Blood, Magic & a Concubine: 3 Dark Urban Fantasy Tales

Blood, Magic & a Concubine

1.
All kinds of folks make their way to Underbelly. The downtrodden and the runaway, the freak, the monster and everything you hoped were just figments of your primitive ancestors' imaginations. Underbelly is a true melting pot, a place where all kinds can mix albeit often with violent outcomes. It's only a mile or so beneath your feet too. No, it's not Hell, not by a long shot. When you come to Underbelly, you better learn the rules and mind your nose. If you don't, you won't survive long.
Of course, some people bend the rules a bit and stick their nose where it doesn't belong. I suppose you could say I'm one of those. And I can tell you that it comes back to bite me in the ass more often than I like. Last year with Manny the Goon is a prime example. I should've done something to stop him back then, but I didn't.
You want to know what Manny did, don't you? Well, like most of the denizens of Underbelly, he got a craving for flesh. Some like to eat it and others like to wear it. Manny had different cravings.
It wasn’t quite a year ago that I saw him up Topside, where all the humans dwell. He was "canoodling" with a human woman named Sin. Seriously, that was her name, although I doubt her parents imparted that gem on her. I'm not a voyeur, so don't get any ideas. I was on a job, saw them together one night and followed them. It was purely out of professional curiosity. Honest.
I could see why Manny liked this one though. Curves you wouldn’t believe, smooth, pale, and warm blooded. Nice stuff if you're into that sort of thing. Humans I mean. I've been a bit of a dabbler from time to time. Hell, I'm human after all. I could understand Manny's desires. However, I knew enough not to make carousing with humans a habit. They had a tendency to be bad for your health.
The craziest thing about Sin was that she didn't seem to mind Manny's differences. Let me tell you, that guy had a lot of differences. He's not very bright for starters, but plenty of dumb guys get the ladies. His real differences came from what he was. He had scales and a paunch, and he was coldblooded, literally. I mean, he's a nice enough guy, but he's frigging reptilian.
The way I figured, enough money and a human would do any damn thing you want, even pretend to love you. Manny wasn't exactly rolling in the dough, so this chick must've actually dug him. That meant that she was probably a Fringer, those humans that know just a smattering of the strange reality that lurked around the shadows of humanity, the dark otherness that lived right beneath their feet. They want to experience the danger of death and damnation of the other world while remaining a Topsider that lives in the sunshine and eats omelets at Sunday brunch.
She certainly had the look of a Fringer about her. She had the dyed black hair streaked with powder blue, tattoos across most of her smooth flesh and pierced nipples you could see through her barely there white t-shirt. She had that wild look in her eyes too, the look that tells you she's seen some real bad shit.
There are loads of Fringers out there, and the Enforcers hate every damned one of them. They don't want the Fringers to stir up trouble for the folks in Underbelly. Of course, it is usually the residents of the world below that did most of the stirring. Trouble comes from all sides, and it really isn't fair of the Enforcers to blame the Topsiders for everything.
What Manny was doing, frolicking with a human, was sure to cause trouble. It wasn't as if he was killing anyone, but if the Enforcers caught him, they would skin his scaly ass and probably make a new pair of Goon-skin boots. He was breaking one of the laws: don't mess with the humans that live Topside unless it is an absolute necessity. Even then, try not to let the Enforcers know about it. They lived for their rules, the laws that had kept most humans ignorant of the existence of the other world for millennia. Getting one's rocks off didn't seem like a necessity, and mating between humans and monsters was against the laws of the Enforcers as well. If they caught Manny, it would be all over for the poor, stupid Goon.
Manny knew that I'd seen him and Sin, and he begged me not to say anything. I am many things, not all of them good and not all of them bad. One thing I'm not is a snitch. I let Manny be and told him I would keep his secret.
Less than a year after I saw him that night with Sin, Manny the Goon walked into my little office-slash-apartment on the corner of Killington and Arch sporting a stitched up gash across his face and one of his scaly arms in a sling. I figured the Enforcers had finally caught up with him.
I was wrong. It would have been so much easier if it were only Enforcers.

2.

