Saffron Wilds by Kai Butler

CHAPTER ONE

The back door creaked.

I winced. Not even all my charisma had been able to grease the hinges that were practically rusted together. Before stepping inside, I paused, waiting to see if anyone was going to come investigate. The house remained still and silent.

The exterior was covered in chipped paint, the wide front porch canopied by a crooked roof, the broken tiles like a boxer’s missing front teeth. I had counted three cracked windows, the aluminum framing so old that when I had tried to open them, they hadn’t budged. Which had led me to the back door. Layers of paint had practically glued it shut, but with some coaxing, it had opened, revealing the dark interior of Vaughn’s house.

Frankie Vaughn hadn’t invested in an expensive security system. He hadn’t even invested in cheap wards that would let him know if someone broke a window or picked the lock. Still, the silence inside unnerved me because Frankie Vaughn owned some very illegal things, and in my experience, people who owned illegal things didn’t like other people sniffing around their business.

They certainly didn’t like people breaking into their houses to look around.

I puffed out a sharp breath, reaching for the surrounding air. It vibrated back, and I didn’t feel anyone human sized moving. There was a massive space somewhere above us. The attic, maybe? I couldn’t sense anything from it. Hopefully, it was just empty.

Cautiously, I stepped inside, testing each floorboard before I put any weight on it.

The interior wasn’t any better than the exterior. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw faded wallpaper and wooden baseboards warped and pulling away from the wall.

The floor seemed solid, even though it creaked with every step. Gaining more confidence it wouldn’t collapse on me, I got a layout of the house.

The back door had opened into a narrow kitchen, chipped plates stacked high in the sink and lazy fruit flies circling some leftovers still sitting out. The refrigerator clicked on, the geriatric hum the only sound I heard.

At the door to the kitchen, I looked out and saw a living area with a single easy chair in front of a TV on the ground. There was a dining table, and the worn, orange-colored wood was covered in scratches and what looked like the carved artwork of a bored seventh grader.

I didn’t see any dining chairs. The stack of bowls next to the easy chair said that Vaughn ate in front of the TV every night.

On the side of the room, someone had pulled down a ladder that led to the attic. I hesitated but decided to finish investigating the ground floor before checking out what Vaughn had up there. A narrow hallway led to a pair of bedrooms and a small bathroom.

One of the bedrooms only had a thin mattress on the floor, a pile of clothes in the corner, and a different pile in a laundry basket. I crept down the hallway, wincing at the groan of a floorboard. Putting my hand on the second bedroom door, I hesitated. It was the only door in the house that had been shut so far.

Breathing in and out, I coaxed the surrounding air into a hardened shell, thick enough that even a bullet would be slowed by it. When I was ready, I opened the door.

Bright fluorescent white light spilled out. I winced away, blinking rapidly as my eyes adjusted.

The rest of the house was a mess. This room was a horror show.

The walls were lined with cages on racks that set them two and three rows deep. Inside each cage were animals, familiars. It should have been a cacophony of noise, but this was where Vaughn had spent all the money he hadn’t on a home security system.

Every cage flashed bright green with noise reduction spells. Most of the cages were too small for the animals they housed. A cat that clearly needed an entire room to herself, complete with a monogrammed pillow and expensive cat food, was crammed into a cage she couldn’t turn around in.

A boa constrictor shared a terrarium with a tired looking iguana, the snake’s scales shredded by the iguana’s overgrown claws. Horrified, I stepped into the room.

One of the bigger cages was taken up by a white Labrador and six puppies. When she looked up at me, I saw the intelligence in her eyes.

I had known Vaughn was dealing in illegal familiars, ones that were stolen or that no one was licensed to have. I hadn’t realized he was doing…this.

I took out my cell phone immediately.

The line rang once before Nick picked up. “Is it lunchtime already?”

“Remember that lead I was checking out?” I said. I stepped closer to one of the cages, squinting at the alchemy circle inscribed on it. Inside, five miserable hamsters blinked up at me, their noses wiggling.

“The illegal breeder,” Nick said.

