Anna's Hope Episode One Read Online Free Page B

been a particularly good
police witch, but she did have an eye for procedure. If you wanted
to carry out a successful sting operation, you usually had to put
more thought into it than ‘meh, we’ll just chuck a fire ball at
whatever moves and run out the back if there’s trouble.’
    Before she could say anything, Meredith
walked away, carrying a slim black handbag over one shoulder as she
glided towards the bar.
    The bar in question looked like little more
than a nondescript doorway sunk into the side of a drab brick
building. There weren’t any bouncers out front, there wasn’t even a
sign.
    There was, however, magic. Anna could feel
it itching her back and leaving a heat rash.
    “Okay, you can do this,” she whispered to
herself. “Meredith is here, and she’ll know what to do if things go
wrong.” She clapped her hands together in a praying
motion.
    If things go wrong? More like when. She
couldn’t turn off her police brain. And right now said brain was
screaming at her to turn and run away.
    There was only one silver lining to this
looming storm cloud – Luminaria had stayed at home. She was tired.
Meaning Anna could do this without a talking, cursing cat ruining
everything.
    That being said, occasionally Luminaria
could be useful. While she was great at keeping the house free from
all but the darkest and most evil mice (which Luminaria doted on),
the evil cat was handy in a fight.
    On occasion, Luminaria had actually
protected Anna. When it served her interests, of course.
    Still, it was nice to leave the old crone at
home.
    “Come on.” Meredith waved her forward with
one bony hand. “The night has only just begun, and I’ve got things
to do after this.”
    It was 3 AM in the morning. The night was
over.
    The chase, however, was about to begin.
     

Chapter 5
    Anna had been to some dark places before.
She'd worked in Vale, for one, and that place was well known for
its seedy, shady establishments.
    But this ... this was worse.
    As she and Meredith walked their way into
the bar (Meredith technically glided), Anna couldn't contain her
swallow. She gulped like a fish coming across a sudden shark, or
bar-full of sharks.
    Every single patron sitting in this murky,
dingy pub looked ... dark.
    There was a vampire sitting on a barstool to
her left, drinking something that smelt suspiciously like real
blood.
    To her right, she passed a bona fide
banshee, staring at its empty drink with pale white irises tinged
with red capillaries - a sign of tension from a life spent
screaming at the top of your lungs, no doubt.
    If the patrons weren't bad enough, the
wait staff was worse. There were two burly looking magicians behind
the bar, serving drinks from bottles with so many runes written
over the glass it was a surprise the liquid inside didn't boil and
shoot out in a giant shot of glittering steam.
    Even though Anna had worked for several
months as a police witch, and she had come across mini little hell
holes like this before, she'd always had backup.
    She'd never been following a leather-clad
lascivious bounty hunter, either.
    “Let's get a drink,” Meredith suggested in
a low and sultry voice that made every man - human or not - turn
and stare at her.
    While Meredith was decked out in the
tightest leather this side of a dominatrix conference, Anna was in
the same old drab clothes she usually wore: an ankle-length blue
skirt and a neck-high overly lacy blouse that looked like something
Liberace would pass on for being too over the top. She also had a
pair of sensible shoes and socks.
    She was not and never would be
fashionable. Even if you threw away all the floral and lace in her
wardrobe, it wouldn't work. Anna couldn't pull off stylish. She'd
tried it before, and people just laughed at her.
    She had neither the body nor the
personality. She was tall, willowy, and a little gaunt. Her skin
was usually as pale as fresh milk, and her dull hazel eyes were
often red-rimmed from her allergies. Her hair was this