For Whom the Spell Tolls by H. P. Mallory

way, Bram and I were friends.
    “At the expense of turning our last evening together into a maudlin scene, I shall ask that we change the subject, if it pleases you,” Bram suddenly said. He cleared his throat and his posture stiffened. “I must confide my unease with anything that defies logic and reason.”
    I got his gist. Like most men, he wasn’t comfortable when facing his inner emotional child. But, to be fair, I wasn’t either. “I understand,” I said simply.
    “Have you no curiosity as to the other person with whom I paid a visit while in the Netherworld?” he asked.
    “Oh yeah, that’s right,” I answered, glancing at him with renewed interest.
    Bram smiled smugly as if our last conversation were now a distant memory, something to be locked away in his psyche. I had no idea if we would ever discuss it again. Why? Because Bram had said all he needed to say, and that was that.
    “I believe you are acquainted with Caressa Brandenburg?” he asked, flashing me a raised brow expression.
    “You visited Caressa?” I asked as shock welled up inside me.
    “Yes, does it surprise you that Ms. Brandenburg and I have enjoyed quite a long friendship?”
    I nodded. “Yes.”
    He seemed to like my answer and grinned more widely, apparently enjoying the role of news anchor. “She is quite an attractive woman, do you not agree?” he continued, eyeing me suspiciously.
    I could see right through him though. He was obviously trying to make me jealous and it wasn’t going to work. “Yes, Caressa is very attractive. No arguments there.”
    “Are you curious whether I have known her in the way I should like to know you?”
    I shook my head and sighed deeply. “For Hades’s sake, Bram, get to the damn point!”
    “Answer my question, please,” he answered with his chin stuck out defiantly.
    “No, I’m not curious; and no, I don’t want to know about your sex life, or lack thereof, at all!”
    He frowned momentarily. “Ms. Brandenburg has informed me that the Netherworld is up in arms regarding a newspaper article your leader ran in The Netherworlder Today ,” he started.
    “Really?”
    “Yes, and I, too, noticed many handwritten signs posted along roads and highways that supported the fall of the current regime.” He cleared his throat as he smiled at me. “By all appearances, the Netherworld seems ripe for rebellion, Sweet. And as such, your father grows more desperate each day. I am certain we both know what Hippocrates had to say about that?”
    No, I had no clue Hippocrates had anything to say about it, but I sensed where Bram was going with his point. “Desperate times call for desperate measures?”
    “Exactly, Sweet,” Bram said and nodded. “Exactly right.”
    “Then you still think we can win even though the Netherworld Guard outnumbers our own soldiers?”
    He was quiet for a few seconds. “Yes, I believe your side can prevail, if you proceed cautiously and correctly.”
    “I need to know precisely where my father is,” I interjected quickly, realizing my father’s whereabouts were the crux of the entire matter. “We won’t have a chance in hell if we don’t know where to find Melchior.”
    Bram chuckled. “Sometimes I believe you can read my mind, Sweet.”
    He reached into his pants pocket and produced his pocket watch, handing it to me. I accepted the expensive-looking timepiece as I brushed my fingers against the face of it. I wondered why he’d handed it to me and glanced up at him with curiosity in my eyes.
    “Long ago, I found it necessary to my well-being that I track your father’s comings and goings,” Bram said softly. Pointing to the watch, he added, “This pocket watch will allow you to do the same.”
    “How?” I asked, glancing down at it again.
    “It is a compass programmed to pinpoint your father’s location at any given moment.” He took it from my hand, placed it flat in his palm, and lifted his palm to eye level. The hour hand began turning counter