When we get back to Hollyhock’s place she gets to taking care of me right away. I would point out that I could heal myself faster, but the assassin has a delicate touch and a willful attentiveness. She tells me to sit and I find myself pinned to my seat. Ice packs for my bruises and peroxide to clean my cuts. I didn’t even notice all of them.

Hollyhock tenderly dabs at the cuts with cotton balls, saying “sorry” under her breath every time I flinch from the sting.

“I guess in your line of work, you come across cuts all the time,” I say to fill some of the silence. The warmth from her hand caresses my cheek as she cleans the cut on my forehead.

“Yeah,” she says “one time I-” she stops to think about it. “Never mind, it’s...grim.” She gets another cotton ball and cleans a cut on my arm. I probably got it from rolling down the stairs.

“I think we’re past grim here,” I point out. Hollyhock licks the top row of her teeth.

“I once stapled a guy’s stomach together while he was holding in his own guts,” she says, focusing on my injury. “Pipe bomb hit him bad,” she quickly adds. The assassin breathes in deep recalling the memory. “He went by Heuchera. He was new to the Bay Leaves, not even a killer; he was helping out Digit.” She shakes her head “Beautiful young man, killed in such an ugly way.”

She lets that hang in the air for a bit.

“These cuts aren’t that deep, you won’t need stitches, which is good because I suck at it. Now lift up your shirt,” Hollyhock requests.

“I’m not exactly in the mood for fooling around, maybe in-” The assassin rolls her eyes at me.

“Your back is bleeding,” she points out “let me see it.”

“Oh...I’m hurting all over so I didn’t notice.”

“Yeah yeah, sure. Just turn around.”

“Hmmm, you’re talking so rough with me. It really-”

She doesn’t let me finish that sentence and turns me around herself with her strong hands and lifts my shirt.

“Flirt with me later,” she says. Our roles from when we first met are now truly reversed. I can feel her eyes scanning my back, just below the burn scar. “It’s not too bad a cut,” she says. “You still didn’t tell me what happened exactly.”

“I sensed the necromancer doing their magic, went after them, and-” I wince as a sting comes from the cut.

“Sorry, go on,” Hollyhock replies.

“They were trying to reanimate another body. When I came upon them, they teleported away.”

“Why would they do that in front of you?”

“They probably didn’t think I’d survive fighting their bodyguard. It was a huge man, even bigger than Koki’O.”

“That is big,” Hollyhock comments. “Well, you won the fight, so that’s what matters.”

“You would’ve been proud of me, I punched him in the knee and kicked him in the head.”

“That explains the bruises on your hand. Now I just...oh shit, I forgot you could probably heal yourself.” She takes her warm hands off my back.

“I appreciate you cleaning the cuts all the same. I’ll just let these heal on their own. I don’t want to waste energy or a mending elixir for this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I used enough magic today. I’ll be fine, I always heal quickly anyway.”

“If you say so. I’ll dress your wounds.”

Hollyhock does good work on the bandages, she asks if she’s doing it correctly when I remind her I rarely use things of this nature.

“I guess when you have magic. shit like gauze and tourniquets kinda go out the window, huh?” she notes. The assassin then picks me up and carries me to her bed.

“I can walk,” I inform her.

“I saw you limping, stay off your ankle,” she counters. I’m gently placed on the bed and she looks through her drawers.

“Is this to get even with me for saving your life?”

“I gave you a place to stay and made you pancakes, we been even for a while; this is to make you owe me,” she says. Hollyhock offers me some clean clothes to wear.

“I’ll be sure to pay you back, then. What’s the plan now?”

“The plan is we’re gonna make a plan in the morning. It’s been a long ass day.” She props me up on some pillows. “Neither of us died so let’s take that win, and try to get this ‘kinda hot’ necromancer later,” she says with a notable amount of sarcasm.

“You’re only saying it like that because you didn’t see them.”

“Hush, change, and go to sleep.”

We both change out of sweaty, bloody clothes and lie down to sleep. Hollyhock puts her arm around my shoulders and cradles me against her. She falls asleep in moments but I stay up a bit longer. I want to linger in her warm softness.

