Chapter 2

I closed the car door, both because it was always better to cooperate with law enforcement, and because I could see the butt of their guns when the wind opened their jackets. “What’s this about?” I asked.

Vanessa closed her door too, looking on with a furrowed brow and her full lips pressed in a tight frown.

The female officer put her badge away, kept her coat and jacket swept back to make it easier to get to her gun, and stepped closer. “Keep your hands where I can see them.”

I held them next to me open and palms pointed at her. “I assure you, I’m not going to do anything.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think,” she said and pulled out a set of handcuffs. She put them on me but not behind my back.

I frowned. “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

She glanced at Vanessa with meaning. “We’ll talk elsewhere.” Then she pulled me along by my arm and opened the back door of the Suburban.

I looked over at Vanessa. “Call Jordan. Tell her what’s going on.”

Vanessa nodded, though she looked close to tears.

The male officer looked at her and said, “Don’t try to follow us.”

I frowned at him as he turned to look at me. He cracked a very small smile. I was only marginally scared before, now I wondered whether I really could use my Magic to escape if I had to.

I couldn’t see his eyes, but his small smile faded. Maybe he expected me to try something. Instead I turned and got into the Suburban.

They got in too. She went around and climbed into the driver’s seat. He pushed me over so he could sit next to me. We pulled out of the parking lot and I watched Vanessa watch us drive away.

I turned around to face these two. “Who are you? Why are you taking me into custody?”

The woman said, “I’m Stephanie Dalton, Sheriff Magus for this district. He’s Travis Lawson, my Deputy.”

“A Sheriff Magus,” I said. “I was told you’d shoot first and ask questions later.”

She shook her head. “I ask the questions first.”

I frowned. “Then get it over with. Ask your questions.”

Lawson turned toward me in his seat to keep with that same small smile. “Well, we know who you are and what you’ve done, so the question is easy: how do we turn off the Lockdown?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I didn’t cast it.”

They exchanged a glance. They knew I would deny having anything to do with the Lockdown.

Dalton looked at me again. “Why don’t I believe you?”

I shrugged. “Believe what you want, but what I’ve said is the truth.” I realized that she was watching me rather than the road. “And I’d feel more comfortable if you’d watch where you’re driving.”

She smiled. “I’m more concerned with what’s in here with me than what’s out there.”

I held up my hands and shook the cuffs. “This wasn’t necessary.”

“Says you,” Lawson said.

“They’re designed to keep you from using your Magic,” Dalton said. “We know you’re not affected by the Lockdown.”

I frowned. “And why are we talking about this so openly?”

“This vehicle is secured,” she said. “It’s safe to talk in here.”

I sat back and relaxed as best as I could. Just because they didn’t shoot me on the spot when they first found me didn’t mean we weren’t going somewhere out of the way so they could. “Where are we going?”

“We’re taking you to Austin,” Lawson said. “For trial.”

“Oh, and who’s my defense attorney?” I asked.

He stared at me through his glasses. I could see one of his eyebrows cocked way up. “This isn’t a mundane case. This is a major violation of Magical influence.”

I narrowed my eyes. “That doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to defend myself. You could very well have the wrong person.”

He looked at her and then back at me. “Why do you say that?”

I leaned forward. “Because you HAVE the wrong person.” I sat back, knowing now that I had to prove my innocence. “Since I’ve never been arrested for a Magical infraction, why don’t you explain to me how this works?”

He grinned again. “It’s simple. We take you to Austin, determine your guilt and innocence, and decide on your punishment.”

“And you never have the wrong person?” I asked.

“We figure that out when we determine your guilt and innocence,” he said with a sneer.

I frowned at him. “What proof do you have that I did anything?”

He glanced at Dalton with a grin. “We don’t need proof.”

“Oh, so, just find the person you THINK is guilty and punish him or her without any regard as to whether that will take care of the problem, right?” I asked.

“It’s better than the mundane courts,” he said. “They’ll let the guilty go on a technicality rather than make sure they’re punished for their crimes.”

“And how many times have the mundane courts tried and convicted the innocent,” I asked, “Simply because the investigators didn’t check all of their leads?”

He shook his head. “You’re going to Austin, and that’s that.”

I shook my head. “You believe I’m guilty and say you don’t need proof, which means it’s up to me to prove that I’m not.”

He sat back with that damned grin. “How are you going to prove you had nothing to do with the Lockdown while in our custody?”

I shrugged and didn’t bother answering his question. “When was the Lockdown first reported?” I asked.

“No,” Dalton said. “You don’t get to ask questions about the crime. It’ll give you all the leverage you’ll need to fabricate a story to prove your innocence.”

