Author: EveryDayBella
Standard Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.
The Case of the Great Wolf
First, I would like to make it perfectly clear that I do not go looking for trouble, it's usually finds me.
Still, this time was a doozy.
It was five thirty in the evening and I was exhausted. I'd been up all night clearing a graveyard of ghouls just to come into the office and sit there all day. I was so tired I was to the point that I couldn't sleep. I currently had fifteen dollars to my name since I hadn't been paid for last night's job yet. Such was the life of a wizard P.I.
Regardless, I was now tired, cranky, hungry, and bored. Clearly I needed to re-think my life.
I was calculating how much a cheeseburger, fries, sundae, and a bottle of nighttime cold medicine would be when she walked in.
She was short, maybe 5'3" or 5'4", with curly, brown hair and a cute smile. Old fashioned, horn rimmed glasses that hid deep brown eyes. She was dressed smartly in a pencil skirt and matching jacket. Clearly some kind of professional with at least a little money. I sent up to silent prayer to every god that I could think of that she wasn't a lawyer. I didn't have money for a lawsuit. She was kinda pretty in a classic Audrey Hepburn kinda way.
I like anything noir. Sue me.
"Are you Edward Cullen?" She asked in a soft, soprano voice as she walked into my cluttered, rented office. I really should have cleaned up while I had no clients.
"In the flesh." I stood up and offered my hand, which she took with a firm shake. I liked a confident woman. "You are?"
"Bella Swan. I saw online that you work on strange cases?"
Strange. Yes, that was the word. "That's me. How can I help?"
For some reason Bella blushed. Her round face turned completely pink. I thought it was adorable until I shook my head to clear it. Yep. Totally not going down that road. Attraction was dangerous.
"Um, well, I live in this old, pre-war building, and I think it's haunted."
Bella told me the whole story. She moved to Seattle eight months ago and rented a house in an old part of town. Then six months ago weird stuff started happening. Creaking noises in parts of the house that no one was in, windows being left open, creepy feelings, strange gusts of wind, whispering noises. Nothing unheard of to me, but to a normal person that would start to weird them out.
"Well, Ms. Swan, it sounds like you have a ghost."
"A ghost. For real? A ghost?"
"Yep, a ghost. Likely an old tenant, or a someone who died and had a connection to the house." My voice was bored. I'd been over this spiel a hundred times before. It always went the same way. They would express disbelief and shock, but be so desperate that they would ask what I could do about it. "Your house is what, eighty to a hundred years old? Old buildings like that are a hot bed for psychic energy. The ghost is just an imprint of a dead spirit clinging to something physical. In this instance, your house."
To my surprise, Bella Swan didn't show shock or fear. She sat calmly in her chairlike we were discussing Sunday dinner. That was odd. "Is it dangerous?"
"Not normally. Like I said, they're imprints. There's not a lot to them. There has to be a lot of energy to make them dangerous."
Something I would call intuition flashed in her deep brown eyes. This one was smart. It was a nice change from the weepy widows asking me to talk to the great beyond and the cute blondes who were afraid of their own shadows. "So, I assume there is something you can do about it?"
"Yeah, banishing a ghost is easy. A little salt, the right incantation, and you can send them on their merry way." I was only lying a little. Okay, I was trying to show off. Sue me. I have a
weakness for a pretty pair of eyes.
The smirk that grew across her face was soaked in challenge. "How do I know that you really are what you say you are and not just trying to take advantage of me?" Okay, yeah, I hear that one a lot. "Prove to me you are wizard."
Most want flashes of lightning and bolts of fire. Something told me that wouldn't work on Ms. Bella Swan.
"Tell you what, you take me to your house and let me try to banish this ghost. If I do, you pay me. If not, you don't owe me a thing."
Bella Swan sat silently for a moment and met my stare. That was odd, too. Most people felt the power that oozed off me, and it intimidated them. It's not my fault. The power is just there. Nothing I can do about it, but few people wanted to meet my gaze. There really was something strange about Bella Swan.
"Deal."
Bella Swan lived in one of the older parts of town. The little houses were all close packed together with tiny lawns and stately trees out front. It was the prime place for a ghost break-out.
I followed her truck to the driveway of a Victorian with faded gables and missing shutters. The place clearly looked haunted. It was a wonder she was able to move there in the first place.
She was speechless as she marched up the tiny path to the front door. She must have finally freaked out on the drive over. Her front room was sparsely furnished. A bay window seat, a wingback chair, and a heavy looking wooden table. None of the pieces matched but they seemed to work together in their own unique style. It wasn't quite what I expected of the put together woman who ushered me into her parlor.
"Okay, what do you need?" She turned to face me, hands on her hips, and a determined light in her eyes behind those ridiculous glasses.
"I just need to know where it's the most active." I shouldered the leather bag with my tools in it. Magic isn't all flashy words and showing off after all. "Where do you sense it the most?"
"Upstairs, in the hallway."
The hallway proved to be a cramped narrow affair with faded wallpaper and old fashioned fixtures on the wall. As a result, it was dark. Perfect.
"First, we've gotta find the hot spot." I dumped my leather on a thin wall table and pulled a crystal out of the pocket of my coat. "Then, the real work can start."
"What's a hot spot?"
"It's the spot that the ghost's energy is coming from. It could be anywhere, from a random spot on the wall to a particular object. Usually, it's something that the person touched often. It forms the link to whatever lies beyond."
