Chapter 41

I don’t know how long I lay there on the floor. Time held no meaning. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I thought I might be dead, but then the pain hit. I was pretty sure that if I was dead then I wouldn’t have felt anything.

My chest hurt, like I had been hit by a Mac truck. I could breath, but not very deeply.

Someone knelt next to me. “Seth, are you okay?”

I recognized the voice, but couldn’t immediately put a name to it. I nodded, but hurt too much to try to talk. My arms didn’t hurt, so I held up a hand and gave a thumbs up.

Whoever she was, she grabbed my hand and kissed it. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. Traffic is horrible out there, what with all the trick-or-treaters running around.”

Then she leaned over and kissed me. Her lips were soft and the quick flicks of her tongue reminded me that I was in need of some recharging. I tried to reach for her, to pull her down to me, but the pain in my chest stopped me.

Sounds filtered in from the rest of the apartment. I heard voices I didn’t recognize. I cracked my eyes open and tried to look, but all I could see past her hair was blue and red flashing lights. The police and paramedics had arrived.

Among the voices, I heard someone say, “The lights aren’t working.”

I remembered using Magic to turn them off. I had enough strength to lightly clap my hands with my lady-friend’s hand between them. The lights came on. She looked up. It was Leanne. She was in her warrior getup for the party. The top made her breasts jut out like two torpedo tips. I wanted so badly to uncover them and feel the warmth of her skin on my face.

Someone else stood over me. I didn’t recognize him. “Ma’am, you need to move so I can examine him.”

She nodded, gave me another sweet, quick kiss, and then left.

The man knelt next to me and saw that I was awake. “Where are you hurt?”

I patted my chest.

He touched my chest too, and made a funny face. He touched me all over my chest and abs. “What are you wearing under there?”

I had forgotten I had put on the special vest Dalton left me this morning. I laughed lightly and stopped quickly. It hurt to laugh. “Vest.”

He looked up at my face. “Armor?”

I nodded.

“Well, let’s see,” he said and pulled out a pair of scissors.

I shook my head.

He looked at me. “I can’t move you until I confirm the bullet didn’t penetrate.”

I gestured at myself. “Any blood?”

He looked around me and shook his head. “I don’t see any.”

“Then help me sit up,” I grunted.

He nodded and slid his arm under my shoulders. I sat up. It hurt. Everything made my chest hurt. I held up my arms. That hurt too. He pulled my sweater off.

I looked down. A bullet was held in the center of my chest by the vest.

The paramedic released the straps all around me and the vest fell away. He checked the t-shirt I wore under it for blood, didn’t find any, and said, “You got lucky. It’ll hurt for a while, probably make a nasty looking bruise, but that’ll be the worst of it.”

I felt a wave of relief and then remembered Dalton. “What about the Sheriff?”

He frown at me. “Sheriff?”

I nodded. “The woman. She’s a Dallas Sheriff.”

He looked up at the rest of the room. “She was worse off than you. A couple of broken ribs. She’ll be bed-ridden for a couple of weeks at least.”

I nodded, feeling better about that too. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“Only the guy in black,” he said. “He was shot and clocked in the head with a bat, but he’ll survive.”

I nodded. “Too bad.”

Then he helped me to my feet, made sure I was steady, and then led me out to an ambulance.

Leanne came up beside me and ducked under my other arm to help.

For the time being, we were both quiet. Anything we said couldn’t be said among the emergency crews. My other Fonti all came out to be checked over or answer questions from the police. No one was saying anything to me at the moment. It was okay. We’d have time to talk after the police left.

The paramedic checked my vitals and suggested I go to the hospital. I declined. It wasn’t some macho thing, I just wanted to stay home with my girls. “You might have some kind of internal injuries,” he said.

I shook my head. “The chance of that is extremely low, especially since the armor was intact.”

He blinked at me and then shrugged. “Well, if you either feel extremely weak or cold, call us or have someone take you in.”

I nodded. “I will. Thank you.”

I looked around and found the ambulance with Dalton. She was sitting up and looked bleary eyed. They had probably given her some top-grade pain killers. I had to talk to her before she left or passed out.

I stepped up into the ambulance. A paramedic looked up from a machine that was tracking her vitals.

“How is she?” I asked.

He nodded. “Good. Lucky. That vest she wore wasn’t standard issue for the police. I’ve never seen one that covers the sides as well as front and back.”

“Then it saved her life,” I said.

“Other than the broken ribs, she’ll be fine.”

I nodded. “Can you give us a minute?”

He nodded. “Yell if any alarms go off.”

I nodded and he left.

Dalton looked a touch pale. The paramedics had wrapped her left arm to her side so she couldn’t move it. If they were right, she looked a lot worse than she was. Her eyes blinked open. She looked at Leanne, who had been shadowing me, and nodded. Then she looked up at me. She noticed the urgency in my face and frowned. “Whatever’s wrong now, you’ll have to talk to another Sheriff about it.”

