Chapter 19

Chloe’s smile became amused. “You found me?”

I blinked and realized I had spoken without thinking. I thought about what I said and realized that though it was out of context, it was the truth. “Yes, I found you.”

Her smile shifted to friendly. “I didn’t realize anyone was looking for me.”

I realized that she was teasing me, and better yet I didn’t mind. “How could you not?” I said, looking directly into her eyes.

She stared back at me, her smile filling her whole face with radiant delight.

A cold breeze reminded me that we were still standing in the doorway to her friend’s apartment. “Do you live in one of these apartments? I could walk you home.”

“No,” she said with a faraway voice, “but you can walk me to my car.”

I was somewhat disappointed that she didn’t live here. It would have made things a bit easier. If I hadn’t finished explaining what was going on by the time we got to her place, I might be invited in to finish. Walking her to her car, however, didn’t offer the same possibility. Basically, I only had until we reached her car for me to convince her to help with the Lockdown.

She stepped out of the apartment, made sure the door handle was locked, and pulled the door closed. Then she turned, smiled up at me, and hooked my arm with hers.

I wasn’t in a hurry to reach her car, which was probably parked nearby, so I set a slow pace. “I have to apologize for what I said a moment ago. It was true that I found you, but not only for the reasons that seem obvious.”

“What?” she asked. “You weren’t looking for a sex buddy?”

As confusing as my apology had been, her question sent me spinning recklessly in my head. I looked at her, trying to figure out how serious she was. The expression she wore seemed perfectly sincere, which didn’t help in the least. I wasn’t getting warning bells that I had said anything wrong, nor that her statement offered potential problems. She was a Magus. Sex was to be expected. I settled with saying, “Yes and no.”

She pulled me to a stop. We hadn’t even reached the stairs yet. I turned and met her eyes. “You would have turned down sex?” she asked me.

I said the most honest thing I could at the moment. “With you, no. Never.”

She smiled a happy cat smile and we started walking again. “Then you’re looking for more than just sex,” she said.

I nodded. “Yes. I need your help.”

“My help?” she asked, looking up with a furrowed brow. “What kind of help?”

We were at the top of the stairs. I looked around, checking the balcony for this building as well as the others nearby. I didn’t see anyone, but I had learned that didn’t necessarily mean anything. “The kind of help we can’t talk about out in the open.”

She squeezed my arm. “I’m willing to risk it if you’re being honest with me.”

I nodded and we started down the stairs. “I came to House Volantis to recruit someone with the right magical skill set.”

She shook her head. “You do know we’re under the Lockdown, right? How were you expecting to find out if anyone has the right skill set without asking them and then deciphering their answers for the truth?”

“The same way I know you’re the one I need,” I said. “I can share memories. In a heartbeat, I can glean enough from you to know whether you have the skill set I need.”

Her eyebrows rose. “And you’ve been doing this with everyone here, tonight?”

“Only those in the VIP room,” I said.

“Don’t you think that’s an invasion of privacy?”

“How many would consent if I asked?” I asked in return.

“Oh, well, then not many I would say.”

I nodded. “And what I’m trying to do was worth taking the chance. Besides, I asked permission of Lord Fanelli to talk to anyone willing to talk to me.”

Chloe laughed. “Well, that would have been everyone in the VIP room.”

I frowned. “Why is that?”

“Because everyone pretty much goes there to find someone to fuck,” she said. “Or in my case, to help console a friend.”

I nodded and I remembered getting offers for drinks, even one from Chloe. Had she made it so I might be inclined to join her and her friend? Maybe she had hoped I could cheer up her friend in ways that alcohol could not? I let it go. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t important now.

“I got a lot of offers,” I said, “but I had to stay focused on why I was there.”

“And you were there to recruit someone specific?” she asked.

I nodded. “Someone with the right knowledge to help me end the Lockdown.”

We were on the landing between the second and first floors, halfway down. Chloe pulled me to a stop and looked at me with an incredulous expression. “Help you end the Lockdown? How do you expect to do that? Even if you gathered all of the knowledge of everyone here, you still couldn’t use your power to do anything.” Then she frowned and said, “And how are you gleaning my memories anyway? That’s one hell of a complicated spell.”

“It’s one of my innate abilities,” I said. “And as to what I would do, that would depend on whether you know enough about siphoning spells to be of any real help.”

“Oh, so suddenly the problem isn’t the fact that you can’t use your power here, but whether or not I’m up to snuff?”

“Yes,” I said with all of the confidence I could muster.

It must have caught her by surprise because she stopped and stared at me again. “Run that by me again.”

“I answered your question,” I said. “Yes, this depends on what you know.”

She pulled her hand from mine and gave me a small sneer. “If you could even use your powers, other than your innate ability, then my knowledge would be more than enough help. I doubt there’s anyone in the state who knows more about siphoning spells than I do.”

I nodded, happy with her confidence and the fact that she was upset with the notion that she wasn’t as knowledgeable as I needed. “Good.” I grabbed her hand and started us down the stairs again. “I have a plan, but I need more information than just about siphoning spells.”

She followed me with an expression that suggested I should be packed away in a padded room somewhere. “You can’t be serious.”

I gave her solid eye connection again. “Completely,” I said.

She didn’t argue with me about that anymore and walked silently.

When we reached the sidewalk on the ground, I looked around for anyone who might have shown up since I last looked. I felt like we were being watched, but I didn’t see anyone around.