Lawson grinned.

“Fine, I can’t ask about the Lockdown, but how about some general questions about Magic?” I asked.

“Like what?” she asked.

“Can anyone cast a spell from over two thousand miles away?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“And how many Magi can use Magic before their Initiation?” I asked.

Dalton pulled over on the side of the road, coming to a sliding halt in the gravel, put the Suburban in park, and turned in her seat with her gun drawn. “What the hell is your point?”

I looked her square in the eyes. “Before Mid-August, I was living in North Carolina, completely unaware that I was a Magus because no one had told me. My Initiation didn’t happen until I arrived in Texas in Mid-August, and the Lockdown was already in place. Therefore, how can you claim that I’m the one who did this?”

Dalton sat there, staring at me. I could see the tension in her eyes, her lips, even her hand holding her gun, but she didn’t move. Finally, she blinked and relaxed. “Nice story, but how do you explain that you’re the only person not affected by the Lockdown?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I don’t even know enough about Magic to begin to explain how the Lockdown works; much less have the knowledge to pull it off. From everything I’ve been told about what’s going on, no one else knows how this is happening either.”

She stared at me for several minutes, studying my face. If she was trying to use Magic to detect any lies or whatnot, I didn’t notice it, and I certainly didn’t try to stop her.

She turned to Lawson. “Call Austin, tell them we’re going to be delayed.”

He glanced at me, looking dumbstruck. “You’re not going to believe his crap, are you?”

She looked at me. “We’ll check out his whereabouts. We can’t prove when his Initiation took place, but we can find out where he was at the time the Lockdown was reported. You said you were living in North Carolina? What city?”

“Newton Grove,” I said.

She looked at Lawson again. “When you get done talking to Austin, call House Gruis. They’re based in Raleigh. They should have records of what Magical families live in their state.” Then she put the Suburban in gear, pulled back out onto the road and continued on as if we hadn’t stopped.

I had expected us to turn around, but that was obviously not the case. “Where are we going now?” I asked.

She looked at me in the rear view mirror again. “Don’t worry about that,” she said and added. “At least not until after we’ve determined whether you’re lying to us or not.”

I frowned and shook my head at her. “Jaded,” I mumbled.

“What?” she asked. “What did you say?”

I looked at her. “You’re JADED. You’re not bothered with the truth, only proving that I’ve lied.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not jaded. It’s the way the world works. Everybody lies.”

A few minutes later we were parked next to a McDonald’s. Dalton was only half-sitting in her seat. She was turned so she could see me and Lawson better. Lawson finished his call and looked at Dalton. “According to House Gruis, there are no Magical families named Connors in their state. He lied.”

I shook my head. “My family never told me about this. I didn’t find out until I got here. Isn’t it possible they didn’t report in to House Gruis?”

They both looked at me as if to say, “Shut up.”

I ignored that and went on, “What about flight records? I flew to DFW from Raleigh. I’m enrolled at the University of Texas in Arlington as a full time student. Why would I let records like that continue to be there if I had pulled off something like the Lockdown and wouldn’t want you two to come looking for me, much less actually find me.”

Then I thought about it. I was at a wedding in a church that I had never been to before. I looked up and asked, “How did you find me anyway? I could understand if you picked me up at home or the school, but you didn’t.”

Lawson shook his head, refusing to answer. Dalton looked at me. “We’ve been following you for the last week, hoping you’d lead us to the location where you were keeping the spell’s core.”

I met her eyes. “Really? And what have you learned?”

She rolled her eyes. Lawson said, “Other than school or going to stay the night with the different women we’ve observed you with, the church was the first place you went that wasn’t associated with any of that.”

“And that was because I was Vanessa’s date for the wedding,” I said. “And since you two are Magi, and know what Fonti are, you should also know that all those women you’ve seen me with are my Fonti.”

They glanced at each other. “I told you they were,” Dalton said.

Lawson grimaced and looked at me. “One of those women is a Magus. Jordan Krumm.”

“Actually,” I said, “she’s a former Magus. I don’t know all the ins and outs about how it works, but she no longer has Magic, no Fonti, nothing. She’s mundane now. She is, however, my primary source of Magical knowledge. I also know she’s anxious for me to solve this Lockdown issue, because it led to her current state.” Obviously, I was leaving out a lot, like how she attempted to tap my powers to see if that would free hers from the Lockdown. Unfortunately for her, there were two problems. One, my power was greater and thus pulled power from her instead of what she intended, and two, I wasn’t even aware of my power or how to help control the flow of power between us. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was better than taking the chance that they would haul me off to Austin anyway.