Much Ado About Magic
Page 101
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I was gasping for breath, and still I had to keep going. Sam and his security gargoyles fought off a few pursuers, and then we neared the street. “Sam, the light!” I panted. I’d be taking my life into my own hands to dart across that street against the light, but I couldn’t stop and wait for a walk signal with people chasing me.
“I got it, doll!” he cried out, flying ahead. The moment I reached the curb, the light changed. There was a squeal of tires and a chorus of honks, but I ignored them and dashed across the street. Then I faced the mob of protesters. If they were all controlled by the charms and amulets, that meant they’d likely try to stop me. I got a firmer grasp on the envelope under my shirt as Sam dive-bombed them, but there were too many for him to fight off. Hands clutched at my clothes, pulled off my hat, tried to grab my arms. Keeping one arm around my waist, I struck out and kicked, fighting in sheer animal desperation.
There was a crack of thunder and a roar of wind, and soon the crowd was being pushed away from me by an invisible force. I looked up to see Merlin standing, staff in hand, in front of the MSI doors. Sobbing with relief, I stumbled toward him. He escorted me into the building with an arm around my shoulders. The sound of those doors shutting behind me was more joyous to my ears than Christmas carols.
I turned to Merlin, words pouring out of me in fits and starts. “Owen, they got him, back in the park.”
Merlin said calmly, “Intervening at this point would endanger my position on the Council, and I need to hold that position to be able to help Owen. I hope he had a good reason for leaving his place of safety.”
I pulled the envelope out from under my shirt. “So do I. It all depends on what’s inside this.”
“Let us go to my office and find out.”
He got me settled on the sofa in his office, where I got a sudden bad case of the shakes. He went to make tea, giving me a moment to pull myself together. I wanted to go to the windows to see what was happening in the park, but I knew Owen would be long gone by now. They’d probably zapped him to wherever the magic jail was the moment they brought him down. The only way I could help him now was to use the information he’d risked his freedom to find—and that his mother had probably lost her life for hiding.
I was a little less shaky by the time Merlin brought tea to me. At least, the cup only rattled slightly against the saucer when I held it. I took a few sips before telling Merlin what the letter had said and why Owen had to go to the park. “He opened the envelope before he gave it to me, I guess in case she’d sealed it magically.”
“That was very good thinking under pressure,” Merlin said with an approving smile. He picked up the envelope and pulled out its contents. It looked like a lot of documents, some on carbon paper, with a few Polaroid photographs, some regular snapshots, and a couple of cassette tapes. I didn’t know enough about the magical world to know exactly what any of it meant, but Merlin whistled softly under his breath as he read.
“So, is it what we need?” I finally asked when I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
“It appears that Owen inherited his attention to detail from his mother,” Merlin said, looking up. “These first few documents are enough to prove Ramsay’s role in the Morgan affair. I can only imagine what other incriminating evidence she recorded. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Idris’s seemingly baseless accusation about Owen’s parentage—which he made under Ramsay’s orders—turned out to be true, and that will be the key to Ramsay’s downfall.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “How do we let people know about this stuff?”
“There will be a hearing, at which Ramsay will likely carry out his plan to make it appear as though Owen is attacking me. We can bring up this information then. But we should be prepared—he is ruthless and driven, and when we foil his plans to look like a heroic savior, he may resort to force.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“You’ve done more than enough. You should rest and be ready for when they call a hearing. I don’t think they know what you had or why you and Owen were in that park. With Owen in custody, the enforcers should leave you alone. I will assign a security detail to you, in case Ramsay tries to find out what you’ve discovered.”
*
The next two days were sheer torture. I felt like I was going through the motions while life moved around me in a blur. I gathered Owen’s things from the hotel room and checked out, leaving a huge tip to be shared among the people who’d helped us escape. I brought Owen’s things to his house and took care of Loony. I think I carried on conversations with my roommates, but I barely noticed what they were saying. At the office, Perdita did her best to cheer me up and distract me, creating all sorts of new coffee concoctions—some more successful than others—before finally deciding it was best to leave me alone. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Perdita stuck her head into my office and said, “The boss wants to see you.”
