by Tara Lain
The bang on the door brought Dash to his feet. “Hide!” He stepped closer to the door. “Be right there, Brand.” When he turned to help Jazz into the trunk—he was gone.
Blinking, Dash opened his door and stepped outside. “Sorry. I fell asleep.”
Hillebrand nodded. “It’s okay. You earned it. But we’ve got no time to waste. I’ve called together a few of the leaders in the club room so we can plan.” He started down the stairs.
Dash followed, pulling together words. Finally he said, “Brand.”
The professor looked over. “Yes?”
“I have something important to ask, but I’d rather not do it in front of the others.”
“Oh, okay.” At the bottom of the stairs he stepped into the same niche where Dash had met Jazz days ago. “What’s up?”
“I don’t want to sound stupid in front of the others.” Dash grinned wryly. “Is it possible to teleport with someone else? Like to carry them? Because I’m assuming any prisoners have been bespelled so that they can’t use their own powers, but if I could go in and grab him before anyone was the wiser, it would sure eliminate a lot of risk and danger to everyone.”
Hillebrand gazed at him narrow-eyed. Well damn, he’s going to say it’s impossible. Suddenly Hillebrand started to nod. “Hell of an idea. It’s very, very difficult. It’s best to start with small objects before you try a person. It involves mentally wrapping the energy around the object and then incorporating it like it was a part of you. As I say, very challenging. Few mages ever master it. Nardo has the ability of course. But it’s worth a try, my audacious friend.”
“Can I practice in my room? I mean I need a destination.”
Hillebrand clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure the authorities know you have permission.”
“Yeah. They’re probably already freaking over the couple of times I’ve ended up in my room and come back.” Dash grinned.
Hillebrand flashed a narrow-eyed look. “Yes, I’ll bet they are.” He headed toward the Olympus Club, and Dash followed.
Hopefully, he’d covered Jazz’s unexpected teleportation from Dash’s room. He mentally shook his head. That cute werewolf was one helluva mage.
WITH A thud Jazz flopped onto the rug in the middle of his living room and banged his head against the coffee table. “Ow!”
Carla squeaked and pulled her legs up onto the couch where she’d been sitting. Khadija and Fatima leaped to standing. Dij cocked her head. “Jazz?”
Jazz rubbed his head as he started to sit up, got hit by a wave of nausea, and lay back down. “Hi.”
Kneeling on the couch, Carla planted her hands on her hips. “Where the hell did you come from?”
“Arcantaria?” Jazz dimpled and slowly tried again to rise. Fatima knelt and put her arm around his shoulders, coaxing him to sitting.
Carla and Dij clustered around him on the floor and got him to the point where he was upright, his head hanging.
Carla practically vibrated with questions. “So tell us.”
“I sneaked into Arcantaria and turned invisible. I ended up having to sit on their obstacle course where they practice magic for a long time while Dash tried to teleport and his teacher hung around to see if he was successful.”
“Teleport?” Dij said, “Like move from one location to another by magic?”
“Yeah.”
Carla’s eyes widened. “So that’s what you just did? You teleported?” Her voice rose to that squeak again.
Jazz nodded, but even that made him queasy.
“That’s fantastic!”
He stared up through his lashes. “My stomach hasn’t caught up to the wonderfulness.”
“But my God, you can go anywhere.”
He held up a hand. “Not exactly. I have to know who I want to see or where I want to go very clearly.” He raised his shoulders and dropped them. “In point of fact, I teleported to escape when Dash’s professor was knocking at the door, so I was pretty motivated. I’m not even sure I can do it again on purpose.”
Dij took his arm. “Come on. Stretch out on the couch and tell us what’s happening.”
Jazz staggered to his feet, then lay down with his head on the couch arm. “Like Carla already sort of knows, there’s this group inside Arcantaria that’s mobilizing to break Nardo out and then put him in a position of leadership in some new regime that consolidates wizard power and starts throwing that power around against humans.”
Fatima shook her head, looking very sad.
