Hexed

take a bite of it you should feel pretty fucking good, if reports are to be believed. «
    Laksha laughed. » All right. You have proven to be as good as your word in the past. Twelve dead Bacchants tonight in exchange for one of Idunn’s golden apples before New Year’s Day. «
    We shook hands on it while Granuaile shook her head in wonder. » I’ve listened in on some pretty weird conversations while tending bar, « she said, » but I think this is the weirdest shit I’ve ever heard. «

Chapter 12
    People who don’t live in Scottsdale like to sneer derisively and call it » Snotsdale. « People who do live there tend to call everyone else » jealous. « Both groups have a point.
    Scottsdale has more plastic surgeons per capita than anywhere except for Beverly Hills; some high school kids get procedures from their parents as graduation presents. Its wide residential streets of custom homes compete with one another to be featured in architectural and design magazines, and the sleek luxury autos in the garages are testosterone boosters for middle-aged men taking once-a-day Cialis to please their sleek luxury girlfriends. It’s a resort town with much of its real estate occupied by golf courses and egos.
    Many of the young and beautiful egos habitually crammed themselves into Satyrn, one of the city’s hotter nightclubs. They would be dressed expensively, scented with something French, scrubbed and primped and teased and pushed-up and bedecked in just the right amount of bling. They were the sons and daughters of affluence, accustomed to excess and looking for more of it—in other words, excellent prey for the Bacchants.
    After sending Granuaile home, Laksha and I took a taxi to a Target so that I could buy a couple of wooden baseball bats. The cashier almost cringed as she rang them up, keeping her eyes down and casting only furtive glances at me. She was probably doubting my emotional stability, since I had a sword strapped to my back and I was buying sporting goods at night. Store security belatedly realized I was carrying a weapon around their place of business, so as the cashier held out my receipt in a trembling hand, they showed up and escorted me to the exit from the register. I smiled at them and thanked them for their courtesy, so they wouldn’t call the police and complicate the rest of the night.
    The taxi driver decided we were a pretty odd couple and kept asking us questions. We told him we were martial arts experts in town for a convention, and he bought it. Said he was going to be a ninja once, but things didn’t work out the way he planned. We had him drop us off on the far side of the parking lot, as far as possible from the entrance flanked by a velvet rope. There was no bouncer at the door—an ominous sign. A techno dance mix pulsed into the night, promising dark blue lighting and gyrating bodies inside.
    » You know they ain’t gonna let you inside with those things, right? « the taxi driver said as I got out and paid him.
    » I think it might be anything goes in there right about now, « I replied. » Thanks for the ride. Keep safe. «
    As he drove away and I coughed a couple of times from the exhaust, Laksha lifted an arm toward the entrance and said, » Shall we go take a look? «
    » You don’t need to say any special incantations or sacrifice a stray cat or something first? «
    » No. « She smirked at me and began to walk toward the club.
    I followed her and spoke to her back. » Come on. No circles or pentagrams or candles or anything? « I knew Laksha felt confident about her ability to resist the Bacchants’ magic, but I didn’t know how she was protecting herself. Could her ruby necklace have all the defensive power of my amulet and more? I thought she’d need to prepare a ward of some kind, at least. For my part, there was no other defense than my amulet and a grim determination to think about baseball; otherwise, I might well fall into their frenzy.
    » Sorry, « she said over her shoulder.
    » Wait just a second, « I said as we arrived at the door. » I’m not sure I should go in. I could be vulnerable to their magic. «
    Laksha turned and regarded me with a curious expression. » Cannot you control your body? «
    » To some extent, yes. Is that your defense against them? Controlling your body? «
    » Precisely. I have utter control over this body’s nervous system. In a sense I am outside of it; the input will arrive—these things called hormones and pheromones I