“I got it, doll!” he cried out, flying ahead. The moment I reached the curb, the light changed. There was a squeal of tires and a chorus of honks, but I ignored them and dashed across the street. Then I faced the mob of protesters. If they were all controlled by the charms and amulets, that meant they’d likely try to stop me. I got a firmer grasp on the envelope under my shirt as Sam dive-bombed them, but there were too many for him to fight off. Hands clutched at my clothes, pulled off my hat, tried to grab my arms. Keeping one arm around my waist, I struck out and kicked, fighting in sheer animal desperation.
There was a crack of thunder and a roar of wind, and soon the crowd was being pushed away from me by an invisible force. I looked up to see Merlin standing, staff in hand, in front of the MSI doors. Sobbing with relief, I stumbled toward him. He escorted me into the building with an arm around my shoulders. The sound of those doors shutting behind me was more joyous to my ears than Christmas carols.
I turned to Merlin, words pouring out of me in fits and starts. “Owen, they got him, back in the park.”
Merlin said calmly, “Intervening at this point would endanger my position on the Council, and I need to hold that position to be able to help Owen. I hope he had a good reason for leaving his place of safety.”
I pulled the envelope out from under my shirt. “So do I. It all depends on what’s inside this.”
“Let us go to my office and find out.”
He got me settled on the sofa in his office, where I got a sudden bad case of the shakes. He went to make tea, giving me a moment to pull myself together. I wanted to go to the windows to see what was happening in the park, but I knew Owen would be long gone by now. They’d probably zapped him to wherever the magic jail was the moment they brought him down. The only way I could help him now was to use the information he’d risked his freedom to find—and that his mother had probably lost her life for hiding.
I was a little less shaky by the time Merlin brought tea to me. At least, the cup only rattled slightly against the saucer when I held it. I took a few sips before telling Merlin what the letter had said and why Owen had to go to the park. “He opened the envelope before he gave it to me, I guess in case she’d sealed it magically.”
“That was very good thinking under pressure,” Merlin said with an approving smile. He picked up the envelope and pulled out its contents. It looked like a lot of documents, some on carbon paper, with a few Polaroid photographs, some regular snapshots, and a couple of cassette tapes. I didn’t know enough about the magical world to know exactly what any of it meant, but Merlin whistled softly under his breath as he read.
“So, is it what we need?” I finally asked when I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.
“It appears that Owen inherited his attention to detail from his mother,” Merlin said, looking up. “These first few documents are enough to prove Ramsay’s role in the Morgan affair. I can only imagine what other incriminating evidence she recorded. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Idris’s seemingly baseless accusation about Owen’s parentage—which he made under Ramsay’s orders—turned out to be true, and that will be the key to Ramsay’s downfall.”
“What do we do now?” I asked. “How do we let people know about this stuff?”
“There will be a hearing, at which Ramsay will likely carry out his plan to make it appear as though Owen is attacking me. We can bring up this information then. But we should be prepared—he is ruthless and driven, and when we foil his plans to look like a heroic savior, he may resort to force.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“You’ve done more than enough. You should rest and be ready for when they call a hearing. I don’t think they know what you had or why you and Owen were in that park. With Owen in custody, the enforcers should leave you alone. I will assign a security detail to you, in case Ramsay tries to find out what you’ve discovered.”
*
The next two days were sheer torture. I felt like I was going through the motions while life moved around me in a blur. I gathered Owen’s things from the hotel room and checked out, leaving a huge tip to be shared among the people who’d helped us escape. I brought Owen’s things to his house and took care of Loony. I think I carried on conversations with my roommates, but I barely noticed what they were saying. At the office, Perdita did her best to cheer me up and distract me, creating all sorts of new coffee concoctions—some more successful than others—before finally deciding it was best to leave me alone. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Perdita stuck her head into my office and said, “The boss wants to see you.”
