The Wayward Star

by Jenn Stark

  “Armaeus,” I hissed, the word almost desperate. But I wasn’t so much afraid as excited. I was dizzy with desire, in fact, and I wanted nothing more than to feel his body next to mine, the pressure of him inside me. “I don’t understand what’s going on here.”

  “My dear Miss Wilde,” he murmured, and I realized his mouth was right at my ear, his warm breath skittering across my sensitive skin. “What I have learned is that my power comes from desire, while yours is born of love. I don’t know exactly what to do with that information, I confess. I only know that I am the luckiest wizard that ever lived that you wish to share your love with me. Even the very beginnings of that love, as we work our way back to each other.”

  “Oh,” I murmured, and Armaeus leaned closer to me, brushing his lips against mine.

  “Soon,” he promised. “Not yet. But soon.”

  26

  The Global Disaster Recovery Center outside New Orleans had been built in homage to the latest in scientific and technological innovation. Funded by well-meaning companies and celebrities in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, it sat as a beacon of hope for scientific advancement to enable future generations to survive whatever nature, humans, or the gods could throw at them. It was a natural location for the summit on disaster response and had drawn a select group of attendees from all over the world. Attendees, but remarkably little media coverage. In the current political and social environment, it simply wasn’t interesting to report on the pronouncements of a bunch of earnest scientists trying to make the world a better place. When the conference was finished, there would doubtless be a few cogent sound bites, but unless somebody died…

  If that happened, all bets were off.

  We arrived at the conference center early Monday morning, following Armaeus’s explicit directions. Nikki and I were to arrive first, then Lainie and Eshe, while Simon would slip in just as the opening remarks started. Brody, of course, was already on-site. The Magician would enter only after we’d gotten the lay of the land. We were all expected at the summit, but just because the conference organizers had our name tags neatly printed up, didn’t mean we had to show up on their schedule.

  “You can’t seriously expect me to wear that lanyard, can you?”

  I shook myself back to the present moment as Nikki jabbed at the hapless attendant with an accusing finger. “This isn’t 1985, Madame Registrar. You mean to tell me this is the best we can do for conference badges? Have you people no shame?”

  “I’m…I’m so sorry?” the woman began, blinking rapidly. I suspected she didn’t often get complaints about lanyards. I guess there was always a first time.

  Nikki brightened, snapping her fingers. “Don’t you worry at all. I have just the thing. If I’d known it was going to be quite this desperate a situation here, I would’ve brought enough for the entire conference. In fact, give me half a tick. I’ll be right back.”

  I blinked in genuine confusion as Nikki strode off, and exchanged a glance with the woman. “I have no idea what she’s going to do. It’s part of her charm.”

  “Well, we’re happy to have you both with us,” the attendant said brightly. “We couldn’t be more excited. We have had such tremendous outreach and support from everyone involved at the summit, we truly believe that we will jump-start real progress at the grassroots level. There’s even a rumor that a special announcement will be made regarding how certain tech companies, philanthropists, and scientific research laboratories will work together in a joint initiative to solve the global disaster recovery crisis. That would be so fantastic.”

  The woman spoke with the fervor of a true evangelist. It set my nerves on edge. “What kind of support have you received, exactly?” I asked.

  She waved her hand expansively. “All the food and beverages for the summit have been fully underwritten by Dr. Rindon’s laboratory, Star Research. He’s going to be the keynote speaker tonight, but you know that, of course. The work he’s doing is nothing short of transformational.”

  I smiled a little grimly, knowing the woman was potentially closer to the truth than she realized. “Dr. Rindon’s already arrived? Will he be attending the sessions before his keynote, or does he have other obligations?”

  “Both!” she announced, beaming. “He wanted to be intimately involved at every level, which is virtually unheard of for someone with his credentials. He’ll give the opening remarks to kick off the summit, then will be hosting VIP experiences during the breakout sessions, before his talk tonight. Of course, the VIP experiences are highly selective. Only a few attendees will have access to those, and…” Her voice had become apologetic as she babbled on, and she flushed, realizing too late that I might not be among the rarified few invitees.

  “It’s no problem if I’m not on the list, but could you go ahead and check to see?” I asked.

  “Oh, well, I mean it’s possible, but…”

  The attendant dutifully turned to another short stack of papers, sorting through them quickly. She blinked with surprise. “Oh my! You are on the list. I’m so happy for you—the opportunity to speak directly with Dr. Rindon is a once-in-a-lifetime thrill, truly.”

  “I’m pretty sure it will be life changing all around.”

  She went through a few more files, then handed me my packet of information, including my own special lanyard and name tag, my access pass to get into the VIP experience with Dr. Rindon, and a brief description of the day’s sessions. Sure enough, Dr. Rindon would be leading the charge with a kickoff in less than ninety minutes. Plenty of time to check out some of my fellow conference attendees.

