To say that magical weapons sucked was an understatement. The dagger that had been thrust through my shoulder had been cursed, that much I knew. Even after I snapped it's owners neck, it, on it's own accord, followed me.
Having endured this before, I knew it wouldn't stop until it drew my blood. So it hit my shoulder instead of a vital organ. If I were human, pulling the dagger out would've been very bad. Luckily, I was a werewolf, so I pulled the dagger out and waited a moment for the wound to heal.
I could've kept going, but bleeding myself out would be something Jonathan would do, not me.
The "party" I was crashing was for Dark beings. Jonathan had a tip Cynthia would be there, and if powerful beings like Cynthia were there, the sorcerer would be too. It was the general nature of these gatherings to recruit for jobs and trade spells. They were only rumors until Cynthia confirmed them.
Since the party was located at McGee's Tavern, the blueprints indicated that the safest entrance was the back, where no one would be. Well, no one but the bouncers, both of which had been taken care of. They considered using Cynthia's invitation, but she said she "lost" it; he still didn't know whether to be afraid at Jonathan's reaction to that.
Anyway, my main objective was to bring the ring on my finger, which contained traces of the spell put on Cynthia and I, close to the sorcerer. It would "tingle" and the killer would be identified.
I grabbed my backpack and quietly glided to the Men's Room, which, thankfully, was located near the back. I slipped into a stall and put the toilet seat down. I quickly and efficiently unzipped it, and pulled out the clothes Cynthia told me to wear. A tux? That was the standard dress code? It had looked high-end from the inside, but on the outside it looked like a bar.
I stripped my shirt and pants, but not my bulletproof and spell protected suit. I then, almost unwillingly, put the tux on and my current clothes replaced them in the back.
Shaking my head, I zipped the backpack and exited the stall. I stuffed the backpacked deep into the trashcan on my way out.
The party turned out to be very formal. I stepped into the main ballroom, which had a buffet along a wall and a giant crystal chandelier in the middle. The people in the room looked from nine to one hundred; though he was pretty sure they were all much older than they looked.
A little girl with blonde pigtails skipped past me and I could hear her talking to her companion, a dark haired five-year old.
" Did you hear?" The girl sounded innocent. Her voice even rose a little higher towards the end.
" Clearly not!" The other girls voice didn't sound as if it belonged to a five-year old at all. It sounded raspy and old.
" Well, I heard the Cynthia's here!" The girls voice sounded excited.
Cynthia? No. Cynthia couldn't be here. She'd said she wouldn't be here. Was Cynthia a traitor? Did this ring bring the sorcerer right to me? That would seriously suck. It'd be much worse than a magical dagger. Panic, which was quickly put down, rose in him. Was there even a sorcerer? Was in Cynthia the whole time?
I took a deep breath. They could be talking about someone else....
" The black witch Cynthia?" The black haired one asked, surprise was evident in her rasp, " She never attends these functions."
That was Cynthia.
Shit. He needed to warn Julie. If he died, which he probably would, considering Cynthia's protections were his only magical defense, she needed to be warned. She might be tough, unbelievably tough, but he wouldn't endanger her.
Contacting her would be almost impossible, considering her mind was completely stonewalled. He would have to try though.
JULIE! He tried to send his panic to her. GO TO JENNY.
He had no idea if it worked or not.
" Sending out mental pulses?" A low feminine voice asked behind him. He quickly turned around to face a young, maybe twenty, woman with golden hair and deep tanned skin. She was wearing a long gold dress, a tight long dress. I wasn't particularly concerned with any of it though, just whether she wanted to kill him.
He knew most creatures with high magical levels could change their shape, so the woman before him could be Cynthia. He didn't reply.
" Doesn't matter though. I don't care. But, you see, there aren't many men here. Magic is so usually only in females..." Her voice was wondering, as if she was only politely stating the obvious, and she only looked at him in the eye at the end.
He wasn't sure where exactly she was getting at, but not knowing Julie's whereabouts and whether she was safe or not was irritating him, so he cut right to the chase.
" Where's Cynthia?" He demanded in a no-nonsense tone.
She laughed and twirled a piece of blonde hair around one of her fingers. " Oh, of course you want Cynthia. Everyone wants her."
" Do you know where she is?" The mocking and lack of seriousness in her voice was just making him tenser.
" I would normally say no, she, like you, is hiding her extremely advanced magical abilities," The woman sighed, and then looked back up again, smiling at him.
" Normally?" I kept emotion out of my voice so she wouldn't hear the growl that wanted to brake free and mark him as a wolf.
" Well, she's with her friend..." She trailed off, shook her head and looked back up at him, " She won't help you. She doesn't help anyone. She probably has an army of the undead below us right now. It's best if you just- go."
He didn't speak. He just motioned for her to continue.
" Look," She pointed one long, sharp nail at a table in the back, " She's there."
There were only three people there. There was one blonde woman, a brunette woman and a man.
" Which one?" He asked, knowing that Cynthia could be any of them.
" The brunette," She murmured, but as soon as he stepped toward the table, she grabbed his arm, restraining him.
" Listen werewolf. I don't like Cynthia either. But you'll never stand a chance against her one on one," She whispered in his ear when he pulled away.
" What are you suggesting?" He growled; mad that she knew what he was, and if she did, he didn't know how many others did.
" I'll paralyze her, it's a quiet spell, painful, but you'll have to kill her. If she knows I did it, she'll destroy me," She glared in the table's direction.
" Why don't you kill her?" Something was wrong here. Something was very wrong.
" She guards against my magic," She said it as if it explained everything.
" Then-" I started, the woman was wasting my time.
" Your ring! I need it to conduct the spell. It's not meant to be a conductor, so I can't kill her with it, but it'll hurt her enough so you could," She interrupted, smiling bright, it reminded me of a child on Christmas day, in a really sick and twisted way.
" No, I'm not even sure I want to hurt her!" I backed away. Cynthia's guilt wasn't confirmed yet, and the feeling in his gut was getting worse and worse.
Seeing that I wasn't going to let her use me for her plot, she lashing and grabbed my finger. I was stunned, by her speed and her actions, and couldn't stop what happened next.
She whispered words into the ring, and a translucent spear of magic shot from the ring. It spiraled above the dance floor, and no one seemed concerned about it. No one even looked at it. He shook her off as quickly as possible, but it was too late.
I registered two things at that moment:
The magic struck Cynthia.
A pain shot through me, a pain that wasn't mine.
Julie.
*******
I have no explaination. I just couldn't upload, I've been busy. I want to make up for my lack of upload though, so I'm back to writing. :) Like...right now.
