Waiting for Magic (10 page)

“It’s okay,” Kemble said, apparently as much to himself as to them. “Devin, I think we need your perspective.”

“Like I’m going to be of any use.”

That’s just how Kee had been feeling.

“Just don’t tell anybody else we’re looking for the Talismans. Senior put me in charge of the quest and I don’t want the younger ones to get worried, or worse, try to help.”

Devin rolled his eyes.

“Okay. So I should have known you could keep a secret.”

“So what’s the Golden Dawn?” Devin
had
been listening at the door.

Kemble shrugged as he realized it too. “The Golden Dawn is a secret society based on magic and occultism. Started in the nineteenth century in Britain.”

“So, like a magic club?” Devin asked.

Kemble bit his lip. “Maybe more than that. Dark arts and all. It was said at the third level they could do astral travel and tell the future, perform alchemy, things like that.”

“Alchemy? Like turning iron into gold.” Devin’s voice dripped sarcasm.

“I know, I know,” Kemble said. “But they were very into the tarot, too.”

Kee agreed. “I think Drew mentioned that when she was researching the tarot’s history. That might be a reason for him to have a Talisman. But weren’t they the ones who said it came from some Egyptian god? Where’s the Arthurian connection?”

Kemble tapped a pen against his lips. “Drew and I aren’t sure. But the name Pendragon indicates there is one. Museum Guy’s tip might be better than he knew.” He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. “Golden Dawn had some pretty famous members, Yeats, the poet, and Bram Stoker among them. A guy named Aleister Crowley. I emailed one of the current members.” He raised a hand to forestall protests. “Yes, the Golden Dawn still exists, though they’ve gone underground. I went to school with him at Harvard. He was in the Divinity School of course, while I was in the Business School.”

“Of course, a magician would go to Harvard Divinity School,” Devin said, disgusted.

Kemble gave him a severe look. “They’re sworn to secrecy, but he owed me. He told me it was rumored that Pendragon was a Magister.”

“What’s that?” Kee asked.

“Apparently, a really high-level magician.” Kemble shrugged.

“I guess that’s good,” Kee said slowly. “A powerful man would want to collect powerful artifacts. What else did you find?”

“I found out on my own that he—or his father—really cut a swath in his time. Liked the ladies. Rumor had it he stole Jane Russell from Howard Hughes in the forties. Burned down a house doing some ceremony where all the women present were naked
and there was a two-headed goat. That sort of thing.”

“
That
would have been splashed all over the papers,” Kee said.

“But no. And that’s the strange part. It was very difficult to pick up anything about him. Some bits I got out of private diaries. There were some whispers here and there. But he must have somehow suppressed any reporting about himself and his activities. The son is a recluse. My Golden Dawn friend said the society itself had been trying to get to Pendragon’s collection of artifacts, but he wouldn’t let them have any part of it.”

“Did your friend know what was in the collection?”

“No. Apparently no one does.”

“Great.” Devin sighed. “So, how are you going to find out what’s in it, and how are you going to steal the Talisman if he has one?”

Kemble and Kee stared. Devin had a way of cutting to the heart of the matter.

“I knew we needed your perspective,” Kemble said. The corners of his eyes crinkled. “I guess I have to get an appointment with him.”

“Why would he see you?” Devin asked.

“And why would he show me his collection?” Kemble shook his head, thinking. “I could pretend to want to buy it, but Museum Guy says he’s turned down all sorts of offers.”

Kee was half amused and half outraged that Kemble kept calling Christian “Museum Guy.” But there was no use protesting. Brothers. If she protested it would only make him intransigent. If she just ignored it they might move on.

“At least he doesn’t know about our magic,” Kemble said. “We’ve kept a low profile, and we don’t travel in those mumbo-jumbo circles.”

The answer to their problem came to Kee. It frightened her.

“What?” Devin asked. Dev knew she had an idea. He always knew what she was thinking.

She held up a hand as the pieces fell into place in her mind. What would their father say? So not right. And the very thought made her afraid. But what could she do? They needed a Talisman. “Maybe the wrong people have asked him. I bet I can get an appointment with him.”

“You?” Kemble sounded more than doubtful.

“Yeah,” she said. She was torn. She was going to be useful to this little crusade after all. In fact, she was going to be indispens
able. Unless they got Drew instead. But the Parents wouldn’t like this plan. She took a deep breath. “He likes pretty women. A lot. You said so.”

“Well, his father.…”

“Like father, like son.” She chewed her lip. “So, what if I ask him for an appointment? I’ll send it on official museum stationary. He’ll look me up online. And that means he’ll see that picture Lanyon posted on my timeline of that picnic we had down at the beach.”

“The one with you in the bikini?” Devin frowned.

“That might work,” Kemble said slowly. “With his history.”

“No way is Kee going to go see some old lecher.” Devin’s voice had iron in it. That might be a tone she’d never heard. Surprising.

“I … I won’t be alone,” Kee said, turning to her brother. “Kemble will be with me. You can be the moneyman and talk contracts and stuff. I’ll be the representative of the museum.”

“We shouldn’t let him know we’re Tremaines,” Kemble mused. “That will protect your identity, Keelan. I don’t want him knowing who you are.” Kemble nodded to himself, thinking. “Maybe it would be better if we got Drew….”

