“There’s an alchemy circle to just burn bamboo?” One of the downsides of alchemy is that the spells have to be memorized. Unlike kitchen witchcraft, which can take almost anything on hand to do what you need in incredibly messy fashion, alchemy is so specific that an alchemist can spend years memorizing even the most basic spells.
Witchcraft might be jazz, but alchemy is someone playing scales. Everything exactly the same, over and over and over again. On the other hand, with alchemy you’re much more likely to get the end result that you want with considerably more precision.
Still, a spell just to burn bamboo?
King’s face looked flushed, and I wanted to reach out and check his forehead to make sure that it was just from the heat of the fire and he wasn’t experiencing any magic loss symptoms.
“I may have made some adjustments to a circle,” he said.
My eyebrows shot up. Like I said, alchemists don’t adjust their spells. There is no such thing as creating your own spellwork on the fly in alchemy. As far as I knew, some alchemists spent their lives creating a new spell. And they did it in these lab-like settings where no harm could come to anyone if it went wrong.
“Well, it’s definitely working,” I said. The bamboo forest was now a charred mess, and it looked like none of the spiders had been able to escape.
We heard sirens, and I saw King’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“What took them so long?” I asked.
“Smith must not have called them before we went in,” King said.
“Well, it’s a lot easier to execute an illegal search without a dozen cops on hand,” I offered.
King sighed, but didn’t try to defend his web-encased partner.
Someone pounded on the door, and before King could answer it, there was a shattering sound as someone took a battering ram to the door. Lots of guns and shouting came next, and, in the end, the fire department came in to put out the last of the flames.
I had settled myself at the edge of the scene, trying to figure out the best way to escape before someone asked me about the magic I had been using.
Then, King was in front of me, offering his hand. I gripped it, his palm warm and solid in my own. As I stood, I realized that we were closer than I had thought.
“You need another kiss for luck?” I expected King to smile, but his expression was serious.
“Are you going to go see one of the EMTs about that?” He gestured to my head, where one of McCallum’s cronies had hit me.
“I think I’m going to just head home,” I said.
King’s face went tight and then he was spinning me and pressing me up against the nearest wall, dragging both hands behind me as he began reading me my Miranda rights.
“What?” I sputtered “King, what are you doing?”
Finishing the spiel, King said, “I’m arresting you for breaking into McCallum’s house.”
“Are you kidding?” I asked. Glancing around us, I realized that there were at least two other cops who’d seen what he was doing, and were providing silent backup.
“He needs to get seen by a doctor before we book him,” King said. His hand was tight on my arm.
“I can’t believe this,” I muttered as King and the two uniformed cops talked logistics.
Twenty six hours later,I’d been seen by the hospital, released back into police custody and bailed out by my sister. Laurel was standing outside of the police station, talking to the lawyer she’d hired to go toe-to-toe with the DA.
In the end, all the charges had been dropped, since the paperwork filed was so bad that even I could see the gaping holes in it. How a guy as precise as King could be so bad at paperwork was beyond me.
“Hey,” Laurel said, offering me over a large paper coffee cup. I accepted it and drank. “Ted was just explaining that the DA dropped the charges.”
“Thanks,” I said, raising my cup to him. “I appreciate it.”
“Trust me, in my work for the coven, this is theleastodd thing I’ve had to do,” he said, moving towards the parking lot. “Laurel, I’ll talk to you soon.”
Laurel and I began meandering down the street, towards her car. My foster sister didn’t say anything at first. I knew that something was coming, but before she could figure out which lecture she was gearing up to give me, someone called my name from behind us.
