That's So Wizard

Chapter 82 - Gloves are Off

The voice came again. It struck Kevin with terror that he could hear his close friend calling out from the other end, and with him trapped on the chair, there was nothing he could do. Kevin yanked up on the metal bindings over his arms, which started to dig a groove into his flesh.

"I can't take it!" Eldrian cried.

Taj, with his walkie-talkie in hand, paced left and right and let the words sink in deep. The room become quiet, apart from the sounds of the man's footfalls tapping against the concrete floor. Then, he turned, and stared over his his captive. There was less expression on his face than he initially expected.

Kevin stared back up him with a burning ferocity not at all hidden behind his eyes—a fire stoked further by something. There was little fear, which Taj clearly didn't expect.

"Are you ready to talk?" he asked bluntly. What little patience he had was fading.

"Hell no."

His glove cracked the plastic of his device as he tightened his grip too intensely. "Do you not care for your friend's well-being? Clearly those who run from the law truly are lost."

Kevin flared his nostrils. "Of course I care about my friends, so I'd care about who was on the other end of that... if he was Eldrian!"

"Are you daft?"

"I know him. That may be his voice, but those aren't his words."

"Your bluff is going to get your friend killed."

His eyes shot across the room. For a moment, he pondered further, but then his brow twitched as something came to his mind. "I bet we're not even at the same place, are we?"

Taj squinted. "One more word..."

"You didn't want to risk it, so you took us both to two different places. That's why you're faking his voice. On the other end of that radio is someone impersonating my friend, and you thought I couldn't—"

Once again, his cheek burned as metal cracked against him. His face whipped to the side—his hair damp and stringy as it clung to his face. He was exhausted and hurt. Slowly, his eye turned over, and he saw Taj looking away with his arms crossed. The moment stretched.

Finally, he turned back. "I don't need to hurt your friend to get answers out of you, spellbreaker. I need only to hurt you. If you're going to be difficult, I'll start with a different question." From the table, he picked up Kevin's gold and blue ring. "Where did you get this?"

Kevin said nothing.

The man stepped closer. Like a panther, he pounced, and grabbed Kevin by the throat to slam him on the back of the chair. He held the finger pinched between his fingers to his face. "I know what this is. The magic sword Drodias. So, tell me where you got it."

"Why do you care?"

"This belonged to a demon, is why I care. So I have reason to believe you're actually working with demons. Perhaps the ones that attacked Spokane. What say you about that?"

"A demon? I guess she—No. I won't talk."

"She? No. This blade belonged to a demon that resembled moreso a man, however it is not always so clear with those creatures."

He thought about what he said. Initially, it was Lucy that gave him the ring, and there's no way someone could mistake her for a man. There was something Taj knew that he didn't.

"I actually have no idea who owned this then, because I got it from a woman."

With a movement of his wrist, he was holding a small blade. Kevin had no idea where it was drawn from. He brought it to Kevin's trapped hand and pressed the exceptionally sharp metal against his thumb. "Tell me who, and you might be able to use that shield again."

"Gah! It was a woman. L-Lucy."

The blade stopped. Taj gave him a sceptical stare in response, but slowly lifted the knife back away from his flesh. It left a bleeding cut in its wake.

"I see. She must have scavenged it from its previous owner... But, if she gave it to you, then there must have been a reason. I have my doubts you would be able to steal from her." His eyes, while lost in thought along with his mumbling, shot suddenly back to Kevin. "Why?"

"A token of friendship, and a tool to slay demons."

"We are aware of the royals of the Demon World hunting their own on Earth. We let it be, because frankly, we need it to happen. But in return, they're aware that we hold no legal obligation to let them go. If we find their hunters, they'll be just as guilty as everyone else. Lucy knows this. Again, a devil has put somebody in harm's way."

"That's not true. She's been nothing but helpful to us. She just cares about her people!"

This time, the slap was directed toward the other cheek. His head fell to the side. Taj grunted, and shook the pain from his own hand as he awaited his captive to recover. "Now tell me how many more of you there are."

***

Never before had the devil sisters worked as hard as they were. Mara, Lucy, and Kali filed through paperwork, contacted others, and drank cup after cup of hellishly potent coffee in order to find what they were seeking. A long time had passed. None of them knew how long.

"This is all I could find on what you asked me for, sis," Mara mumbled, and slid the papers over the table. Though with her arms extended, she was too exhausted to retract them, and merely remained laying there.

"I think we've finally figured it out," spoke Kali.

Lucy nodded. "Don't underestimate the power of paperwork. Look. Anzu, all this time, beneath our noses, was plotting. She freed specific prisoners from our dungeons. She also used our teleportation room to get around, but has since stopped doing that. She must have a wizard on her side. And if we follow this web of information, I think we can find where she might have gone with them all."

Mara looked up from her position with teary eyes. "But why would she do this? It was Kali that was always mischievous."

Kali shrugged. "That would be way too much work."

"We can ask her when we turn her in." Lucy scratched her nails across the wooden surface. "I'm afraid I don't have an answer right now. We always knew she had some radical ideas, but to go to this extent? This is too much. We need to stop her before she causes the downfall of everything. Two of them, as you know, are captured already. Kevin and Eldrian."

"Poor Kevin," Kali spoke with a frown. "We'll get you back."

"Fortunately her hugs have ended up useful for something."

"Sister. My hugs are always useful. See? I know how to pick them."

Mara glanced back and worth as they spoke—confused.

The eldest daughter stood from her seat. "You know what Kali can do. As we speak, there's a shade within Kevin's body. We can go exactly to where he is." She smiled. "Normally we wouldn't get involved with Earth's hunters, but now we have a reason. I have a feeling Anzu wanted them to come."

In response, the small Mara gasped and slid back off the tabletop. "She wanted spellbreakers and stuff to show up and stop her invasion?"

"There's not a chance she invaded just to kill people. Of course she wanted something to happen. If we don't clean this up, we might have a serious problem with Earth's leaders. Are you still good, Kali?"

She nodded. "Of course, sis. We can go any time."

Deep within Kevin's body, unknown to him, was a ghost-like shadow, which had been with them every since he made contact with Kali back home. Not only did the boy not know, but Taj certainly didn't either. It was something her body could naturally do, and with it, she was able to manipulate their teleportation room to direct itself straight toward it.

And that's exactly what the three of them did.

Stay tuned for Chapter Eighty-Three - Doin' It For Themselves!