I drift off, cozy, sometime later.

When I wake up Hollyhock is already up, and freshly showered by the looks of it. She dries her hair and looks over me.

“How’d you sleep?” she asks.

“Just fine. I want to make a plan.”

“Take a shower and we’ll talk plans,” she counters. “Being clean makes for better plans. Plus you smell like ass.”

I sniff myself and it isn’t pleasant.

“Gods and Goddesses, I do.” The assassin nods her head slightly.

“I’m the one who slept next to you.”

I throw a pillow at her while she laughs.

After a much-needed shower, I dry off, change, and meet Hollyhock in her living room. The assassin looks like she’s pondering something.

“Let’s go over what we know,” she starts. “You felt the necromancer’s magic twice in a day. This means they’re progressing faster in whatever they have planned. I’m guessing by now they know you killed their bodyguard, and I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it wasn’t in a way a normal human could?”

“Not exactly,” I answer.

‘I hadn’t thought of that. I should’ve gotten rid of the body.’

“So that means they now know there’s another magical person in this city. We’ve lost that element of surprise, that’s fine. Now we have to think of what their next move could be. Could they have left the city entirely?”

“I haven’t felt their magic again, so they haven’t teleported away” I reply.

“And to do that would require a lot of magical energy?”

“With the army of resurrected, they might have? Definitely.” The assassin nods.

“That’s good. They can’t leave without you knowing, although is there a way to hide magical energy?” Hollyhock asks. Though she has little knowledge of magic, her lateral thinking brings up questions that I normally wouldn’t consider.

“There are a few,” I answer after a moment. “The Arcaniums do this on a large scale. But for small personal uses, there aren’t many viable options.”

“Such as?”

“There are a handful of powerful artifacts that could do such a thing, but most are safeguarded in IronHenge, and if any were missing there would be sorcerers scouring the globe for them,” I explain.

“But the chance isn’t zero?” the assassin notes.

“It’s not likely, but not impossible, I suppose.”

“Hmmm,” Hollyhock hums. She stands up and starts to pace. “What else could they do to hide?”

“They could have set penetralia wards in whatever lair they operate from. But they would’ve to have done this beforehand. And since they’re in a human city, I don’t think they went to such lengths. Those wards require constant magical feeding and they seem focused on their necromancy. If they were to set them up now, I’d detect it. They probably only have concealment spells to make it look different.”

The assassin absorbs the information.

“Is there a more convenient way to hide magic, something that doesn’t require magic?”

“I wouldn’t call it convenient but there are special types of metal that magic can’t affect, or permeate. There are lots of names for them but we mostly call them anti-magic metal. If the necromancer had a lot of it they could, in theory, make a sort of dome of magic insulation.”

“And where would one get these metals from?”

“They’re iron and titanium from meteorites. Like King Tutankhamun's dagger or Excalibur,” I elaborate. Hollyhock blinks at me.

“Okay, noted. So unless they have any of these things, and it’s unlikely they do, then they can’t make a move without you picking up on it. Still, they could be anywhere in the city, only the two of us know about them. And they have a horde of undead under their control. The only chance we have of stopping them is to catch them off guard, and for that, we have to find them soon.”

“Are we going to canvas the city?” I ask.

“...I have an idea, do you have another one of those aura receptor things?” Hollyhock asks.

“Yeah, I could make another,” I say. “Are we going to put it on another tower?”

“Nah, get it ready and follow me.”

While I prepare another aura receptor, Hollyhock goes into her secret armory. A moment later she reemerges with a large rectangular gray case that’s almost as long as her. Judging by the strain in her arm, it’s quite heavy. I follow her to the elevator, we go up to the top floor and then we take the stairs up to the roof. Hollyhock looks around quickly, when she spots nobody she walks out. The assassin opens up her case. Inside sits pieces to something that resembles a small airplane. She quickly attaches the pieces carefully and I see I was right.

