*Hatchet*

-Earlier-

"So?" I asked, walking between Quin and Jacin on the sidewalk. "Anything you guys really wanna do?"

As if on cue, there was a scream from a ways away.

"I don't know," Jacin said, starting off in a light jog, "but that sounds interesting."

"Magic!" Someone yelled. "Someone call the Black Hands it's ma-"

I rounded the corner, charging in the direction of the sound.

There was a man standing next to a hooded...girl? It was hard to tell. Both of them were staring down at a crying girl, maybe twelve years old who was sitting on the concrete, back pushed up against the wall of the building behind her. Looks like a high school bullying situation.

The man held his hands up, as if in surrender. "It's okay, petite fille. I swear. We're the good guys, yeah? Um, can you..."

He motioned towards the hooded girl with a shake of his head.

She nodded, kneeling down.

"Hey!" Quin yelled, catching their attention. Cause that's just what we needed; to attract the attention of a wizard and possibly a witch in public. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," the man, seemingly French or maybe European, insisted. "I mean, I accidentally shocked the poor fillie. You know, sometimes magic can be," he twirled his hands in the air, "unpredictable."

"You're magic?" Jacin asked, spitting the world magic like a poison. I guess he was used to hiding it, but damn he was a good actor.

"Oh, please don't get those dreaded Black Hand people," he said, giving us a sideways smile. "I'm completely legal."

He dug in his pant pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. On it, was the familiar hand shaped glove, made with black ink.

"Legal magic?" Jacin replied. "This county really is going to shit." He walked over to the little girl and held his hand out to her. "You okay?"

She nodded, taking his hand and letting him pull her up. When she was on her feet again, she ran.

"I've never heard of a legal magician," I said, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Ah, well monsieur, I'm from France. Magic is legal there. The belle fille, ah, beautiful girl, here also has special permission."

Jacin gave a hateful snort. "How'd you manage that?"

The French man gave a little smirk. "Secret, I'm afraid. Now, while we have you stopped mind if I ask you a question?"

"I guess," Quin answered for us.

"Seen these people? Any of them would help."

He handed Quin a stack of paper. I peeked over his shoulder to see what was on them, horrified to see that they were us. First Heather, then me, and finally Quin. No Jacin, probably because they'd have no idea he was with us, and no Hecate. The best guess I had about her was not admitting that she was out.

"Yeah," Jacin answered, making me jump. "They made a little mess back in Rome. I think, at least."

The French man smiled and took the papers back. "Thank you very much."

"Anything to get you and your magic away from us."

The French man gave us a smile and then a little wave before walking in the other direction, the hooded girl following closely behind.

"Damn," I heard Jacin mumble. "I almost forgot we didn't look like us. You two would've been in a hell of a lot more trouble."

"Yeah," Quin replied, his voice low, "thank god for her Majesty."

"Yeah, but now what?" Jacin asked. "That was really the only shot we had at being entertained."

I thought about it before offering up a solution. "We could go blow some of her money. She is loaded, right?"

"Yeah, but on what?"

"Clothes?" I offered. "A stupidly expensive cake. How much money did she give us?"

"She gave me about five thousand dollars. Half of what she has on her monthly."

"So, yeah. Let's go blow it."

---

We ended up stopping by a gun store first, per Quin's request. I have a lot of respect for him, yeah. He's my ex-commander and a childhood friend, but let's face it. The guy's got an addiction.

Since guns are completely legal and can be sold to anyone over eighteen, we didn't have any problems. Next, per Jacin's request, we stopped by the Dodge car sales place that was in the little town. The last place we went, because I wanted too, was a fancy ass dessert shop with overpriced goods.

As I was about to step through the double doors of the little cake shop, Quin's phone went off and he stopped us.

"It's Heather," he said, picking up. "Heather? What's wr-"

His face contorted into confusion with drops of fear that he quickly erased.

"What happened?" Jacin asked, as Quin put his phone into his pocket.

"Something bad happened. Really bad. It sounds like Hecate got hurt. Heather says we need a motel room, bandages, and pain killers. I'll head to the store to grab everything. Jacin, help me carry it all. Hatchet, go get a motel room. Text us when you get the address, Heather first. Clear the bed and start filling the bath with cold water."

I nodded, and held out my hand to take the money from Jacin. Once I got a little more than what I needed, I bolted in the direction of a motel. I think...

---

"What's taking her so long?" Quin asked, pacing back and forth. "She should've been here at least twenty minutes ago."

"Maybe they got spotted by that magic guy on the way in."

He turned a glare to me. I held my hands up in surrender.

Quin described Heather's list as the newbies guide to burn wounds. Luckily for us, Quin has some training in the medical field. All higher authorties did. Burns were especially normal when fighting magicians. They liked to use them because, as Jacin said, 'It's easy to do damage with fire and doesn't take much concentration.'

There was a knock at the door. I turned to open it, but Quin was already there, looking through the little hole.

"No one's there," he commented.

"Open the door," Jacin said from behind us. "It's probably Hecate's magic. Open the door. Now."

Quin did, moving out of the way so whatever or whoever was outside could fit in. Like always, he through logic out the door when it came to people he cared about.

"Close it," Jacin said.

He did.

"Alright, Hecate," Heather's voice said, like it came out of no where. "We're good now. You can take down the magic."

Both of their bodies suddenly appeared, Heather sweating and standing over the bed. Hecate was... not in a good state.

She was sprawled out on the bed, her body wet with sweat. Her eyes were forced closed and her eyebrows were scrunched in concentration. And her arm. Her entire left arm was a mass of leathery, burned skin and part of her back. Parts of her shirt and jacket were completely burned off.

"What happened?" Quin asked, rushing to her side.

Heather stuttered to answer. "We-we were going through this horrifying tunnel she found in the runes and-and when we reached a room, she suddenly jumped in front of me. There was this bright light and Hecate was holding onto me and screaming and- This!"

"Lay her on her back and help me get her shirt off. Bra too. No time to worry about privacy. Jacin, bring over one of the more room temperature bowls of water, since you can't heal her. Hatchet; the antibiotics and pain killers."

"Dammit, Hecate," I heard him mumble. "What the hell did you get yourself into?"