Crushed (City of Eldrich Book 2) (10 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

M
eaghan had no
appointments on her calendar. She planned to check in with Kady and then head home. But she couldn’t find her.

She called Annie in the mayor’s office, but the phone went right to voice mail. Sarah in the council office failed to answer. Gretchen, down in human resources, likewise didn’t pick up. All the receptionists were gone. Meaghan couldn’t even summon up Meb down at the front desk or on the phone he wore clipped to his belt.

Not good.

Even on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day, Meaghan knew there should be somebody in the building answering the phones.

Kady’s purse was gone and the solicitor’s office phones were set to voice mail. Meaghan wrote her a note in case she came back and locked the office door behind her.

Heading down the stairs, she finally found someone. Emily Proctor stood outside the council office looking bewildered. She saw Meaghan and gave her a beaming smile. “Meaghan! It’s so good to see you.”

Here was a new wrinkle on the spell. Even when Emily acted friendly, her smile never reached her eyes and her syrupy sweet inflection oozed insincerity. But right now, Emily looked genuinely happy to see her.

“Um, yeah. Hi, Emily. What’s going on?”

“Well, I don’t know. Nobody’s here. And I just got the oddest call from my husband.” She giggled, her face turning pink. She leaned forward conspiratorially and said in a low voice. “It was kind of
naughty
, if you get what I mean. I think I’ll head home early.”

Meaghan stared at her, nonplussed. She could have more easily imagined Emily uttering a death threat. “You do that, Emily,” Meaghan said, in what she hoped was a soothing voice. “Take the rest of the day off.”

“Only if you take the day off, too.” She giggled again. “You should go out and see John. He’s quite a handsome guy now that I think about it. And he really likes you. I can tell.”

Only ten weeks before Emily had referred to John as a “filthy insect man.” Any lingering doubts Meaghan had about the magical origins of the odd behavior she’d witnessed now evaporated. Only magic—powerful magic—could make Emily act like this.

“Okay, I’ll do that,” Meaghan said. “Only I need to check on a few things on my way out.”

Emily handed her a key ring. “Here are the front door keys. Lock up on your way out, ’kay?” She waved her fingers and bounced down the steps. “Bye!”

“And that’s gotta be one of the signs of the end of the world,” Meaghan muttered. She headed for the mayor’s office, hoping Annie was still around and still in her right mind. Maybe the ghosts knew something.

She found Annie back in the mayor’s private office, sitting at his desk, tears streaming down her face. When she saw Meaghan, she spun around and faced the wall. “I’m sorry. I . . . But it’s so sudden and I really liked him.”

“Really liked who?” Meaghan asked, dreading the answer. “Jhoro?”

“
Him
?” Annie shrieked, spinning back to face Meaghan. “That . . . that . . . boyfriend stealer?”

“Oh, God.” Meaghan slumped down into one of the armchairs in front of the desk, exhausted again. “Who did he steal?”

“He stole . . . he stole . . .” Annie’s chin wobbled and she burst into tears. “He stole your brother,” she wailed. “Russ called and told me he thought he was gay and didn’t want to lead me on until he knew for sure.”

“Unbelievable,” Meaghan growled. “Annie, get ahold of yourself. Russ is not gay. He told me only last night how much he likes you. He’s hexed. And it sounds like you are, too. What are the ghosts telling you?”

“That there’s something magical going on.” Annie wiped her tear-stained cheek with the back of her hand. “That somebody cast a spell.”

“Well, there you go. See?”

“I thought they were only saying that to make me feel better.”

“And how often do they lie to spare your feelings?”

“Well . . . never, now that I think about it. The dead don’t really have any filters. They don’t care about my feelings.”

“The inconsiderate dead?”

This drew a small smile from Annie. “Well, they’re not exactly evil and they certainly aren’t grateful. So who cast this spell?”

“Marnie, I think, trying to cast a love spell on Jhoro that’s gone wild. Everybody’s reacting a little differently. How do you feel about Marnie?”

“Poor thing. Does she know Jhoro’s stringing her along while he tries to turn Russ gay?”

Meaghan buried her face in her hands with a groan. “Annie, listen to yourself.”

“Oh! That was the spell, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, Annie,” Meaghan said as calmly as she could. “That was the spell. Trust me. Russ is straight as an arrow. And he wants to ask you out, but he doesn’t want to rush things and screw up like he has before.”

“If you say so,” Annie said. “The ghosts tell me to listen to you.”

“Good. Do they have any other insights?”

Annie cocked her head, listening. “One at a time . . . shut up and let him finish what he’s saying.”

It took a moment for Meaghan to realize Annie wasn’t talking to her. This was how Sid must have felt when Meaghan was talking to her father’s spirit in Fahraya.