"Like heaven?"
"Heaven, hell, Valhalla, whatever you want to believe in."
"So, which is it?" Bella sounded understandably confused. Shame I didn't have a good answer for her.
"Wish I knew. Even wizards don't know everything."
While this exchange was taking place, I'd started my first spell. I'd tied a simple piece of red leather around the crystal. Wrapping it in my fist, I closed my eyes and focused on the energy around me.
In its simplest form, magic is just another form of energy, like electricity. Those with the gift can channel this energy. I supposed that makes wizards the conduits in this analogy. Not a pleasant thought.
If I focused on the magic, I could manipulate the energy to do what I wanted it to do. I tentatively brushed the energy with invisible fingers to test the feel. Magic feels different wherever you are. For instance, it's very clean and bright in churches and temples, but it's dark and dingy in graveyards. In Miss Bella Swan's home, it felt warm and left a tingle like menthol on my skin. All and all, not bad. I would be able to work with it.
Using nonexistent fingers, I was able to channel the magic energy into the crystal in my fist. When I opened my fingers, the simple piece of quartz was pulsing a bright blue and shaking slightly in my hand.
"How did you do that?" Bella sounded a little shocked, and I couldn't blame her. The first time you see magic, it's a little freaky.
"Just a matter of forcing energy into a medium where I can use it." I held the crystal up with the cord I had tied to it, and it swung around to point down the hallway.
"A magic compass. Interesting." She didn't sound too impressed now. Figured.
I followed my compass since it had never failed me before. The hallway took a right hand turn and the crystal turned to the right. I was halfway down this section when the compass suddenly pointed to the left and angled down toward the floor. Dropping to my knees, I crawled to the blank space of wall. I placed my palm on the wall paper just above the running board and was properly thrown back on my ass.
The energy flew out of the wall and up my arm. It burned like ice and, for a moment, froze my mind.
That wasn't supposed to happen.
"Mr. Cullen? Mr. Cullen, are you alright?" Bella was kneeling next to where I had landed. She leaned over me, hands on my shoulders, the ends of her long, dark hair tickled my face. She smelled like freesia and something else, strawberries maybe? Up close her eyes were wide and depthless, and I caught myself falling into them for a half a moment, before I blinked and broke the spell. Her fingers brushed against the stubble in on my chin and a whole new shock coursed through my veins.
"Yeah, I think I'm fine." I groaned and sat up while she backed away. I instantly missed her presence but, shut it down. I didn't need attachment. It was only ever dangerous.
"I guess you found your hot spot." She muttered no longer even looking at me. Great.
"Yeah, that shouldn't have happened." I approached the wall again, cautiously this time. I let a little of the energy around me flow into me. Using it, I enhanced my eye sight. Bella gasped. The magic had turned my normally green eyes cotton candy blue. Freaky, I know.
I didn't have time to ease her fear however; my second sight had revealed something truly disturbing. Running up this section of wall were thin black bands. They reminded me of the shadows of tree branches in the winter, leafless and life less. They pulsed with a dark energy centered at the bottom where I had placed my palm. There was only an inky black nothingness.
This was really not good.
I blinked, clearing my vision back to its normal tones and cautiously approached the wall again. God knew what was in her wall. It had enough power to land me on my ass, and that was saying something. It felt like ages as my fingers crept toward to the wall. You only burn your fingers once, my mother used to say.
I tapped my finger against the rose wallpaper for half a second and felt nothing other than scrape of peeling paper. I rapped my knuckles against the wall which produced a dull thud.
"That's hollow." Bella knelt next to me close enough that I could feel the energy zap between us. I wanted to tell her to move, but there wasn't a lot of room to see and I could understand her curiosity.
"Maybe there's something behind it. Do you have a really big knife or a hammer or something?"
She left only to come back seconds later and sit even closer. The hammer she gave me was a typical soft duty household affair, but it did the job.
The old plywood gave away easily, revealing a deep cubby hole, and an ancient looking carved chest. Bella helped me pull it out. It looked like it was made out of oak and clearly much older than the house, maybe older than the country itself. It was carved with Nordic runes and images. I clearly noted Yggdrasil, the world tree, and what looked like a giant wolf.
"That is not a ghost." Bella gasped.
"No. No, it's not." I pulled the magic back into my eyes to find the chest was soaked in that same black ink as the wall was. I cringed when I flipped open the lock, afraid that nasty black would get all over me.
Bella pressed in close, our cheeks almost touching as we peered into the chest. On top was a mess of thin, barely readable handwriting scrawled across yellow paper, underneath was dried flowers, three smooth pebbles, a flask filled with some kind of liquid, and a large metal medallion with the face of a wolf.
"What is all this?" Bella asked as she tracked the wolf on the medallion.
"No idea, but I think you have a bigger issue than a ghost."
I should really learn to shut my mouth.
The ghost struck out of nowhere. I was lifted off my feet, my back slammed into the opposite wall, and there was something beginning to close off my throat. I struggled to reach out and contact the magic around me, but the light mist, the physical manifestation of the ghost was blocking me off. Then I was beginning to panic because I couldn't breath. Great job, Edward.
To be fair, this ghost was far stronger than it should have been. No, simple house ghost should have been able to pin me to the wall. Something, or someone, had been feeding this one. That left me in quite a pickle.
Then, I saw Bella on the floor, eyes wide and horror-stricken. Hopefully, she believed this shit now. I kinda needed her to.
