No Quest for the Wicked (12 page)

“I’m not feeling any magic in use. Maybe the doorman was just keeping us away from the Eye.”

“Does anyone feel a strange pull?” I asked.

“Nope,” Rod said. “If it’s here, it’s in the box. So, how do we want to deal with this if she’s home?”

“Let’s pretend I’m paying her a personal visit,” I said. “She thinks I’m useless and stupid—not remotely a threat. If she isn’t wearing the brooch, I’ll distract her, Owen can tranquilize her, and you guys go looking for it.”

“And what if she has it on her?”

I flexed my fingers and formed a fist. “Then I’ll punch her lights out and take it away from her.”

Owen raised an eyebrow. “Make sure she has it before you hit her.”

“Spoilsport. What happened to better safe than sorry?” I took a deep breath, and my hand only trembled a little as I reached out to ring the doorbell.

The chimes inside sounded like cathedral bells, echoing out into the vestibule, and I gestured for the others to move to the side, where they wouldn’t be immediately visible from the doorway. There was no response for a long time, and I was almost ready to give up when the door opened a crack. A uniformed maid, complete with frilly cap, stuck her head out. She had the kind of fear in her eyes that I recognized from staff meetings with Mimi. She rattled off something in a language I couldn’t identify. I glanced at Owen, our resident linguist, but he shrugged and shook his head. I figured it was just like Mimi to import a maid from some exotic locale—probably some place where they were used to living under the rule of tyrants and didn’t know anything about human rights.

“Um, hi,” I said. “Is Mimi home? I’m a friend of hers. We used to work together.”

The maid said haltingly, “Sorry. No English.”

“Okay,” I said. In desperation, I tried charades, pulling my face into an exaggerated snarl and hissing as I raised my hands in claws.

The woman flinched but grinned in recognition as she nodded. She then shook her head. “Not home. Left this morning. Gone all day. Not back until late, late night,” she said, pausing between words as though running them through a mental phrase book.

“I don’t suppose you know where she’d be now,” I said wistfully, but the maid just shook her head. “Well, thank you. You’ve been very helpful. And I am so, so sorry. We’re doing everything we can to make sure it doesn’t get worse.”

After she’d closed the door, Thor asked, “Now where should we go?”

“If Mimi hasn’t been home since lunch, she probably still has the brooch with her,” I said. “And you can usually find Mimi by the trail of shattered people she leaves in her wake. I bet we could walk up and down Park Avenue and look for people who work in service industries who are either crying or setting things on fire. There could even be riots.” Then I had an idea. “Or I could call Gemma and find out who the most exclusive hairstylist in the city is. Mimi would get her hair done before a gala like this, and we might find her there.”

Owen handed me his phone, and I was already dialing before we reached the lobby. Gemma gave me the addresses of the top hair and nail salons, and I scribbled them on a notepad I had in my purse, then followed the others outside. As soon as I got through the door, I said, “I’ve got a few leads. It might be a good idea to split up to check them all out as quickly as possible, but surveillance only. We’ll call each other before moving in if we find her.”

They didn’t respond, and it took me a moment to notice what they were looking at. The flying carpets were gone, and the two tiny drivers were lying on the sidewalk. “Wait, our carpets were stolen?” I asked. “They didn’t even have radios in them. And I thought crime had taken a downswing.”

“It’s a safe bet they weren’t joyriders,” Rod said as he bent to check on the drivers.

“And they won’t be stripping them for parts,” Owen added.

“Someone is sabotaging us,” Thor said, hefting his battleaxe in his hands. “I suspect the Elf Lord. He doesn’t want his plot disrupted.”

“This doesn’t seem like Sylvester’s style,” Earl said. “He’s more likely to let us find the brooch and then take it from us than to try to stop us from finding it.”

“On the bright side, we’re definitely on the right track,” I said. “We’ve got to be if someone is bothering to get in our way.”

“They tried to stop us at Macy’s, and that wasn’t even a real lead,” Owen reminded me.

“The fake doorman knew Earl used elfsong earlier, so he must be connected to the black suits. Maybe that was about stalling us before we could figure things out and catch up with Mimi. Are the drivers okay?”

“They’ll be fine,” Rod said as he straightened.