“They don’t know anything about a love charm, but they say some big magic is at work. That yesterday was only a taste of what’s coming.”

“Yesterday?” Meaghan’s heart sank. “Jamie? This is about Jamie?”

“Not the love spell part. They don’t know what that’s about, but say it might be related. Jamie’s energy could be boosting the spell.”

“But Jamie’s in Williamsport.”

Annie cocked her head again and listened. “Oh, shit. No, he’s not. He’s on his way in the front door . . .”

She jumped to her feet, ran around the desk, and grabbed Meaghan, pulling her behind a large storage cabinet.

A huge boom rocked the building and the windows exploded.

Her face grim, Annie pulled Meaghan into a large closet next to the cabinet and locked the heavy wooden door behind her. She yanked open another door, this one steel, dragged Meaghan into the dark, and slammed it shut. Meaghan heard her turn a heavy deadbolt and then a few metallic clunks.

“Hang on a sec, let me find the flashlight,” Annie said.

A moment later, a narrow beam of light filled the space. They were in a small room with brick walls. Runes and symbols that Meaghan had seen Natalie use were spray-painted on the walls and floor. Several leather pouches—hex bags, Meaghan realized, but larger than she’d ever seen—hung from the beams above their head. In addition to the deadbolt lock, three heavy bars secured the door.

“What is this place?” Meaghan asked.

“Safe room. We’re insulated from the building’s effects in here. It should protect us from Jamie or whatever’s using him.”

“Does the mayor know this is here?”

Annie shook her head. “Tony doesn’t have a clue. You know how he is. I told him this was a utility room and he never questioned it. Utility rooms are for lesser mortals.”

They heard another loud boom. The hex bags swayed slightly. “Is that Jamie?”

“Yeah.” Annie frowned up at the ceiling. “He’s on his way to the third floor. The ghosts say we have to get out of here now. Before he gets settled in and realizes we’re here.”

“He’ll hurt us?”

“Not him. The things . . . riding him? Does that make any sense to you?”

“Yeah, it does. They’re controlling him somehow. Through those nasty sigils on his back and chest, I think. He told me those things, whatever they are, are telling him to kill his family. We have to go get him.”

Annie shook her head. “Absolutely not. Whatever he is right now, you and I don’t have the power to fight him. We need some witches.”

“Who are all hexed at the moment. Goddammit. This wasn’t a coincidence. It’s those damn wizards again.”

Annie tilted her head as if listening. “Are those the guys in the gray robes? They’re outside blocking the doors.”

“Shit. Natalie told me they’d put up a barrier around town to keep them out. The love spell must have knocked it out somehow. So, how do we get out of here?”

Annie flashed a grim smile. “What good’s a safe room if it doesn’t have a secret exit?” She pressed one hand into the middle of a wall rune and the other onto the side of the nearest hex bag. She muttered something and a small section of the brick wall trundled backward, leaving a dark hole about the size of a large doggie door. “C’mon.”

With Annie leading the way, Meaghan crawled through the hole into the dusty space beyond. A narrow wooden staircase descended into the darkness. With the help of the flashlight, they crept carefully down the stairs.

“Where do these go?” Meaghan whispered.

“Sub-basement crawl space,” Annie whispered back. “From there, we can access a tunnel that will take us a few blocks away. My car’s in the employee lot across the street.”

Meaghan took a deep breath, trying to quell her fear. She was afraid for Jamie, but, more immediately, the words
sub-basement, crawl space,
and
tunnel
filled her with dread. “You got your keys?”

“Oh,
shit,
” Annie hissed. “No. They’re in my purse under my desk.”

“I’ve got mine,” Meaghan said. “But I’m parked right outside the front door.”

“Wizards are crawling all over the front steps. We’d never make it.”

“Okay,” Meaghan said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. The space was dark and narrow and cramped, and she was in it, and there was no option but to keep moving. “One problem at a time. Let’s get out of here first.”

After what seemed hours, but was actually about ten minutes, Annie led them to a ladder beneath a locked trapdoor. A relatively new combination lock secured it. Meaghan held the flashlight, while Annie opened the trap and, within moments, dust-filtered light shone down into the tunnel.

Meaghan poked up her head. The trapdoor opened into what looked like another basement. Sunlight shone in several of the narrow windows. After the suffocating tunnel, the basement looked like a convention hall.

She climbed up, then gave Annie her hand and helped her through the trapdoor. “Where are we?”

Annie brushed cobwebs off her now filthy white blouse. “The basement of the Eldrich Historical Society.”

Meaghan looked at her blankly.

“You know,” Annie said. “The big yellow Victorian on Iron Street? Two blocks west of the square?”

“Where the town museum is?” Meaghan kept meaning to stop in, but hadn’t gotten around to it.