The small plane is the same nondescript gray as the case. It has one large propeller in its mid-section behind its wings. The wings have what I recognize to be solar panels covering them. Optimized for weight, the rest of it is thin including the tailpiece. The front part of it has the most bulk, including the part I believe houses the battery, and a camera on the nose.

Hollyhock sets it down next to her and goes back to the case, she removes more equipment and something that added the most weight. A large pneumatic air cannon. The assassin attaches the smooth steel barrel and sets up the tripod under it. Once the entire machine is assembled to her satisfaction, she powers up an electronic device that she holds with both hands. Two sticks protrude from it and several buttons along with a small screen. I assume it controls the plane and that the screen shows what the camera on the plane sees.

“Is it ready?” She asks. I hand her the new aura receptor, she takes it and produces black strips from her pocket.

“Velcro,” she quickly explains. She removes a clear layer from the back of the strip and puts it on the back of the aura receptor. She then does the same to the plane, firmly pressing against it. It stays in place and she puts the plane in the air cannon. Adjusting the angle of the tube and slightly turning a dial, Hollyhock prepares to launch it. She looks around in the sky for a bit, checks something on the controller. With the push of a button, a loud quick BANG rings out, and the cannon fires. The plane flies forward into the sky. Hollyhock pulls down on one of the sticks and it flies higher up still. She stops its ascent, flips a switch, and puts the controller away.

Before she turns to me, Hollyhock takes out her phone and calls someone.

“Hey Digit, I just launched a Ghost Orchid drone, so don’t freak out about that...I can’t tell you what it’s for...No, I’m not- look can you just send the tracking info to my phone?... Then don’t tell Tamara… YOu could just as easily NOT tell her… With all the shot going on you think she’ll notice one drone?... Yeah, of course… Thank you. By the way, when’s my jacket gonna be done?... That long? Okay, thanks bye.” She hangs up and turns to me. “The drone will circle the city in intervals, if the necromancer does anything, you should be able to sense it no matter where they are.”

“How long will it stay up there?” I ask, gesturing to where the drone was.

“Well, if the weather holds up, which it always does, it can stay up there for weeks. Hopefully, we won’t need that long though. It’ll tilt to face the sun and use that charge during the night.” I know that given the nature of her work, the tools and gear Hollyhock has isn’t something regular people would have, but all this seems like she shouldn’t have it.

“Where do you get this equipment from? Is this stuff that anyone can have?”

“No, this is some cutting-edge shit. I once asked Tamara where she gets this gear from and she told me not to worry about it, so that was the end of the conversation. If I had to guess, she has some contacts from her past life, before she made the Bay Leaves,” Hollyhock speculates. “But she never told me about it, so it doesn’t matter. Now, I’m gonna get things ready, you should prepare too. When we find ‘em, we’ll havta rush ‘em.”

“That’s the nice thing about magic; my weapons are always ready.” I look at my hands. The bruises are gone along with all the pain. I peel off the bandages to see my wounds are fully healed. I deposit the bandages in my pockets and Hollyhock looks over me.

She looks for any signs of the injuries I had last night. There aren’t any.

“Do all magical people heal this fast?” I shrug.

“I always have.” She just shakes her head.

“I have some calls to make,” says while packing up the case. “I don’t know how many we’ll be facing so I’ll go for overkill. Better to go over the top, know what I mean?”

“Not really, but how long do you think it’ll take you to get ready?”

“‘A Bay Leaf is always ready, no matter what.’,” she quotes. “Tamara always says that. But in all seriousness, a coupla hours and I’ll have everything together. Let’s hope the necromancer doesn’t do anything too soon.”

Hollyhock calls various people who drop off more and more cases. She places them in more hidden places around her home. We then wait on edge for any sign of the necromancer.

We play the waiting game, hours go by, and the day ends. Hollyhock and I fall into a rhythm as the days breeze by us. We wake up, have breakfast paid for by Larkspur, and compulsively check the drone footage. Hollyhock doesn’t get any more assignments, but from the sound of her occasional calls, they’re getting something together. The days blend together and before I know it a week has passed.

