Deception of the Magician (Waldgrave Book 2) (12 page)

The end of December arrived much faster than Lena anticipated. Before she even knew it, cars of the approved officials were pulling up the gravel road and parking next to the house. People were circulating life back into Waldgrave as they unloaded massive suitcases and the final details were worked out. Howard had bought some new vehicles on Master Daray’s behest for the team to travel with, as there was no way they would get a locked and unopenable box onto an airplane, if they ever found it. There were two vans and three sedans to accommodate the ten Council members plus Lena, Griffin, and Ava, who had been asked to go at the last moment because she had actually seen the portal before and could assist in its identification.

All too soon, Howard was hugging her and refusing to let go. It was very early in the morning, and it had snowed the night before; a tangible frost had penetrated everything from the cold waffles at breakfast to the mood of everyone in the house. The rest of the team were already out in the cars, the suitcases were stowed, the seating arrangements decided, and Howard was almost crying. He was talking so quietly that Lena probably wouldn’t have been able to hear him if she wasn’t pulled into a hug.

“You’re going to call every night and every time you make a stop.”

“Okay.”

“Be careful, and if anything seems funny, tell me, and I’ll get you out of there.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me you’ll tell me what’s going on, even if you don’t want to.”

“I promise.”

He hugged her tighter for a moment, then pushed her out to arms’ length and studied her as though he were trying to memorize her. His eyes were watery. “If anything goes wrong out there—and I mean anything at all—you run away. Get as far away from everyone as you can, and then call me. But first, you need to get as far away as possible from anyone who calls himself Silenti. Old Faith and New. Okay?”

Lena looked him in the eyes. He was starting to worry her. “Okay.”

“And you’ll call?”

“I promise.” She hugged him again. “I don’t know what you’re making such a big deal about. Everything is going to be fine, and I’m coming back.”

A moment later, Griffin came in and told them they were ready. Howard gave Lena a quick kiss on the forehead, said goodbye, and then walked away into the living room. Through the doorway to the kitchen, Lena could see Mrs. Ralston giving her kind, concerned looks as Howard walked towards her; she had already said goodbye to Rosaleen, Pete, and Cheryl. Her grandfather hadn’t said a goodbye, but the cat had been stationed outside her bedroom that day—for what reason, she wasn’t sure. He had just wandered away when she opened the door. Lena walked out the side door and got into a van between Greg and Ava. The ignition turned, the cars pulled away down the gravel road, and Lena gave one quick look at the window before she could stop herself. A weight dropped in her stomach as she saw Howard and Mrs. Ralston, just as they were going back into the house. She very suddenly wished she wasn’t going.

The first hotel was a sad awakening. It was confusing, because even across the years, hotels don’t change much. A three-star hotel is a three-star hotel everywhere in the world, now or twenty years ago. The hotel hadn’t changed, but it all looked different. The suitcases were different, and the companionship was different, and Lena was different. Looking in the mirror, she had mixed emotions. She could hardly recognize herself in the mirror; she had become a stranger in the place she had thought she would find peace. There wasn’t anything familiar about the hotel room but Ava’s extensive collection of dresses hanging in the open closet, and Lena was confused and sad. Her father wasn’t there, and that fact was clear.

“I guess we’re going to have to keep the door open all night, because we’re not allowed to be alone together.” Ava said, propping open the door to the adjoining hotel room. “Who knows what they think we’re going to do. We’ve been alone together all that time back home…”

It was sad that she immediately thought of Waldgrave when Ava said ‘home.’ She had never thought of that place as home until now, when she’d had to leave it. She was much smarter than Ava, though; they thought they were going to go sneaking out together if left to their own devices. The thought had already crossed Lena’s mind; she wasn’t going to enjoy the trip as much now that she was going to have to share a room with Ava. Apparently it was inappropriate, by Master Daray’s standards (vicariously brought into the situation via Griffin) that the two women sleep alone or with other Council members, even in separate beds; so, they were staying together in a room adjoining another room in which some Council members were staying. The Council members on the trip didn’t trust the two women in a room alone, so the door to the adjoining room was to remain open during their stay.

“Have you unpacked yet?” Ava asked.

“We’re not staying here, mom. It’s a waste of time because you’re just going to have to pack it all up again tomorrow morning when we leave.”

“So? There’s no reason we have to live like we’re homeless. It feels homier when your clothes are in the drawers.”

Lena sighed. It wasn’t like she had anything better to do. She had already given Howard his courtesy call, she wasn’t allowed to leave, and she had all the time in the world until they actually got to Ecuador and started retracing Ben Collins’ steps. She unpacked, knowing full well that she would be repacking in less than twelve hours’ time, then grabbed the remote off the television and settled onto her bed. She turned it on and flicked aimlessly through the channels until Ava stopped her.

“Wait! What was that?”

Lena went back a few channels. It was a home design show. They watched silently for a few minutes.

“Do you think that would look good in the living room?”

Lena glanced over at her mother. “What?”

“That kind of paint. Do you think it would look good in the living room?”

“I don’t know.” Lena looked back at the TV screen, confused. “Why?”

“I think I’ll try that someday.” Ava said dreamily. “It looks good there, so why not?”

Lena snorted. “You really think 
he’d
 let you do that?”

They both knew who she was talking about. Master Daray was very particular about the house and the way it was kept; he didn’t like things to change, and when they had to, he liked to maintain a historical feel.

“He’s going to die soon anyways. I can wait.”

Lena looked over at her mother. Ava continued to look at the television screen. It was almost funny enough to laugh at, but Lena wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. Then Ava raised her eyebrows.

“Of course, he’ll probably die a lot sooner if we find it. This is the only thing he’s been holding on for.” She gave Lena a half-smile and a quick glance. “So I guess we need to find it for the sake of our hideous living room…”

Lena laughed a little. She had never seen this side of Ava before.

