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The unicorn was still in the garage in the morning, but the wrecked, grey 4Runner was gone. Jerome and I stood with the garage door open and stared at the unicorn. Why hadn’t it disappeared? Why did it still prance around, and what the hell were we going to do with it?
“Oops,” Jerome said after we’d both been silent for a while.
“Oops?” I asked, turning to look at him.
“I think something went wrong.”
“Well, this morning I think you should take the thing for a walk or ride or whatever you think would be best and I’ll figure out if we can get a stable or something for it, and food, it’s gonna need food. What do unicorns eat?”
“Hopefully, the same thing horses eat.”
“What do horses eat?” I asked.
“Apples, carrots,” Jerome shrugged. “I grew up in the city, I’ve never owned a horse. Seems like it would take a lot of apples and carrots to get one full, though.”
“Maybe they eat hay?” I asked, digging for my phone. Jerome beat me to it. He pulled out his phone and pressed the button.
“Siri, what do horses eat?”
“Please consult your veterinarian on proper pet diet,” was Siri’s response. I wanted to tell Siri I didn’t have a vet for a horse, because I didn’t own a fucking horse and that we were in search of emergency rations for a unicorn so she should get with the program. But I knew from experience she wouldn’t get my irritation, or if she did, she’d end up giving the number for local massage therapists and psychiatrists.
“Siri, I need phone numbers for all large animal vets with Sunday hours,” Jerome said next. Siri gave him the telephone numbers and addresses for four vets, which was four more than I had expected.
“Fantastic,” I commented as I dialed the first number. After the third ring, a tired sounding woman answered.
“Hello,” she said.
“Um, hi, I may have the wrong number, I’m trying to contact Dr. Hawes’s Large Animal Clinic,” I said.
“Oh, yes, sorry, this is the emergency number. I can take a message and have the vet call you back if you want.”
“Um, sure, maybe, I’m not sure it’s an emergency, but . . . .” I stammered out, a little flustered.
“Well, why don’t you tell me the problem and I’ll prioritize the call as need be,” she offered.
“Okay, well, my son is a wizard, he’s doing a final project that involves an imagination potion, anyway, he tested it last night and for the last ten hours we’ve had a unicorn in our garage, and I don’t know anything about unicorns or horses. Like what should I feed her? Is she healthy? That kind of stuff.”
“Oh, um, well, yes, I can see where that would be tricky. Do you want to surrender the animal?” she asked.
“No, I think we can probably keep it at my parents’ house, but I’m going to need a crash course in taking care of a unicorn. We might only have her for another hour or for six months, I just can’t be sure with this potion. It was supposed to only last an hour.”
“What’s your name and address?”
“My name is Soleil Burns. My address is 682 East Rincor Court.”
“I’m sorry, is this a joke?” she asked, sounding suspicious.
“No, my name really is Soleil Burns,” I told her.
“Your parents named you Sun Burns??” she asked, still sounding suspicious.
“Yes, they named my sister Helia Burns, which is the exact same thing,” I said.
“Oh, my, you’re Raphael the Archangel’s daughter,” she said after a moment.
“Yes,” I said.
“I’ve met your father; he is a great man.”
“Thanks, what’s your name? I’ll tell him you said hi.”
“I daresay he won’t remember me, this was back in the 1940s, and he was speaking to help raise money for war bonds,” she said. “I was only about 12 at the time.”
“He might, he has an amazing memory,” I said, realizing this made the woman on the other end of the phone at least 80. She didn’t sound like she was 80. I thought about asking what type of supernatural being she was, but even in my own head I couldn’t figure out how to ask without sounding rude.
“Stephanie Cullum,” the woman said after a moment. “He came and spoke at my school in 1942, I was attending St. Gertrude’s School for Girls. We had a question-and-answer session with him after his speech, and I got to meet him there.”
That partially answered my question. St. Gertrude’s had been open a long, long time and it only took female students who were supernatural. It was meant to teach life skills—cooking, hunting, gardening, mending clothing, and other economical ways to live a very long life. It had also begun teaching diversity long before any other school—it took all flavors of magic. It focused less on magic than the other schools, but girls still got an education regarding their gift. I knew one of Bill’s more wayward daughters was attending there.
“I’ll mention it to him,” I said, and we hung up with the promise that the doctor would arrive in the next two hours. Fortunately, we had four hours before Jerome and I had to be gone. Our energy interfered with the coven’s magical healing work. Most Sundays we hung out at my parent’s house or we went out. It was baseball season and I was slowly turning Jerome into a Cardinals fan, despite his having spent his short life as a Cubs fan.
My Uncle Azrael was a season ticket holder and occasionally set up a private suite. He did this for big rivalry games and invited the brothers and some of the cousins who enjoyed the sport, including Jerome and myself. He would splurge for catering as well; it was always a good time. This was how Jerome was getting to know my extended family and vice versa. When Valerie felt strong enough, she attended with us.
