Authors: L.A. Kelley
“What about the others?” barked Sadhri.
“The house is empty, but someone crashed there. Not long ago either.” He stood next to Carlos and laid his hand on the medusa’s shoulder. “Ready?” The medusa gave a terse nod and they disappeared.
“Kaplan had to be with Darby,” growled Sadhri. “They slept together.”
“What the hell are they doing here?” asked Ramesh. “You think Pearce is with them?”
“Oh, he’s with them all right.” Billy motioned to the monitor. “The gold chain just vanished from the screen.” He backed up the video so they could see for oom te’s wthemselves. One minute the necklace rested in the display case. The access door appeared to open by itself and then suddenly the chain disappeared.
Ramesh uttered a curse. “What the hell does he want with a necklace? Another shield?”
“I don’t know, but nothing good.” Sadhri turned to her nephew. “Billy, go upstairs and get the Baal. If more magic is afoot, he might sense something. The rest of us will check all the monitors from around the same time period. Maybe we can figure out where he went—and what the hell he’s up to.”
****
A medusa? Rosalie gaped at the woman on the bed. Although not as rigid, Stephanie’s body sported the stony appearance of the statues Carlos blasted. She touched Stephanie’s cheek. The texture mimicked a lifeless marble carving. She looked dead. Rosalie said a silent prayer they weren’t too late. She grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed, covered her up, and then reached over and took her hand. “Hang on,” she whispered. Rosalie nearly let out a cry of relief when Stephanie’s fingers twitched.
A few seconds later came a puff of air as David reappeared with Carlos. Rosalie jumped up. “She moved a little. Can you help her?”
Carlos took her place on the bed next to Stephanie. He placed his hands on either side of the girl’s face and peered into her eyes. He scowled. “Breaking the static will be rough. This is Darby’s work. She has no discipline, just whales away. A controlled static blast should only be fired once, but Stephanie was hit several times.”
Rosalie swallowed. “Will she be all right?”
“I don’t know.” Electrical currents gathered around his head. “You two better close your eyes.” The air filled with a static charge. Rosalie and David turned their heads away as once…twice…three times they were buffeted with the sudden release of stinging energy that jabbed against their skin. Worry built inside Rosalie to a tight little ball. The reverse procedure took a long time, much longer than to free the statue of the boy in the hoodie. As much as she disliked Stephanie, she never wished this type of punishment for her. What if Carlos couldn’t reverse the damage?
A muffled groan issued from the bed.
“Carlos?” Rosalie gasped. “Is she—”
“You can look.” They opened their eyes. Although pale, Stephanie’s flesh tone no longer held the appearance of stone. More importantly, Rosalie now perceived the slight rise and fall of her chest. Relief flooded through her.
The medusa heaved a quavering gasp. Carlos was almost as gray as Stephanie had been. David pulled up a chair to the side of the bed. “Take a seat before you fall down.”
Carlos nodded gratefully. “All Darby’s charge is now gone. The stupid bitch disregarded every safety protocol.” He glanced at Stephanie. “Why is she all wet? What happened?” David explained how they found her. “Stephanie is lucky,” Carlos grunted. “With a static job this sloppy, muscle tone returns slowly. They probably figured she’d come to in the water and drown. To any medical examiner it would look like a seizure.” His gaze returned to the woman on the bed. “They didn’t need the water. Another hour under Darby’s static and her entire nervous system would have short-circuited. She’d have died, anyway.”
David frowned. “From the mess in the other room, I say Kaplan was here, too.”
“No doubt,” Carlos snorted. “He and Darby have a thing. What about Pearce? Any sign of him?”
“I didn’t finish searching.”
“How long before Stephanie wakes up?” asked Rosalie.
“Hard to say…and no, I can’t speed up the process. There’s no guarantee, she’ll remember anything, anyway. A static job this bad may burn the memories out.”
Rosalie touched the young woman’s hand. The skin had lost the frigid iciness, but was still cool and damp to the touch. “I should put her in dry clothes. The least I can do is make her comfortable.”
David nodded. “Good idea. I’ll scrounge up some coffee. We could be in for a long wait.”
The medusa rose to his feet. “I need to call Sadhri and fill her in.”
****
Billy looked out over the sea of faces searching for the Baal. The cupids had certainly been busy ferrying guests to the party. Integrals crowded the rooftop. He spotted Grace and Brian talking to Marissa and Natalie. Marissa’s wide-eyed son Alex stood by her side taking in all the sights.