“Yeah. Welland Eldrich’s house. The guy who built city hall. The tunnel and the safe room weren’t on the original plans, so nobody knows if that was to keep them secret or if they were added later.”

Meaghan shuddered. “I don’t care who built it so long as I never have to go through that tunnel again. I
really
don’t like small places. I’m sure you could tell.”

“You’re claustrophobic?” Annie asked. “You’re kidding. You acted like that was a stroll in the park. Russ is right. You are a stone-cold badass.”

Meaghan had to smile at that. “Russ called me a stone-cold badass?”

“His exact words. Okay, boss, now what do we do?”

“Something badass, I suppose. But right now what I really want to do is wash my hands. And figure out what the hell is going on.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

I
t didn’t take
long for the love spell to reassert itself over Annie. They snuck up the stairs and found the museum empty, a closed sign on the door. In the tiny employee bathroom, Annie took one look in the mirror and burst into tears.

“Look at me. How am I going to make Russ forget Jhoro looking like this?”

To Meaghan’s eye, Annie looked great for having crawled through a sub-basement and a dank tunnel. Her shirt and skirt were trashed and her hair was a little mussed, but otherwise, she looked fine.

“If Russ weren’t currently addled with magic, he wouldn’t be looking at anybody but you,” Meaghan said. “Trust me. You’re totally his type, and prettier than his ex-wives. The only reason he hasn’t asked you out yet is that he likes you too much to risk you becoming ex-wife number four. He doesn’t have a great track record and he’s scared of screwing up again.”

“Really?” Annie asked.

“Really,” Meaghan said. Annie had acted like a seasoned commando getting them out of city hall. Now she was falling apart again, but only after the immediate danger had passed. So maybe, Meaghan thought, her usual allies weren’t as useless as she feared.

“So, now what?” Annie asked.

“Fortunately for us, I have my phone in my pants pocket along with my car keys. Let’s see what’s going on.”

“Have you found him?” Natalie asked, breathlessly, after one ring.

Meaghan didn’t bother to ask who she was talking about. “Not yet. But we got a bigger problem. Jamie’s back, along with a bunch of those Order assholes.”

“That’s impossible,” Natalie said, sounding indignant. “The coven helped me put up a spell barrier all the way around town to keep wizards out.”

“Well, the barrier’s down and they’ve staked out city hall. Which currently has no windows, by the way, thanks to Jamie.”

Natalie sucked in a sharp breath. “Jamie did that?”

“Yeah. We only got out of the building because Annie knows about the secret exit.”

“The one in Tony’s office?”

“Yeah,” Meaghan said. “We’re hiding out in the town museum right now. We can get to Annie’s car, but she doesn’t have her keys. I’ve got my keys, but we can’t get near my car. Come get us. We need to get out to my house.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Any word on Marnie?”

Natalie growled, actually
growled.
“Not yet. But she can’t hide from me forever.”

“Whatever. Get here as fast as you can. And avoid city hall.”

Meaghan spent the next few minutes trying to assure Annie that Russ was straight without throwing all his ex-wives and ex-girlfriends in her face. But the parade of women seemed to reassure her.

“He sure doesn’t sound gay,” Annie said.

“Because he’s not. He’s hexed.”

“So, why’s it playing out that way for him? Why isn’t he hot for Marnie?”

Meaghan shook her head. “I don’t know.” She thought a moment longer. “Because magic is treacherous and love is treacherous and mixing the two is a really bad idea.”

“John’s hot for you, I bet,” Annie said with a sly smile.

Meaghan blushed. What was everybody’s fascination with her and John?

Annie laughed. “Look how red you are. He’s a cutie-pie. What are you waiting for?”

At that moment, somebody pounded on the front door, saving Meaghan from having to either answer or hit Annie over the head with something.

Meaghan peeked through the window and saw Natalie standing on the porch. An Eldrich police car, light bar flashing, sat on the lawn. Meaghan unlocked the front door and pulled it open.

“Who called the cops?” Meaghan asked.

“It’s Kady’s brother. He came to check on me.” Natalie leaned forward conspiratorially. “You need to help me let him down easy. Brian’s always had a thing for me and it’s sweet, but he’s no Jhoro.”

“You mean he’s not a sleazy man-stealer?” Annie bristled behind Meaghan.

Natalie’s look grew dark. “Who are you calling sleazy, you bleach blonde tramp?”

“He likes
men
, you cow, not overfed witches. And don’t you dare call me out on hair color from a bottle, little Orphan Annie. You think you’re fooling anybody with those copper curls? No way that color came from nature.”

Natalie began muttering and waving her hands.

“Knock it off,” Meaghan said. “Natalie, you try to throw a spell and I’ll kick your ass. Both of you, shut up, before I crack your heads together.”

