Gods and Swindlers (City of Eldrich Book 3) (28 page)

John stood up and shook his head. “I still can’t agree with this. You don’t need me. We already agree I need to stay away. I’m going back to the fire where it’s warm.” He leaned over and kissed Meaghan. “You stay. They need you.”

Meaghan stroked his cheek, then he stalked from the room.

“I’ll talk to him,” Terry said.

“No, you won’t,” Meaghan said. “This is good. I don’t want him anywhere near the basement. Not after this morning.”

Terry nodded. “Fair enough.”

“What about the rest of us?” Meaghan asked, wanting to change the subject from John. “Why would they think we’d roll over and give up Terry without a fight?”

“Partly because loyalty is a difficult concept for them to grasp,” Luka said, “but mostly because they already think I can do more magic than I can, and by the time I’m done, they’ll think me and my exaggerated power are on their side.”

“And they’ll think you, me, and Natalie are dead,” Owen added. “And that Luka’s going to hand them the keys to the candy store in exchange for them leaving him alone.”

“And leaving me in charge,” Luka said.

“You’re going to play to your mythology,” Meaghan said.

Luka grinned. “And they’re going to buy it, because they’re stupid, and because they don’t understand the difference between myth and reality.”

“And he has a terrible reputation, Meg. Even worse than yours,” Terry said with a grin. “Hang on. I gotta pee.”

“Again?” Owen shook his head. “No more coffee for you, buddy.”

Terry laughed as he trotted out of the kitchen.

“Let’s get back to the ‘us being dead’ part,” Meaghan said. “How are you pulling that off?”

“With this.” Owen slipped off his chair and took something from the kitchen counter behind him. He clambered back into his chair and pulled a striped dishcloth off the object.

A dagger, intricately wrought and highly polished, lay in his hands.

Luka picked it up and said, “Check this out.”

He plunged the dagger into his thigh.

Meaghan gasped.

Luka pulled the knife away and showed her his uninjured leg. “Prop knife. See?” He pushed the blade onto the table a few times. “Retractable blunted blade. Looks like the real thing, but the actors don’t get skewered.”

Terry walked back into the room. “I sell those to high-end prop houses. I make theatrical swords, axes, all kinds of stuff.” He examined the dagger. “One of my better pieces. Looks real, don’t you think?”

“I’ll say,” Meaghan said. She looked over at Luka. “You gonna stab me with that?”

Luka shook his head. “No. Brian will stab you, if everything goes to plan. So I can prove he’s held in my evil thrall.” He grinned. “Bwa-ha-ha.”

“You’re enjoying this villain thing way too much,” Owen said.

Luka shook his head. “No, I’m enjoying this conning thing way too much. I forgot how much fun it is, particularly when the mark is so loathsome.”

“And all this is going to play out in my basement?” Meaghan asked. “What about the witches?”

Marnie walked into the kitchen. “I can help you there. Sorry to butt in, but Brian told me what you’re planning.”

Luka pulled out a chair. “Brian told us you have a new set of skills.”

Marnie nodded. “But I don’t have magic anymore. Did he tell you that?”

“I’m sorry,” Luka said.

“Don’t be.” Marnie smiled. “You need a stage manager, I think. I can do that for you.”

“A stage manager?” Meaghan asked.

“To tell you all when to head downstairs and play your parts.” Marnie looked at Luka. “Let’s figure out the cues.”

The first step involved informing the witches. Marnie would tell Gretchen, who would notify Natalie and Lynette.

“They’re like my backup singers,” Luka said.

Owen rolled his eyes. “The Lokettes.”

Luka ignored him. “Their job is to make me look like I’m more powerful than they are. It needs to look to our elf friend like they’ve been overcome by my magic, and I’m the one pulling all the strings.”

“They’ll drop the spell wall?” Meaghan asked. “Is that wise?”

Luka shook his head. “Not until I know he’s taken the bait. But he needs to believe I’ve knocked out the witches’ spells and replaced them with my own. Same spell, with a different flavor.”