“Billy!” Grace waved him over. “Where are the others? Don’t tell me Sadhri still has you working.”
“There’s trouble. I need to see the Baal right away.”
“He’s at the bar,” declared Natalie. “I’ll get him.”
Poof.
A few seconds later Natalie reappeared clutching a sputtering Dominic around the waist.
“Get your damn hand off me, cupid.”
“Pearce was in the building earlier today. The others aren’t far.” They all fell silent as Billy explained about the necklace and Stephanie.
“Is she all right?” pressed Marissa.
“I don’t know, yet. Carlos is working on her. Dominic, I need you to come down and check out the display case. If Pearce is messing with magic, you may be able to pick up something.”
“Of course.”
“I’m coming with you,” insisted Marissa.
The Baal shook his head. “It’s dangerous.”
She drew herself up. “This is my store. I know it better than anyone else. You may need my help.” She turned to Natalie. “Will you watch Alex for me?”
“Of course, my dear.” She bent over and held out her hand. “Have you ever played hide-and-seek with a cupid?” The boy shook his head. Ms. Jankowski took his hand and they disappeared.
“Grace and I will inform the wardens,” said Brian. “Call us the moment you find out anything.”
Marissa, Dominic, and Billy made their way down to the jewelry department. Sadhri was on the phone. “That was Carlos,” she said, ending the connection. “He removed the static from Ms. Crowder, but she’s still unconscious. It was bad. He’s not certain she’ll remember anything when she wakes. They’ll search the house for any clues to his plans. Meanwhile, Ramesh and Sonia are checking the store monitors. So far we’ve spotted nothing but the theft of the necklace.”
“Show me the case,” Dominic ordered.
Billy opened up the access door and pointed to a small bare spot between two other necklaces. “The chain disappeared from there.”
The Baal first ran his sensitive fingers around the edges of the glass. Then he reached inside spending several minutes exploring the entire interior. He tested the two adjoining necklaces before tapping delicately on each and every piece of jewelry in the case.
“What you looking for?” whispered Marissa.
“A remnant of magic, but I don’t set I.
“What did he want it for?” asked Billy. “Another shield?”
“Hard to say, although I don’t think so. If the necklace is as light as you say, it won’t hold magic long.”
Billy suddenly straightened up. “There it is again.” He explained the oddly familiar scent dangling just beyond the edge of his awareness.
The Baal raised an eyebrow. “Call the Santa. See if anything has changed in The Book.”
Sadhri put her phone on speaker and relayed the request. A few minutes later Brian’s voice came through. “I read a new entry on Kaplan’s page. Darby’s, too. The Book says she assaulted Stephanie Crowder over a week ago.”
“Any idea where they went?” broke in Billy.
“No, but The Book isn’t completely up to date. I’ll keep watching.” He signed off.
“I believe,” Dominic said, “those transient scents are the first tell-tale indicators of Kaplan and Darby. Their shields are failing.”
“How soon before we get a lock?”
“Perhaps, an hour.”
Billy grimaced in frustration. “They could do a lot of damage in an hour.”
A text came through on Sadhri’s phone. “Sonia and Ramesh found something on the monitors.”
****
David handed Rosalie a cup of coffee. “How’s she doing?”
“The same. Did you find anything?”
“Nothing but piles of garbage. They treated this place like their own personal pigsty. Carlos and I sifted through the mess in the living room. We saw fresh ashes in the fireplace like someone burned piles of paper.”
Rosalie looked down at the unconscious woman and sighed. “I never thought I’d feel sorry for Stephanie. I—” A strangled gasp issued from the prone figure on the bed. Stephanie’s eyelids fluttered. Rosalie leaned closer. “Stephanie, can you hear me?”
Her lips parted. One feeble word escaped. “Anthony.”
Rosalie shot David a frightened glance. “He was here, wasn’t he?”
Stephanie moaned again, trying to speak. “I-I don’t….I can’t remember…he left…they all left.” Her voice choked. “They tried to kill me. I-I couldn’t move.” She fixed Rosalie with a haunted stare. “I couldn’t even scream.”
Rosalie took her hand. “I know. I’m sorry. Please, Stephanie, try to remember where he went.”
Stephanie’s voice trembled. “I’m so sorry, Rosalie…for everything hateful thing I did.”
“I know you are,” she said softly. “It’s all right. The only thing that matters now is to find Anthony and the others. Is there anything you can tell us? Anything at all?”