Spending this time with Hollyhock has been wonderful, even with the miasma of anxiety hanging over us we’ve managed to enjoy each other’s company. Part of me wants to continue like this, but I know it can’t; one way or another this will have to end.

We go to bed after another fruitless day, Hollyhock lets me cuddle with her and we drift off to sleep. A dream enthralls me, I’m in a room that doesn’t exist with Hollyhock. The assassin has smoke rising from her neck like before. She’s leaning against the wall, nothing in her hands but her arms are crossed. She taps her bicep with two fingers to an erratic beat. Despite having no face, I can tell she isn’t looking at me; but at something behind me. I can’t turn my head to see what she’s looking at. It seems like she stands up a bit straighter, but it’s the wall behind her getting closer. The walls slowly close in on us.

When the room is half the size it was, Hollyhock turns to look at me.

“Clock’s ticking,” she says.

I wake up to the assassin doing chin-ups, she’s showing off; doing them with her arms wide and alternating between them, Hollyhock does a series of one-handed chin-ups. All while smiling at me. She drops down and her face lights up with an idea.

“So, it’s been a week and we been worrying our asses off while a whole lotta nothin’ happened,” she says while crawling onto the bed. “You know what that means?” She’s practically straddling me while she asks. Sweat dripping off her, she’s close enough to kiss.

“What?”

“Means we should go out. Celebrate. You ever been to a club?”

“Several,” I answer. “IronHenge is known as the party Arcanium.”

“Well then, if we don’t find anything today, let’s hit a club. Unwind a lil’.”

“You don’t want to unwind right now?” I suggest.

“You’re right,” She straightens up “I need a shower.” She didn’t pick up on my signal. Hollyhock gets off the bed and goes to her bathroom. I hate to see her go, but I love watching her leave in those tight workout shorts.

“Pick a sexy outfit!” she calls back to me.

After her shower, we check the drone footage and see much of nothing. I sense no magic just like the past week. The afternoon bleeds into the evening. It seems destined that we’re going out. The assassin makes a whole spectacle of it, insisting that we dress in separate rooms and showcase our outfits to each other.

I exit the bedroom when I’m dressed. Hollyhock waits on the couch but springs to her feet when she sees me.

“GOOOOOOOOOODDAMN, Girl!” she exclaims. Hollyhock makes a fist in front of her mouth and circles around, fanning me with her free hand. Warmth spreads to my face as she examines me all over.

I have on a deep purple form-fitting sleeveless dress with a low-cut front and a side slit on my thigh held together by heart-shaped chains. A rhinestone choker since diamonds are expensive in the nonmagical world apparently. Bands of enchanted gold travel the lengths of my arms. A very minor enchantment, they stretch and constrict to fit me perfectly. Black stilettos shoes with trees for heels. My hair is done in an intricate braid that I let my magic handle. I put on some enchanted eyeshadow that shows shooting stars soaring across my eyelids. I don’t think anyone but Hollyhock will get close enough to notice.

“You realize you bought me this dress, right?”

“Well, I got good taste then.”

“You’re not looking too bad yourself,” I note. Hollyhock stops circling me and lets me take a good look at her. Ripped blue jeans that fit her perfectly, and high-top red sneakers make up her bottom half. Up north is a crop top black mesh shirt. It shows off her abs and tattoos and does nothing to hide her breasts. I try not to linger on them too long as I check out the rest of her. She has on an orange half sweater. Really it’s more like an eighth of a sweater, there are only sleeves and a neck part.

She didn’t do anything to her face or hair which is fine because they’re always perfect.

“Not bad, huh?”

“Not bad at all.”

“Get your sexy ass in the car.”

Hollyhock drives us to the club with the windows down, it’s a cool night. After ten or so minutes of driving, we arrive at our destination: a place called Kava. We park across the street.

There’s a line of people waiting outside and I get annoyed at the idea of standing there. But Hollyhock grabs my hand and we briskly towards a large man at the front of the line. He’s the one letting people in and with a bump of fists, lets Hollyhock and I walk in with no issue. Much to the dismay of the people waiting.

