling what had happened with the soldier. Damn, that was stupid, very stupid. Was that why the Queen was here? How long had I slept for? Not long enough, I knew that.

  I dressed in the least amount of clothing that kept me decent. A pair of cargo shorts, and a simple pink tank top, already feeling too hot, but a Justice has to have some standards. You can't go nabbing miscreants with your wobbly bits bouncing all over the place, it isn't dignified.

  With a sigh, wishing I could crawl back into bed and stay there until it was safe, but knowing I had responsibilities, plus maybe a date soon, I put a smile on my face and went to face the world. Hopefully it was late afternoon and I'd only have to be up for a few hours before I could crawl back into bed and sleep the sleep of the damned.

  No such luck.

  Things Heat Up

  "Morning, Swift," boomed Mack, a myriad of colors glinting off his teeth as light refracted through the stained glass windows.

  Immediately, I felt suspicious. Why was he so bloody happy? "Morning," I grumbled, wanting to kick myself for sleeping so long. No wonder I was so hungry, and no wonder I needed to pee so bad. "Be back in a minute." I rushed off to the bathroom, did the necessaries, then came back out into the church feeling much better. Apart from the cramps in my belly, the aches all over my body, and the realization I was about to turn into goo on the thick, scuffed floorboards.

  "Ah, that's why you're so happy. Because of the heat, right?"

  "It's lovely, isn't it? And can you smell that?" Mack raised his giant head, craning on thick neck muscles, and sniffed the air like a wild animal. "Aah, I love the smell of fire in the morning."

  I sniffed and realized he was right. "There's been a fire?"

  "Yep, been a couple. The army have been going through the city, trying to round up the remaining Strange from the Rift, doing it all over the country, apparently, and nobody is happy about it. Been a few incidents."

  "Yeah, I bet." This was gonna be one of those sucky days, certainly not a relaxing one. Hell, not even a day and we were back to the chaos. Why couldn't they just leave us alone? "Damn, it's so hot."

  "Wait until you go outside, babe. I know I give off heat, but you ain't seen nothing yet. It's a veritable inferno." Mack sauntered over to the large door and I wondered if he'd used any catchphrases from dodgy TV shows or movies. Everything he said now made me wonder, meaning I hadn't paid attention to what he said.

  "So it got warmer out there?" I asked, thinking about breakfast. Thinking about Pumi. Was that a bad idea, or exactly what I needed? Both?

  "You betcha, hot stuff. Ta-da." Mack bent on densely muscled legs and opened the door, just as Robin was about to open it from the other side.

  A rush of superheated air stormed into the room and devoured any chance of staying fresh as it ate up the large space and turned it into a greenhouse. Flies buzzed, other insects, too, and outside was nothing but heat-haze.

  "Shut the door, shut the door," urged Robin.

  "Damn, Sis, you look like hell." And she did.

  "Thanks. Those are exactly the right words to make this officially the worst day ever." Robin sank into the sofa in a less than regal way, totally at odds with her usually measured and ladylike movements.

  She was red, more blotchy than yesterday, the color very pronounced on her pale skin. Her hair looked like a bird had singled her out for nest building and had been busy with the twigs and moss, and her yellow summer dress was stained with sweat and swipes of green where she'd rubbed up against the encroaching flora.

  Mack took a peek outside then closed the door and ambled over to Robin. I joined him and we both stared at her like she'd been replaced with a clone, just a dirty one.

  "What happened?"

  "Out there happened," moaned Robin, out of breath and looking seriously freaked. "It's madness."

  "The soldiers, you mean?"

  "Eh? No, not the soldiers, I haven't seen any. Not that I can see much of anything. It's the plants."

  "The plants?"

  "Yeah, see for yourself," she said, indicating the door.

  I walked over, and much as I was loath to let the heat in again, and I'd already seen it was green when it should be just road and houses, I opened it a crack and peered out.

  We were in a different world. Plants ruled, and not the seedlings of yesterday. Half the street was gone, taken over by climbers with thick tendrils and creepers crawling over houses. Cars were little more than mounds of green, the road was swamped, small trees, ferns, and tropical plants with massive leaves the size of plates dominating. And the heat, oh, the heat. It was ridiculous.

  A perfect environment for tropical growth, the air damp and hot. Already, I was regretting wearing even a vest and shorts. I slammed the door shut and came back inside. Checking my phone, there were a few missed calls and some messages. Two from Pumi, saying he came over but I was sleeping so he'd be in touch today and maybe we could go out, and several from Levick, telling me to get my ass to work and no excuses. Nothing from my mother, not that I expected there to be.

  "Okay, let's eat, and you can tell me what's happening," I said as I scowled at my phone.

  "Not a lot to tell. It's turned into a jungle because of this, what did you call it, Mack?" asked Robin.

  "Wonderworking. Hey, you two ever watch Wonder Woman? Now that's a fine lady. Not sure about the shorts, but she sure had a rack on her."

  "Mack, nobody calls a woman's chest a rack unless they want a punch in the face. And since when do you care about the female form?" I asked, talking loud to cover up the sound of my belly rumbling. "And yes, we watched it. Wonder Woman kicks ass."

  "I don't care about female anato
my, just trying to be one of the lads."

  "But we're women, we aren't... Oh, never mind. I'll make breakfast. Don't suppose you brought anything, Robin?"

  "No chance. Couldn't get near the bakery. Swift, if this continues then we won't be going anywhere at all." Robin leaned back and closed her eyes, she looked done for.

  In the kitchen, I put together a simple but hearty breakfast using eggs, and bread that was kind of soggy. Mold had begun to grow on the outside so I cut it off. I grabbed what else I could from the fridge and realized that everything was hardly cold. It was making one hell of a racket, trying to fight the temperature and failing. Damn, life without my fridge would be nightmarish, and what about the freezer? I decided to ignore it for now; the day was already off to a bad enough start.

  After we ate, Mack refusing, saying he'd scored some early morning coal and that the price had gone up, I asked Robin what our mother had wanted.

  "Just to bitch, and say we'd done something wrong hence this tropical nightmare."

  "And what did we do wrong?" As far as I could tell we'd done all we could, all we had in our power to do, and this after-effect was not of our doing, but the Rift's.

  "She said we should never have brought the bodies back, of the people that were taken by the Rift. And before you say anything, yes, I know we didn't even mean to, and that we just wanted to help send the Strange home." Robin shrugged weakly. "That's our mother for you."

  "Well, she can go deal with the next Rift on her own," I grumbled. "We did a bloody good job. How were we to know the Rift would return the bodies?"

  "Exactly. Ugh, I'm beat."

  "Hey, Swift, Pumi came over last night, but left as you were sleeping. Said he'd call you," said Mack.

  "Thanks, Mack, I got the message."

  "Right," he said, slapping his hands together, the sound echoing around the room. "What's the plan for today? Bit of fighting, some slashing? Maybe some hacking? Let's get it on!"

  "Mack, you can keep Robin company. I've gotta go see Levick."

  "Oh, I wish I could stay here, but he wants to see me, too. Come on, let's go. But you aren't gonna like it," warned Robin.