Sam swooped in and landed on the awning. “Nothing in a three-block radius,” he reported. “They’re sending up some other carpets, but it’ll take a few minutes. Maybe we should move on and have them meet us somewhere.”

I checked my notepad. “One of the salons Gemma suggested is only about a block away. We could head there.” I hesitated, then said, “But don’t call the office to tell them where to meet us just yet.”

“You’re still thinkin’ mole, doll?”

“Someone has been waiting for us twice so far today, and it seems to happen whenever we check in with the office.”

As we walked down the street, I moved up alongside Earl and said, “You didn’t get to tell your story.”

He shrugged. “There’s not much. From my time at court, I knew Sylvester was eager to solidify his power. When Lyle reported that he’d found the Knot, I decided to work with you to keep it out of Sylvester’s hands. Knowing that Sylvester had the Knot all along and that he got the Eye and commissioned the brooch just verifies my suspicion that he’s pulling an elaborate power grab. I have to make sure it doesn’t work.”

“No songs or poetry in the telling?” I asked with a smile.

He grinned in return. “There’s a time and a place for that kind of thing. If I wanted to, I could tell it in a way that would make you weep—and not with boredom.” I thought he looked more like a teenager than a bard who could keep his listeners entranced, but I’d heard him sing, so I didn’t say anything.

“You don’t think Sylvester stole it himself?” Owen asked.

“No, he’s too frantic about it. He might play it cool in front of Merlin, but he went postal on Lyle when he brought him the news that it had been in a jewelry store. I believe the gnome speaks the truth.”

“So, that means we have a power-hungry Elf Lord who had this thing made as part of a secret plot, and we have the domineering bitch who owns it now,” I said. “I almost wish we could throw them into a secure room together and let them fight over it. It would be epic.”

“You don’t know Sylvester. It wouldn’t be much of a fight,” Earl said.

“You don’t know Mimi,” I replied, suppressing a shudder. “It would be the throwdown of the century.”

When we’d visited the nearest hair and nail salons on our list without finding either Mimi or a record of an appointment for her, I said, “We’re running out of time. Where are those carpets? If we don’t find her soon, we’ll have to catch her at the museum tonight.”

Sam, who’d been flying surveillance loops, returned to us and hissed, “Psst, don’t look back. Keep walkin’ casual-like.”

“What is it, Sam?” Owen asked.

“I may be gettin’ as paranoid as Katie-bug here, but I do believe you’ve picked up a tail. I mean, another one. This one’s not a bird, and it’s definitely magical.”

Earl reacted first, leaping to flatten himself into a nearby doorway as he glanced anxiously from side to side. “Relax, kid,” Sam told him. “I don’t think it’s an elf. And if it is, he’s already seen you.”

“But you’re sure it’s a wizard?” Owen asked.

“Keep walkin’. It’s harder to shake a tail who knows you’re onto him,” Sam ordered. When we’d complied, aside from Earl, who refused to move from his doorway, Sam continued. “He’s veiling himself, keeps changin’ his appearance, but I noticed the steady wave of magic comin’ after you. I don’t know which person he is in all these crowds, but there’s definitely someone there.”

“Just one?” I asked. “And he’s there now?”

“He’s good. He’s hanging back a bit—and don’t look over your shoulder.” He added this last part for Thor. Granny followed it up with a slap to the back of the gnome’s head.

“How long has he been there?” Owen asked.

“I think he picked you up at the apartment building, but it’s hard to say. He’d have to have been really good to follow you when you were flying.”

“I wonder which faction he’s with, or if we’ve got a new one,” I said. “We practically need a chart to keep track of them all. This would be easier if everyone had uniforms or matching T-shirts.”

“At least he hasn’t offered to join us,” Rod joked. “I guess we should go on with business as usual.”

“I’ve got carpets waiting for us about a block away,” Sam said.

“Should we try to lose this guy first?” I asked.

“Nah, it’ll be easier to lose him in the air.”

The back of my neck itched with the sensation that I was being watched, but I reminded myself that we weren’t doing anything particularly important at the moment. Anyone who followed us would only get a tour of some of the top salons in the city. I glanced at Owen to see what he was thinking, and his eyes had taken on an unfocused look that was far too familiar. He was deep in thought, miles away. I hooked my arm through his because when he got like that, he sometimes needed someone to keep him from walking into lampposts.