There was a game at two this afternoon. It was against the Astros, and Azrael had a box. Jerome and I had tickets and were planning to meet with my father and one of Samael’s children. While a number of my cousins were full angels, none were archangels like our fathers. Archangels have a wider variety of powers and are stronger, although most of us weren’t exactly slouches in the magic department.
“Holy crap,” Valerie, Jerome’s mom, said as she walked into the garage. We had the door open and the unicorn was lying on a blanket that Jerome had magicked up for her.
“We have a vet coming to look her over,” I said quickly.
“Where did you get a unicorn?” she asked, her eyes wide.
“Jerome’s imagination. At the moment, it seems when I use the imagination potion things disappear like they’re supposed to, but the same isn’t true of Jerome. Or at least not this time.”
“Moments like this I wish his dad was still around to guide him,” she said, sounding nostalgic.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’ll call his counselor tomorrow and see if he has any insight.”
“Tomorrow, so today really is Sunday,” Valerie said.
“Yes,” I answered.
“I thought maybe I had my days mixed up, well that doesn’t really make sense then,” she said and pointed out into the space beyond the garage door. I followed her gaze but saw nothing in the driveway that seemed out of place.
“What doesn’t?” I asked.
“I was awakened this morning by a delivery truck. I looked out the window and saw a delivery truck pull up and a driver get out. When he drove off, I noticed there was a package on Bill’s porch and it’s still there,” she said. I shifted from looking at my own driveway to looking toward Bill and Camilla’s house. There was indeed a large box in front of their door. It appeared to have multiple labels on it.
“Huh. Even weirder that it hasn’t been picked up yet,” I said, starting in that direction. Bill and Camilla were werewolves. Last night had not been a full moon, they wouldn’t have been out late, and they weren’t the type to sleep in. I walked over, with Valerie and Jerome right behind me.
I knocked several times and heard noise from inside, but it didn’t sound like the raucous children noises I was used to. I knocked even louder. As my fist hit it a third time, the door popped open. There was no one on the other side, and I looked at Jerome. He shrugged at me.
“Stay here,” I said.
“I opened the door,” he protested.
“No, you didn’t.”
“You really think Bill leaves his door unlocked when he goes to bed? We might live in a nice neighborhood, but we still live in a city!”
“You’re also a teenager and I don’t want to risk scarring you for life if they’ve all died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” I said.
“They can’t die of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Jerome snipped. I took a step inside.
“Bill! Camilla!” I shouted. There was groaning and a weak cry from upstairs. My feet were moving before my brain had fully engaged. Most of the family was still in bed. Bill was groaning on the floor in the upstairs hallway.
“Soleil, help,” Bill wheezed. “Silver.”
“Jerome, call an ambulance!” I shouted down the stairs. “Then come here, I might need you after all! And get Lyzette!” Lyzette was a centuries-old vampire, but vampires and werewolves were all allergic to silver. Jerome as a wizard and me as a half-angel were not. Lyzette would be able to find the source of the silver.
“I’ll get her!” Valerie shouted up to me. Lyzette was old enough and powerful enough that a little silver exposure wouldn’t cause her too much pain or complications.
“I called them, what’s wrong?” Jerome said, appearing at my side.
“He said silver,” I answered.
“Okay,” Jerome put his hands-on Bill and within a few minutes, Bill was starting to look a little more like himself. Jerome was growing pale, though.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop,” I told him.
“I’m just removing the silver from his blood. It will make me look silver, but it won’t make me sick.”
“The kids,” Bill wheezed out, coughing a little.
“On it,” Jerome said, jumping up and running for the first bedroom.
“Jerome, be careful and don’t do too much,” I told him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered back, and then disappeared.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked.
“I got up to get the door and collapsed. It felt like I was encased in silver,” Bill said, rubbing his arm lightly. I noticed little burn marks covered the skin.
“Holy fuck!” I heard Lyzette yell downstairs. “Sorry, Bill!” she yelled up a moment later.
“Where is it?” I yelled down.
“Everywhere! It’s in the air!”
“That’s impossible,” I said. “Silver is a solid at room temperature.”
“We had a glitter bomb yesterday,” Bill said. “After it went off, the girls started to complain. I ordered an air purifier yesterday to be delivered this morning. I was going to run it and open all the windows to get the extra glitter out of the air.”
I didn’t tell Bill that was all well and good, but a glitter bomb wouldn’t aerosol silver particles into the air. Especially not enough to cause five werewolves to pass out and a really old vampire to not be able to enter the house.
Jerome returned to the hallway. The irises of his eyes, his lips, and his fingernail beds were all silver. He nodded to me and walked outside. I heard him throw up. Bill got to his feet.