"Bella!" I grunted, struggling against my gagging throat. "Bella. Salt. Bag."
The horror didn't leave her eyes, but she set her jaw and crawled to where my leather bag had fallen and pulled out the tube of kosher salt. "What do I do now?"
"Throw."
"Where?"
"AT THE MIST!"
Finally, she pulled the string and tossed the whole tube at the ghost. An ear-breaking screech went up as the tiny particles of salt hit the mist. It dissipated in an instant and I fell to the floor.
"Edward, oh my god." I jumped when I felt her hands on my face as she pushed hair out her view. It was kinda nice, in a way. "Are you okay?"
"Been better." I groaned and pushed my way to feet and grabbed a handful of those yellow papers. "Come on, we've got to get out of here."
"But we took care of the ghost, didn't we?"
"Um, no. No we didn't, and at any second it could come back to finish what it started."
I pulled her back down stairs and out of the house.
Time for some research because this was more than just a simple ghost.
Let me make it very clear, I do not normally take clients to my home. Bella Swan was a very special instance.
"This is where you live?" I could hear the disbelief in her voice, even though the stairwell was dark. "You didn't have to be so dramatic, Mr. Cullen."
"Edward, and yeah. Being a wizard P.I. doesn't pay very well."
I lived in the basement of a gym. It was the safest place. Easily formidable, not a lot of electronics to interfere with my work, and it was kinda cozy in a dank, dark, catacomb kind of way. I don't see how it can be any worse. I'm a single guy, I have an image to maintain.
"Do you have light?" She asked, skeptically. She probably thought I was about to kill her.
"Give me a second. I'll light the lamps. Stay there at the end of the stairs."
"Lamps?"
"Yeah, the magical energy around me gets pretty thick and it interferes with wifi and electricity. I usually go without."
I managed to dig a match book out of my pocket and light the kerosene lamp that I left on the first table. The warm glow illuminated a pool around me that also caught Bella's pale skin and dark hair. The red highlights in her hair were turned golden and her skin caught an effervescent glow. My breath caught in my throat, and I had to remind myself that this wasn't a casual call. I had to figure out what was haunting her house. Right. Easy peasy.
"Um, make yourself at home." I muttered, lighting more lamps and candles. I had enough that it was almost like normal light bulbs lit the place. "There's beer in the fridge, I think."
She muttered something under her breath and began moving around the room, inspecting banners with warding symbols and the knickknacks I had on the mantle. It was hard to deny that I liked the way she looked in my home. I really had to stop.
I marched over to the old mahogany desk and sank into the green leather chair. I was exhausted, but I couldn't leave Bella without a place to live and she didn't have that until I took care of whatever was in her upstairs hallway. I pulled the papers I'd escaped with and began trying to read them.
"So, what was that?"
I'd forgotten that Bella was even in the room until she spoke up. She was hugging her chest, and I thought I caught her faint trembles. Stupid, Edward. I hadn't even thought about how cold it was in here.
I got up to light the fireplace while offering her my coat. I was surprised that she took it. "It was a ghost, but it was too powerful."
"Too powerful? And what was all that stuff in the wall?" Bella sank to my faded couch and tucked her legs up underneath her and pushing her glasses farther up her nose. It was cute. Stop it.
"Ghosts are echoes. They should be less powerful than their human counterpart. However, warlocks and other beings can siphon magical energy off and feed it to the ghost, thus making it more powerful. Someone is using that ghost in your house as a magical watchdog."
"Okay." I could see the questions burning in her brown eyes as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "For the moment, I'm going to believe you because I have no other explanation. What was it guarding? Why my house?"
"I have no idea. I think we need to figure out who owned that house before, way before. That chest was at least a hundred years old."
"I think that's optimistic." Bella bit her bottom lip, and I had to keep from staring. I wanted to do that, and then slip my tongue into her mouth, push her farther into the couch, arms around her curvy waist... fuck, Edward stop it! She is a client, not your fuck buddy.
"It was so dark and smooth and I think it was made out of oak. Oak that tough doesn't grow around here." Bella continued like I wasn't having a sexual fantasy of her on every surface in my basement. "And what was it with all that stuff? Dried flowers, that freaky knife, whatever that liquid was."
"I think it was a summoning kit." I managed to choke out. Not only was she sexy, she was smart. God, I was screwed. "I don't know what for, but it was covered in Nordic images and symbols."
"Summoning? Like, from the great beyond?"
"Demons, gods, sprites, fairies, atronachs, familiars. Take your pick. Wizard's are able to summon when they first learned how to use magic."
"So, what was this kit for?"
"I have no idea." I admitted grudgingly. "I'm hoping these will tell me."
Her eyes lit up when she saw that I had rescued some of the papers. "Exciting. Tell you what, I know some people, I'll go try to find out who built that place."
For a moment, my heart plummeted. I didn't want her to leave and not just for right now-notever. Good God, what was wrong with me? "Awesome. Just don't go back to your house yet. It's too dangerous."
She smiled, all white teeth and sparkling eyes, and I swear I fell in love. "Trust me, I don't want to."
She breezed out without returning my coat. I didn't mind in the least.
Hours later, my eyes ached from reading thin, faded writing in dim light, but I at least had a lead. Well, not a lead so much as a good idea as to what was going on.
