Free Stone and a Hard Place by R. L. King Page B

had left stuporous and barely breathing in a back bedroom. They felt flush with power, eager to release it now.
    They had done variations on the same ritual many times—it didn’t pay to piss off The Three, because they truly enjoyed the process of revenge. They hadn’t killed anyone—yet—but they had discussed the possibility, and considered that it might be something they wanted to try if the perceived slight was sufficient.
    Trin, as always, took the lead, beginning a low chant that the other two took up. Their eyes were closed, their nerves singing with the power they were building between them. They writhed and swayed, punctuating the chant with moans of ecstasy as the power rose higher, joining their individual auras together into a coherent and more potent whole. If anyone had been watching them from the outside, their first thought would not have been of a magical ritual, but of an orgy. The energy around them was becoming visible now, tracings of magical power around their bodies, their hands, the circle.
    Trin shifted her focus for a moment, the napkin rising up from her pocket and moving into the center of the circle. It hovered over the brazier and then settled into it, the flames licking and dancing as they ignited and began to devour the tiny bit of paper. Preparing to send the spell on its way, she gathered the energies from her two companions, wove them into the pattern of the spell, and then joined it with the bit of Angelique from the napkin.
    Together, the fragments of energy formed a reddish cord that snaked up through the house’s roof. The Three followed it, their own consciousnesses riding along to its termination point.
    It didn’t take long—after all, it wasn’t like Angelique the bar skank had any magical protections. In less than a minute, the cord dropped down into a small, unremarkable apartment on the second floor of a three-story building. Most of it was nearly indistinguishable, lifeless to magical sight, but a glowing form was curled up in what looked like a bed in one of the small rooms.
    “Bonus,” Miguel murmured. “Maybe her neighbors will blame her for flooding them out.”
    “Shh,” Trin said, concentrating. “Help me with this.”
    Neither one of the guys had to ask for details. They focused together, feeding power into the reddish cord, directing it, shaping it to their will. It didn’t take much effort at all to find the water pipe leading to the bathroom and warp it until it snapped. They felt rather than saw the liquid spewing out inside the wall; though they couldn’t see each other’s grins, they all felt the squeezes of their hands.
    “One more, to be sure,” Trin said. She moved her focus, and the other two followed.
    In the kitchen, they opted to plug the sink and turn the tap on full blast. They remained there until the sink filled and began to overflow, then went back to check their handiwork upstairs. It would take a while before the water seeped out through the walls, but it would be at least a few hours before anyone in the building awakened. By then, the water would have done its job. It was more subtle than The Three’s usual plans, but subtlety was good sometimes.
    Angelique needed to learn some subtlety anyway.
    They returned at the same time, breaking contact and stepping out of the circle. None of them looked tired or spent from the ritual. That was what the power they’d stolen earlier tonight was for: so they didn’t have to be. Tiring oneself out doing magic was for weaklings who didn’t have the will to claim the power all around them, ripe for the plucking.
    Trin began rolling a joint. “That was fun,” she said. “But we need to start thinking bigger. Maybe we’ll kill the next one. You guys up for it?”
    Miguel shrugged. “Sure.” His satisfied smile was chilling. “After all, it’s not like anyone’s ever gonna catch us at it.”

CHAPTER NINE
    Stone wondered if Ethan wasn’t going to show up for his next lesson. It was