“He owes me a favor, long story,” she quickly explains to me.

The club is dim, loud, crowded, and several degrees warmer than it is outside. Telltale signs of a good time.

We enter the crowd, so many beautiful people moving their bodies freely. Being free with each other. Hollyhock takes us to the bar, I can barely hear her over all the noise. She yells something at the bartender who somehow manages to pick it up. A moment later he comes back with two drinks in small cups. Hollyhock hands one to me.

“TO HAVING A FUN NIGHT!” She shouts over the music, she clinks our glasses then downs her drink in one go. Her face twists at the taste of it. I give it a brief sniff. With all the smells of everything going on, it’s hard to pinpoint which is coming from my drink but I decide I don’t care anymore. I throw my head back and down it. There’s a light heat to it going down my throat, it tastes like tequila. Like a weak tequila.

“DO THEY HAVE ANYTHING STRONGER?!” I ask Hollyhock. I feel like I drank water.

“STRONGER?!” She asks back with disbelief. “THIS STUFF’S PRETTY STRONG TO ME!”

“THIS MIGHT AS WELL BE JUICE!”

“ALRIGHT, I’LL ASK!”

The strongest drink they have offers only a slight burn to my throat. I’ve had potions with more kick but it’ll have to do. A few drinks in and we head back into the crowd to dance. I knew Hollyhock said she doesn’t drink much, but I didn’t expect her to be a lightweight. She sluggishly bobs her head side-to-side as we dance. Her eyes lazily look over me and she can’t stop smiling. I’m not even close to feeling any sort of buzz but I let myself flow with the music.

The song changes and a lot of people, including Hollyhock, yell out in excitement.

“THIS IS MY FUCKING SONG!” She yells. Whatever’s playing has a slow beat with a man rapping. The assassin slurs and mumbles the words as she gets closer. What she’s saying doesn’t sound close to what he’s saying but she presses on. Then, with crystal clarity she says,

“But in the mean time it's lights please”

The lights in the club get even dimmer in that second, almost pitch black. There’s hundreds of other people here, all going along with the song, but right now only she and I exist in this world. Our bodies meet, her strong arms drape over my shoulders. I put my arms around her waist. Hollyhock presses her forehead against mine, locking her eyes on mine and raps softly to me,

“Lights please

Lights please

Turn off the lights

For now everything just seems so right

And how you make the darkness seem so bright

Feelin' like things gon' be alright”

That seems to be the only part she knows well since she goes back to mumbling. We sway left and right as the song plays. The hook of the song comes back and she raps along again.

The song ends and with it the lights turn back up and Hollyhock lets out a holler.

“I HAVEN’T HEARD THAT SONG IN SO LONG! IT’S HOT IN HERE, ARE YOU HOT? I’M HOT!” She fires off. Hollyhock struggles to take off her not really a sweater and ties it around her waist. A more energetic song comes on and she lets out a laugh.

She pulls me in close, taking my hands in her hers.

“I always see you staring at it,” she whispers right in my ear. She maneuvers my hands to her hips,“let’s see if you can handle it.” Then my hands glide over to her ass. I involuntarily bite my lip. My heart was beating fast before, but now it’s pounding.

She chuckles as I brave a squeeze. Hollyhock turns around and starts grinding against my thighs. She bends over, gyrating her hips every which way to the beat of the song. And it’s a fast beat.

‘Qetesh, Nanaya, and Aphrodite; she has no idea what she's doing to me!’ Those unbelievably soft cheeks are about to have me ruin this dress.

“I NEED ANOTHER DRINK!” I request. Hollyhock stands upright to hear me.

“HMMM?” She asks.

“ANOTHER DRINK, PLEASE!” It takes her a second to process.

“COMING RIGHT UP!” She walks away to get it. I wipe away the sweat from my forehead.

‘Not something I can do in public and sober. I’ll need at least a buzz before I start acting unwise.’