That didn't change the fact, however, that I was exhausted. I'd been up for twenty-four hours straight, I'd been attacked by a super-powered ghost, and I was fighting an attraction to my client. Sleep, I needed sleep and a greasy cheeseburger.
My head hit my desk, and I was seconds away from sweet, sweet oblivion and likely some nice dreams about a certain brunette when there was a lot of banging on my iron door. It rang through the basement and reverberated in head. I could probably add a headache to my woes now.
I wearily pushed myself to my feet and climbed the stairs to open the door. Bella's hair was wet and matted to her face, shivering even in my thick coat. I made two fists in order to keep from reaching out wrapping my arms around her shoulders.
"Why is your door so heavy?"
"It's made out of solid iron. Keeps fairies out."
"Right. Of course." She stood dripping in my living room, shivering, and looking very out of place. As tired as I was, she looked much worse for wear.
"Um, let me find you something else to wear." It may not seem like it, but I am a gentleman. Besides which, she had been surprisingly great about this whole thing. A lesser soul would have run screaming. Instead, she saved my life. It was the least I could do.
Fifteen minutes later, she sat on my couch, in my sweats, toweling her damp hair out. I had to fight the urge to think about how great she looked in my clothes. Damn it.
"I got a hold of a guy I know who works in records down at city hall." She said before the silence could get too thick. "He sent me the whole file on the house."
"The whole thing?" I glanced at the old clock on the wall. "Wow, midnight. When did it get so late?"
"A couple hours ago?" Bella replied dryly, but she gave me a smirk, so I supposed that she didn't mind.
I sat next to her, well not right next to her, there was the whole couch between us, but I still felt like the whole right side of my body was on fire. "How did you do that, though? It takes me days to get anything from city hall. It's like pulling teeth."
"I just smiled." She did so, and in that moment, I would have done anything she asked. God, I was whipped. Was I being bewitched? "Not really. This guy owed me a favor."
"For the past eighty years, or so, the house has passed back and forth from person to person. Nothing really suspicious. It was built in 1902 by a Hans Fenrir. He was an immigrant from Norway. He, his wife, and later his three kids lived there for twenty years. Then, in 1925, Mr. Fenrir was killed. Slashed across the throat with what looked like teeth or claws. Mrs. Fenrir sold the house and moved out to the country. Ever sincepeople have reported strange things about the house. Mostly the typical haunted house stories and hearing wolves howling nearby. Mr. Cull-Edward, are you alright?"
I stared at Bella, but I wasn't seeing her, not really. No, I was seeing smoke, fire, storms, and an epic war. Oh, this wasn't good. This was not good.
"Fenrir, you said he was from Norway, right?" She nodded. That meant he was from the heart of the old Norse homeland.
"And people have been hearing a wolf howl?"
"Yeah. Edward, what's wrong?"
I jumped from the couch, and in two swift strides Ireached the bookshelves groaning under their own weight. I dug for the heavy, leather tome and carried it back to my desk before rifling through the pages.
"What is that?" Bella asked, standing back as if she was afraid it would spit fire at her.
"It's a grimoire. Sort of like a spell book, only a lot more. It records lore, myth, histories, legends."
"So, what are you looking for?" Bella approached my side,and I felt my hair stand on end. Even though I was distracted, I was hyper aware of how close she was.
"The papers from the chest, they were the recordings of an experiment that someone named Hans had undertaken. He was trying to summon something he called The Great Beast."
I pointed to a copy of an etching from the fourteenth century. A huge fierce wolf was devouring a god while surrounded by fire and destruction.
"The old Norse believed that Ragnarök was the end of the world. During Ragnarök, Fenrir, the Great Wolf, would swallow Odin."
"Like from Thor?"
I smirked. "Yeah, think of Anthony Hopkins. Only with a wolf large enough to help bring about the end of the world."
"Let me guess," Bella sighed. "You're about to tell me that legends and myths are real?"
"Well, yeah. I don't know if I would call them gods, but they're all real. Think of a hamburger." What? I was hungry. "All the different parts get pressed together. Now make the lettuce and tomatoes and stuff all the different planes of reality. Only sometimes they bleed together. Thus, you have a bunch of Vikings believing that Asgard is the realm of the gods."
"And thus, some crazy guy can try to summon a giant wolf?"
"Yep. All that stuff in that chest is a summoning kit for Fenrir." I sank back down to my chair, even more exhausted than before. Great, now we had to deal with a Norse creature of destruction. Just wonderful.
"Okay, but Hans Fenrir is dead." Bella leaned forward, the hunt for information pushing her into my personal space. I didn't mind, but I was a little shocked. "He can't still be trying this from beyond the grave, can he?"
I shook my head, subtly inhaling her scent. It was intoxicating. "No, but there are plenty of other Norse cult worshipers out there. I know some of them. Good people. None of them are crazy enough to want to try to summon Fenrir. Still, some of the more extreme offshoots of the Loki cult would think about it."
I broke off with a yawn. I was fighting to keep my eyes open. My gut told me to keep thinking, to keep going, but my mind was shutting down.
"Oh, sorry, I didn't even think about how late it was." Bella moved away, and I sagged even more. I wanted her to stay close, to come closer. If she hadn't moved away, I probably would have kissed her.
"No, it's fine. Look, if you wanna sleep in my bed, I'll sleep on the couch. I know you don't have anywhere else to go."
"Fine." Bella nodded detrimentally. "But I'll take the couch. I don't mind it."
