Sunset Coven 13

Caesars Lane

Caesar Lane.

Suri found it a bit strange how all-major roads in the underground were named after some dictator whose entire empire collapsed and rumored nations. Really! The irony of it all was a bit comical.

For example, the casino they appeared in front of was called 23 Slots, named off the number of times Caesar had been stabbed. The saloon across also referenced Caesar’s death, All But 1, because only one wound had been fatal. Then there was a clothing store, 60 and Counting, on Venus Genetrix, a road perpendicular to Caesar Lane, and The Idiots, a comedy stage of sorts, well...the point was, it was all ironic. Suri wondered if she was the only person who thought so. She learned her lesson a long time ago about revealing such thoughts to Jime. Having lived 900+ years, her aunt was a bit of a history buff.

Last time she mentioned her opinions, they were over on Atlantis, Jime rattled on and on for hours. She ended up casting a spell on her ears to block out Jime's voice. Never again would she engage in that subject with her.

“Why are we in Little Rome?”

“I need to make a stop at P and S first,” Suri responded. Potions And Stuff was the mini-mart of witchcraft. Witches traveling could stop in, replenish their stock, or even take few seconds to whip up at brew, and then be on their way in a matter of minutes. P and S was located on Salem Court (irony strikes again), which was just a few minutes walk from Caesars.

“Okay. Cool, but make it fast. We have crops to field.”

Jime couldn’t keep the smirk off her face as the strutted down the street. 900 years later, and a reputation that was feared, she still attracted eyes from all types of creatures. Yeah, she looked good, and the pants she wore framed her hips and thighs so well, she was too hot to handle. She flashed her fangs at an incubus walking across the street when he looked her up and down. He flashed his pretty whites right back at her. Oh, she would definitely be looking him up doing her spear time.

She looked at Suri, who was attracting her share of attention as well with her bikini top and jumper. The ones who eyed her were a bit bolder, maybe because her niece was just a kid and they thought her easy. Too bad for them that Suri’s attention span was about a millimeter long and she paid no attention to them at all. Also to bad for them, that Jime would rip out their trachea’s and drink their blood as it pooled out of them if they even so much as came into arms length distance of her niece.

She was being over protective of her nieces innocence, so what. That’s even if Suri is an innocent. She said she wasn’t and Jime didn’t detect a lie, but Suri had ways around lying. Jime let her guard down once and Suri suffered, physically, mentally, magically because of it. That wouldn’t happen again.

They arrived at Potions and Stuff. Suri disappeared into the back of the store towards the brewing section. “I’ll just meet you outside,” Jime called. Suri flicked a wrist in returned, but didn’t say anything. She wondered if she was still upset about the whole La Reina thing. God, she wasn’t to strangle Zeus with his own thunderbolt for opening that can of worms.

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, Jime sauntered out of the shop and moseyed around. She was eyeing a silver Douche and Gabbana bag in a window display when she caught a scent in the air. Her fangs and claws elongated and she moved with lightening speed around the corner.

Jime dug the sharpened nails on her left hand into Toren’s solid chest and she slammed him into the wall of the building he stood by. Bricks cracked and crumpled under the impact. “I want you dead,” she hissed, her face directly in front of his, his blood trickling down her fingers.

Too his credit, he didn’t cower. He didn’t even bat one of those pretty little eyelashes of his. That only pissed her off more and she dug her claws deeper into his flesh. She felt his body tense, that was slightly satisfying, but he didn’t make a sound of pain. No warlord would.

“I’m answering your calling card.”

She twisted her hand and watched in pleasure as his face shifted just a bit. If she wasn’t who she was, she might not have noticed. “You spoil all the fun. I really looked forward to bathing in the blood of your people, blood traitor.”

“We share no formal alliance, Jimena,” his tone was calm, radiating power and control.

“You betrayed my niece.”

“She’ll get over it,” his gaze was slightly lower than hers. Not low enough to admit defeat and submission, but low enough for her to not mesmerize him. But Jime could kill him in a second if she wanted to.