Through the crowd I see Hollyhock trying to get the attention of the bartender. He’s swamped with orders that all seem to be going to one side. At the other side of the bar there’s a small crowd, they’re all surrounding one person who looks somewhat familiar. I move a little closer.

The group of people have bought drinks for the one in the center who barely touched them. They’re laughing at something someone said. The crowd parts a little and I see them more clearly.

They have the same style as before, wearing a half cape and a half buttoned shirt.

The necromancer is at the bar, flirting with several people.

Just as I recognize them, they turn and look in my direction. By the way they glare at me, there’s no doubt they recognize me as the one who killed their bodyguard.

We hold each other’s gaze for a moment, with a mutual understanding of our predicament; we can’t exactly have a magic duel in a club full of nonmagical humans. But we can’t let the other get away either. We’re at a stalemate.

Hollyhock comes to my side with a drink in hand.

“HERE YOU GO!” She says. I don’t turn to look at her just yet.

“THAT’S THEM RIGHT THERE!” I alert her “THAT’S THE NECROMANCER!”

She snaps to look where I’m staring.

“THEM, IN THE CENTER?”

“YES!”

“THEY ARE KINDA HOT!” She admits. “IT WAS FUN WHILE IT LASTED!” She says, pouring the drink out on the floor. Despite being drunk she has a very focused look on her face. “WHAT’S THE MOVE?!” She asks.

“WATCH THEM!”

The necromancer stops staring at me and goes back to whatever conversation they were having. A smile plastered on their face as they talk. Hollyhock and I split and try to get closer. Easier said than done with this crowd. The necromancer flicks their eyes back to where I was and upon seeing I’m no longer there, they stand up. They make a quick excuse to their admirers and start to escape.

They’re much closer to the exit than we are, but Hollyhock shoves her way through the crowd with greater ease than me. People start to get out of her way after a while, letting her close the distance faster. The necromancer pushes a door marked “emergency exit” and an alarm goes off. Panic quickly spikes through the crowd. Hollyhock stays on them while I struggle to keep my footing with the rush of people shoving me around. I lose sight of them both in the chaos. I feel that trembling in my bones, letting me know the necromancer has used magic.

Fear rises quick in me and I forget myself. I send out a strong wave of telekinetic energy and knock over dozens of people. With the path clear I rush to the door. I bash it open and see Hollyhock looking around.

‘Eye of Horus, she’s safe.’

“I don’t see them,” she informs me “they just disappeared.”

“They teleported.” I reach out with all my senses to feel where they primed the spell. There, in the alley I sense where they blinked away.“I’m going to follow their path!”

“Go! I’ll be here,” Hollyhock says. I feel another tremble.

‘They teleported again!’ I’ll have to hurry. I go through the first rift, and end up in another alley somewhere in the city. I have no time to look around, I rush towards the next one. This time I’m pulled down by gravity as I plummet from the sky. The urge to teleport away nearly takes over but I realize that’s what they want. I feel their magic further below me. So against all my instincts I let myself fall. The wind is cold and harsh. I watch the city get closer and closer and then I slip through their magic again.

Water crashes around me, this time I can’t control my panic. I thrash around in an effort to orient myself. I finally grab hold of something above me and pull myself up. I pop out into sweet life giving air and see I’m in someone’s private pool. Lights turn on in the house behind me. Whoever’s pool this is, probably won’t be open to my explanation. I follow the trail of water that the necromancer surely left behind.

They teleported only a few feet away.

This one takes me next to a large abandoned building but I see the water trail and feel their magic ahead. I’m about to go through but stop when I see another water trail, leading into the building from the rift I just came from. They doubled back, thinking I would just keep going through rifts.

I back up and look at the building. It looks like a few malls I’ve seen in movies but it’s devoid of life and looks like it has been for a long time.

‘This is it, this is where they’ve been hiding.’

Wanting to keep the element of surprise this time, I teleport away back to Hollyhock.

When I reappear next to her she practically jumps out of her skin.

“That’s one way to sober up,” she says while clutching her chest. “Did you find them?”

“I found their home.”

“Then it’s time to end this.”

Ch 19. End.