“Yeah. This is way beyond that. Whatever he’s doing here…” I looked around the room. “What if someone called the cops because someone had broken into his house?”

“Just to be clear, the someone who broke into his house is you?” I heard movement on Nick’s side of the phone, and he addressed Captain Tate.

“Can I plead the fifth?” I could barely see the cages in the back, but whatever was going on here was clearly illegal.

“Hang on, Parker. I’m putting you on speakerphone.” There was a muffled shuffling sound.

“Ferro?” Captain Tate said. “What are you looking at?”

“Animal abuse. Illegal breeding of familiars.” I described the scene, the cages packed together, the animals unable to move and likely not getting any visits from a reputable veterinarian.

“And they’re familiars?” Tate said.

I crouched down in front of the Lab, and her intelligent eyes caught me again. Shifting my gaze just slightly, I felt the glow of magic coming off her. “Most definitely.”

Tate swore. “Well, you better have a good lawyer if we’re arresting you for trespassing. We’ll gear up and be there in a few minutes.”

There was some more shuffling, and Nick came back on the line.

“You know, if you wanted to get out of the wedding cake tasting this badly, you could have just said.” I heard some more shuffling and muffled conversation on the other end of the line.

“Was it today? I thought you said that was tomorrow.” I leaned forward, tapping my finger against the Lab’s cage. Murmuring, I said, “Don’t worry, we’re getting you out soon.”

“Check your texts. I rescheduled it for today because you said you weren’t doing anything today.” Nick’s voice was wry, and I could practically see the quirk at the corner of his lips.

“Yeah, well, I guess we were both wrong about that. I did make a decision about the colors.” Tearing my eyes away from the dog, I began searching the cages for any hint of an orange tabby. Ostensibly, he was the reason I was there.

Three months ago, my client had sent me in search of him. Nine times out of ten, a missing familiar was still in the area, or it had been claimed by some rival witch. I had searched. I even paid Runt in very expensive steaks, and both of us had come up with nothing.

My client, an elderly garden witch, had no real enemies. In fact, everyone I talked to in her coven had been practically in tears themselves over somebody stealing from her.

I thought I saw a hint of orange in the back and leaned forward.

“Well? Don’t leave me in suspense. Green and purple or blue and silver?”

I laughed because Nick might play at a lack of enthusiasm, but there was some eagerness in his tone.

“Blue and silver. I think I still have my junior prom suit around somewhere, and our theme was A Night under the Stars.” I tapped at the cage I was looking at, and a small orange paw lifted itself up, pressing against my finger at the top of the cage.

I frowned. The paw was too small. This was a kitten, not an aged familiar. The cat I was looking for was so large and spoiled that I hadn’t been sure how he even got off his cat bed, much less helped with spellwork.

“I already have a reservation with a tailor. You aren’t seriously thinking about wearing a tux from high school, are you?” I heard the sound of a door slamming, and then Nick was talking to Zahide in the background.

“Oh, it’s better than a tux. The lapels have this glitter glued on them. And the bow tie has rhinestones on it.” Marco had bought it, and there were photos.

In front of me, the Lab was pawing at her cage, her face scrunched unhappily. Even though I couldn’t hear her because of the spellwork, I felt my entire heart clench. Nothing should be forced to live like this.

Crouching down, I placed my hand against the cage. She put her paw against mine on the glass. She sat abruptly, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

Dehydration, I thought distantly, noting the empty bowl in her cage. She must need a lot of water with all her puppies drinking her dry.

“Okay. Let me just get you out of there.” I searched the spellwork on the front of the cage. There had to be a release mechanism somewhere. “Nick, if I was trying to stop a strange alchemy spell, where would I start?”

“You would not start anywhere. You are not touching any strange alchemy spellwork.” Nick’s voice was suddenly hard, all playfulness gone. “Listen to me. If you try to undo an alchemy spell, and you do it wrong, you could explode. Are you listening, Parker?”

“I’m listening,” I said.

“We’re only a few minutes away. Whatever it is, it can wait. You need to get out of the house anyway. If we find you inside, the SAPD will have to arrest you.”

