Read Online Every Which Way But Dead by Kim Harrison - Free Book Online
Authors: Kim Harrison
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The worst thing was I didnât think he was dumping me. The man called demons into his linen closet, and he was afraid to touch me.
Last fall, I had been trying to bind a fish to me to satisfy some inane ley line class requirement and accidentally made Nick my familiar instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I was an earth witch, my magic coming from growing things and quickened by heat and my blood. I didnât know much about ley line magicâexcept I didnât like it. I generally only used it to close protective circles when I was stirring a particularly sensitive spell. And to make the Howlers pay what they owed me. And occasionally to fend off my roommate when she lost control of her blood lust. And I had used it to knock Piscary flat on his can so I could beat him into submission with the leg of a chair. It had been this last one that tipped Nick from hot-and-heavy, maybe-this-is-the-one boyfriend, to phone conversations and cold kisses on my cheek.
Starting to feel sorry for myself, I pulled my right leg down and swung the left one up.
Ley line magic was heady in its rush of strength and could drive a witch insane, making it no accident that there were more black ley line witches than black earth witches. Using a familiar made it safer since the power of a ley line was filtered through the simpler minds of animals instead of through plants as earth magic did. For obvious reasons, only animals were used as familiarsâat least on this side of the ley linesâand in truth, there were no witch-born spells to bind a human as a familiar. But being both fairly ignorant of ley line magic and rushed, I had used the first spell I found to bind a familiar.
So I had unknowingly made Nick my familiarâwhich we were trying to undoâbut then I made things immeasurably worse by pulling a huge amount of ley line energy through him to subdue Piscary. He had hardly touched me since. But that had been months ago. I hadnât done it again. He had to get over it. It wasnât as if I was practicing ley line magic. Much.
Uneasy, I straightened, blowing out my angst and doing a few side twists to send my ponytail bouncing. After having learned it was possible to set a circle without drawing it first, I had spent three months learning how, knowing it might be my only chance to escape Algaliarept. I had kept my practice to three in the morning, when I knew Nick was asleepâand I always drew directly off the line so it wouldnât go through Nick firstâbut maybe it was waking him up anyway. He hadnât said anything, but knowing Nick, he wouldnât.
The rattle of the gate opening brought me to a standstill and my shoulders slumped. The zoo was open, a few runners straggling out with red cheeks and exhausted, content expressions, still floating on a runnerâs high. Damn it. He could have called.
Bothered, I unzipped my belt pack and pulled out my cell phone. Leaning against the car and looking down to avoid the eyes of the passing people, I scrolled through my short list. Nickâs was second, right after Ivyâs number and right before my momâs. My fingers were cold, and I blew on them as the phone rang.
I took a breath when the connection clicked open, holding it when a recorded womanâs voice told me the line was no longer in service. Money? I thought. Maybe that was why we hadnât been out for three weeks. Concerned, I tried his cell phone.
It was still ringing when the familiar choking rumble of Nickâs truck grew loud. Exhaling, I snapped the cover closed. Nickâs blue, beat-up Ford truck jostled off the main street and into the parking lot, maneuvering slowly, as the cars leaving were ignoring the lines and cutting across the expanse. I slipped the phone away and stood with my arms over my chest, legs crossed at my ankles.
At least he showed, I thought as I adjusted my sunglasses and tried not to frown. Maybe we could go out for coffee or something. I
Last fall, I had been trying to bind a fish to me to satisfy some inane ley line class requirement and accidentally made Nick my familiar instead. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I was an earth witch, my magic coming from growing things and quickened by heat and my blood. I didnât know much about ley line magicâexcept I didnât like it. I generally only used it to close protective circles when I was stirring a particularly sensitive spell. And to make the Howlers pay what they owed me. And occasionally to fend off my roommate when she lost control of her blood lust. And I had used it to knock Piscary flat on his can so I could beat him into submission with the leg of a chair. It had been this last one that tipped Nick from hot-and-heavy, maybe-this-is-the-one boyfriend, to phone conversations and cold kisses on my cheek.
Starting to feel sorry for myself, I pulled my right leg down and swung the left one up.
Ley line magic was heady in its rush of strength and could drive a witch insane, making it no accident that there were more black ley line witches than black earth witches. Using a familiar made it safer since the power of a ley line was filtered through the simpler minds of animals instead of through plants as earth magic did. For obvious reasons, only animals were used as familiarsâat least on this side of the ley linesâand in truth, there were no witch-born spells to bind a human as a familiar. But being both fairly ignorant of ley line magic and rushed, I had used the first spell I found to bind a familiar.
So I had unknowingly made Nick my familiarâwhich we were trying to undoâbut then I made things immeasurably worse by pulling a huge amount of ley line energy through him to subdue Piscary. He had hardly touched me since. But that had been months ago. I hadnât done it again. He had to get over it. It wasnât as if I was practicing ley line magic. Much.
Uneasy, I straightened, blowing out my angst and doing a few side twists to send my ponytail bouncing. After having learned it was possible to set a circle without drawing it first, I had spent three months learning how, knowing it might be my only chance to escape Algaliarept. I had kept my practice to three in the morning, when I knew Nick was asleepâand I always drew directly off the line so it wouldnât go through Nick firstâbut maybe it was waking him up anyway. He hadnât said anything, but knowing Nick, he wouldnât.
The rattle of the gate opening brought me to a standstill and my shoulders slumped. The zoo was open, a few runners straggling out with red cheeks and exhausted, content expressions, still floating on a runnerâs high. Damn it. He could have called.
Bothered, I unzipped my belt pack and pulled out my cell phone. Leaning against the car and looking down to avoid the eyes of the passing people, I scrolled through my short list. Nickâs was second, right after Ivyâs number and right before my momâs. My fingers were cold, and I blew on them as the phone rang.
I took a breath when the connection clicked open, holding it when a recorded womanâs voice told me the line was no longer in service. Money? I thought. Maybe that was why we hadnât been out for three weeks. Concerned, I tried his cell phone.
It was still ringing when the familiar choking rumble of Nickâs truck grew loud. Exhaling, I snapped the cover closed. Nickâs blue, beat-up Ford truck jostled off the main street and into the parking lot, maneuvering slowly, as the cars leaving were ignoring the lines and cutting across the expanse. I slipped the phone away and stood with my arms over my chest, legs crossed at my ankles.
At least he showed, I thought as I adjusted my sunglasses and tried not to frown. Maybe we could go out for coffee or something. I
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