by Brey Willows
They hurried back to the cottage, and Maggie knew they were just as excited about the possibility as she was. When they got in, Shamus was sitting on his favorite chair, a glass in his hand and a book on his lap.
Brenda filled him in on what they’d learned while Maggie went up to her room to get out the key. When she turned around, Kody was leaning against the wall watching her.
Kody looked like she wanted to devour her, and Maggie liked it more than she could remember ever liking anything. She moved to her and melted into Kody’s arms as they wrapped around her.
“I think you’re amazing.” Kody looked down at her, her eyes sparkling. “We’re heading into something crazy-stupid dangerous, and all I can think about is how sexy you look when you’re working things out.”
Blue baby lightning bolts started to pop around them, and Maggie grinned. “Is that happening because of your particular power?”
Kody looked at them as the lightning bolts sizzled and faded, sizzled and faded. “I think so. But it’s never happened before, so it must have to do with my power combined with yours. You’re very visual, so it’s like you’re taking my desire for you and making it visible.”
“I like that idea.” She gave Kody a lingering kiss and the bolts flashed around them. She heard Shamus hiss and Brenda swear.
“I liked that shirt, and if I’m going to die by fire I want it to be while I’m the one having sex, thank you very much! A wee bit of restraint, please, you nobbins!” Brenda called up from downstairs.
Maggie pulled away, laughing. “Come on. Let’s finish this so we can start other things.” She held Kody’s hand as they went back downstairs. Once they were together, she turned to Shamus. “I’d like your input, if you don’t mind?”
He tilted his head but didn’t say anything.
“I think we need to break the needle, or at least have it in hand, before we go after Koschei. But what happens after that? Do we come back here and deal with the villains? Do we have to do something about the Red Guard first?” Maggie asked.
He blinked his big yellow eyes at her for a few moments. “I think you have to do what you feel is right. If you think the needle comes first, then that’s what we do first. After watching you all this time, I’ve come to believe your efforts come to pass far better when you’re not given time to overthink things and create a puddle too deep to swim in.”
That made no sense, but she pressed forward anyway. “Okay.” She held up the key. “If I open the back door without thinking about a place, do you think the key will still lead me to the needle?”
“Let’s try it and see.” Kody got up and moved to the back door.
Maggie followed her and did what she had to do to open the door to their world. Once it was open, she held up the key and thought of the needle she needed. The key didn’t glow, or grow warm, or do anything of interest at all. It was just a shiny key. Disappointed, she turned around to say they’d have to come up with another plan.
And the key began to glow. Even without the hag stone, it was glowing.
“Holy ratclaw balls.” Kody closed the door behind her. “It’s not in our world.”
Maggie absently relocked the door but kept her focus on the key. “So, do we follow it now?”
Kody grabbed their jackets and Maggie’s bag. “There’s plenty of daylight. I say we do it.”
Maggie looked at Brenda. “Would you mind getting my backpack?” She turned to Shamus. “I’d like you to be with us for this, if you’ll come?”
He jumped down from his chair, and she thought he looked pleased. Maybe she was learning how to read cat expressions, finally. He shimmered into Blech and crawled into the backpack Brenda held open for him. Kody helped her slide it over her chest and gave her a wink.
They set off, and Maggie held the key low and kept looking down at it. It wasn’t really warm yet, but as they walked she could feel it change temperature. They turned the wrong way a few times and had to retrace their steps. They’d been walking for over an hour by the time they were in Central Park, and the key was considerably warmer. It was a beautiful day, and the park was full of people strolling the paths and lounging on the grass. They got a few interested looks, but it was New York, and people were used to seeing odd groupings of people.
The key started to get uncomfortably warm, and Maggie knew they were coming up on East Drive. But surely it wouldn’t be on the road? They left the trees and stopped.
