Page 105 of Jinxes and Drumsticks

Wren examines the front door to the house when I hear the one of the van’s sliding doors open from behind me. I turn to find Satoshi stalking toward us.

“What the fuck?” I say just as Wren knocks on the door.

She looks too, her face blanching.

“Satoshi, what are you doing?” she whisper-shouts.

He doesn’t answer her before decking me square in the face, grasping onto my shirt before I can stumble back into Wren.

“Bro. What the fuck?!” I repeat as another blow lands against my cheek.

“Are you fucking serious, man? You think I didn’t notice you sneak out with the girl I’m talking to?!” Satoshi shouts. “You think I’m not going to tell Lillith what you’re doing behind her back?”

I catch his next punch. “It’s not like that, you fucking idiot! Get back in the car. You’re in over your head.”

“Both of you, get down,” Wren shouts.

“What?” we both ask, stupidly.

She leaps onto both of us just as the door opens, but she’s too light to take us both down. I only see a brief flash before I gather Wren and Satoshi into my arms and pull us down to the ground.

A massive beam of light lances over our head and... and...

Incinerates the van.

Completely.

Gone.

Fuckin’ Donezo.

Roxie is going to kick my fucking ass.

I must say it out loud because Wren lets out a groan. “We have bigger problems!”

She scrambles out of my arms and runs into the house. Satoshi’s still panting as he looks at the black smudge in the gravel where the van used to be.

“What. I—What?”

“Yeah,” I say. “You picked a great time to be a jealous asshole. Thanks for that.”

“Damien, does a fucking super Saiyan live here or something?” Satoshi asks.

“Nope, just a powerful witch,” I say.

“Wait, Wren just went after her!” Satoshi says, getting to his feet and following her before I can stop him. I shake my head and get up too, entering the house after them. Only, when I get inside, I don’t hear the sound of a scuffle. I don’t even really see any signs of the magic that just destroyed the van.

The air smells stale and foul. Like death.

“What the fuck?” Satoshi says, holding his flannel sleeve over his nose and mouth.

Wren appears from deeper within the house and runs past me, bursting outside and retching. Satoshi hurries outside to hold her hair as she vomits into the cute little garden. I step deeper into the cabin—into the room Wren just escaped from—and find what put her in such a state.

In front of me on the floor lies a woman. Her glassy, unblinking eyes match the pewter color of Lillith’s. The shape of her nose is the same pert button. But this older, stilled version of Lillith has retained her black hair. Hair that tumbles across her torso in the bizarre slump of death.

I’ve seen dead bodies before. Sort of came with the job sometimes, when I was still with the fire department. The cause of Lillith’s mother’s death isn’t immediately apparent, but she died recently from what I can tell. I approach her and gently palpate the cool skin of her throat, just in case I can find a pulse. But there is none. Her body is loose and maneuverable, which means rigor either hasn’t set in, or it’s already come and gone. She’s either been dead for less than twelve hours, or for longer than twenty-four.

As the initial surprise of finding a dead body wanes, reality settles. The list of tasks for tonight grows exponentially with each realized change in our initial plan.