I smiled. “I heard. Broken ribs, but nothing worse.”

She shook her head. “Nope, just broken pride.”

“What about the team you called in for tomorrow morning?” I asked.

She looked around. “I’ll call them when I get a chance at the hospital. They’ll contact you since you know who it is they’re looking for.”

“How am I supposed to direct them? I don’t know where she lives. For that matter, I have classes in the morning.”

“Seth, you’re making excuses. This is your duty. You have to help.”

I shook my head. “There’s no way they’re going to listen to a teenager who...” I glanced around and lowered my voice, “ ... who was once your primary suspect in this case.”

“They will if I make you my Deputy,” she said. “I’ll tell them you have temporary Deputy Status until this case is solved.”

I frowned. “I can’t be your Deputy. I don’t know enough about our world much less how to stop Valory.”

“That’s their job,” she said. “All you have to do is point them in the right direction and get out the way.”

I wanted to argue further, but there was something else I needed to tell her before the paramedics decided it was time to go. “There’s something else. I think a Magus is working with the Syndicate.”

She shook her head slightly. “That’s not possible. They’re out to kill us.”

“I understand that, but it just seems too easy for them to spot us.”

“Seth, they have people watching, keeping tabs, gathering intel, and doing things to confirm who is what. Besides, what would any of us gain by working with them?”

“I don’t know, but it’s something you have to consider. I think you should tell your boss.”

“It’s a theory, Seth, and a weak one at that.”

One of the paramedics climbed into the ambulance. “We need to go.”

I nodded and made my way to the back. “We’re not done talking about this, Dalton,” I said and she waved at me like it wasn’t that important. Another paramedic climbed into the back and a police officer shut the doors.

I spotted the other ambulance with Neil in the back. Part of me wanted to climb inside, lean into his face and gloat, but I didn’t. I stood there and watched the paramedics working around him. I didn’t want him dead. Too bad he didn’t feel the same for me. Shortly after Dalton left, Neil was carried away too.

I went back inside. A somewhat gruff voice said, “Mr. Connors, can I have a word with you?”

I turned to find Detective Woodruff standing there, his walrus mustache looking frayed. “How can I help you, Detective?”

He looked around like he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to me there in the middle of everything going on. He looked me over and asked, “How are you, Mr. Connors?”

“My chest hurts,” I said.

He nodded. “The Paramedics told me what they found. It was a good thing Sheriff Dalton gave you that vest to wear.”

I nodded. There were so many things I wanted to tell this Detective, but I knew better. No one likes being proven wrong, and cops can sometimes be the worst about it.

“Your friends really came through for you,” he said. “The one in the hat, Sammi, was on the phone with 911 through the entire ordeal. Most people wouldn’t have the presence of mind to do what she did.”

I nodded. He was right about that. Most people would have dropped their phone or hung up, even by accident.

“And then there’s the way the one in the warrior gear clocked your intruder,” he said. “Her name was Leanne. She walked in and didn’t hesitate even though he had a gun and she only had a bat.”

It took a lot of effort not to smile.

“And finally, Sheriff Dalton showed more balls than half the cops I know. Already shot, not sure how bad her injuries were, and she has a show down with the intruder from a weakened position – lying on the floor.” He looked up and met my eyes then. “I’m putting in for a commendation for her.”

“Even though she was out of her jurisdiction?” I asked. I was baiting him and I knew it.

He grunted. “She saw a threat that I wasn’t sure was credible. You have a good friend there.”

“And what about the group she told you about?” I asked.

He looked around again and tugged on the end of his mustache. “I need more information from her on that. I don’t know if the feds are going to come in to help with the shootings or not, especially since they’re so busy trying to solve the serial kidnappings, but the more information we have the better our chances of finding them.”

I nodded. “You’ll want to talk to Neil about them too. He made mention of others who were looking for people like me.”

He nodded and a curious look came over his face. “I’d ask why they thought you had Magic, but then...” he pointedly looked at Leanne, Sammi, and Katrina before turning to me again. “ ... I think I might understand.” Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice. “And, incidentally, if you do have some kind of love potion, you might think about bottling it. You’d make a killin’.”

“Seth!” someone called out.

The Detective and I looked around. Faith appeared among other officers and made a bee-line for me. I remembered that she used to dress up like a cat for Halloween when we were kids, but this wasn’t the same costume with a mask. Tonight, she had done something to give her hair volume and waves. She had on a hairband with cat ears, makeup to make her face look feline, and a collar. She wore a black leotard that kept her covered but did little to keep her breasts in place. With every step they bounced and swayed. The rest of her outfit comprised of a fuzzy tail pinned to the back of the leotard and a pair of high heeled boots.

“Who’s this?” Woodruff asked.

I suddenly realized that I was staring, not to mention having similar urges about Faith that I’d been having about my girls since I got back to my apartment.

Faith stopped next to me and I said, “Detective Woodruff, this is my sister, Faith. Faith, Detective Woodruff.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said and shook his hand. Without waiting for a reply, she turned to me and asked, “Are you okay?”