If I had been any more coherent, I would have argued, but I was dead on my feet. I had just enough energy left to find a spare blanket and pillow for her before I fell into my bed, not twenty feet away from her, and fell deeply asleep.
I woke up at four in the morning after three hours of sleep. Rubbing my eyes, I rolled out of my bed and began gathering my things. Rod, blasting stick, incense, an energy potion and a health potion, my warding necklace, and a few other things.
While I was asleep, a few things had become very clear. I knew I needed to stop this summoning from happening, which meant that I needed to go back to Bella's house, banish the ghost and get that chest. That was the easy part.
The hard part was that I needed distance from Bella. If I waited for her to get up, then she would want to go with me, and it was far too dangerous. I wasn't going to take her into a haunted house where there was a ghost powerful enough to kill us. I wouldn't do that. For another thing, I wouldn't be able to focus with her there. I was getting far too attracted to Bella Swan. I would take care of this, clean up her house, take her money, and send her on her way. I wouldn't have to see or hear from her again.
It wasn't that I didn't like her. If anything, I liked her too much. She was a distraction, and it would be dangerous for her to be with me. I do have enemies, you know. Much better to stay safely alone.
I gathered my things, left Bella a note, and prepared to head to the door when I caught one lastglimpse of her asleep on the couch.
Her lips were pursed into a pout, her hand under head like a sleeping angel, and the embers of the fire caused her pale skin to glow. Like a moth to a fire, I was unable to keep away. I knelt next to her and reached out with trembling fingers to brush hair away from her face.
The more I looked, the more beautiful she became. She had delicate features, thin and petite, but there was iron in her veins. So many times the night before she could have run and she should have run. A normal person runs from ghosts. Bella Swan was not normal. Oh, sure she was freaked out at times, but she rolled with the punches, took charge when she had to, and she saved my life.
I wanted her. I wanted her bad. She would look good on the dark sheets on my bed, she would belong wandering barefoot around my basement. I wanted to walk to pick her up from work every night and kiss her on the cheek in the street. I wanted lunches, evenings, weekend getaways.
I didn't just want her body, although that was a huge draw. No, I wanted her in my life. Morning and evenings and everything in-between. I knew I couldn't have it though and that hurt.
Still, I couldn't resist an indulgence. I leaned forward, brushing my lips over her forehead. It was ungentlemanly and she wasn't awake, but I couldn't help it.
I got up, forcing myself to leave her behind when she murmured my name and sighed with a smile on her face.
I didn't stop smirking until I reached her house.
The house was eerily quiet when I stepped inside. When we'd left twelve hours before things had been loud and fast, now the silence and stillness just seemed unnatural. I made sure my blasting rod was where I could get to it quickly. I gripped my staff tighter in my right hand and started up the stairs.
My heart thumped erratically in my ears and try as I might, I couldn't regulate my breath. Every tiny creek and squeak seemed loud. I'd slayed uncountable demons, ghouls, vampires, and even a dragon once, butnow I was afraid of a house ghost. Brilliant.
I rounded the corner, trying to make my steps as quiet as possible. Thank god for rubber soled converse sneakers.
The chest was still sitting there in the middle of the hallway right where we had left it. At least it didn't look like anyone else had been there. That was a good thing. It meant no one had been by to feed the ghost. It would still be powerful, but not too terrible. I counted my blessings where I could find them.
I took the tiniest baby steps as I approached the chest. I didn't know how close I could get before the ghost would attack. Every step I took made me tense up more. There was a ringing in my ears, my hair stood on end. This encounter would cost me years of life.
I was inches away, almost close enough to reach out and touch the oak when the Mist appeared. In a way I was glad. I could stop worrying now and just act. It was all instinct now.
The grey Mist sneered as I reached out to the magic around me driving it through the staff. A ball of crystal blue energy appeared at the end and I pointed it to the ghost.
"I knew you'd be back, Edward Cullen." A twisted, sneering voice emanated out of the mist. Even in death, Hans Fenrir had a thick accent. "I felt it. I smelled it."
"Yep, that takes a nose, big boy." I muttered. I then realized that this was a good chance to figure out who was behind the summoning. "As long as we're being chatty,though you wanna tell me why you and your cult wanted to bring Fenrir back?"
"Wanted? It is not wanted. He will come back. The Great Wolf will feast on the world, and the world will tremble in his magnificence and cower in fear."
"Blah, blah, blah, everyone will die. Spare me the gory details." I almost rolled my eyes. When you've heard one evil ghost, you've heard them all. "Just tell me who's behind all this? Then I can take care of you, it, and go wallow in my own misery for a while."
The ghost snickered, I swear to god, it snickered. There is nothing more embarrassing than a ghost snickering at you. Trust me. "The Great Wizard, the Chosen One, The Lost one. Which do you go by now, I wonder?"
"None of the above." I growled. This dick bag knew too much, and I was reaching my breaking my point. I wanted him dead. Or dead again. Whichever.
It cackled again, and I gripped my staff a little tighter. If it laughed one more time, I was going to blast it. "Wizard. Shaman. Mystic. It doesn't matter. Fenrir will raise and consume you."
"Got it. So you're just a crazy, dead, douchebag. Enough of this." I took a deep breath and shoved a sphere of lightning at The Mist. It screamed in rage and trembled in anger.
