“It appears that Owen inherited his attention to detail from his mother,” Merlin said, looking up. “These first few documents are enough to prove Ramsay’s role in the Morgan affair. I can only imagine what other incriminating evidence she recorded. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Idris’s seemingly baseless accusation about Owen’s parentage—which he made under Ramsay’s orders—turned out to be true, and that will be the key to Ramsay’s downfall.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “How do we let people know about this stuff?”
“There will be a hearing, at which Ramsay will likely carry out his plan to make it appear as though Owen is attacking me. We can bring up this information then. But we should be prepared—he is ruthless and driven, and when we foil his plans to look like a heroic savior, he may resort to force.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“You’ve done more than enough. You should rest and be ready for when they call a hearing. I don’t think they know what you had or why you and Owen were in that park. With Owen in custody, the enforcers should leave you alone. I will assign a security detail to you, in case Ramsay tries to find out what you’ve discovered.”
*
The next two days were sheer torture. I felt like I was going through the motions while life moved around me in a blur. I gathered Owen’s things from the hotel room and checked out, leaving a huge tip to be shared among the people who’d helped us escape. I brought Owen’s things to his house and took care of Loony. I think I carried on conversations with my roommates, but I barely noticed what they were saying. At the office, Perdita did her best to cheer me up and distract me, creating all sorts of new coffee concoctions—some more successful than others—before finally deciding it was best to leave me alone. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Perdita stuck her head into my office and said, “The boss wants to see you.”
I jumped up, nearly knocking over my coffee cup. This time, it was Perdita who rushed to the rescue and kept the cup from tipping over. I knew I was in bad shape when
Perdita
was saving
me
from clumsiness. I got up to Merlin’s office so fast I might have beat someone who teleported if it had been a race. “What is it?” I gasped as I ran into his office.
“The hearing has been set for tomorrow,” he said. “I will need you with me.”
“Of course,” I said, nodding. “What’s the plan?”
“I think it depends on Mr. Ramsay’s plan. I do intend to reveal some rather incriminating information about him as soon as possible. I will have Jake and the research team there to break the amulet spell at the most opportune moment. Other than that, we should be prepared for—how is it you say it?—all hell to break loose.”
“And from what I’ve seen of Idris’s work in the past, that may be literal,” I said with a shudder. “You’ve found enough incriminating evidence, then?”
“I may have to propose a posthumous medal for Mina Morgan. Not only has she revealed Ramsay’s role in that plot, but he was involved in a lot of other mischief within the magical world. For instance, he was blackmailing the Meredith family about their takeover of the Vandermeer firm. Your friend Philip will be interested in that information, I’m sure. There appears to be almost as much fear and blackmail involved in Ramsay’s rise to prominence as there was magic. He is not as beloved and popular as he would like everyone to think.”
“And what about that scheme to make it look like Owen’s the one to kill you? What can we do about that?”
“I would hope that revealing Ramsay’s perfidy will negate that. There is little point in creating another villain when he has already been revealed as one, himself.” His eyes became steely and the air crackled with power. “Then he can face me one-to-one—wizard-to-wizard.”
I had no doubt that Merlin could beat Ramsay in a fair fight, but I also had no doubt that Ramsay would cheat. Either way, I was afraid Owen would be caught in the middle.
*
Early the next day, I went with Merlin to the Council headquarters. The security guard was properly deferential to the distinguished Council member and allowed us into the Council chamber. “Now, we will search the room to ensure that nothing has been hidden,” Merlin said once we were alone in the room. The two of us went over the chamber inch by inch, comparing what we saw. We didn’t find anything out of place, which bothered Merlin. “I know Ivor Ramsay would not assume he could win without cheating,” he said, frowning and scratching his beard. “But how does he plan to cheat?”
“He may bring something in with him. Too bad you don’t have the magical equivalent of metal detectors at the entrances.”