“It’s all blurry,” she moaned. “They came… I couldn’t move. I heard them talking…a theft…people dying.”
“Where?”
“I don’t remember,” she said, and then her eyes went wide. “Anthony hardly left the study.”
David bounded out of the room. Rosalie gave Stephanie’s hand a comforting squeeze. “Thanks. Try to get some rest. You’re safe now.” Stephanie closed her eyes with a tired sigh.
Rosalie followed David and Carlos into the study.
“We already looked through here,” grumbled Carlos. “And didn’t find squat. Even the wastebasket e wt his clean.”
“We’ll look again,” suggested David. “If we come up empty, I’ll bring Dominic.”
They tore through the room. Rosalie pushed aside a curtain and picked up a crumpled paper that landed past the wastebasket and rolled underneath. She smoothed out the sheet. Strange symbols covered the page. “Found something.”
David glanced over her shoulder and let out a low whistle. “Deep magic. Dominic needs to see this.”
Without another word he touched both their shoulders and they all disappeared. When the darkness cleared, Rosalie and the others stood in the security office. A crowd huddled around the monitors.
Sadhri looked up. “Kaplan and Darby came to Penrose’s late this afternoon.” She pointed to the screen. A man and a woman walked through the main entrance. They were the only ones pushing against the rush of the exiting crowd to enter the store.
David handed the Baal the sheet of paper. “Pearce is with them.” Dominic studied the odd shapes with a frown.
“What do they mean?” asked Marissa.
“He experimented with different third level incantations, but these were discarded. Good magic takes time and he was in an apparent hurry.” He tapped the sheet. “The symbols tell me he needed something to throw together quickly.”
David peered at the hastily scrawled figures. “What did he try to make? Another shield?”
“Not make—modify. He wanted something attached to another spell.” The Baal looked up. “I understand now why Pearce took the necklace. Third level incantations are dicey, but powerful. If he set the spell in gold, the precious metal acts as a stabilizer. The purer the metal, the more control over the magic. The good news is whatever he created won’t last long. The bad news is even one bomb will make a cataclysmic disaster in a millisecond.”
Marissa paled. “Alex is upstairs.”
David whipped out his cell. “I’ll call my dad and tell him to evacuate the roof—”
The tremor nearly knocked them off their feet.
“What the hell was that?” cried Billy.
David dialed his father. “Come on…come on…pick up,” he muttered anxiously. The floor rocked again.
He redialed and this time Brian answered. “David? Are you all right?”
“Dad!” he yelled, putting the phone on speaker. “Get everyone off the roof!”
“We can’t. Something happened to the barrier. It’s solid. No one can get through.”
“What do you mean?” demanded the Baal.
“The cupids already tried. A force prevents them from teleporting.” They heard an agitated shout for Brian. “Wait a minute…”
Footsteps…more shouting…
“Dad!” cried David. “What is it? Dad!”
“The barrier is shrinking,” he cried. “It’s closing in on us.”
“Pearce made an alteration,” Dominic growled.
“Can you fix it?” gasped Marissa, her face white.
“Not immediately unless I have the spell. Brian…how fast is the barrier moving?”
“Fast enough. That’s not our biggest problem, though. With all these people we have maybe fifteen minutes of air tops. David, your mom and I will herd everyone to the center of the roof.”
“Pearce isn’t farce align="jur,” Dominic said. “Third level incantations have a limited range.”
“We’ll find him, Dad. Tell everyone to hang on.”
“What now?” Rosalie asked. “How do we stop him?” David eyed her helplessly.
Billy broke the silence. “Kaplan is near.”
“You have the scent?”
“Not a lock. It’s faint, but he was through here recently.” He pointed. “That way. If I move closer—”
“Not yet,” Sadhri commanded. “Any nearer and Kaplan may pick up yours. We don’t want to spook them. The only thing working for us now is surprise.”
“Central Receiving is back there,” mused Rosalie. “Anthony knows that part of the store really well.”
“The storage unit?” suggested Marissa.
Sonia proposed they rush in, but Dominic shook his head. “Too risky. This type of spell is already unstable. The necklace will be suspended in the air, the runes orbiting around, barely keeping the power in check. If any of the symbols are disturbed, the massive release of energy will bring the entire building down. Although…” The Baal thought for a moment. “Pearce has only been here a week. He had no time for complicated countermeasures. That gives us an advantage.”