Wingless (The Lia Hunter Chronicles #1)

I was making my way back through the maze of the Witches Cauldron when I heard it. A low keening moan that instantly had me on alert. Stopping, I quickly plucked my gun from where it was hidden underneath my skirt. Cautiously, I scanned the shadowy passages around me but I spied no other signs of movement. Tightening my grip on my gun I took a measure of comfort from the cool metal. Convinced I was just being paranoid, I began to put away the gun when the sound came again, more urgent this time. Instantly I was off, marching through the dark alleyways, following the sound. It came again and I picked up the pace, my boots splashing in puddles of mysterious liquids that made me put soaking my boots in bleach at the top of my chore list.

I was nearing the source of the noise when the smell hit me. Rotting flesh. My nostrils burned and tears welled, running down my face. I choked around the foul scent, quickly clamping a hand over my nose in the hope of blocking out the smell. Unfortunately, it seemed to be branded into my olfactory senses. Stumbling around the corner, I quickly took stock of the scene in front of me. A young man, clutching a knife was crouched over a gray blob that resembled a misshapen lump of bread. At my appearance, he looked up and I saw the matching tears on his cheeks. He snarled at me, brandishing the knife the effect of which was ruined however as he started coughing uncontrollably.

Glancing down at the gray blob, I slowly made out a stubbly hand and the resemblance of a face amongst the folds of gray flesh. The strange appearance combined with the pungent odor could only mean one thing: a Nuppeppō. A Japanese goblin, it was a genderless passive creature whose flesh when consumed was rumored to grant the eater eternal youth. I’d never come across one before and judging by the smell I was lucky I hadn’t. It wiggled placidly on the ground like a turtle stuck on its back, moaning loudly.

Raising my gun I pointed it at the young man.

“Drop the knife.” I choked out.

He stopped coughing long enough to snarl in reply, “Go away bitch, I found it first!”

Yeah because I had a real taste for things that smelled like a combination of rotting flesh and decaying fruit.

Reaching into the neckline of my dress I pulled out the badge that hung around my neck and showed it to him.

“BoM asshole, drop the knife.”

Panic and anger flashed across his face and he dropped the knife with a scowl. His eyes flashed yellow with magic and he vanished in a puff of smoke.

A teleporter, great. A common enough gift but typically teleporters needed to be able to see where they teleported to and since he was definitely no longer in the alleyway he was obviously a strong one.

Scanning the alleyway for more threats, I slowly approached the Nuppeppō. I continued to wriggle around on the ground, arms and legs waving around. I crouched down in front of it, tucking away my gun.

“Alright little guy, let’s get you sorted,” I whispered hoarsely, the smell was even worse this close up.

Fresh tears welled up, as I reached out and grabbed its pudgy arms, hauling it to its feet. It swayed before settling steadily on its stumpy feet. Bending backward slightly it stared at me, blinking a few times before a terrifying lopsided smile creased its face.

“Nguhhhh.” It moaned happily.

Smiling, I gave it a quick pat on the head, “You’re welcome. Now you better get going before some other person decides they want to take a bite out of you.”

Pushing to my feet, I gave it another pat on the head as it started up at me blankly.

“Go on now.” I gave it a little push, taking a step back.

It blinked a few times before moaning once more and taking a step towards me, closing the distance between us.

“No, no, no.”

I backed away a few more steps and after a few seconds, it waddled towards me, stopping at my feet, dopey smile in place. Sighing, I crouched down in front of it, leveling it with a hard stare.

“Look, this is not happening. You can’t come with me.”

Blink. Blink. Smile.

“No, no smiling. You have to go.”

“Gurggggg.”

“No, I don’t have the time or the ability to look after you and no offense but you really stink.”

Raising one gray lumpy hand it touched my cheek, its flesh was cold against mine. Its smile stretched further and I sighed.

How did I get myself into these things?

“Fine. You can come with me to the station and we’ll figure out things from there.”

“Nuurhgh.” It gurgled patting my cheek and I had a feeling I’d just gotten played.

Scowling I pushed to my feet and strolled down the alleyway, the sound of its clomping footsteps reassuring me it was close behind.

What the hell was I supposed to do with a Nuppeppō?

The breeze carried its scent to me and I gagged. First things first, I needed to find a way to contain that smell and fast. Thankfully I had an idea.

The drive to HQ was an exercise in torture. Even with all the windows down and the AC blasting at full the goblins smell was suffocating. The happy look on its face as it toyed with the seatbelt strapped around it made the experience bearable. By the time I pulled into my parking space, I was getting lightheaded from the repeated holding of my breath. Together we got out of the car, strolling to the elevator. Pushing the button, I waited for the car to descend when I saw Wendy from HR making her way to us from across the parking lot.

“You might want to wait,” I called out.

A frown creased her forehead as she continued in our direction. I knew the moment the scent hit her. Her eyes popped, mouth swung wide before her features scrunched up in disgust. Not missing a beat she turned on her heel and headed for the stairs instead. Smart lady.