  With Nikki nowhere in evidence, I moved past the registration lines and into the welcome area, noting the overflowing tables of baked goods, fruits, and beverages of every description, from juices to coffee to tea to bottled waters. I headed in that direction, only to pull up short as my right hand started to throb insistently. I lifted my hand and the tension increased, the shard of Nul Magis in my palm going haywire as it recognized the concentration of negative magic right in front of me.

  I balled my right hand into a fist as I continued toward the table of refreshments, which were currently being preyed upon by conference attendees like jackals at a bloodbath. There was something about free food that never got old, it seemed. Even if, in this case, the free food came with a powerful shot of null tech.

  Score one for the Shadow Court.

  I shifted to the side, watching the stream of humanity as they approached the tables. The summit’s attendees included medical professionals, government officials, and even human rights activists. There was no way to tell which of them were Connected without a more focused survey, though a quick scan with my third eye confirmed that there was quite a bit of Connected ability in this room. That ability shifted as the impact of the drugged food hit their systems, of course. It didn’t outright destroy the attendees’ Connectedness, I realized as I watched, but it muted it substantially—and fast.

  I imagined the effects of the drugs would last for only a brief period of time; otherwise, someone surely would notice their go-juice had been de-fizzed. Probably just long enough for Rindon to give his opening remarks, host his VIP events, and roll on in for his keynote. The keynote would be conducted over a late dinner, which I suspected would also be doctored for good measure. I still didn’t know if Rindon was complicit in the dosing, but it wasn’t looking good.

  Brody was already seated in the main auditorium when I arrived. I slid into the seat next to him, vastly relieved to note the takeout cup of coffee he held. “You didn’t partake of the summit’s continental breakfast?”

  He gave me a withering glance. “Oh, you mean the breakfast provided by an organization we suspect of systematically poisoning an entire subset of human beings? That breakfast?”

  I grinned. “I knew there was a reason why I liked you.”

  “Yeah well, after the shit show you left for me to clean up the other night at the MGM Grand, you owe me, big time. I’m still gett
ing texts from half a dozen proud graduates of Farraday High wanting to show me their new tattoos.”

  “What did you expect? You’re Officer Brody, hero of the young and lost. You’re a celebrity.”

  Brody glanced over my shoulder. “Speaking of celebrities…”

  We both turned as a murmur of excitement went through the crowd. More attendees flowed in through the doors, bringing the tally to approximately three hundred people. Not a large crowd, honestly, but the Connected energy was impressive. Either not all these people had partaken of the conference food, or they were packing enough firepower that it would take more than a doctored Danish or two to keep them down. Interesting.

  The murmurs increased as Dr. Rindon entered the room. After a brief and breathless introduction from the conference coordinator, he immediately moved to the stage and began his opening remarks. Just as he had in the resort city of Gretek, he exuded a warm and genuine sense of caring that surprised me with its strength. He addressed the crowd as if they were missionaries dedicated to the cause of global health and the recovery from climate-based devastation. He was confident that with the proper mix of protections, humanity could rise above any challenge that was thrown at it. He believed, and as he spoke, I believed too. I flipped open my third eye, scanning him for Connected activity, but as before, I simply wasn’t picking up on enough to justify the charisma rolling off him.

  I felt more than saw the moment that Armaeus joined the crowd, and couldn’t help but track him as he moved through the room in his understated, elegant suit. To my surprise, he slid into an open seat next to Lainie and Eshe, both of whom were dressed in almost shockingly boring outfits. Not that their understated business suits masked their startling beauty, but until you truly focused on them, you wouldn’t notice how much they stood out.

  I still hadn’t located Simon by the time Rindon had concluded his speech. The crowd applauded him with enthusiasm, and he exited to the right of the stage, no doubt heading for his special VIP sessions.

  “You attending anything in particular? I’ll be at the pharmaceutical breakout,” Brody said. “It’d be real handy if they’d come right out and announce that they’re doctoring Novadrine with null tech and save me the trouble of investigating.”

  “I bet that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” I waved my VIP pass at him. “I’m going to give the good doctor an opportunity to impress me one last time. Hopefully, he gives me enough to conclude he’s not the asshat I fear he is, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  Even with that dire prediction, I couldn’t help feeling optimistic as I made my way through the conference center. The buzz of energy from the other conference attendees was undeniable, especially those who weren’t high-level Connecteds.

  Much like the registration attendant, these were people who believed they had the power to make real change. The power and the responsibility. In many of their cases, that power had nothing to do with Connected ability. At least not Connected ability that they were aware of. Rather, it was their far more mundane connections with the leaders in their fields of science, technology, medicine, and engineering that would show them the way.

  In fact, nobody talked about the role of magic in helping to either avert or clean up the disasters that humanity was facing at an ever-increasing rate. Should magic be part of the conversation? I thought about Armaeus and his constellation of spheres, light and life flickering within a controlled environment, protected from the forces surrounding it. Granted, humanity didn’t exist in a bubble. The problems of humanity included the messy realities of war and climate change and resource deprivation. Magic wasn’t a silver bullet to solve any of those problems, but shouldn’t it at least be invited to the party?