I grabbed my blasting rod from my coat and harnessed the energy around me to channel through it. Offensive spells worked better that way, and for this particular ghost, I would need all the help I could get.
I took a deep breath to calm my weary nerves. I'd never fought something so big before. I wasn't just fighting the ghost, I was fighting the entire belief. The stakes were piled high, but I would win. I simply had to. Dying is not an option, not before I could leave Bella in a safe place.
Before I could think of my next move, the Mist sent a wave like punch in my gut. I flew back down the hall and landed with a groan. Pain spread dully through my back, but I shut it down. I didn't have time to waste on pain because the next thing I knew, the thing was gripping my leg and trying to pull me back into the air.
I lashed out with my rod sending a hot blast of fire into it. It released my leg and the hallway echoed with its enraged roar. This was the best chance I was going to get. I had to trap it so that I could go through the banishing ritual.
I'd just pulled the salt from a pocket when it pushed what felt like wrecking ball into my arm. I heard something snap before I felt it. White hot pain launched up my arm and to my shoulder. I might have screamed, I don't entirely remember. I do know that the salt was knocked out of my hand. It rolled away under the table completely out of reach.
I blinked back tears of pain. In my business, a broken arm was easily fixed, but it required time. I was going to have to do without it.
The ghost chuckled as I climbed unsteadily to my feet. "You are weak. I expected better."
"Yeah." I doubled over, trying to catch my breath. "So did I. There. Anyway we can agree to a draw and try this again later?"
"Joking will not save you." I wished the ghost had a face, so I could punch it. It's smug voice was getting on my nerves. "Nor will it save her."
My heart stopped. How did it know? Bella had saved me from it, but then even I didn't know how I felt about Bella. "You can't touch her. You're bound to the house."
"She will come looking for you." It taunted in a sing song voice. "She will come looking and she will find you dead. Then I and the The Great One will have some fun with her."
"Screw you, dick." I should have thanked him, though. His threat, that it would do something to Bella made me angry. Not just that anger that comes when some jerk cuts you off on the highway, no the boiling rage that settles in the pit of your stomach and erases everything else in your mind. The ghost of Hans Fenrir and his "Great One" would touch Bella Swan over my dead body. Nothing else even mattered any more.
The Mist sneered again. I planted my feet and leveled my staff at it. The longer I could stay on my feet, the better chance I would have at destroying him.
It roared, thinking its victory was already assured and rushed toward me. I gritted my teeth and sent a blast of ice it. I was half hoping that it would be frozen in its advance. I needed a chance to grab my salt and keep it contained.
It howled in pain, but it didn't stop. It slammed into my chest with the power of a speeding truck. I was thrown onto the floor with enough force to break the floor boards. The breath was knocked out of my lungs, and I was momentarily dazed.
That was all The Mist needed.
Before I could catch my breath, before I could even think to breath, The Mist pushed itself down my throat. I was choking on ectoplasm and incorporate vapor. There was no air getting in between the ghost. I tried to blast it, hoping that it would be shocked enough to let me go, but I couldn't get a good hit on it. The longer it went the more erratic my shots became. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't breath, the ghost made himself weigh a ton so there was so much pressure on my chest that I couldn't move. Black spots were appearing in front of my eyes and I knew I was done for.
I was done and I had failed. The ghost was too powerful, or I was just too cocky. The thing was, it had been right before. Bella would come looking for me. I'd known her for less than twenty-four hours, but I knew her. She was kind and generous. Even though I had left a note telling her not to worry, she would. She would rush over here and fall into the ghost's trap, a trap I had helped create.
The spots grew bigger, my heart hammered in my chest and there was nothing that I could do. I lost my grip on my staff. I stopped fighting. It was over.
The last thing I thought of was how sorry I was for not being able to save Bella. Then I blacked out.
Only to breath in a steady rush of refreshing air. The pressure came off my chest, I could move, I could breathe, even if my whole body was incredibly sore. For a moment, all I could do was lay there and suck air into my lungs. It felt so damn good.
After a few minutes, I was finally able to remember what I was doing. I should have been fighting a ghost, a ghost that was about to kill me. A ghost that then would kill Bella. What the hell was going on?
I sat up, my ears popped, and I became aware of the screaming. Bloodcurdling, ear ringing screaming. The Mist had been pushed back against the wall and pinned there, screaming in rage and terror. There was an arch of blue light pinning it to the wall. I wasn't doing that so how was that happening?
I managed to push myself up onto my elbows. My jaw dropped when I saw who was behind me. Bella stood gripping my blasting rod in two hands. I'd completely forgotten that it'd fallen from the hand of my broken arm. I must have already charged it, so all Bella had to do was point it. She had no way to control it, so it shot out on its own. She did look absolutely terrified. I wasn't quite sure if that was for my benefit or hers.
"Edward." She gasped as her hands began to shake. "What the hell is going on?"
"Just hold still." My voice was thick from the lack of oxygen. "Whatever you do, don't let go of that rod."
She nodded, setting her jaw with determination. Her brown eyes glared at the still screaming ghost. "Why isn't it going away?"
"Because it's a ghost. It has to be banished." It was only adrenaline that allowed me to jump to my feet and reach for my fallen salt. Time to end this.
I approached the ghost slowly, warily. It was fighting the magical binds, trying to break free, only to have the binds sink deeper into it. It wasn't hard to feel its anger. It was livid and if it had eyes it would have been glaring at me. "The Great One will destroy you! You cannot escape! It will destroy you!"