“No, no, we have help coming.”
“Get out of the house,” Bill said. “We all need to get out!” I helped Bill stand and then went and got Camilla and the five kids. Once outside, Bill threw himself into the grass and took great big breaths that we could all hear. Camilla and the kids did the same.
“It’s heavy in the air,” Lyzette said. “They won’t be able to come back here until it’s been thoroughly cleaned.”
Jerome was also lying in the grass. His irises and lips had returned to normal and there was a puddle of silver near the porch. He looked at me and Valerie.
“While I applaud your bravery and willingness to help, I am not a fan of your method or lack of self-restraint,” I told him gently, taking a spot next to him on the grass. We could hear sirens now. Lyzette had tiny burns on her face and arms. She was standing with us.
“The air vents,” Lyzette said. “That’s the only way it could get pumped into the entire house like that.” Bill and his family used their fan setting on the air conditioning system often and I thought about how hot it had been yesterday. I’d seen their doors and windows open, so I was betting the fan system had been on.
“Who would do this to Bill and his family?” I asked. Everyone shrugged. It wasn’t an accident and it wasn’t a glitter bomb. I dug my cell phone out of my pocket. I was currently working with a witch that was also a private investigator and a consultant with the St. Louis Police Department. I hit speed dial and called her.
“Soleil, this is kind of an early call for you, especially on a Sunday morning.”
“Yep, my neighbors, Bill and Camilla, were attacked at some point recently, I found them this morning. Can you come to my house?”
“On my way,” she said and hung up on me. Janet and I were working together because while she was very good at lots of magical things, she fell to pieces when it came to demonic possession. It was her sister’s coven handling Valerie’s healing sessions. Bill and the family were loaded into the ambulance and taken away. The rest of the neighborhood joined us on their lawn.
“I just can’t believe this,” Lacy, one of our neighbors from up the road, said. We all seemed to feel that way, and after a little while, people began to wander back to their homes. Janet showed up a few minutes later, along with her sister’s coven. Janet and I entered the house, while Lyzette stood at the front door.
“There is a lot of silver here,” Janet said. “It’s getting thicker.” Her eyes turned silver.
“Jerome turned silver earlier,” I told her. “But by taking it from their bodies.”
“We need to find the source and remove it and we’ll need to scrub the house from top to bottom,” she said.
“Lyzette said it had to come from the air vents,” I told her.
“Oh, that’s bad.” Janet dug out her cell phone and placed a call. From the sound of it, it was a cop on the other end.
It took about ten minutes for three patrol cars to pull up with their lights and sirens going. Janet ushered me back out onto the porch. A detective followed.
“They survived?” he asked.
“Yes,” Janet answered.
“The crime scene crew is on the way. You guys haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary?” I shook my head.
“No, it’s been quiet all week,” Lyzette said. There are four houses in the cul-de-sac, mine, Lyzette’s, Bill’s, and one that has been vacant for about four months. The previous owners had been an elemental and his wife. They moved out after Jerome accidentally created a river through all our back yards. After that incident, we learned they refused to live next door to a witch or wizard, especially a teenaged one. Someone, we don’t know who, had bought the house but hadn’t moved in.
“We get traffic from people turning around back here, but otherwise, it’s fairly quiet,” I said. “There’s a spell on the cul-de-sac; you can’t drive a car back here if you have evil intentions.”
“What happens if you try?” the detective asked.
“Your car bursts into flames,” Jerome said. “It’s happened once. A burglar crew tried to case houses back here. Every time they attempted to drive through, the car burned up and had to be towed away. Eventually, the police figured out what was going on when the same four guys kept having the same issue.”
“Your work?” the detective asked Jerome.
“No, mine,” Janet said. “Jerome and Valerie moved here from Chicago because Jerome is a very powerful wizard, and those that would do evil would like to take control of him while he’s still impressionable. An evil coven has already killed his father and cursed his mother, so I installed the spell for his protection. But it works to protect everyone. If someone was coming back here to hurt Bill and Camilla or their family, they didn’t come via the cul-de-sac. It will set people on fire, too, if they walk back here.”
“We all gave our permission for the spell to be put into place,” Lyzette said quickly.
“Having archangels hang around has kept it fairly safe, but this just seemed like an added benefit.”
“My coven is willing to do the cleanup,” Janet said after the detective nodded.
“As is mine,” Penelope said, getting out of her car. We hadn’t even noticed her pulling up. She and Janet looked like twins but weren’t. They were separated in age by 13 months. You couldn’t tell by looking which one was older.
“Miss Pattack,” the Detective said to Penelope.
“We refresh my sister’s spell twice a month,” Penelope said. “She’s right, if someone planted silver in that house, they didn’t come via the cul-de-sac.”