Page 43 of Queens Will Play

A few minutes later, we arrived at Marion’s, right on the dot of eleven-thirty. Wilbur was there, sitting in his truck. He sauntered over to the car as we got out.

“Hey Sweetmeat, I see you brought your harem with you. Good thing. We can use as many hands as we can get,” he said. He was carrying a backpack slung over his shoulder.

I rolled my eyes but said nothing, just grabbed my own bag of tricks out of the trunk of the car, while the men retrieved their weapons. At that moment, Shade, Delilah, Vanzir, and Menolly rolled up, and right behind them, Marion and Douglas.

We assembled on the front lawn, checking our gear.

“Hey Dead Girl and Puddy Tat, good to see you again,” Wilbur said, winking at my sisters. “How are you two?”

Menolly snorted. “Still dead.”

“Better the walking dead than in the grave,” Wilbur said. “And you, kitty-cat? I heard you had your first litter.”

Delilah coughed and sputtered.

“So, what’s the plan?” Shade asked, interrupting.

“Well, we need to figure out how many shandigoes we’re facing. From what Carter says, the best way to catch them is to do so on the astral. So we jump onto the astral, take care of them, and Wilbur takes what’s left home with him.” I turned to the old soldier. “What are your recommendations? You’ve fought these before.”

“I’ve fought several of them,” he said. “They’re tough. Don’t go thinking that, because they aren’t demons, they’re easy. And they’re more dangerous on the astral. If you’re over there with them, yes—they are easier to catch but that also means they have an easier shot at you. And they do more damage than draining your life-force.”

I froze. “Carter didn’t mention anything about that.”

“Maybe your big-brained demon buddy doesn’t know everything,” Wilbur said. “Shandigoes have tentacles, like an octopus, but those tentacles have stingers in them. They can pierce your skin with those stingers. If they do, you’ll get a jolt of joy juice that can knock you into an early grave if the sting is powerful enough. The venom acts like a neurotoxin.”

“How bad of a neurotoxin?” Menolly asked.

“Let’s see…nightmare hallucinations, intense pain, and if you get too big of a jolt, death.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay. New plan: don’t get stung. Do they have any vulnerable spots? What does the most damage against them?”

Wilbur scratched his beard. “I can cast some spells that affect them, but if you’re talking physical attacks, you’re going to want a blunt object. Their skin is hard leather. Swords and knives won’t do squat against them. Their brains aren’t in that big bulge of a head, but attached to their mouths, which are directly where you’d expect their assholes to be. Or their V-J’s. Anyway, the brain’s protected, and that’s what you want to get to.”

He reached in his backpack and pulled out a spiked mace. I could feel the iron on it, and it made my skin crawl.

“Keep that away from my sisters and me,” I said.

Wilbur laughed. “If I wanted to hit you with it, I’d have done so long ago. I know how to work a weapon,” he added. “My suggestion is that we go onto the astral first. I’m good at navigating my way through the mists.”

Going onto the astral wasn’t as easy as it sounded. It was hard to maneuver through the mists, and while you could transport yourself certain places if you’d seen them before, trying to manage landing in a strange spot was likely to only cause you grief. So if we went on the astral here, it would help to have someone good at navigation.

“If you can lead us, we’ll follow,” Delilah said. She shivered. “Most of the times I’ve been out on the astral, it’s been a bad experience. I don’t like it there.”

“Bring your weapons,” I reminded everyone. “We have to have them on us for them to be effective.” I stared at my silver short sword. I wasn’t that effective with it, even after years of practice, and since swords weren’t that good against shandigoes, I decided to leave it. Morio and I could use our death magic and do more damage.

The others armed up.

“What should we do?” Marion asked.

“I think you and Douglas need to stay here. If we have to protect you, we’ll be distracted. Get in your car and take off—I’d say get a few blocks away. We’ll call or text you when we’re done,” I said.

“She’s right,” Menolly said. “We don’t know for sure how many of these creatures we’re facing and we need to be able to go in full force.”

Marion nodded. “Please be careful. I’d hate to see any of you hurt because you’re trying to help us.”

“Don’t sweat it,” I said. “We’ve taken our knocks time and again. We’ll be all right.” I didn’t want to tell her about the venom—it was likely Marion would try to stop us if she thought we were in danger. “Go on, and we’ll get busy. You deserve to live in your home.”

Marion smiled. “Thank you. I really don’t want to have to abandon my home…again.”