"Yeah, shove it, asswad." I threw a handful of salt at the thing and chanted a few quick lines of Latin. It screamed louder, writhing as it began to blur out of existence.
"This isn't over, wizard! You will still die. She will die!" It gave one last pitiful growl before collapsing in on itself. Bella dropped the rod and the hallway was flooded in silence. Absolute and total silence. I had just enough semblance of mind to pull an energy potion from my pocket and swallow the bitter liquid. I felt better, stronger, but I was distracted.
Bella looked at me, eyes wide and dark. I got lost in her gaze. It was warm, soft, and beautiful. There was something there. It was enchanting, like a fairy's spell. I couldn't breathe.
What in the hell was she doing here? I left her asleep on my couch. She wasn't supposed to be here. I didn't want to see her again.
Only I did. Of course I did, and I was tired of fighting. There was a something in her eyes. Something dark and a little dangerous. Some unknown secret. A spark of life unlike anything I had ever seen, and I was done.
I stumbled to where she stood frozen on the other end of the hall and kissed her. It wasn't a gentle kiss either. We attacked each other. Our noses smashed together. Our lips brushed and our tongues tangled. Then she moaned wrapped both arms around my neck, and jumped up to hook her legs around my waist.
I slammed her back into the wall. I couldn't get enough. There wasn't enough to get. Every new thing she did made me want more. More of her kisses, more of her skin, more of her mind, more of her words. I was convinced now, that I had been bewitched but I didn't care. I craved her.
She pulled on the ends of my hair, and I pushed my hand underneath her shirt to the smooth skin of her back. It felt like satin underneath my hands. She gasped when I pushed my pelvis into her. I wasn't thinking with my right brain, but I didn't care.
Bella pulled away from my mouth, arching her neck and sighing as she rocked against me. I kissed her neck going up underneath her ear. When she started moaning I started adding small nips and bites. I was starting to go crazy. She was just too much.
The mood was broken suddenly when she brushed my broken arm. Pain was the easiest way to cut through the haze of lust. I yelped and pulled away from her. Now that I wasn't distracted, every ache and pain was coming back. The ghost had done a number on me.
"Oh, my god, I'm so sorry." Bella pushed hair out of her face, and I fought a surge of lust. She was just too much. "I didn't even think about what that ghost might have done to you."
"I think I was the one who attacked you." I grimaced while trying to smirk. "Besides, this is all easily enough cleaned up. You're ghost problem is done."
"Thanks, but we need to get you some help. Come on." Her voice left no room for argument. That didn't stop me from trying.
"Bella, it's fine. I just need to go home. I can take care of it. Enjoy your house again."
I was trying to push her away and she saw right through me. "You are not going home alone. Come on. I'll drive."
I gave up arguing.
My basement smelled like vanilla. That was different. Kerosene, smoke, and what ever bitter smell was left from the latest batch of potions I'd done was the norm. Vanilla was too sweet, feminine.
I cracked my eyes open trying to remember how I got here. The last thing I could remember was pain, pleasure, and Bella's upstairs hallway.
Bella.
Banishing the ghost.
Kissing Bella.
Oh shit. What had I done?
I lifted my head and quickly put it back as I experienced a rush of vertigo. The room began spinning. My pillow felt nice. Why did I wake up?
"Edward? Edward, open your eyes." There was a gentle brush of something on my temple, moving hair out of the way. I almost moaned because wherever she touched, my skin tingled. "Edward, are you waking up?"
I cracked one eye back open to find Bella sitting on the edge of my bed glancing worriedly down at me. Her fingers were still on my forehead and I was torn between asking her to remove them and asking for more. Now that I'd touched her, I didn't want to stop touching her. The memories of our kiss came rushing back, and I was hoping that she wouldn't notice my bodies reaction.
"Are you alive?" I think she was trying to laugh, but it came out more a nervous chuckle.
I lifted my head again, pleased that the vertigo faded. "Yep, I'll be fine. What happened?"
"Well, I found you fighting the ghost. You managed to defeat it. We kissed until you hissed in pain. You refused to go to the hospital, so instead you came here. You drank a potion that smelled absolutely awful, fell into bed, and slept for twelve hours. You gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry." I groaned, but managed to sit up. "Health potions on that scale take time and energy. Sorry I scared you."
"A little warning would have been nice. I mean, what you kiss me, and then you pass out. What's a girl supposed to think?"
I grimaced. She deserved an explanation, but I had no idea what to tell her. I could tell her that I loved her, but I'd known her for a day and half, she would freak out. In addition, as it should have already been clear, it was not safe for her to be with me. This time I took the brunt of the abuse, but next time, or the time after, I couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't be her. I couldn't handle that.
"Fine, but do you mind if I eat at the same time?"
She nodded, and I noticed that she wouldn't meet my eyes. That was different. How badly had I screwed up? "Sure, I made French toast. Hope you don't mind."
Oh, I didn't. Real food was sadly out of my cooking range. It explained the vanilla smell, and it was divine. I moaned as the first bite passed my lips. She could cook. As if I didn't already love her. "Good, Bella, these are so good!"
"Thanks." She sat alone at my tiny kitchen table, hiding behind her hair and tracing the grain in the wood with a single finger. Suddenly, my food didn't taste so good.