Jazz managed to sit up. “But the interesting thing is this dude Hillebrand has decided Dash is his secret weapon because Dash can do stuff almost no mages can do.”
Carla said, “Like teleport?”
He nodded. “And invisibility and battling.”
Carla nudged him. “That makes you a secret weapon too, huh?” She grinned.
He sighed. “But they don’t know about me.”
Khadija frowned. “Surely they don’t believe Dash is going to help break Nardo out of the jail he helped put him in.”
“Yeah, with a lot of help from Dash, Hillebrand’s managed to convince himself that the only reason Dash took on Nardo was because he kidnapped me and BeBop. He believes Dash doesn’t have anything against Nardo personally.”
Carla’s mouth fell open. “You’re frigging kidding me?”
“Nope.” Jazz looked up. “Truth, I think Hillebrand has the hots for Dash, so he really wants to believe this shit.”
Carla folded her hands on the back of her head. “Oh, poor Dash.”
Sweet Fatima slipped a hand onto Jazz’s and gave him a squeeze. She knew Dash wasn’t the only one suffering from the asshole’s unwanted attentions.
“What’s Dash going to do, Jazz?” Dij was focused.
“Not sure. Truthfully, he’s trying to learn to teleport while carrying another person.”
“Oh my God, you’re kidding.” Carla’s eyes got huge.
“Apparently it’s theoretically possible. If he can make that happen, he can at least get BeBop out of there.”
Fatima spoke softly. “I don’t understand why they’re holding BeBop. Aren’t the people in the jail the supposed ‘good guys’?” She made air quotes.
“None of us know that, and Dash blundered into BeBop’s cell while he happened to be alone, but before he could really say anything, the guards came back with Nardo, and Dash panicked and teleported out of there.”
“Don’t blame him.” Carla looked worried. Really worried.
They all stared into space until Fatima broke the silence. “I wonder how much of what’s going on Lysandra Mason knows.”
Jazz’s turn to look startled. “That, my friend, is a huge question.” Whoa. He’d been feeling so much like it was the Superordinary Society against the world, he hadn’t even considered that there was a whole lot of magic power already allied against Nardo. “I don’t think Dash has seen her since he first got to Arcantaria, and a lot has happened since then.” He pulled out his phone.
Carla put a hand on his arm. “Be cagey. First off, the dudes who’ve been spying on us could have bugged her phone or something. Plus we don’t really know where she stands, do we? I mean, yeah, Nardo nearly killed her too, so I’d assume there’s no love lost, but power corrupts, baby. It sounds like a lot of promises are being made.”
“You do make sense there, fam.” He glanced around at the tense faces of the girls, then hit Send on his speed dial.
“Jazz, is that you?”
“Uh, yes, ma’am. I was hoping for a chance to talk to you real soon.”
“Oh? May I ask what about?”
“Just my education, you know? I moved to New York, and I want to take advantage of whatever resources are available to me.”
Carla nodded at him in approval.
“Do you want to come here?” Lysandra sounded like Lysandra, friendly in a neutral sort of way.
“No. How about we meet for, uh, coffee? I’ll text you the place.”
“Okay.” That sounded a lot more tentative. “When?”
“How soon are you free?”
“An hour?”
“See you.” He hung up and texted directions to the coffee stand in Washington Square.
Carla said, “We’re coming too.” Dij and Fatima nodded.
“Okay.” Actually, it felt great to know they’d be there. “But stay out of sight. I don’t want to spook her.”
Dij asked, “What are you going to say to her?”
He grimaced. “I’m not sure. I think I’ll feel my way along and see how she reacts.”
Carla said, “Why not ask her to get BeBop out of there? If he really is being held by the so-called good guys, she should have some influence with them. It could be like a test for her and help us understand who’s on what side.”
Jazz nodded. “Good idea. But whatever we do, I think we better do it fast because this plot’s going down soon, one way or another.”
Some banging and yelling in the hall outside silenced them all. Carla jumped up, tiptoed to the door, and peeked out, craning her neck to see from side to side.