The elevator arrived and soon the Nuppeppō and I were walking through HQ. People smelled us running and quickly backed away, some even running in their desperation. We coasted into the bullpen and it took only seconds for people to notice, their reactions loudly shouted for all to hear.

“Jesus.”

“What is that smell?”

“Quick, someone open a window before we all die.”

I rolled my eyes. Drama queens.

A figure cautiously approached. It was Tom, dressed in his usual leather pants and black turtleneck, Hydro silver hair slicked back from his elegant face. He had smooth cheeks that didn’t have a trace of facial hair, a delicate arch of a nose, and eyes the color of a clear summer sky. He was a handsome guy but too fresh-faced and clean for my tastes.

Tom flashed me a bemused look before his mouth puckered like he’d tasted something sour.

“A Nuppeppō? What mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Hunter?” He asked, his usually smooth voice a nasal whine as he clutched at his nose.

“Ah, just the man I was looking for. I need a favor.”

He glanced down at the Nuppeppō who was staring at him with avid curiosity. He met my gaze once more, cocking one silver brow.

“I can’t wait to hear how this happened. What do you need?”

“I was hoping you could make a charm that’ll suppress the smell?”

He brushed aside a few tears wheezing out, “It’ll take one hell of a strong charm to repress all that.”

“That’s why I decided to come to the best.” I wasn’t above a little flattery.

“Please, last week you compared my charm work to and I quote ‘a hack peddling in cheap tricks desperately trying to sell them in order to make enough money for this month’s rent’.

“You turned my skin blue!”

“It was more of an aqua shade I believe.”

“Come on Tom I’m desperate.”

“Fine. But I expect full repayment.”

“What do you want?” I asked nervously.

His eyes glittered evilly, “You know what I want.”

Sighing in defeat, I walked to the nearby desk and quickly scribbled some numbers on a sticky note. Folding it in half, I held it out to Tom.

“Tess’s private number,” He reached out to grab the piece of paper and I quickly pulled it out of reach giving him a hard stare, “you did not get this from me, got it?”

“Would I throw you under the bus like that?” He batted his eye innocently and I rolled mine, letting him take the paper from my fingertips.

He reverently opened the paper, smiling softly at the number before tucking it safely into his pocket. I couldn’t help the soft smile that curved my lips. Repaying this favor was certainly no hardship, besides I was going to lose that bet if their relationship didn’t start heating up soon.

“Come on, let’s go get that charm.”

Tom walked to his desk, sliding open his drawer to reveal a huge collection of empty charms. Digging through the pile he plucked out a necklace with a metal necklace with a single circular charm dangling off it. Carved into the circle were a number of glyphs just waiting for Tom to channel his magic into and grant them power. Tom placed the charm in his open palm, eyes lighting up a vivid blue as he began to use his magic.

Charm work had never been my strong suit, it required the caster to carefully channel their magic into the container without overwhelming and destroying it or using too little and having the charm not work. There was also a different way of weaving the magic depending on what sort of charm you were creating. There were hundreds of different charms possible to create and any Charmer worth their salt knew all of them off by heart. While I could make a half decent protection charm in a pinch I was nowhere near Tom’s level of expertise. Despite my mockery, I knew he was one of the best Charmers in the city.

The charm in Tom’s hand lit up the same brilliant blue as his eyes, and below me the Nuppeppō let out an excited gurgle, eyes riveted as the blue light began to slowly fade. Tom blinked a couple of times as his eyes flicked back to their usual blue. Turning to me he smiled and held out the charm.

“This should do the trick.”

Plucking the still hot charm from his hand I kneeled down and faced the Nuppeppō. His focus was stuck on the charm, as I carefully placed the necklace over his head and settled it on his body. Almost immediately the smell was gone. Taking a deep breath, my lungs filled with clean, fresh smelling air and I sighed happily.

“Tom you are a genius.”

He grinned, “Remember that the next time I turn your skin blue yeah?”

The Nuppeppō played picked up the charm studying it closely before smiling widely.

“Buuuglr.” It said happily.

“Looks like it approves as well.” Tom said wryly, “What’s its name?”

Frowning I looked at the happy creature as it chewed on the edge of the charm.

“I don’t know. I’m not even sure it has one.”

We both stared at it for a moment before Tom piped up, “Looks like a Stan to me.”

I shot him an incredulous look, “What kind of Stan’s have you been hanging out with?”

He laughed, shrugging his shoulders in a non-answer. Tilting my head I looked back to the goblin.

“How do you like the name, Stan?” I asked.

Its smile grew wider and it let out another loud moan.

“I think that means it approves,” Tom said.

“Alright then, welcome to the PeaceKeeper family Stan.”

Stan blinked at us, then proceeded to waddle over to my desk, crawl underneath it and fall asleep.

“I guess you have a new partner, good luck breaking the news to Tess!” Tom crowed.

“Don’t make me take back that number.”

Tom simply walked away, his laughter carrying loudly across the bullpen.

Smug bastard.