The poison kicked into full gear, and the next events were a hallucinogenic blur.
Somehow, I ended up in the car with my head resting against the window. I cracked the window slightly to get a little fresh air.
“This damn car,” Bo said. “What kind of car…”
I didn’t hear the rest, but whatever he said, I probably would have agreed with it.
“…spell will take us right to the pooches,” Bo said, tapping me. “Ain’t that right?”
“Pooches. Yeah.”
“Poison’s gotcha bad, boss man.”
I mumbled something, but I couldn’t tell you what it was.
A sparkle of pink and purple drew my eye to the windshield where a holographic orb danced inside the glass. It was the size of a kidney bean.
“That Hank dude was something else,” Bo said. “Hopefully, we don’t have…”
“Uh-huh,” I said. My stomach burbled.
“I don’t like that asshole,” Bo said.
He slowed to a stop. Outside, someone’s stereo rattled the glass. Since my head was leaning against it, every bone in my body rattled too.
I closed my eyes. Somehow, I went back to the past. Or maybe I was in the present. Jesus, I didn’t know anymore.
“The spell will take you right to the wolves,” Hank said. We were standing on my front porch. The stars glittered like antique lamps and the chilly fall breeze relieved my sweat. A car passed by, its red color surging all around it like it was in a photograph on long exposure.
“We trust your spell has no time limits,” Natkaal said. I hadn’t seen him on the ceiling looking upside down at us.
“No time limit. It’ll expire when you find your targets,” Hank said. “You going to war?”
“Oh, indeed,” Natkaal said.
“Not war,” I said.
“He won’t have the pleasure of biting any canine heads off because that belongs to me,” Natkaal said.
“Wherever that aggression is coming from, you need to get that checked out with a licensed therapist, man,” Bo said.
A car honked. The window rattled against my skin. I was back in the coupe. Bo pulled off from the red light and the intense rattling in my bones stopped as we left the car with the loud stereo behind. The city blazed by in slow motion in red, blue, and orange bokeh glory.
“The orb’s getting bigger,” Bo said.
The pink and purple orb danced up and down like a pixie spirit. It was the size of an orange now.
“Next time I lose the keys, I need to get me one of these spells,” Bo said. “Are the arachnids cool, boss man?”
A gentle rustle of crawling swirled against my chest. I patted my gabardine’s interior pocket gently. My spiders shifted around and settled.
“All cool,” I said.
“Mr. Warlock had a pretty good idea,” Bo said.
Hank pointed to the spider above my front door.
“That’s a clever trick,” he said. “Never seen it before. If you’re not going to war, they might be able to help you get a good view. If you want, I’ll cast a hearing spell so they can hear and beam the sound to you. It’ll only work for a little while. No charge.”
I agreed and he waved his hands, gathering pink magic into them. It shattered, and pink dust rained over my spider.
Hank gave me a loose salute. “The spell has been activated on all your spiders. Consider our transaction finished. We’ll be in touch, Lester.”
Hank jogged down my steps with the arrogance of a man who had just won a game of roulette at a casino. He got into a beat-up maroon pickup truck, laughed as he started the engine, and drove off.
“Natkaal, you owe me,” I said, wobbling into the house.
“You owe me!” the grasshopper demon said.
“I didn’t start this!” I cried, stumbling into my radiator.
“You need an antidote,” Natkaal said, crawling on the ceiling as he followed me through the hallway.
“I’ll take your suggestions,” I said.
“Aconite has no known antidote,” Natkaal said.
“Then why did you recommend it?” Bo asked.
“Lester needs blood magic,” Natkaal said. “But we don’t have time. Ironically, time will be your greatest healer once the poison peaks. If you die on me, necromancer, I will be furious.”
“Orb’s getting bigger,” Bo said, pointing at the windshield.
I had no idea where the hell we were, but Bo’s commentary helped me see the neighborhood in my mind’s eye.
“Hipster place,” Bo said, nodding in approval. “Lotsa yuppie stores.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Cherokee Street.”
I’d been to Cherokee Street a few times. It was in a trendy area in South City where a lot of young folks moved to be in the center of the action. Joisted masonry businesses with ornate brickwork everywhere you looked, mixed in with old homes. The street went on for blocks and was jam-packed with restaurants and bars. Every other storefront was a Mexican restaurant. You could get a good authentic taco here late at night. At least, that was what I saw in my mind’s eye. I wasn’t seeing very much with my real eyes other than a dazzling, colorful blur.
In my kitchen, Bo held out both palms. My undead spiders rested on them, awaiting orders.
The Cluster. My security system. They were a mixture of big and small spiders of different varieties. Common spiders you’d find around your house, scream upon seeing, and run for the bug spray.
“Fellas, now that I’ve got wards installed, I need your help with something else,” I said, bending down to meet them. Their black, beady eyes reflected the kitchen light in crescents.
People forget that spiders are predators. They’re the wolves of the insect world. They hunt their prey with the instinct of a wolf, but they also know how to think like their prey. A spider will wait as long as necessary for a meal. I needed their hunting instincts and their patience tonight.
“I will follow you from the sky until you park at your destination,” Natkaal said.
I imagined him flying over the streets as we hunted the wolves now.
“Bingo,” Bo said.
The orb was no longer an orb. The pink and purple magic oozed across the windshield like a magnetic field.
Bo hit the turn signal and parallel-parked in front of a row of brick houses. Old single-story St. Louis houses with faded red brick, mature oaks, and postage stamp yards.
The magic pointed at a darkened house with two bright yellow doors. A duplex. One half of the house was shrouded in darkness. The other was lit up, but dark curtains hung over the windows. The grass desperately needed cutting.
“That’s our destination,” Bo said.
A silent shadow swooped overhead and circled the car before flying off. It was either the largest bat in the world or it was Natkaal letting us know he marked our location. It creeped me out.
I unbuttoned my gabardine and willed the Cluster into my palm. Their legs needled into my skin.
“Find a way into the house,” I said. "Find the trio of wolf shifters. Stay locked on them and report everything they do."
I opened the car door slightly and let down my hand. The spiders hopped onto the concrete and skittered off toward the house.
I shut the car door, slanted my seat back, and closed my eyes.
"Keep a good lookout,” I said.
"Want a taco?" Bo asked.
I swatted in decline. “That’s the last thing I need.”
"It might suck up some of that poison," Bo said.
“I’ll tough it out," I said.
“Too bad,” Bo said. “You could definitely use a taco.”
I settled into the seat and waited for the Cluster to work its magic.