I grunted in agreement. The latch on the cage didn’t seem attached to the spell at all. “I wonder if I can just open it.”

“Parker, do not—”

I twisted the latch, tugging open the cage.

Lights began flashing around the house, panicking the animals in the cages. An alarm so loud it rivaled a heavy-metal concert began blasting. It vibrated my bones, echoing in the fillings of my teeth.

The Lab cowered back, her eyes wide, her puppies tucked behind her.

“Okay. Bad plan. I’ll call you back, Nick.” I hung up, unable to hear his response over the shrieking noise.

Uncertainly, I glanced down at the dog, frowning as I tried to decide what to do with her. She inched closer, her nose twitching before she leaned forward, snuffling at my hand.

“Sorry, girl, I can’t have another pet.” I scratched the back of her ears with one hand, my other reaching into my satchel and fumbling out a handful of leaves.

The smart move would be to blockade myself in the room and wait for the SAPD to arrive, guns blazing. Something about it didn’t feel right, though. And not just because it would be trapping me in a small, enclosed space without an escape route.

“What does the alarm do?” I asked.

I was answered by a thundering voice that was straight out of Jack and the Beanstalk. “Who is in my house?”

Wincing, I tossed the leaves at the door, urging them to grow strong and thick. Vines sprung to life, drinking my magic as they covered the door and the wall.

I relaxed. I could handle this, digging in and waiting for Nick to show up. Then a bear broke through the door, ripping the vines loose.

I yelped and let out a high-pitched scream. The white Lab who had been moving closer to me retreated back into her cage.

“Do you think you can steal from me? You have another thing coming.” The voice echoed through the house, amplified by magic.

Tossing his head back and forth, the bear sniffed the air. His milky white eyes were unfocused. He was blind.

Dragging my fingers through the air, I wrapped myself in the scent of the Labrador and her puppies. There is no human here. No broken chair or empty bowl of porridge. Just the other familiars.

The bear roared, spittle dripping from his jaws. Even packed with cages, the room had seemed big when I’d first entered it, but with something as enormous as this animal in the doorway, it suddenly felt incredibly small.

New plan. I was going to take myself out of the house and wait outside for the cavalry to show up like a good PI.

Next to me, I began drawing my fingers up through the air, tugging on reality as I did so. When I take a step to my left, I coaxed it, I will be back on the porch. The rickety porch with missing boards and dry rot on every surface.

I could smell the clean outdoor air, and I leaned to my left, knowing I was going to have to make the leap quickly or the bear would hear the sound of my feet moving.

The Lab whined, and I glanced down. Maybe I could take her with me?

I didn’t have enough time. Just as I made the decision, the bear turned, and I couldn’t help the muffled, horrified sound that came out of my throat.

Where the bear should have hind legs, furry and good for climbing trees, instead it had what looked like the back half of an enormous anaconda. Black scales and heavy muscle rippled toward me.

Before I could blink, I was wrapped up, and my head hit the ground. Blinking, I could only see stars, my entire vision fuzzy for a moment.

The tail wrapped tightly around me, binding me. Even with my hands free, I couldn’t grab hold of anything.

The white Lab leaned forward and caught my shirt in her teeth, tugging me back. But a weakened mama dog had nothing on the chimera that had hold of me. I was dragged through the doorway behind the bear.

My head slammed against the doorframe, and I yelped unhappily. Reaching out, I grabbed hold of a hall table, but the thing fell, and the chimera didn’t even stop moving. It dragged me into the living room.

I suddenly realized why there was no furniture there, why there was only an easy chair in front of the TV. Vaughn liked to eat next to his favorite nightmare creature. The chimera sat heavily next to the easy chair, tugging me up toward its stomach like a prized stuffed animal.

“Good girl,” someone said. Reaching out of the easy chair, he patted the bear happily, scratching at the back of its neck.

The anaconda coils wrapped around me eased slightly. At least I could breathe.

“Now,” Frankie Vaughn said. “I want you to tell me what you’re doing in my house before I let my pet eat you.”