“It’s here.” Maggie looked up at Cleopatra’s Needle, an Egyptian obelisk that dated back to 1475 BC. Maggie had only come across it once or twice, since it was in a section of the park that was a little out of the way, but she’d always liked the counter-intuitiveness of it being there. “He’s got a sense of humor, apparently.”
Blech pawed at her chin, and she set the bag down so he could climb out. He moved away and began sniffing around the monument.
“He hid his needle in an ancient needle. I like it.” Brenda, too, began looking around it.
“Can you look through the hag stone, Mags? Maybe it will glow and save us some time.”
Maggie pulled the hag stone out of her pouch. “We’re assuming it’s not hidden in an egg-duck-rabbit, right?” She held the stone to her eye and began slowly walking around the base.
“I have a feeling that was to deter people from looking for it in the first place.” Kody sat on the grass and rested on her elbows while looking upward at the obelisk.
Maggie moved slowly, taking her time. She got to a point where she needed to move back to look higher and her neck began to ache. She lay down next to Kody on the grass and took a break. “Nothing so far. But the key wouldn’t lead me wrong, would it?”
“Unless you were picturing an obelisk instead of a regular needle, I don’t think so. Let’s just hope the obelisk itself isn’t the needle. It will be a bitch to have to blow it up.” Kody played with a strand of Maggie’s hair as she talked.
With a sigh, Maggie held the hag stone up to her eye and started at the top. She sat up, her pulse racing. “I found it. Where the bottom of the triangle meets the body, there’s a line. It’s there.” She handed the hag stone to Kody, who didn’t look nearly as excited as she looked through the hole. Brenda and Blech rejoined them and looked where Maggie pointed.
“Great. We just need to find a way to get to the top of a seventy-foot sculpture in Central Park without someone calling the police,” Kody said.
“Why there? I mean, it’s such an open space, and there’s no one to guard it.” Brenda plucked at grass and threw it in the air.
Maggie understood. “Because he didn’t trust a single soul to look after it, and once he had access to this world, he knew it would be safe there. I mean, who would ever see it?”
A few people wandered past, but for the most part it was empty but for the four of them. Maggie thought of the picture they made. Kody, tall and strong and unapologetically herself; Brenda, a little person in bright colors and with a smile that could make even the devil laugh; and Blech, a beautiful gray cat with soulful eyes. And, of course, Maggie, a pale redhead also taller than average. What a group. The thought filled her with happiness. Her group. The first one she’d ever had. Her people, in the truest sense, trying to work out a puzzle together.
She smiled when Kody took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“So, who’s climbing up once it’s dark enough not to be seen?” Maggie asked.
Blech climbed into her lap and purred loudly.
“You’re going?” Maggie shaded her eyes and looked at where he needed to go. “Are you sure? It’s awfully high.”
His claw scratched her hand.
“Ow. Okay, fine.”
Kody stood and turned in a circle. She walked around the obelisk but wasn’t really looking at it. She came back over and sat down. “I think Shamus is perfect for this. He can stay in cat form and climb to the top. Even if someone saw him, they’d think some weird cat was climbing it, and there wouldn’t be any alarms raised. There ar
e plenty of places for his claws to hold onto in the hieroglyphs themselves, and he won’t do as much damage as I would if I tried to climb it. If he uses the west side of it, he’ll be on the side you can’t see from the Met, so he’ll have some protection from the trees for a little while, too.”
Maggie felt the plan’s viability in her bones. She hugged Blech to her and he only struggled a little bit to get away. “Once you’re up there, pull the needle out and drop it to Kody.”
He nipped at her hand, and she let him go. “Do we go home until it’s dark? Or find somewhere nearby to wait?”
Brenda knelt and pointed at the museum. “Let’s go spend some time there. If we end up going home, I want to say I’ve been to the Met.”
Maggie picked up her backpack after Blech crawled in. “That works for me. Let’s go.”