She hurried back to them. “Some big guys are dragging Odan out of his apartment. He doesn’t seem to want to go.”
Fatima said, “Maybe they’re moving out?”
Carla shook her head. “Two guys are still standing by the apartment.” She looked at Jazz. “One of them’s that dude Micel.”
He puffed his cheeks and blew out air. “So I guess I’m getting out of here via floo powder. That’ll be great, arriving to see Lysandra looking green around the gills.”
Dij said, “You could go invisible.”
“Yeah, but it’s a bigger risk. Plus I need practice teleporting. I may not even be able to do it again.”
Carla snorted. “Will you listen to us? We’re a scene from some movie.” She held out one hand. “Gee, shall I try out my invisibility or—” She held out the other. “—take a chance on teleportation?” She shook her head then looked at Dij and Fatima. “And while we’re still in Neverland, remember how Nardo said your Dusan mojo doesn’t work on him?”
They all nodded. Dij, Fatima, and some of their sisters had taken out a bunch of Nardo’s human and werewolf henchmen with their mysterious powers, but Nardo had sneered at them.
Carla continued, “Yeah, well, you sure flattened Odan, so that means to me that you do have power over wizards, especially if they don’t have time to prepare. Maybe not Nardo, but then, who knows, right?”
“You’re doing some serious thinking, fam.” Jazz smiled.
She shrugged. “I’ve got to contribute whatever power I can.”
Jazz looked at his smartwatch. “I better get going. If you’re coming to the square, be careful not to be followed.” He looked around him. It was true that when he’d teleported, he’d carried his clothes, shoes, and watch with him, so theoretically, carrying stuff should be possible. He pointed at a stuffed cat on the end table that Carla had won at a fair when they were little and had hauled around with her ever since. “Okay if I try to carry that with me?”
Her eyes got big. “Catimouse? You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”
“Well, I hope not, but I guess I can’t guarantee it.”
She swallowed, grabbed the scruffy stuffed cat, and held it out. “I trust you.”
“Whoa, I guess that’s good practice for carrying a human.” He took the cat.
Carla nodded. “Catimouse is imbued with many advanced human characteristics.”
Jazz nodded, feeling the weight of the responsibility. Clutching Catimouse, he gathered energy and surrounded himself and the cat, pictured the bench behind the coffee stand that was shrouded in bushes, shoved the energy out to his limbs in a powerful blast, and…
Chapter Thirty-One
JAZZ’S BUTT slammed into the wooden bench. Bull’s-eye. Unfortunately, the woman and two kids sitting next to him squealed; one kid crawled on her mother’s lap, and the other landed on the pavement in front of the bench.
Jazz grabbed his chest, realized Catimouse was still there, took a breath, and gasped, “I’m so sorry. Somebody grabbed this cat and threw it, and it’s my sister’s favorite, and I wasn’t watching where I was going. Please forgive me.”
The woman, who might be a nanny, nodded, but the little girl, maybe three, crawled off her lap and scooched toward Jazz. “Where’d you come from?” She cocked her head and stared in his eyes.
He pointed vaguely. “Over there.”
“I don’t think so.” She stared at Catimouse. “May I see your cat?”
He handed her the stuffed animal.
She held it in two hands, looked at it closely, then hugged it. “It’s still warm.” Carefully, she handed it back. “It’s a very nice cat. I’m glad you saved it.”
The nanny tugged on the child and picked up the little boy from where he still sat on the sidewalk. “We have to go.” She continued to look at Jazz with some suspicion, but the little girl gave him a grin with the wisdom of the ages.
“Be careful.” They paraded away, the girl smiling back over her shoulder.
Man, if he wanted to look for signs and portents, that was major. He stood and, still clutching the cat and noticing his wooziness was less, trotted to the coffee stand.
Lysandra stood in front of it, back a few steps from the students ordering coffee, glancing at her watch.
Jazz approached her, smiling. “Hope I’m not late.”
