Chapter 39

The walk back to my car gave me time to think. The memories I saw left no doubt in my mind who cast the Lockdown. It made it too easy really. How much would Dalton give to be able to just go up to anyone she thought had done something wrong and check their memories to find out whether or not she was right? Yet, that was the rub. It wasn’t proof. I knew who the caster was, but I couldn’t prove it. What made the whole situation worse was the fact that I didn’t believe for a second that she was doing this of her own volition. The anger from her memories was too ... alien. Yes, she was upset over her mother’s death, but every time she had any doubt or thought she might be taking the wrong course of action and she was bombarded with anger again. What could cause that though? Maybe the same thing that made her shake off the name of ‘he’ and forced her to say ‘the Council’ instead?

I made it to my car, climbed in, and called Dalton.

“Where are you?” she asked when she picked up.

“Just north of campus,” I said. “The model is locked up for the night.”

“Yeah, I just found out. Where have you been?”

“Let’s meet back at my apartment and I’ll tell you.”

“Okay, I’ll be at your apartment in about fifteen minutes.”

I nodded and hung up. I wasn’t sure how to explain things to Dalton. She had given me a chance when I needed it, and now Valory needed the same thing. The only problem was, Valory wasn’t likely to give up on her plans long enough for us to help her figure out what was going on. I hated the idea, but Dalton going in with guns blazing might be the only way to stop her. There had to be another way though.

I worked my way thought traffic to my apartment. My head was so crammed full of ideas and thoughts that I simply followed the vehicle in front of me until I reached my complex. No new ideas had emerged. Certainly nothing that would help.

I had to ease through the complex. Kids in costumes were running around from one lit up apartment to another, trick-or-treating. I had forgotten what today was, and the plans the girls made for tonight. Between the Syndicate’s attacks and trying to de-mystify the Lockdown, I wondered if there would even be a Halloween party tonight at all.

I parked next to Dalton’s Suburban. She was leaning against it, watching me. I got out and leaned against her Suburban too.

She looked me over. “You look like crap. Hard day?”

I glanced around. “Between an intense yet enlightening therapy session, being chased all over the city, having a gun shoved in my face by a would-be kidnapper, and finding out what I did about the Lockdown? Yeah. I’m feeling a bit run down.”

She studied my face for a second. “I take it the therapy session went well and leave it at that. Being chased all over the city?”

I looked around again, my paranoia telling me staying outside was a bad idea. “Let’s go in and I’ll tell you about it.”

She looked around too and followed me to my apartment. The door was unlocked and though I felt a flash of fear at the idea of what I’d find inside, I went in anyway.

Katrina almost bumped into me. She bounced back and giggled. She was already dressed up for the party. She smiled and twirled. “What do you think?”

Her hair was pulled back into a bun and several flowers were involved in holding the bun in place. From the center of that bun was a single thin braid trailing down her back. For a top, she wore what looked like a length of cloth that started behind her neck, crossed over her chest, covered her breasts and ended behind her back. I wasn’t sure if it was one continuous piece or somehow held together. Whatever the case, there was nothing but her under it. Finally, a wide sash rode low on her hips and more cloth draped down in front and behind her from the sash. The sides were open, showing off her legs and she wore no shoes.

She smiled when I didn’t say anything, then raised her hands over her head and her hips swayed like she was standing on a cloud, making her sash and skirt move in ways that shouldn’t have been possible.

Dalton tapped my shoulder. “She can show you the rest of her dance later. We need to talk.”

Katrina smiled and said, “Thank you, Master.”

I shook my head. “But I didn’t say anything.”

She smiled more. “No, your stunned silence said it all.” Then she turned and went to the kitchen, her hips swaying with every step.

Dalton tugged on my arm. “C’mon. You can recharge later.”

She led me to my bedroom and closed the rest of the world out. “Now, talk. What happened at the courthouse?”

I shook my head, feeling a bit dizzy after seeing Katrina like that. “Is this how it feels when you’ve used so much energy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve cast a lot of spells today; some on the model at the school this morning, several on my car, a couple on myself, and then the few I used at the courthouse. I’ve never done so much in one day, not even when Tanner had me practicing.”

“How do you feel?”

“I usually don’t go looking for my girls for sex. They always come to me. Now, I could use their company.”

Dalton smiled. “Think of it like an early-early warning signal.”

I frowned. “Then what’s the next signal?”

“When you’re thinking about having sex with any woman you see.”

“And red flags?”

“Ah, well that would be when you’re willing to have sex with anyone, regardless of your preferences.”

I nodded. “Good to know.”

“You mentioned a lot of spells. Talk to me. Tell me about your day.”

I nodded and told her how things started out after classes, then about the spells I used on the model and the impressions I got.

“The suction and energy impressions make sense, but what was with all the sex?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I thought the caster might still need to have sex and ... he’s using the missing girls for that.”

“If the missing girls are involved, I suppose that would be the reason. Take various girls over time to use to keep his own power up while the Lockdown is active so he’s ready when it runs its course.”

I nodded in agreement. “The sex is unsatisfactory though, and I don’t know why.”

She nodded. “What else?”

I told her how security guards chased me away from the model, going to the therapy session, the spells I cast on my car, noticing more people following me and how I lost them, finding the tracking device on my car and moving it to a similar car, and finally arriving at the courthouse.

“Danielle’s attorney had no idea why I had been summoned to the meeting,” I said. “So, I went up to talk to Roger’s attorney about it. It turns out, he’s a Magus. He showed me photos of me and Danielle together during my Initiation. I knew they were fake because if anyone had been that close to me for so long, they would have been affected by my power.”

“You sure about that?”

“Jana is what you’d refer to as a man-hater. Yet she was affected by my power after being near me for only a few minutes. She became one of my first Fonti.”

Dalton blinked. “Okay. So how did Bullington fake the photos?”

“He left the area affected by the Lockdown to magically alter blank sheets of photo paper. When someone touches them after that, they display images drawn directly from that person’s memories yet repositioned so it looked like someone else took the picture. I deciphered how they worked and reset the photos he had. I ended up giving them to Danielle’s attorney to give to Roger. They showed him beating Danielle the night before she left him.” Then another thought occurred to me. Bullington could attempt to reset them again. I would have to warn Mrs. White to make copies, just in case. In fact, I could explain it all to Danielle and have her warn her attorney.