Maybe he was right. But Kee was tired of feeling useless, and if the Parents wouldn’t approve—well, she was tired of being a good girl too. “Drew’s a little unstable right now.” Kee might be overplaying her hand here. “Until she gets her gift under control,” she hastened to add.

“Hmm. The real danger to involving Drew is Michael.” Kemble was thinking out loud. “You know how protective he is of her. He might tell Senior and then it would be all over. I know you’re probably concerned about doing something like this, Kee. But I’ll take full responsibility if they find out. Senior trusted me to find the Talismans. It sounds like Drew isn’t getting anywhere. And I think your plan is a good one. Maybe the only one.”

Kee could see the wheels clicking behind his eyes. What had she started here?

“I’ll get up some false identity papers for us.…”

“Count me in,” Devin said.

“Absolutely not,” Kee protested. “This is a job for two people—only. If … if I’m going to get in trouble, you might as well stay clean.”

“Then I’ll tell Brian and nobody will be going.”

Kemble went pale. Kee was outraged. Threats, from Devin of all people, when she’d been loyal to him through thick and thin? “What a horrid, dirty thing to do, Dev
.”

Kemble held up a hand. “No, Keelan, it’s okay. We need Devin. We can wire him with a camera. While we’re talking to Pendragon, he can be recording anything we find.”

“What pretense can he have for being there? We can’t just drag him along for fun.”

There was a moment of silence and Kee thought she might win through. There was no way she wanted Devin in danger. And who knew what a Magister of the Golden Dawn might do if he got suspicious? She was desperate to be useful to the family, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t scared. It suddenly occurred to her that Devin might need to be useful too. Neither one of them had magic. And Devin didn’t even have the possibility of getting it.

“Okay,” she said grudgingly. “How about if he’s … security or something.”

“For the insurance company who would insure the exhibit?” Devin asked tentatively.

Kemble raised his brows. “You’re a little young. But not bad. You’re in, my boy.”

Devin gave a terse nod. There was something more in his eyes, but she couldn’t read what it might be. That was unsettling. She’d always been able to read Dev like a book.

Kemble clapped his hands. “Okay. We’ve all got work to do. Keelan, get me some samples of business cards from the museum, stationery, and I’ll need your docent ID. Devin, I’ll do some tutoring in surveillance techniques so you can sound like you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ll pump Edwards, discreetly. He’ll have some ideas.”

“Good thinking. He’s had years of experience. But don’t tell him the plan.”

“What are you going to do, Kemble?” Kee asked.

“Study up on contractual arrangements for the loan of art and artifacts.”

“Maybe I can talk Christian into giving us an example.”

“I wouldn’t. He might guess what we’re doing.” Kemble chewed on his bottom lip for a minute. “I don’t think we want anybody in on this. Not even Drew.”

“Not even Jane?” Kee asked.

“Especially not Jane. She would definitely disapprove.” Kemble gave a faux shudder.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s really hard to keep things from Jane,” Kee said.

“Well for God’s sake, try.” Kemble turned back to his computer. They were clearly dismissed.

Devin got up too, but then turned back. “One problem.”

“What?” Kemble asked, his voice absent now, his attention focused on his screen.

“How will we get out of here without a crowd of Brian’s security people tailing us, ready to report back to him?”

Kemble looked thoughtful. “You’re just full of good questions tonight.” He nodded to himself. “You leave that to me.”

*****

“Keelan,” her mother called from downstairs. “Telephone.”

Kee stepped into the library to take the call on the Breakers’ landline. Who would be calling her at home? She didn’t have friends, and the museum staff used her cell.

“This is Keelan Tremaine,” she said, after hearing the click of her mother hanging up the extension downstairs.

“I thought so, regardless of what you called yourself in your letter.” The voice at the other end of the line was male, and, well, virile sounding. Kee had a moment of dislocation before she realized who it must be.

“Thank you for calling, Mr. Pendragon.” Someone was pounding up the stairs. Kee’s heart was pounding too. How had he found out she was a Tremaine? They had carefully worded the letter, signed with a fake name for which Kemble had created a whole online identity. “How … how did you know I had written the letter?”

“My Ouija board told me,” the voice said dryly. “And it, at least, never lies.”

Kemble appeared in the doorway, looking frantic, Devin right behind him. “Pendragon?” he mouthed silently.

She nodded, thinking fast. “Well, I’m sorry about the, uh, lack of transparency, but I didn’t want you to know who was behind the request.”

“Why not?” the voice asked sharply.

“Because the price would have gone up substantially, don’t you think?”

There was a wry chuckle at the other end of the phone. “Possibly. Come to dinner tomorrow night. Alone.”

Kee swallowed and took her courage in her hands. “I’d love to come to dinner,” she said, waving away Devin, who was shaking his head frantically. “But with your reputation as a ladies’ man, Mr. Pendragon, I’ll bring some backup. Just this time.”

“What makes you think there will be a next time?” The voice sounded amused underneath its severity.

“My Ouija board tells me.”

A sharp bark of laughter crackled through the phone. “Ten o’clock. I keep Continental hours. Don’t be late.”

The line went dead.

Kee looked up at her brother and Devin. “We’re on. Tomorrow at ten.”