“The witches can do that?”

“Nat can,” Owen said. “It’s where I got the idea. She was talking about the nuances of magic, how it has fingerprints of a sort, and how to mask them.” He glanced at Meaghan. “She was talking about your new pal, Emily. She really doesn’t trust that woman.”

“No kidding,” Meaghan said.

“Emily’s change is sincere,” Marnie said. “I can feel it.”

“Tell Natalie that,” Owen said.

Marnie grimaced. “I really can’t tell Natalie anything right now.”

“Why?” Owen scowled. “Because of Brian?”

Marnie shook her head. “Oh, God, forget I said anything.”

“No,” Owen said. “She’s still boohooing over Brian?”

Marnie sighed. “She really likes you, more than I think even she knows. But she’s used to having Brian in the wings. When she could have him, she didn’t want him, and when she finally wanted him, he didn’t want her anymore, and she blames me. And, please, don’t anybody tell her I told you that.”

For a moment, Meaghan saw Marnie’s fragility return. “Natalie said some awful things to Brian on Labor Day. She may not be able to admit it, but she knows whose fault it is he’s moved on.”

“Yeah, but she’s not quite ready to accept it.” Marnie stared at Owen. “It’s about pride, not about her liking Brian more than you.” She took a shaky breath. “Could we not talk about this anymore?”

“But—ow!” Owen glared at Luka. “You kicked me.”

“Moving on,” Luka said. “The next step is convincing them that I’ve turned on you guys.”

Marnie gave Luka a grateful smile.

“By killing me,” Owen said, glaring at him. “Breaking my shin wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I thought Brian was going to do that,” Meaghan said. “Kill him, I mean.”

Marnie stood up, trying to keep her face blank, but Meaghan knew the look. She’d been wearing it herself quite a lot lately. Marnie was on the verge of panic.

In a stiff voice, Marnie said, “It’s freezing in here. Let me know when you’ve got it all figured out. I’m going back to the living room.” She turned and walked from the kitchen without a backward glance.

“Nice job,” Terry said, swatting Owen. “Chase her from the room, why don’t you?”

Owen gave Terry a sour look.

Luka shook his head and said to Meaghan, “I need to give them a show of good faith. Then I reel them in.”

“How are you gonna do that?”

Luka grinned. “By giving them the thing they most desire.”

“Which is?” Meaghan asked.

“The fair folk are hurting,” Luka said. “Their favorite food supply is drying up. There’s still enough superstition and fanaticism out there for the elves at the top to be eating well, but nobody else is.”

“Like Sam,” Meaghan said.

Luka shook his head. “No, not like Sam, and that’s what has them so frightened. Sam can’t consume magic. He has to eat actual food.”

“Which is why his skin is better,” Owen said. “The fair folk can all survive on regular food if they have to. They don’t need to eat emotional energy, but they’re addicted to it. It’s like meth. It rots their teeth and ruins their skin and makes them physically weak.”

“Then why do it?”

“Because it makes them magically strong,” Luka said. “Why build physical strength toiling for food when you can snap your fingers and get whatever you want?”

Meaghan nodded. “Lou mentioned that. My dad’s predecessor, not you.”

Luka nodded. “Dream?”

“Yeah, the night before the Order took Jamie, back in June. He said worlds that rely on magic become stagnant. They don’t innovate because they don’t have to.”

Luka nodded. “It used to be only those like Sam—the impervious ones—who ate regular food and questioned the established order. But the people at the top, the ruling families, are hoarding their sources of emotional food, so those in the middle are losing their power and standing in society. A rebellion is brewing.”

Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “The fair folk have one-percenters and a disintegrating middle class?”

“Yeah,” Luka said. “Surprisingly similar dynamic.”

“Said the one-percenter.”

“We give shitloads of money to charity,” Owen said. “Shitloads.”

“We do give a lot away,” Luka said, “but point taken.”

Meaghan shook her head, but smiled. “You’re a lousy villain, you know that?”