I was standing upright and the ambulances had left. The answer should have been obvious, but I could tell she was worried. I nodded. “I’m fine.”

She glanced at the Detective but asked me, “What happened?”

“You remember that note I got yesterday?” I asked in return and she nodded. “Well the writer decided to visit.”

Her eyes got wide and she started poking and prodding me, checking for any injuries I might be hiding. I finally grabbed her wrists and said. “Really, I’m fine. My chest hurts but that’s it.”

She looked at my chest like she might see an injury there that the paramedics missed. “Dalton’s vest worked then. Thank God.”

Detective Holloway appeared then. I didn’t know where he had been hiding. Maybe trying to find my stash of Magic love potion or something. Woodruff saw him and nodded. “Well, you kids be safe. Have a good night, Mr. Connors.”

The two of them left, along with the rest of the officers that had shown up to help. I turned to Leanne and felt some of the weight lift from my shoulders. “It looks like we don’t have to worry about Neil anymore.”

She smiled and then tried to hint something to me about Faith.

Faith had her phone out and was typing a text message. I had no idea where it had been a moment ago.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Letting Mom know what happened. She’s been worried sick since I told her about that note.”

“Wait,” I said and put my hand over the screen, gaining her attention. “You told her about this?”

She blinked at me. “Yeah, I tell her everything.” She moved so she could see her phone again.

I snatched the phone out of her hands. “Did you tell her about ... me?”

She frowned at me and reached for her phone. “I told her about all the girls you’ve been dating.”

I grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eyes. “What?”

She sighed and blew hair out of her face. “I told her you’ve been dating, but nothing else. She’s honestly curious about your current squeeze.”

I rolled my eyes in irritation and asked, “Who did you say I was with?”

She lunged for her phone again and missed. “I didn’t give her a name, but she said she’d like to meet her, possibly this winter. Now give me my phone!”

I handed it to her with a groan. Then I turned and went back inside. I was irritated but I also had to shake off the urges I felt from being so close to her. I knew I had reached the next level of warnings about my low power levels because I could still feel the warmth of her body pressed to mine while she tried to get to her phone, and the scent of her perfume, though subtle, stuck with me as I put some distance between us. I had to think about something else. Anything else.

There was something that bothered me about Neil’s appearance tonight. The Map hanging on my wall never indicated anyone with harmful intent crossing the complex’s boundary. I recalled the spell I cast on it, and the extras that would notify me directly. I didn’t receive any signal. Had the spell been disabled? I moved closer to the map and used the Detection spell. If it had been tampered with, I couldn’t tell. So, if the spell had gone off, I didn’t know when or where. I would have to examine the spell at length and probably recast it. Then I thought of another spell that didn’t go off: the alarm spell in the apartment.

Neil had gotten past two of my detection spells without triggering them. How? He had certainly arrived with harmful intent. If the spells worked correctly, then there was only one way he could have bypassed them; a Magus gave him something that would allow it. If that was the case, the theory that Valory and I had come up with must have been true: A Magus was working with the Syndicate.

I stood staring at the map, not sure what to do about it.

Someone bumped into me. I turned and was surprised to see Linda, dressed up as a burlesque dancer, complete with top hat and long feather stole. It was a far cry from her business suit. “Wow! You look great.”

“Thank you,” she said and glanced at my map. “What’s wrong?”

I looked at the map again. There wasn’t anything I could do about the detection spells tonight. I shrugged. “Nothing a little time and practice won’t fix.”

I recalled what we last talked about and asked, “So, how goes the search for answers?”

She shrugged. “Nothing has panned out yet. I’ve gotten more information from you about Francine than any of the witnesses I was able to track down.”

I nodded. “Any problems with the Feds?”

“Not today,” she said. “But then I won’t hear anything from them about this until they find out that I’ve been asking questions.” Then she looked up at me. “But I heard you and Danielle had some sort of involvement in the drama at the courthouse.”

I nodded and spotted Red watching me. “Yeah. Her soon-to-be-Ex-Husband decided he wanted to try to kidnap her.”

“Are you serious?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said and nodded toward her. “The costume is quite befitting.”

Linda looked and hummed her agreement. “But where’s your costume? Isn’t this supposed to be a Halloween party?”

I glanced at her and then nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” Then I went to my bedroom to change.

When I pulled out my costume, I remembered what Jordan suggested about how to wear it – with nothing under the robes but what nature gave me. I thought about that and realized that I couldn’t do it. Seeing Linda dressed as she was gave me a rise. If I wore the robes the way Jordan suggested, I would be pitching more than just a tent.

I decided on some control and stripped down to just my boxer-briefs. Then I donned the robes, the fake nose and beard, the pointy hat, and grabbed the big, fake staff, and I was ready. I noticed that the robes missed the floor by a couple of inches. I didn’t have any shoes that were proper for the costume, so I simply made a small, Magical change to the appearance of my sneakers and everything was complete.