Witch, Please
I smiled and didn’t say anything.
“All right,” she said, “Have it then. I was part of the coven. I had talent. Some might even have called it The Gift. But
there was a step I couldn’t take…”
So far this checked out. One of the reasons witches hide so well is that very few of them are actually good at
witchcraft. You can learn the lore okay, master the alchemy stuff, but to really go all the way, you need to take that
step into communing with demonic energy. You need to sell your soul. And a lot of them aren’t willing to serve a
demon for the same reason they aren’t willing to serve God - it involves serving. They’re strong independent black-
clothed women who don’t need no ethereal being.
“So better to serve Heaven than Hell?”
“That’s the funny thing about discovering the Devil is real. It proves other things as well.”
“How much does he know?”
“Most of it, actually. That’s the thing with these divinity grads. They love reclaiming lost souls.”
“All right,” I say, “but that doesn’t explain why Engilda wants you dead. Witches aren’t usually this possessive. She’d
punish you her own way, not hire the likes of me. Assassination is too… cold for mere treason.”
“Who knows why Engilda does anything. She had high hopes for me. She’s put in so much time, but she wasn’t any
more willing to serve a demon than I was. Demons make it hard to keep the Accord, you know. They don’t give a
damn if we’re burned at the stake.”
“Pun intended?”
She smirked. “Anyway, she was disappointed in my refusal, but my departure. Well, it hurt. She must have gotten
territorial.”
“Uh huh. You sure you didn’t take one too many souvenirs before you took up with His Holiness?”
She clicked her tongue. “Nothing she had any use for.”
“Okay,” I said, standing up, “You don’t wanna talks to me, don’t talk to me.”
“I am talking to you.”
“I’m not the only one she can send. The next one might not have my scruples about home invasions. Whatever your
beef with Engilda is, you’ve got until she figures that out to settle it. Or, you could take me into your confidence,
and maybe I could buy you some time.”
“How?”
“Maybe there’s a way that doesn’t end with someone having to die. I’d have to know more to know that, though.”
“I don’t know what you think your game is here, Slim,” she said, standing herself, “But I have about as much reason