Luka smiled back. “Yeah, but I’m an established brand. What I lack in evil I make up for in name recognition.”

Terry snorted. “I’ll say.”

“Okay, I get the problem, but how are you going to fix it for them?” Meaghan asked. “What are you offering?”

“Less magical food means less magical power, which means less ability to generate magical food,” Luka said. “That means even less power. It’s a feedback loop. A death spiral for their preferred way of life.”

“And it’s only going to get worse as humans grow more immune to magic,” Meaghan said.

“What they need,” Luka said, “is a way to turn back the clock on human evolution.”

“And you’re going to tell them you can give them that.” Meaghan nodded.

“Their holy grail,” Luka said, “which I will convince them is hidden deep inside the archive, and I’m the only one who knows where it is.”

“What do you get in return?” Meaghan asked.

“A dragon,” Luka said, with a grin. “I get a dragon. And the spells to control it.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

“T
HERE’S MAGIC THAT
controls dragons?” Meaghan looked around the room, her heart pounding.

“No,” Terry said. “Which is kind of the weak link in our little plan.”

Of course not. That would be too easy. Stupid magic. Totally useless when you actually need it.

Luka waved his hand dismissively. “Only if we really believe that the fair folk would give me that kind of power.”

“They’ll double-cross you?” Meaghan asked, already knowing the answer.

Luka nodded. “Oh, yeah, absolutely.”

“Then what makes you think they’ll even bother bringing the dragon over?”

Luka grinned. “Because they won’t be able to resist showing it off.”

Meaghan scowled back. “By burning you to cinders?”

Luka shook his head. “They won’t hurt me. Not until they have what I’ve promised them.”

“So there is something in the archive?” Meaghan asked.

Luka shrugged. “Who knows? There are mountains of stuff over there.”

“What if they demand you go over there and produce it?”

“Then I’ll tell them I need them to free the monks to help me, and I’ll wander around for a while, do some fake magic, and buy you some time. Best case, we can kill the dragon right away and I don’t go anywhere. Worst case, you get an inside man. Win-win.”

Meaghan raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You sure about that? I can think of a few scenarios where you lose big time. What will keep them from just grabbing you out of the basement?”

“Because we have our own barrier and the elf isn’t getting out under any terms but mine,” Luka said. “Trust me. I’ve been dealing the fair folk for centuries. I know how they think. This will work.”

Meaghan glanced at Owen and Terry. They appeared to be all-in with Luka’s plan.

They’re the experts, I guess, but
 
.
 
.
 
.
“For the record, I think it’s a terrible plan. Terry told me, ‘oh, don’t worry, the elf can’t hurt you if you keep some iron on it,’ and look how that worked out.” Meaghan shook her head. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with here. If this thing let itself get captured, then it has an end game, but we don’t know what it is.”

Luka gave her an appraising look.

Meaghan stared back.

Luka smiled. “Meg, I appreciate your concern, but, you’ve been doing this how long? Nine months? I’ve been doing it for three thousand years. I know what I’m doing.”

The unspoken words hung in the air.
And you don’t.

She looked to Terry and Owen for support. Owen stared back at her, his arms folded across his chest.

Terry wouldn’t meet her eye.

“Terry, you get why I’m concerned, don’t you?” Meaghan asked. “This elf is something new, which means the old rules may no longer apply.”

Terry fidgeted in his chair but didn’t respond.

“What if I told you I’m the only one who can kill the dragon, because if you get too close it will stun you?” Meaghan watched as the same dreamy look she’d seen on Russ settled onto their faces.

The moment passed. “Look, Meg,” Luka said, “if I’m wrong you can tell me you told me so.” He grinned at her, but there was no warmth in it.

For the first time, Meaghan saw behind Luka’s charming exterior. She could see the grifter.

“But I’m not wrong,” Luka added.

Again, Meaghan heard the unspoken words.
And you are.

Meaghan held up her hands in a conciliatory gesture. Grave misgivings aside, she needed their help.
He has been doing this longer than I have. Maybe he’s right.