“You left her injured, damaged, scarred,” she lifted him up and slammed him back into the wall.

“She’s immortal. Her scars will heal.”

“Will they?” Jime challenge. “She’s a witch after all.” And everyone knew witches were only just one step above mortals. Suri had been right when she said no one was immortal. It only took the right weapon to kill an immortal. For Wolves it was silver, or having the wolf snatched from their souls and given to the Hecate. For witches it was fire. She slammed him into the wall again, further cracking the bricks, and threw her fist right into his face breaking his nose.

Toren’s eyes glowed, but he didn’t fight back. He remained still and allowed the assault to continue. “They will heal,” he repeated.

Jime wasn’t sure why he wasn’t fighting back. Maybe he sensed her hesitation, and it killed her to hesitate killing him. She snatched her hand from his chest after tossing him into the building across the street as if she merely flicked a piece of lint away. She licked the blood off each finger slowly while he gathered himself and stood up. “I would love to watch you die ever so slowly, baby dragon, to watch your blood run free around my boots, but that won’t be by my hands. I’ll leave that Suri.”

Toren actually smiled at that, and it wasn’t an amused smile. Suri took away his hope of protecting his family when she killed the wolves. Now…the thought of his clan dying off made him blind with rage. Smoke and fire shot from his nose. It wasn’t her fault. Not really. She was only defending herself because she thought he betrayed her. And he had. That pissed him off. But she should have known he would get her out of it. That she hadn’t pissed him off even more. “I look forward to that.”

Jime loved her niece more than anyone. She would never want anything bad to happen to her, to watch her fall as Sage has fell, but at this moment, all she could do was say, “I hope she gives you to Hecate.”

Toren’s mask of anger collapsed briefly.

She looked over her should and into the shadows where River stood the entire time. Idiots. To think they could hide in what she controlled. Licking her fingers one last time, Jime ran back to Salem Court, just as Suri exited the door. “All done?” she asked in a casual tone.

“Yes—“ Suri looked her up and down. “Why are you all…vamped?”

She ran her tongue over her fangs before pulling them back in. Then did the same thing for her nails. She knew her eyes must be glowing, but that would fade in a couple of minutes. “Just getting acquainted with an old friend.”

Suri’s eyes narrowed. “Lie.” She heaved. “I thought we established the ‘don’t-lie-to-me’ clause.”

“Truth,” Jime responded.

Suri walked forward and grabbed Jime by the front of her shirt. She leaned forward and took a deep sniff. Her sense of smell was nowhere near as strong as a vampire, wolf, and other creatures of the lore, but it was strong enough. She pushed Jime away; more like she pushed herself away since Jime remained still yet a small distance was between them. “Dead or alive?”

“Alive.”

“Harmed or not?”

“Harmed enough. Nothing deadly I assure you.”

“Harmed enough?” Suri repeated sarcastically. “He wasn’t supposed to be harmed at all. Not by you. The dragon is mine. Mine to handle. What? Did you flash to his lair while I was in the store or something?”

Jime sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Don’t ask me not to do anything to those who harm you, niña. I can’t do that.” She dropped her hand to her side. “No, I didn’t go looking for him. I don’t know where the nest is. Come to think of it, do you? I mean, we’ll need to know where to located the lizards when it comes time for mission number two. Anyway, back when you blew up the Tavern, I had just learned what happened from the brownie chick, and I sent out a declaration. He had to respond or I’ll be bound by magic to carry out what I said.”

“And what was that?”

Jime twist the toe of her right foot sheepishly. “Oh, nothing much. Just to wipe out the entire clan. See, nothing big.”

The big window in front of P and S cracked as Suri threw her head to the side and held her hand to silence Jime. She counted to ten, and then looked up at her aunt. She pointed a finger at Jime. “I’ll let the declaration go because it was at a time of distress, and therefore I must dismiss your encounter with the dragon warlord because you were bound by contract magic. But that’s it.” She waved her hand clearing the air. “No more. I’m serious, tia.”