“Unfortunately, it would be nearly impossible to tell the difference between good and bad because it’s the intent that matters, and I doubt we’d ever get this Council to agree to ban all magic from the chamber. How else would they show off? Some of these people don’t know how to function without magic. Rudolph wouldn’t be able to tie his shoes.” He sighed wearily. “I suppose we have done all we can to prepare. We will have to remain on the alert.”
A livid Gloria was the next to arrive, with James in her wake. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded of Merlin, getting up in his face. “Why won’t they let us see him? They wouldn’t even let us bring him a suit for the hearing.”
“I hadn’t heard anything about that,” Merlin said. “I suppose after he managed to escape from them so easily, they’re worried about security.”
“It wasn’t a nice suit and a visit from his father that allowed him to escape,” she said with a derisive snort.
Merlin promised to look into it, then left to go prepare in the Council offices. Gloria then turned her attention to me. “So, it is true about him, then?”
“Yes, it is.” I’d brought the letter and the key with me, and I handed her the letter.
She and James read it, then she said with a sniff, “I suppose she couldn’t have been all bad if she had a child like that.” Her expression softened ever so slightly. “How did he take it?”
“The last time I saw him, it hadn’t yet had time to really sink in.”
More people began arriving. It was much like the previous hearing, but there were a lot more strangers. I was fairly certain I recognized a number of people from the mob of protesters at the MSI building and a few of the people James and Gloria had scared away from Owen’s house. That left me with no doubt that Ramsay had something in the works. But what?
We took our seats in front, with Rod and Ethan soon joining us. Two minutes before the hearing was set to begin, Ramsay made his grand entrance, with the usual adulation from most of the crowd. His fan club was in for a big surprise, I thought with some satisfaction. He took the front-row seat across the aisle from us, and he knew better than to even pretend to give James and Gloria a friendly acknowledgment. He carried a briefcase, which he set on the floor in front of his feet. Had he brought his own evidence?
The Council members then took their places at the head table, and Rudolph stood and struck his staff on the ground while giving the ritual opening. I felt the wash of magic as the wards took hold. This time, I knew no one would drop the wards for Owen. He was stuck until we proved our case.
Then they brought Owen in, and James, Gloria, and I gasped in unison. He was dressed all in black, like the uniform of the enforcers, and it looked like they’d scavenged whatever they could find for him to wear. The dark, ill-fitting clothing made him look small and pale. The only hint of color on him came from his eyes—and from the ugly bruise under his left eye that spread over his cheekbone. It was a few days old, so it looked like sunset over the Grand Canyon, all reds and purples, with a hint of yellow. James had to grab Gloria’s arm before she instinctively went to him.
The one improvement over the last hearing was that his hands were bound in front of him this time, which had to be more comfortable. Mack being his guard probably had something to do with that. I felt a little better about his situation.
Owen caught my eye as they brought him in. I could see the question on his face and realized that he didn’t even know if what we’d found was useful. I nodded, and his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
And then the hearing began. Rudolph read off a list of charges, which included the earlier conspiracy to commit magical crimes plus charges of escape and evasion. He added, “And these crimes are even more alarming when taken in context with the allegation that Owen Palmer is none other than the son of Kane and Mina Morgan, who were so disastrous to the magical community. We know he can’t help the accident of his birth, but we also know he has great power—a power he may have inherited from his alleged parents—and there is also the possibility that the capacity for darkness has been inherited, as well.”
Merlin leaned forward. “As I understand, these were merely allegations made by someone with a personal grudge against Mr. Palmer. Has anyone presented any proof? The person who made the allegations doesn’t appear to be present today, as he is also a fugitive.”
Ramsay then stood. “I took the liberty of asking Mr. Idris to accompany me here today after he approached me to explain how he came by this information.” A man in a hat and jacket stood at the back of the room and made his way down the aisle. He must have come in at the last second, or I would have recognized Idris. I wasn’t sure what Ramsay’s game was, since it was more than likely that Idris learned it from Ramsay.
