Free Neon Spark (Dark Magic Enforcer Book 5) by Al K. Line Page B

You know, infinitely sharp."
    It made no sense, but then so little did at that point, so I just said, "Do it," and closed my eyes.
    "Just don't move," warned Intus.
    "I won't." I held my breath and kept holding it, and still nothing happened. An eternity passed until I finally had to breathe again. I opened my eyes and looked down at my friend.
    "I wondered when you were going to start breathing. Don't you need to do it regularly to stay alive?" Intus stood with the scythe thankfully pointed away from me.
    "Um, yeah, comes with the body. Will you please get on with it?"
    "I've done it, all gone." She nodded at my backside.
    I looked down but could see no tail. I put a hand to my coccyx and it was as it had been, just ever-so-slightly tender. No monkey tail. Result! Hitching up my trousers, I said, "Thanks, Intus, you're a real lifesaver."
    "What are friends for? Maybe one day you'll do a spot of baby sitting in return?" she asked hopefully, wiggling where eyebrows would be if imps had any hair.
    "Um, well, let's not get ahead of ourselves."
    "Worth a try. Right, busy, busy, got to finish the bath before it turns solid. It's a nightmare chipping them out of it, takes years. See you soon, buddy."
    She was gone, taking her infinitely sharp scythe with her. Sometimes it pays to have truly Hidden friends.
    There was no sign of the tail, gone now the spell was broken.
    Hardly feeling in the mood, but knowing I wouldn't rest until it was done, I continued to house number one.
    Time to make a few corpses. Hopefully one would be of a beautiful Japanese assassin and now gangster Head.
    Such is the life of a foreigner abroad.

 
     
     
     
    Nice Eyebrows
    With a phantom tail still whipping about in my trousers and my mind made up I would never return to Japan no matter how long I lived—assuming I didn't die here—I checked my phone again to make sure I had the right address then peered through the simple gate.
    The grounds were extensive. Ordered, immaculate, and deserted. The house was something out of an ancient manuscript, all faded wood, wraparound veranda, topped with a huge, overhanging and very ornate roof. There wasn't a soul to be seen.
    As I leaned on the gate, peering between my hands, it creaked and I almost fell flat on my face when it opened inward.
    Look, what would you do? Yeah, I went in, what did you expect?
    Magic Spidey-sense tingling, looking out for talkative rocks, unsure if the bushes were just bushes or contained some malevolent spirit, eyeing the pond nervously and the carp suspiciously, I was as jittery as a gremlin at an 80's reunion where microwaves were in abundance as I crunched across the gravel drive and studiously avoided making eye contact with any of the oni statues—it would be just my luck they'd begin to attack.
    Up the wooden steps, I found myself on the porch and rattled a thick cord attached to a bell. As the sound rang out I waited, half of me hoping nobody was home, the other half expecting just about anything to happen. Nothing did. I rang again, but it was as silent as a roomful of foreigners five minutes after being in the presence of the Tongue Stealer of Okinawa, so I tried the handle on the front door and wasn't surprised to find it open.
    Inside, the place was spartan but opulent with its furnishing. Statues of demons stood as silent sentinels in rooms that contained little more than tatami mats and low tables. Other rooms were completely devoid of anything but the paper and wood shōji divides and the heavy, black oak floors. After checking the side rooms, I went back to the main hallway that bisected the house and headed to the large central room that dominated the structure.
    It was a type of central living space used in old times for cooking and congregating, the heart of the home. In the main sunken area a large expanse of bare earth floor was home to a ring of stones where a fire was burning low, embers flickering with unnatural colors, casting strange shadows across the