How the hell was I supposed to do this? I had a terrible history with woman. They wanted commitment, which I couldn't offer. The talk killed each and every relationship. To make matters worse, I didn't know what to do here. I was certain if I asked her to she would stay, but I also knew that wasn't good for her.
I didn't know what I was supposed to do and the dejected look on her face was ruining my focus.
"So, um, what do you want to know?"
The glare in her brown eyes froze me in my tracks. Woops.
"I don't know, maybe why you left me here, why you kissed me, what it means?"
"So, you don't want to know about the ghost or the health potions?"
"No. That all makes sense in an odd way."
"You're a strange woman, Bella Swan."
"Get to the point, Edward."
I sighed. My mother used to tell me honesty was the best policy. What the hell? Better than any of my ideas. "I left you because I didn't want you to get hurt. The truth is that I care about you. Although, I don't normally take clients with me anyway."
"And the kiss?" Her voice was filled with a quiet kind of longing I'd only heard once before. I could have used my second sight, watched the way her aura glowed with longing and strength, but I didn't need to. I could already see it in the way she held her shoulders, straight and poised even though she was upset. She wouldn't look me in the eye, but that was as much self-preservation as anything else. She was beautiful and strong in the sorrow I was purposely causing her.
Well, no more. I couldn't handle it anymore. I needed her. It sang in my veins and pulsed in the energy around me. Call me weak, but I just didn't care what it meant for her anymore. I could keep her safe.
I sat in the seat next to her, and tried to catch her eye. She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. I'd take what I could get. "I kissed you because I feel something for you. I don't know watch to call it, but it's more than just simple attraction. Not that you're not beautiful, it's more than that. That's why I kissed you and why I want to kiss you again."
"And what makes you think that I want to kiss you?"
"The fact that you're still here and there's a half a smile on your face."
She nodded. "Ok, fine. How does this work. I am your client after all."
"I cleared your house. You are no longer my client."
"I haven't paid you yet?"
"I'll waive the fee."
"Edward."
"Look, I won't lie. Dating me won't be easy. As I'm sure you can tell by looking around you, I'm set in my ways. I have enemies that you don't know about and I work a lot of nights, but I want to figure out what this is. Please? Give me a shot?"
Her lips turned up in a smirk, and I couldn't breathe. "You would be the first wizard I've dated."
I couldn't handle it any more. This second kiss was the best. It was softer, slower, stronger than the one in Bella's house. I gripped her waist, pulling her into my lap. I couldn't get close enough again. Her skin smooth as satin, her fingers left fire in their wake.
Once we started, we couldn't stop. I don't remember stumbling to my bed. I don't remember where our clothes went. I just remember her sighs and moans. I remember the way it felt to be with her.
I don't think we left my basement for twenty-four hours. Best twenty-four hours of my life.
It was pouring rain two days later as I walked to Bella's office to pick her up for lunch. She'd given me the address to a five story building just outside of downtown. I still didn't know what she did, and when I'd asked she just giggled and walked out the door. I was so wrapped up in my own soaring emotions that I couldn't bring myself to care. It couldn't be any worse than wizard P.I. really.
To be fair, I hadn't thought much in the last two days. I was too wrapped up in Bella. She was sexy, smart, brilliant, grasped magical concepts fairly quickly, and did I mention sexy? For two days now she had been the only thing I could think of. I had been forced to admit that I was whipped.
At least this morning I had tried to get work done. I'd gone to my office to find no missed messages. Not surprising really. I'd done some research to find who might be wanting to raise Fenrir without much success. Then, just past eleven o'clock, I decided it was time to go see Bella.
I could say it was the pull of a good mystery that brought me to the front of the building. As I got closer, I was starting to looking for signs that would tell what the building housed. The only ones I could find however were generic building signs. I deflated a little. I really had to figure out what she did and why she kept it so secret with me.
I pulled up my coat collar and settled in to wait under an awning. She hadn't told me what floor just that she would meet me outside. Figured. It was cold, wet, and I was waiting on a woman. What had my life come to?
I blame it on boredom that I even noticed the newspaper box. It was selling a one of the those tabloid rags called the Eclipse. Again, I was bored, so I put seventy-five cents in the machine and pulled the flimsy thing out. At the least it would be entertaining. They always got everything hilariously wrong.
On page five, after stories on the end of world, the bat boy, and a still living Elvis I found a story titled Ghosts and Wizard's. I had to blink several times before I believed the name written underneath.
Isabella M. Swan.
Bella Swan.
Bella. My Bella. The Bella who had walked into my office with a ghost problem.
Bella was a reporter?
I hurriedly read the article. She didn't use names. In fact she renamed me Gandalf. I didn't know whether to be insulted or charmed. Otherwise everything was the same. Her upstairs hallways, a chest full of magical artifacts, and the very powerful ghost of Hans Fenrir. The only thing she left out was that the ghost and some other unknown entity was trying to raise the Fenrir of Nordic myth. That and our extracurricular activities.
I couldn't believe that she hadn't told me. Wasn't she supposed to if she was going to write a story on me? Besides, if the Council found out about this, I could be in trouble and Bella could be dead.
Bella was going to be the death of me and I surprised myself when I realized that I didn't care. Oh sure, I was mad she hadn't told me. On the other hand who read these things anyway? Only someone crazy would take it seriously, and everyone else would laugh at it. I felt a little bad for Bella in that case.
I was dating a reporter.
Oh, this could get interesting.