“I’m trying Suri. But you can’t change a hoe into a housewife overnight, you know.”

“What?” Despite her anger, Suri smirked. She flicked her wrist again and the window repaired, the cracked sealing slowly.

Jime waited a few moments before she spoke, allowing Suri to get herself under control. When she was sure Suri wouldn’t cast some random spell on her, she bumped her with her hip. “Sooo, what did you get?”

“I sent a potion to someone.”

“Who?”

Suri looked up at Jime and away. “Do you know where the passage to Idaho…Indiana…Iowa is?”

Jime turned around and whistle at the Pouka passing by on the other side of the street. “Yo!” she called out. “Which way to Iowa?”

“Columbus and Hispaniola. “

“Columbus and Hispaniola,” Jime repeated to Suri who chuckled and mumbled ‘irony’.

“Lets go,” Suri said. “By the way, you owe me.”

~~~~~

A small popping sound and a puff of smoke brought James attention away from Jamie’s sleeping form to the nightstand beside her bed. There sat a small flask with a tiny piece of paper attached to it. Cautiously like, he lifted the flask and detached the note. Looking at the silvery liquid yet gaseous content in the bottle, he sat it back down wondering what it was. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be something good if it just popped out of nowhere.

He unfolded the note, and unfolded, and unfolded. The little slip of paper, no longer than a 1x2 inch sticky note, changed into a full-length sheet of paper.

James,

Not all of us as dangerous. I don’t know what your connection to my aunt may be, but you have a connection anyway, so I’m sure despite your wariness you know that statement to be truth.

As a token of gratitude, and also an apology for the injury you sustained (thank that douche bag, Zeus for saving you, although he was a little slow in doing so), I offer you a token. A solvent for your sister’s ails.

No! It’s not poisoned. Don’t even think about throwing it away. It will aid her, I assure you. Feed it to her, and when she’s well once more, I think you should have a long talk with her about insulting someone of my caliber.

If she ever calls me old again, she’ll live the remainder of her days with permanent warts on her face, warts that no amount of surgery and/or cosmetics will cover. Just Joking. 

-Suri

P.S: Attached to the back is a check for your troubles. Thank the vampire for that one.

~~~~~

“You know,” Suri called out to Jime who stood on the other side of the field harvesting but could hear her as if she were right next to her, “I don’t think Zeus put much thought into this list.” She popped an ear of corn off, then another. “I mean, besides two or three task, the rest of this is fairly easy. I mean…this is just too easy. Surely he knew it would be. You may have been Queen of the Murderers, but you were a farmer in the Spanish lands first, right?”

“That was a long time ago,” Jime responded.

“But it’s still in your blood obviously…at least in your soul…body.”

“I get the point,” Jime replied bitterly. “Are you talking so much to distract yourself from the fact that you’re stealing from someone, while wearing a hot pink bikini, and king of the lechers is watching?” Suri didn’t respond but Jime heard her growl. “If farming is in my body, what’s your excuse? You’re expectantly good at this.” Which was no surprise considering the slave driver of a father Suri has. But, farming wasn’t something he’d subject her to. That was below him.

“The skin-walkers taught me while I was learning from the medicine man.”

“How’d that go? Bird brain was okay with that?”

“Not really,” Suri called. “He finds shamanism a waste of time, but to say so and prohibit me would have been a direct insult to my mom.”

And like herself, Jime thought, no one crossed Suri’s mom. Not even her own husband. Jime sniggered at the thought.

“Well, aren’t you enjoying yourself,” a deep voice rumbled only a few feet from behind her. Jime jumped up and hissed as her fangs shot out. The wind picked up and spun around them, the tension cracking between the two as their powers thundered against one another.

From the other side of the field, Suri felt the shift of the wind and the rise of power with it. She bolted up and ran through the field of corn, most which had been picked within the three hours they had been on the field. Running as fast as she could, she covered the acres that separated her from Jime in a matter of seconds. Suri burst through the field into the clearing where Jime had been working and froze. “Ah. Shit!” she said as she saw Jime facing off against Jack. And not the car.