“This is most unorthodox, Ivor,” Rudolph said. “Mr. Idris has broken numerous magical laws and escaped from legitimate custody. In fact, he’s known to have committed more magical crimes than even Mr. Palmer is accused of. It’s hardly fair to have Mr. Palmer as a prisoner while we do nothing about Mr. Idris. We will listen to your evidence and take your cooperation into consideration, but Mr. Idris, I’m afraid we will have to take you into custody first.” He waved a hand at one of the guards, who moved toward Idris.
“I was framed!” Idris screamed, suddenly breaking into a run and charging toward Owen. “It was him! He did it! It’s all his fault!”
I shouted a warning to Owen, who whirled just in time to see Idris running at him. With his hands bound, Owen was practically helpless. Idris sent a magical attack in his direction and, acting as if on instinct, Owen threw his hands up in a defensive position, and his lips moved silently, like he was doing a spell. He was in the containment circle that kept anyone from using magic, so the spell was useless for defending himself or attacking Idris.
But then Merlin fell out of his chair with a cry of pain, like someone had hit him with a powerful spell.
“See, he’s found a way to breach the circle!” Ramsay shouted. “He’s attacking Merlin, even now! He has to be stopped!”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Owen went a sick gray color and froze. I thought Gloria would come right out of her seat and take on Idris herself, but the guards finally got to him and pulled him away from Owen.
“I didn’t attack Merlin,” Owen said, his voice so faint it wasn’t much above a whisper. “I wouldn’t, ever. I don’t know what happened. I was just defending myself from Idris—and I did that without thinking. It shouldn’t have done any good, since I’m in the circle.”
“Likely story, when we know what he is,” Ramsay scoffed. “We saw him do a spell, and we saw Merlin, not Mr. Idris, suffer the effects.”
The audience erupted into arguments and discussion. Rudolph rapped his staff on the floor, and the room went silent. “We will deal with the alleged attack on Mr. Mervyn in a moment,” he said. “Given his attempted attack on Mr. Palmer, I am not sure how seriously we can take accusations made by Mr. Idris. Obviously, there is a personal grudge, as Mr. Mervyn mentioned. Mr. Ramsay, I hope you have additional evidence.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Merlin said. “I happen to have proof that Owen Palmer is the son of Kane and Mina Morgan. Miss Chandler, if you please?”
While the audience muttered in surprise at Merlin being the one to provide proof, I took the letter and the key out of my purse and brought them up to Merlin. “This note was left with Mr. Palmer when he was left as a newborn at a fire station,” Merlin said, then he read the letter out loud. I watched Ramsay’s face the whole time, as he first went red, then the color drained entirely from his skin. There was a gasp from the audience when Merlin read the signature, then Merlin said, “And now the key.” I went to Owen, who held his hands out, and placed the key in his palm, giving his hand a squeeze as I did so. Then I stepped to the side so the Council could see the key glowing in his hand. “The Council will notice that the key glows at his touch,” Merlin pointed out. “That is proof that he is, in fact, the child in question.”
“Who did she mean when she said ‘he’ wasn’t what he seemed, and what did she hide?” Rudolph asked eagerly.
“Fortunately, Mr. Palmer had the opportunity to obtain those materials before he was recaptured,” Merlin said, his lips twitching like he was trying to fight back a smile. He waved a hand to start the recording, and Ramsay’s voice rang through the room, saying, “The three of us can have unprecedented power, if you will just agree to play your part.”
The voice of a young man said, “What do you want us to do?”
Ramsay’s voice said, “I need you to play the villains—only for a while. You need to terrify the Council enough that they’ll revive Merlin. Then the three of us can defeat him, and there will be no one left to challenge us.”
The room exploded with shocked shouts. I would have expected Ramsay to deny it, but although his face briefly turned a purplish color, he sat totally still and looked almost casual. “These are very interesting allegations, Ambrose,” he said. “But I must say, it’s a clever bit of fakery. You can’t trust anything Mina Morgan did. We know the kind of person she was.”
Merlin, now smiling openly, said, “I have more documentation, as well as photographs. Mina was quite thorough. The current situation sounds rather familiar. Did you use Phelan Idris the way you used the Morgans? You certainly used him as an excuse to revive me.”