"You got it wrong, Stone," Manny said. He leaned back on the faux leather sofa in my office. He winced as he spoke and the wound on his face threatened to open."I was gonna get everything done all legit like, gonna get her a card so she could come live down here with me. I got me a new place over on Campbell Street by the water. It's real nice."
"If you were going through the right channels and doing everything by the book, why are you in trouble now?" I asked. "You get a Black Card for your girl and the Enforcers won't to squat to you as long as she's spayed or you're neutered."
Manny sighed.
I doubted very much that Manny had saved up enough scratch to get Sin a Black Card, let alone enough money to afford a place near Glimmering Lake. Something stank, and it wasn't Manny the unwashed Goon.
"I told you it ain't the law that's on me," he said.
"Who else would give a shit that you got yourself an unregistered concubine?"
"She ain't a concubine. I love her," Manny said. The cut on his cheek started to bleed.
"Good for you," I said, not even trying to hide my sarcasm. "True love is so special. What I don't understand is how I figure into any of this. I kept your secret."
"You fix things, Johnny. I thought you could help me out," he said. He stared at the floor and avoided my eyes. He was hiding something.
"I fix things for people who have money to pay me," I said.
"You got magic and you make problems go away. Everyone knows you’re the best," Manny said. "And we're friends, ain't we?"
I liked Manny well enough, but I didn't know if I would go as far as to call him a friend. I did find myself getting curious about his problem. "Right, we're the best of pals," I mumbled. "Friends are straight with each other, right? So you'd better spill."
"Friends help each other out of jams too," Manny said. He brought his eyes up to meet mine now. He looked like a pathetic gecko. I almost pitied him.
"I can't help you if I don't know what your problem is."
"They got her," he said. "They took her. He said he wouldn't take her, but he lied to me. If I don't get her back tonight, he'll move her and I ain't ever gonna find her.
"Who took her?"
"It was Puck's thugs," he whispered. "Puck's got her at his place now."
"As in Puck the horny satyr that runs brothels down here and up Topside? As in Puck who runs one of the most powerful crime syndicates in this part of Underbelly? That Puck?"
Manny didn't say anything so I took that to mean, "Why yes it's that Puck, Johnny, you silly boy Why would I make things easy on you?" After all, there weren't many that went by the name of Puck nowadays, even in Underbelly. If Puck were involved in this, it meant that Manny's girl was likely a Topside hooker and Puck didn't want to lose the income. That didn't make a whole lot of sense though. Seemed like a lot of trouble for one girl. I figured she must be a big earner and damned good at what she did.
"You're my last chance," Manny said.
If his reptile eyes had been able to shed tears, I figure he would've been crying. Poor bastard. I can be a jerk, but I know what it's like to lose someone that you love. Still, I didn't like Manny trying to tug at my heart just to get some free help.
"You didn't come to me because you think I'm the best sorcerer for the job, did you?" I asked. I do fix problems for all kinds of clients, humans and others alike. If the money is good, I rarely turn down a job unless it goes against my own skewed moral code. I'm not the best mage in the world and I'm not the most powerful, not by a long shot. I'm not the worst either, and I can make things go boom with the best of them. None of that mattered to Manny though. I knew why he wanted me. "I was the only one that you thought you could manipulate enough to feel sorry for you. Or did you think I was the only one that would be stupid enough to work against Puck?"
"You've got a reputation for being a little fucked up in the head with the way you do things," Manny said. "I figured going after a guy as powerful as Puck would mean that I'd need someone like you."
Well, he was right about one thing. I'm not right in the head, and I was already thinking that the challenge that Puck represented might actually be fun. "Damn it, Manny."
"Johnny, please," he said.
I'd already made up my mind. "We'll get her back."
"You mean it? You'll really help me?"
"Sure. I can finally cross get my ass handed to me by a satyr off my bucket list."
My groan was inward and silent – no need to upset the client. Johnny Stone, sometimes friendly neighborhood mage-slash-troubleshooter and complete frigging moron at your service. I already had an idea that might be able to get us inside Puck's place. That's where we were likely to encounter the most trouble though, and getting out would be impossible if I didn't have the right help. With his arm in a sling, Manny was no good. I needed to see if I could recruit some other help.
"I'll make it up to you," Manny said. His forked tongue was flicking in and out of his wide mouth quickly. I took that to be a sign of his excitement.
"But we're stopping by The Bloated Kingdom first."
"Why?"
"I have to pick up a big gun," I said.