He came to a sudden halt, nearly creating a minor pile-up on the sidewalk. I didn’t stop in time and staggered backward, my arm still caught in his. “That’s it!” he said.

“You’ve finally solved that global warming problem?” Rod joked.

Owen shook his head. “No, I know where I’ve seen those spells the doorman used. They’re from the
Ephemera
.”

Chapter Eight

“You recognized those spells?” Rod asked.

“There was something familiar about them, but I wasn’t sure why, and it’s been bugging me ever since,” Owen said.

“If they’re from the
Ephemera
, does that mean they’re evil spells?” I asked, shivering as my skin crawled.

“Not necessarily,” Owen said. “The book itself is contaminated with evil enchantments, and a lot of the contents have spells embedded, but a good portion of the book merely records spells that were in use at that time. Those spells the doorman used were ancient, and he used the archaic forms.”

“Does that mean someone else has access to the
Ephemera
, or is there another copy?” Rod asked.

“I don’t know. Surely those spells were recorded somewhere else. We’ve moved so far beyond the magic from that time that even our historians don’t generally go back that far in researching spells. But it would explain why we had so much trouble fighting him. It’s like the way sometimes a really outdated computer can be more secure because the current viruses won’t even run on that operating system.”

“Keep walking,” Sam interrupted. “You don’t want our friend to overhear you or think you’ve made him.”

We began moving again, Owen having to work to walk, talk, and think all at the same time. I held onto him to steer him around obstacles. Rod asked him, “Now that you know the source, do you know how to fight those spells?”

Owen shook his head with a groan of frustration. “No. Normally, I would have internalized the spells as I translated them, but since I can’t work them right now, I only remember bits and pieces, and it’s too risky not to go word-for-word. One variation and you might blow something up or fry yourself.”

“And you can’t carry the book around because it’s too dangerous,” Rod said with a nod.

“But the transcriptions of those parts could be safe. I should go back to the office and get them. You might have to go up against those people again.”

“Do we have time for that?” I asked. “We need to find Mimi before she has a captive audience at this gala that she can recruit into her army of doom for taking over the city.”

The two guys glanced at their watches. Rod said, “I don’t want to face those spells again without some help. You go, and the rest of us will keep checking salons.”

“I’ll need Katie, though,” Owen said. “She’s the only other person who can get into the manuscript vault, and it’ll go faster if we’re both digging through the notes. That leaves you without an immune.”

“We’ll just do recon and surveillance. If we find Mimi, we’ll track her from a safe distance.”

As Sam had promised, there were two carpets waiting around the corner a block away. Earl was also waiting there, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head. “I didn’t see anyone following you,” he said, “and they didn’t seem to be following me.”

I tore the pages out of my notepad and handed them to Rod. “Here’s the list of salons. You saw the newspaper picture, right? You’re looking for a tall, curly-haired redhead with demonic eyes. The people around her will either be cowering, crying, or looking for weapons.”

Sam perched where he could read over Rod’s shoulder. “I’ll check on a few of these for you. I may be able to do a fly-by.”

Owen jumped onto one of the carpets, and when I followed him, Granny came with me. “I’m sticking with you,” she said, her tone making it clear that there would be no point in arguing.

I gave Owen a helpless shrug, and he said, “It won’t hurt for us to have a magic user with us.” To Rod, he added, “Keep in touch and let us know where to meet.” Once he’d helped Granny on board, he told the driver, “To the office, please, and we’re in a hurry.”

The carpet lifted, then soared skyward as it zoomed down Park Avenue. I’d thought we’d gone quickly before, but it seemed like we were close to breaking the sound barrier. I couldn’t even recognize landmarks. I held on to Owen with one hand and the carpet with the other, and even Owen seemed tense. But Granny shouted with glee, “Woo hoo! Now, this is what I call traveling!”

We hadn’t been in the air too long before I was pretty sure I saw the Empire State Building go by in a blur. We were heading straight down Fifth Avenue, about twenty stories up, and at a dizzying rate of speed. I felt like I should get double world-saving points for this adventure.