“Would you like some wine? I’m going to order some wine…”

“They don’t have wine here.”

“Hmm?”

Lena pushed the room service menu at Ava. “They don’t have wine.”

“Well, look at that.” Ava picked up the menu and inspected it closely. “That’s nice they leave you a list. But I need some wine.”

She got up and wandered over to the open door that adjoined their room to the other one and stuck her head through. “Excuse me, we’re going to need some things from the store. Yes, tonight…” She walked into the other room, and came back a few minutes later. Lena heard the door in the other room open and close again.

“I hope you like white wine.” Ava said with a pleased grin.

Lena looked at her mother. “I don’t drink.”

“What?” Ava looked confused. She settled back onto her bed, fluffing the pillows so she could lean against them. “Why not?”

Lena gave her mother an ironic look. “Well, I’m only seventeen, mom.”

“Oh…Since when does that matter? It’s on the table every night.”

Lena sighed. “I guess I don’t like it.”

Ava reclined further on her bed. Her eyes drifted across the ceiling. “You got that from your father. I suppose I got my drinking habits from him, too.”

Lena went back to watching television. Ava was quiet for a long time. Eventually, whoever had gone came back with Ava’s order. She went into the other room again and came back with a bag containing two bottles of wine and a box of crackers. She offered some to Lena, who refused, and then ate her meal in silence. They went to bed, repacked their bags early the next day, and then they got back on the road.

Days and hotels began to stream together after that point because they never stayed longer than one night anywhere. The scenery changed as the days rolled by, and Ava slowly became more alcoholic and loopy as boredom and apprehension overtook her. She had never liked traveling. But as she began to crutch more heavily on alcohol to calm her nerves, she began to do lose her inhibitions and became much more fun to be around. Even when they were riding in separate vehicles, she was fun to be around. She provided a running commentary of the events around her that kept Lena amused.

So, how are you?

Two days earlier, Lena had discovered that even though she couldn’t do private thought-speak, sending text messages via cell phone was just as effective. She sent a quick one to Ava, saying she was doing okay. Ava was riding in the sedan at the front of the caravan; Lena was riding in the van just behind between Griffin and Master Brendon.

Well, things are starting to get interesting up here. Jasper Barton is asleep in the seat next to me. I’m in the back, if you couldn’t guess…but with the way Matias Rivera drives, just thought I’d clarify that the sleeper is in the back. He’s got his head leaned back and he’s making this noise that’s like…like a cross between a whistle and a shrieking cat, but quieter. He hasn’t started to drool yet, but if he’s anything like he was yesterday, it won’t be long…

Lena’s cell phone buzzed, and she saw that Howard was calling. She let it go to voice mail before she sent a text message to see what he wanted.

Yep. And there’s the drool. It’s hanging out of the right corner of his mouth like an icicle on the eaves. Swaying dangerously—nope, there it goes. He’s drooling on himself.

Howard called again, and this time Lena answered.

“Hello?” She said, hoping that the conversation would be brief.

“How’s your trip?”

“It’s good. How are you?”

There was a pause. “Oh, it’s been busy here, as usual. Maybe even more busy than usual, because there’s been a good deal of curiosity about where you all are and how you’re doing, so I’ve started giving out regular email updates on where you all are. They’re expecting too much too soon, I think. The real mission doesn’t even start until you get to Ecuador.”

He’s got a good flow of spittle all the way from his mouth down his shoulder. It’s pretty amazing, actually. It’s almost like a slow-motion waterfall of gigantic bodily proportions…He’s the eighth natural wonder of the world!      

Lena tried to stifle a laugh. “Anything else new?”

“Oh, the usual. A lot more applications for Council Representation coming in, and Mrs. Corbett has apparently been stirring up some trouble with the Alarid’s house staff, but not much else.”

Oh my God!

Lena craned her neck to try and see into the sedan in front of her. “Yeah?”

He’s fallen on me and I can’t get him to sit back up!

“Yeah.” There was a beep on the line, and Howard sighed. “Hmm…I think I need to let you go. Someone on the other line.”

“Okay…” Lena said distractedly. “Bye.”

“Okay, call me at your next stop.” Howard said seriously. “Bye.”

Through the rear window of the sedan, Lena watched as Ava struggled to try to push Jasper Barton’s sleeping form off of her and finally resorted to beating him with the neck pillow she had brought along. He woke with a start and sat up.

Oh, that was so, so gross. I call first shower tonight. Please inform Master Mason that I will be requiring my usual wine tonight, and I’d also like to go out to dinner if you can swing it. I’m going to take a nap…

Lena heaved a sigh in exasperation. She hated when Ava used her favor with the Council to get herself things. Dinner out did sound good, though; they’d had nothing but fast food since leaving Waldgrave. Lena cleared her throat, unbuckled her seat belt, and leaned forward into the front of the van. She talked as quietly as she could so that only Greg would hear.

“My mom’s going to need someone to go shopping for her again…” She said meekly.

From the driver’s seat, Greg glanced quickly over at her. “Again? What happened to the stuff we bought yesterday?”

Lena paused. “It’s gone.”

Greg glanced over at her. “You’re telling me she drank two bottles of wine since last night?”

Lena gave him a sheepish look. She had actually left half of one of the bottles in the last hotel room, but it was still a lot of wine for one person. Greg gave her an incredulous look.

“Maybe. I’ll see if anyone’s willing, but she’s starting to slow us down.”

“Um, also…She wants to go out to dinner tonight.” Lena bit her lip to keep from laughing. It really was funny how they all insisted that they weren’t catering to Ava’s needs when they so clearly were. Griffin was especially bad, as he had been elected to fetch her requests for the last three days in a row; it was probably because he wasn’t a full Council member yet.