They spent the next few hours walking the halls of one of the most wonderful museums in the world. Maggie’s breath caught at the Temple of Dendur, the Angel of Death, and as always, the paintings. The colors and faces, the emotion captured with every brush stroke—they all made her feel alive and she pulled that emotion into herself, so she could use those emotions when it came time to use her own paintbrush. After, they walked a block to Sistina’s and had dinner, and although her companions chatted about various things, Maggie couldn’t focus on their conversation. The needle was so close, and she couldn’t help but worry that with it within their grasp, someone else would get to it first. By the time it was dark enough for them to go back she was a jumble of nerves and just wanted this part over with.
At the obelisk, she let Blech out of his backpack, and Kody lifted him onto the enormous base. He leapt onto the stone, and Maggie swallowed her fear as he moved quickly up the side, his claws never faltering. Brenda stood back, keeping watch on the paths that led past where they were standing. When Blech reached the top, Maggie could barely see him in the darkness, and if she hadn’t known he was there, she would never have noticed him.
His soft meow filtered through the darkness, and Kody moved close to the base.
“I’m here,” she called up softly.
Maggie caught the glint of the streetlight on falling silver, and then it was in Kody’s hands. Her knees were weak with relief, but it was quickly squashed as she watched Blech slowly backing down the stone, his claws less sure now that he couldn’t see where he was going.
Kody handed Maggie the needle. “Be right back.” She hoisted herself onto the base and stretched her arms out above her. As soon as Blech was in reach, he let go and dropped into Kody’s waiting hands, like he knew she’d be there to catch him.
Like she’ll be there to catch me. It was a humbling thought that made Maggie’s heart ache with happiness. Kody jumped down with Blech in her arms, and he gave her chin a nuzzle before she set him down. Brenda came over looking anxious.
“I think someone’s coming. Do you have it?”
Maggie nodded and tucked it into the pouch with the other things, though it stuck out. She slid it into the front zip pocket of her bag and put the backpack, along with Blech, back on. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-seven
Wanted: woman with particularly small hands and ability to jump several feet in the air. Must know how to take orders and excel at lock picking. Contact bob1.
Kody lit a fire, and they sprawled out in the living room. Brenda emptied the bag of pastries she’d bought earlier in the day into a bowl. Maggie felt like she could eat a herd of elephants, and she smiled gratefully at Kody when she got up and ordered a pizza.
“I barely did anything. The key did all the work. And we had dinner. Why am I starving?” Maggie ate a chocolate croissant in all of three bites.
“Mags, I told you. The item is magical, yeah, but it doesn’t work for just anyone. The person who wields it has to have the magic to use it. And you do. You followed the key through half of New York, and that took a lot of magic from you. The key is part of your magic now.” Kody kissed the top of Maggie’s head and then flung herself down on the couch.
She didn’t want to get a big head, but she had to admit that she liked the idea that magical items worked through her instead of in spite of her. It made her feel special, unique, the way she’d always wanted to. Which, really, she should have felt from the moment she found out about being some kind of fairy creature, but still.
She pulled the pouch from her backpack and looked at the needle through the hag stone. It glowed a sickly green, laced through with cracks of oily black that seemed to shift and slide through the green. At nearly a foot long, it was more of a spike than a needle. Maggie lowered the hag stone and picked up a Danish. “So, what are your thoughts? Do we just break it now and then go find him? Hope that someone else manages to kill him off before we get there?”
Shamus shook out his fur. “I think it would be unwise. It’s likely he’ll feel the break when it happens, and if he knows it’s broken, he could go into hiding. Or he could throw everything he has at you to keep you from getting to him, making our job that much harder.”
Brenda stroked his fur, and he purred and lay down beside her. “But if we take the needle into our world and someone manages to take it off us, we could have a whole host of other issues on our hands,” Brenda said.
“That’s true, but no one knows we have it but the four of us. Someone would have to come upon it by chance, and I can guarantee no one is getting that close to Maggie again,” Kody said.