In the police car, Meaghan discovered that Brian wasn’t doing much better keeping it together. He was sick with love for Natalie. Brian was off shift and in plainclothes, but he had his gun with him. He wasn’t saying anything threatening, but the look in his eyes when Natalie gushed over Jhoro worried Meaghan.

The first challenge was figuring out who sat where. On the drive over, with Natalie in the front seat, Brian had been so distracted he’d dinged the police car on an abandoned truck in the middle of the road.

But if Meaghan sat up front, that would leave Natalie and Annie in the backseat and judging by their initial comments, they’d kill each other. If Annie was upfront, she and Brian could commiserate with each other, but that would merely fan the flames of their resentment and could endanger Jhoro.

Judging Brian and Natalie to be the most dangerous members of the group, Meaghan decided keeping them apart was the best option. She climbed into the backseat and dragged Natalie in with her. Fortunately, the cruiser wasn’t equipped with a barrier between the front and backseat, so Meaghan could keep an eye on everybody.

“Sit up here with me, babe, please?”

“I’m not your ‘babe,’ Brian, and I never have been,” Natalie said dismissively. “We made out a couple times in high school. Get over it. You know Jhoro and I are deeply in love and plan to build a life together.”

Brian scowled into the rearview mirror. “When I get my hands on that son of a bitch, I’m taking him apart. Nobody steals my girl.”

“I’ll help,” Annie chimed in. “He stole my man.”

“What man?” Natalie asked, eyes narrowed.

“He’s trying to turn Russ gay.”

“That’s impossible. He loves me. Only me.”

Brian stared into the mirror, his face red. “And I love only you, Natalie. Why can’t you see that? I’ve always loved you. He wasn’t even
human
ten weeks ago.”

“Well, I don’t love you,” Natalie said, with a flip of her copper curls. “Quit whining and get us out to Meaghan’s house.”

“We find him,” Brian said, his face hard, “and I’ll kill him. I’m the only one around here with a clear head.”

“Brian,” Meaghan said, “can I borrow your gun?”

“My gun? Why?”

“I need to check something inside the museum and I want to make sure I’m protected.”

“I’ll go in. You stay here,” Brian said.

“You need to stay out here and keep Natalie safe,” Meaghan said. “Evil wizards are crawling all over town. And they hate witches.”

“I’m not giving you my gun. I don’t have a shotgun in this car. My sidearm is the only weapon I have.”

Meaghan leaned closer and put a motherly hand on his shoulder. “You know you’re the only one who can protect Natalie,” she whispered in his ear. “If I go in there and something happens to me because I can’t defend myself, you’ll either have to leave her here at risk or bring her inside, where she’ll also be at risk. And if you leave her, she’s so crazy right now she might run off to find Jhoro. You don’t want that.”

Brian thought a moment. “You know how to use a Glock?”

“Absolutely,” Meaghan lied. She knew how to use a shotgun, but had only shot a pistol once before. “Give it here. I’ll be right back.”

Reluctantly, after making sure she knew how to work the gun’s safety, he complied. Meaghan got out of the car and holding the gun like she’d seen on TV, crept onto the porch, and into the museum. Once she was inside, she dropped the act.
I can’t believe he fell for that
. Holding the gun carefully, she headed down to the basement.

Meaghan examined the trapdoor that led down into the tunnel. There was a hasp on both sides, and Annie had left the combination lock lying open on the floor. That would work. She double-checked that the safety was on, then dropped the gun into the darkness. She clicked the padlock shut and twirled the dial. Annie knew the combination, but appeared to be a bit more rational than Brian, so Meaghan hoped she wouldn’t tell him.

Meaghan returned to the car.

“Where’s my gun?”

“Locked away safely.” Meaghan glared at Brian. “You’re hexed. Think like a cop for a minute, okay? What will happen if you shoot Jhoro?”

“I’ll go to jail,” he said in a sullen tone.

“Exactly. You told me last night that you couldn’t explain black magic to the district attorney. You think a magic-induced jealous rage would be any easier to sell?”

“No.” He banged his hand against the steering wheel. “But if I see that son of a bitch, I’ll knock his lights out. I don’t need a gun to do that.”

“Fine,” Meaghan said. “Have at him, as long as you do it with your fists. Throwing a punch gives you more time to think. With that gun, one squeeze and you’re both screwed.” She slumped back into the seat, exhausted. “Now get me home.”

“But, Jhoro won’t be . . .”

Meaghan silenced Natalie with a glare. “Not one word.”

“Will Russ . . .”

“From any of you,” Meaghan said to Annie. “Brian, drive. Eyes on the road. If I see you sneaking so much as one peek at Natalie in the rearview mirror, I will smack you in the back of the head with one of my shoes. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Brian growled. “We better be able to find my gun when this is all over.”

“If we can’t, I’ll buy you a new one. Now shut up and drive.”