“No.”
“What can I get you?”
“A latte’s fine.”
He got two, handed one to Lysandra, then led the way back to the same bench, which usually got less traffic because it was partly blocked by bushes.
As they walked she said, “Do you have a new mascot? I wouldn’t have thought you were the stuffed-kitten type.”
“Oh, it was part of an experiment.”
She looked curious, but didn’t ask as she sat, smoothing her jeans and white sweater. “Are you fitting me between classes, or is this representing an excess of caution?”
“The latter.”
A crease flashed between her brows. “So we’re not talking about your education.” It wasn’t a question.
“Only indirectly. When was the last time you saw Dash?”
“A few weeks ago and only briefly. Why?”
Jazz shrugged. “A lot’s happened.”
“How would you know that?” The crease became a frown.
He stared at her, half-tempted to tell her it was none of her business. “Because BeBop and I found Arcantaria, and I discovered how to break into it.” He pointed toward the portal on the other side of the street.
Her mouth opened, then closed.
“We also discovered the portal in the arch that leads to the prison where Nardo’s being held.”
The words fell out of her mouth. “Holy shit.”
“Yes, well, the immediate problem is that somehow, and I don’t know how, BeBop got through that portal to the prison, and now he’s being held captive there.”
“BeBop’s human. That’s not possible.”
He raised his shoulders again, but he sure didn’t feel casual. “He’s in there, being held across from Nardo, and we want him out.”
“Who’s we?” Her eyes narrowed.
“Me, Dash, Carla, Khadija, and Fatima.”
“You’re all in this.” Again, not a question.
“Yes, and unless we get some help, we’ll break him out ourselves.”
His eyes widened. “Oh? You think you can?”
“I know we can.” He said it flatly, but she believed him. It was in her eyes.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“All right. Now, please.” He pointed toward the arch. “And while you’re in there, I’d suggest you try to figure out who’s actually committed to keeping Nardo a prisoner and who isn’t.”
“What are you talking about?” That got her full attention.
Jazz spoke softly. “If you and your Magi
Council haven’t heard any rumors, then you may already have lost. There’s a full-scale revolt going on under your noses, and it’s centered at Arcantaria. The stupid amount of secrecy they’ve layered over the school has made it a perfect place for propaganda and revolution.” He stood, took her cup with his own, and tossed them in the nearby trash. Then he returned, trying to relax his shoulders. “But first things first. BeBop needs to be out of there before more crap hits the fan. He seems to have weird, unexplained powers, but in the short term, he’s human and can’t be caught in magical crossfire.” He looked down at her.
“I’m not on the council, you realize. They may not believe me.”
“They may not want to believe you.”
She nodded and sighed. “Same result. Even when I brought Nardo to them last summer, some were hesitant to put a master mage in prison, especially when they realized they had to confine him forever.”
“I’d say don’t even bring up the topic until BeBop is out of there. I’ll stay here.” He glanced at his watch. “If you’re not back with him inside of four hours, we’ll get him ourselves.”
“Jazz, I—”
He didn’t even smile, and she turned and walked to the arch.
Jazz felt more than saw his friends gather behind him.
Carla said, “She looks grim.”
Jazz said, “Let’s hope her results exceed her expectations.” He turned and faced them. “I’ve got to get word to Dash so he doesn’t go teleporting into the prison to rescue BeBop and blow his cover and maybe our chances of getting BeBop out.”
“By mind meld?” Carla didn’t even grin.
“I’m going to try it that way first. I think every time I sneak into Arcantaria, my odds of getting caught get worse.” Jazz handed Carla the cat, then sat on the bench again while Carla and Fatima went to get them all coffee.
DASH HIT the ground, his knees buckled, but he didn’t drop the crystal vase he’d carried with him on this round trip teleportation. Gods, he was tired.
As expected, Hillebrand leaped up from the bench. “Good, good. Now this is going to be the ultimate test.” He opened a plastic box next to him on the ground and removed a scruffy gold-and-brown kitten.