Maggie didn’t miss the word again. She knew Kody still felt guilty that Maggie had been stabbed in the marketplace, but she wouldn’t say anything more about it. Some things had to heal on their own.
“It comes down to what the spinner thinks is best,” Shamus said and rolled onto his back so Brenda could rub his tummy.
Maggie stared into the fire, thinking about her options and trying to see the possible outcomes. When Kody slipped a plate of pizza into her hand, she ate it absently, still working through scenarios. When she finally settled on one, she wasn’t convinced, but it was the best she’d come up with.
“We take the needle, and we head into the Slavic sector. We go in, find him, and take him down. If we take him into custody, fine. But if he puts up a struggle,” she looked at Kody, “then we break the needle and make it so he can’t try this crap ever again.”
Kody grinned. “That’s my girl.”
Brenda stood, and Shamus grumbled when she stopped petting him. “Okay, I’m going home to get my things, and I’ll come back and spend the night here. I’m guessing you want to go first thing in the morning? No one ever wants to set out after a nice brunch.”
“First thing in the morning is great. Need any help getting your stuff?” Maggie asked, hoping Brenda would say no. All of a sudden she was utterly spent.
“Nope, I’ve got it. Back in a little while. Don’t behead me or anything when I come back.” She waved and left.
Shamus shimmered into Blech and stretched out in front of the fire. Apparently, he was done for the night too.
Maggie reached down to pet him anyway. “Night, handsome. Good work tonight.”
He purred loudly but didn’t open his eyes.
Kody was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes were searching, her expression concerned. “I know you’ve learned your powers really quickly, but I’m not sure your body has caught up yet. I can feel how tired you are.”
Maggie leaned her head on Kody’s shoulder as they went upstairs. “I can’t think of anything but my pillow.”
Kody helped her undress, and it was quick and efficient rather than slow and sexy, which Maggie was both grateful for and disappointed in. She climbed into the cool sheets and curled against Kody the moment she got in.
But once she closed her eyes, the questions began. She didn’t have any doubts they’d take Koschei down. It felt like that was a given. But there were so many things after that. Kody started stroking her back lightly, her fingertips tracing gentle circles over Maggie’s shoulder blad
es, and the whirling thoughts started to mellow. Her last one before she fell asleep was how good it felt to be where she was.
* * *
Maggie was awake as dawn crept across the sky trailing pink vines she could see through the sheer curtains of the bedroom. She was excited, ready for the day’s adventure. Kody stirred behind her. “Somehow we need to make you not a morning person.”
Maggie rolled over, kissed her, and jumped out of bed. “I’m taking a shower.” Plans were forming, disbanding, and reforming in her head, and with each one she knew she was getting closer to the answers she needed. When she left the bathroom, Kody slipped past her.
“My turn.”
Maggie went downstairs to find Shamus and Brenda in the kitchen. Brenda was making omelets, and Shamus was reading the paper.
“Those smell divine,” Maggie said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I’m so glad you’re not a veggie,” Brenda said as she pushed a plate toward Maggie. “I have nothing against it, but it’s not as much fun to cook.”
“I think much of India would disagree.” Shamus tapped on the newspaper. “I think we’re going back just in time.”
Maggie spun the paper around to look at the personal ads.
Army of willing participants needed to demand justice and free will. Must be willing to do nearly anything with no argument. Pay guaranteed after success. Contact dreamseller21.
“So the little rat man came back. I wonder if he had a choice or if he was forced to,” Maggie said. She pushed away the paper so she could concentrate on her food. “Brenda, this is possibly the best omelet I’ve ever had.”
Brenda grinned and pushed another one to Shamus. Maggie wanted to really look at how he was eating his breakfast, because she could see from the corner of her eye that he was eating with a knife and fork, but seeing just how he managed that without thumbs seemed rude. She’d have to position herself across from him next time.
“Mm. Brenda’s omelets.” Kody came in towel drying her hair. “They’re just about famous in our world.”