  I was still mulling over these thoughts as I entered the conference room dedicated to Dr. Rindon’s first VIP event, only to realize that it wasn’t as exclusive as I had originally thought. They were easily thirty-five people milling around, swilling the generously provided lattes and trying to see who else had been invited and whether or not each new attendee improved or took away from the experience. Everyone seem to be pretty happy, so I assumed the former, and when Rindon showed up, the energy in the room noticeably spiked. I turned to regard him and, for the first time, picked up on a surge of Connected energy that had thus far remained hidden from me. Dr. Rindon was most definitely Connected, and the metallic edge to his aura indicated that the good doctor was also most definitely taking advantage of the pharmaceutical and technical advances of Solidarity Pharmaceuticals. In other words, he was amped to the gills. Curious, considering that most everyone else at the conference was getting a consistent dose of energy-dampening drugs. Was Rindon evening the score, or was he oblivious, merely one of virtually thousands of moderate-level Connecteds who simply wanted to augment their natural-born abilities?

  To my surprise, after scanning the room and taking stock of the attendees, Rindon rather quickly made his way over to me.

  “Sara Wilde,” he said, reaching out his hand. I managed to overcome my knee-jerk response not to let this man anywhere near my skin, and shook his hand.

  “Dr. Rindon,” I said. “I found your opening remarks very hopeful. I wish I could say that I felt your efforts would be unilaterally supported throughout the world, but any positive step will help.”

  “It will definitely help,” he said. “I’m well aware of the influence you have with certain governmental organizations, as well as certain extra-governmental organizations. Both will be necessary to help us achieve our goals of protecting human lives, even if we are protecting ourselves from ourselves, in the end. The Council is a welcome ally.”

  I nodded, intrigued by his directness. Had Armaeus already reached out to him, whether through Rindon’s overseers at Solidarity Pharmaceuticals or his own people at Star Research Laboratories? Or was he getting his information from a far purer source?

  I was about to ask him directly when we were interrupted by a young, fair, auburn-haired man in a lab coat, his energy high, his Connectedness obvious and erratic, the exuberance of it practically sizzling off him. He bounded up to us, and I realized he also exhibited some of the classic symptoms of Down syndrome. Judging from his VIP lanyard and his presence at the summit, he had clearly not let the condition slow him down.

  “Dr. Rindon,” he said, holding out his hand with obvious glee, his voice overloud with excitement. “They said I shouldn’t disturb you, but I had to. I had to thank you in person. You have inspired me so much.”

  It was only the barest flash, the merest moment, but because I was watching the scene with my third eye peeled wide, time took on a new flavor, texture, and resonance for me. It slowed to nearly a standstill, every element captured in this moment painfully harsh and bright. Rindon focused on the young man approaching him, taking in his wide smile, distinctive features, and deep voice, and his spirit recoiled. Though his body remained stiffly unmoving, his aura froze and then retreated, not in fear—or at least not entirely in fear—so much as revulsion. He rejected this young man with every ounce of his being, clearly and emphatically.

  In the very next breath, the doctor’s savvier social instincts kicked in, and he leaned forward, grinning gamely as he shook the young man’s hand.

  “I appreciate you saying so,” he said, breaking the contact just as quickly. “I’ve got an awful lot of people to see, though, I hope you understand.”

  “You do good work.” The young man nodded, beaming. But Rindon was already turning away to greet another supplicant, not even the prospect of currying the favor of the Arcana Counsel enough to keep him in this young man’s company. I turned to address the young man with a quiet smile, and blinked.

  The Magician of the Arcana Council stood next to me, his face hard as granite.

  “Miss Wilde, I suggest you wash your hands,” he informed me coldly.

  I jerked my gaze down to my palm, but my Nul Magis shard lay dormant, unmoving. “He had something on his hands again?” I asked. “How did I
not notice it?”

  “He didn’t,” the Magician said. “That’s not the reason I made the suggestion.”

  He disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

  27

  I remained at the VIP event for the full duration, even having the opportunity to speak once more with Dr. Rindon, our conversation once again brief and unsatisfying. He continued to present himself as a champion for the global good, speaking in generalities and making vague references to the work “my organization” might help facilitate. He ended by giving me a card and urging me to contact him privately once the conference was over, so that our conversations could begin in earnest. I still didn’t know exactly how much he understood about the Arcana Council, or what role he believed he could play, and I left the room conflicted.

  Rindon had shied away from a man he believed to be imperfect, but what did that really tell us? Yes, certainly, one could infer that Rindon was an asshat, but there were, arguably a lot of people who could fit that description. Was that enough to condemn the man? Sadly, I didn’t think so. I was making my way back to the main auditorium when Simon approached me and then almost immediately veered off to the right as another woman emerged from a side corridor and jostled into me.

  “Excuse me,” I said automatically, then was surprised as she took hold of my elbow and turned me to walk with her. My third eye flipped open, and I instantly recognized her level of Connected ability. It was sharp and clear, which made me wonder exactly how successful Rindon’s little food trick had turned out after all. Or were the Connected at this particular summit particularly paranoid about what was in their free coffee?