Moon Shadow

14

The next day at work, I didn't find a case that interested me. I had a lot on my mind—The Supreme Leaders, The Fellowship, and what the crows told me—and trying to come up with a plan on how to deal with Esther's potential bag of tricks proved more challenging than I would've liked to admit. So I sought the advice of someone I knew had encountered a necromancer or two in her lifetime.

"What do you suggest?" I asked Aisha, sitting on the chair opposite her desk, holding a bottle of water.

Aisha exhaled deeply, having listened to me for the past thirty minutes. She hadn't interrupted me once, not even when I told her about The Supreme Leaders being in cahoots with the government, turning opposition politicians into crows. She just nodded and gasped at every twist the information took.

I drummed my fingers on her desk and chewed my bottom lip. She had never been this silent with me, always having a snarky remark when she had no opinion. Was she scared? She didn't look like it. But I wouldn't blame her if she was. Esther was strong, but the only ones who could tie her tongue like this were The Supreme Leaders. Their influence spread all over Africa. If they were doing this shit in Tanzania, then it was likely the other sorcerer-governing bodies in Africa were doing it too. But why would they abandon their values and principles?

"Let's worry about The Supreme Leaders after you defeat Esther, Boss," Aisha said. The soft look in her eyes told me she didn't want to think about it ever again. It made sense. The Supreme Leaders were powerful. They could kill her and make her death look like an accident. And no one, not even the best occult detectives in the world, would prove otherwise.

"Alright." James and the other crows would have to wait. "Do you have a suggestion on how I can beat Esther?"

"Necromancers deal with life and death. When you understand that, then you realize how narrow—limited, I should say—their magic is."

"Using corpses as their personal army is what you call limited?" I raised my brow.

Aisha chuckled. "Point made." She took a sip from the mug full of blood between her hands, delivered to her in the early morning hours by night shift nurses from various hospitals and clinics. "You should ask Mawu. She has seen it all. I'm sure she has an answer."

"You might be right." I doubted it. Mawu was an ass. When she taught me new magic abilities, she had an order of doing things. Such a perfectionist. I had to do what she said, or she'd lose her mind. I never expected a Goddess to have OCD.

"Have you heard from Preacher Boy?"

I nodded. "He and Zainab came to my house after saving The Locals. I healed them before giving him a week off."

"He needs it."

"I won't argue that." We all needed a break. I wanted to go on vacation: Bora Bora had my name written on it.

"I can't believe you sent him to that house. Even I'm scared to go there."

"He had Zainab with him. They had a better chance at saving them than me."

Aisha took a sip from her mug. "You're right."

"Of course I am." I stood and threw the empty bottle towards the recycle bin in the corner. "Kobe!" It entered, and I thrust my fist in the air. "I still got it."

"You played basketball once in high school. You never had it."

I rolled my eyes. "That's one time too many."

"If you say so." She gulped down the rest of her drink before placing the mug on the desk, next to the jug full of blood.

"I'm going to my office. Call me when the world ends."