“What’s the matter?” Chloe asked.

I held my finger to my lips, then leaned over and whispered into her hair, “Someone is out here.”

I no more than said it and a shadow in a cowboy hat appeared on the other side of the parking lot. Lord Fanelli walked our way. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. He wasn’t wearing a coat over is suit jacket but then it wasn’t that cold. What bothered me most was the way he held his arms behind his back. What was he hiding?

I watched him closely as he approached. He was making me nervous. I thought of the shield spell Dalton taught me and held it ready in my mind. The spell couldn’t stop everything, but then I only had to worry about mundane attacks. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but I remembered the way Fanelli didn’t want to shake my hand when I left his office. I had forgotten about taking Chloe by his office. It seemed Fanelli was determined to talk to whomever I had found. There was no way he could have known though. He couldn’t use his Magic.

“Ms. Van Houten,” he said. We still had a line of parked cars between us and him. “I hadn’t expected to find you with Mr. Connors.”

“He helped me bring Lizzie home,” she said with a smile. “She passed out at the VIP room.”

I heard a touch of worry in Chloe’s voice. Maybe she understood that something was wrong too.

“Is there something wrong Lord Fanelli?” she asked.

“No,” he said, smiling. “Nothing at all. Though you may disagree.”

From behind his back, Fanelli pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and pointed it at Chloe.

I had the shield spell all set in my mind. As soon as I saw the shotgun, I cast the shield between Lord Fanelli and Chloe.

The gun went off.

Chloe’s hair blew back some, but the shot from the gun bounced off the shield.

Fanelli was standing far enough back that the ricochet didn’t hit him.

Relief swept through me for a heartbeat. My spell had worked.

Then Fanelli cocked another shell into the chamber and pointed the gun at me.

I dove over behind Chloe and the shield.

The gun went off again.

I sat up and found Fanelli closing in on Chloe. At point blank distance, the shield would be useless. He was focused on her again and Chloe seemed to be frozen in shock.

“I’m sorry,” Fanelli said as he cocked the gun again.

I reached out with the TK spell and forced the safety of the gun on.

Fanelli pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

Calling on the few memories I had gleaned from Greta and Michael, I rolled to my feet and kicked the shotgun out of Fanelli’s hands.

“No!” he growled and reached for my throat.

I brought up both of my hands between his in a quick wedge-like motion that broke his grip on me. Then I grabbed one of his wrists and bent it down, snapping it with little effort.

Fanelli fell to the ground, cradling his arm in pain.

Chloe stood over Fanelli, her eyes were wide and she didn’t move.

“Chloe!” I said sharply. She didn’t respond, so I shook her shoulder. “Chloe, talk to me. Are you hurt?”

Her eyes blinked and she looked up at me. “Hurt?” she asked, then felt herself and finally shook her head. “No.”

“Good,” I said. “Now, which car is yours?”

She nodded at a black Aston Martin.

“Get in your car and start the heater to get warm,” I said. “I’m going to call a Sheriff.”

“A Sheriff?” she asked, shaking off more of her shock with every word. “But he’s a House Lord.”

“Let me worry about that, okay?” I said. “Go get warm, but don’t leave yet.”

She nodded, pulled out her keys from a pouch she wore around her waist under the oversized sweater, and went to the car.

I watched her go. Once she was in the car, I turned to Fanelli.

As a deputized House Lord, I had a certain amount of leeway when it came to problems like this. The neighbors, no doubt, would call the police to report shots fired, but this was a matter for Magi to deal with. Before Fanelli was arrested by anyone, I had to know what was going on.

I knelt next to him and pulled on his shoulder to make him look at me. I didn’t know what Valory had done to him, whether she used a standard threat or cast some kind of spell that coerced him into action. With the former, I could offer him help and safety from Valory’s threat. With the latter, I couldn’t do much of anything. “Why did you attack us?” I asked.

Fanelli looked up into my eyes. For a second, there was fear. Then he pushed me away with his good hand, rolled over, and got to his feet. He stumbled and I reached for him, but then he straightened up and turned to face me. He held the shotgun in his good hand.

I quickly called up the shield spell again, but by the time I was ready Fanelli had pulled the trigger.

Nothing hit me.

I looked down at myself. There was no blood. I wasn’t hurt. Then I looked at Fanelli. He was lying on the ground motionless. His hat, which had remained on his head through our brief fight, was gone.

I stepped closer, and kicked the shotgun away from his hand. I didn’t see a wound at first, but then noticed his neck. I bent over him, ready to glean all of his recent memories so I would know what Valory had done to him, but then I understood why his hat was gone. He had pointed the shotgun up under his chin. The blast had taken off the top of his head, along with his brains. There were no memories left for me to glean.

Fanelli was dead.

I understood what that meant on multiple levels. The most immediate concerns were in regards to the police. They would be here soon, and I had no idea what to do.

I looked back over my shoulder. Chloe was still here. Her car was running. We could leave. I didn’t think anyone saw my face, but it would be difficult to mistake the Aston Martin. Besides, I had to do the right thing by Fanelli. He didn’t deserve this.

I got up off the ground and pulled out my cell phone. Linda had said that I should call her if I had to deal with the police at all. Well, I was about to deal with them.

“This is Morgan,” she said by way of answer.

“This is Seth. I’m at Trinity Oaks apartments. I need you here as quickly as possible. Just look for the lights.”