by Krista Walsh
Brady hid his face in his pint.
“I have a guest bedroom and the sofa is perfectly serviceable to sleep on.” She shot Jeff a stare, ignoring Jayden’s insinuation. “What other option is there? Your floor?”
“A hotel?” he suggested.
“You can’t put your guests, strangers to this city, in some impersonal hotel. That would be rude. I’m off tomorrow, so we’ll come by your place first thing and start the search again.”
Jeff’s eyes narrowed at Jayden, who smirked back at him. He didn’t really think his friend would try to move in on his girlfriend, but Jayden wasn’t exactly known for his gentlemanly behaviour with women. Still, Brady would be there to keep an eye on him, and it was better than sharing his bachelor among three guys, so he nodded and looked at Brady. “You all right with that?”
“I just need to sleep. World jumping is more jarring than I expected.”
Jeff snorted. “Try doing it four times in as many days, we’ll see how much you start to enjoy it.” He threw a few twenties on the table, and then stood up and helped Cassie slide off the bench. Her small hand was warm in his, and he loved that he could give her fingers a squeeze without any other reason than that he wanted to. She squeezed back and he was walking on air.
The night air offered a cool reprieve from the heat of the day, but the humidity still stifled the breath, sticking clothing to skin and plastering hair to head. Jayden’s carefully organised messiness had wilted so he looked like he’d just come up from a swim, and Brady’s hair had started to frizz. Neither man looked comfortable, unfamiliar with the sensation. Andvell, as Jeff had always described, enjoyed more of a dry heat.
On a quiet shady street, they stopped in front of Cassie’s narrow two-storey townhouse apartment. She unlocked it, letting Brady and Jayden inside, and then waited out on the stoop with Jeff. A moment later the faces of both men were in the bay window in the front, watching them.
Jeff rolled his eyes, and Cassie giggled. She rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his cheek. Jeff caught a whiff of coffee and the brown sugar scent of her body lotion.
“Walk home safely and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Can’t wait,” said Jeff, and he meant it.
Cassie kept her hands on his shoulders, and her gaze caught his. A faint smile hovered on her lips. “I don’t want to get all deep or anything, but we’re okay, right? I know how busy you are with Evensong promotions, so I didn’t want to push, but you’ve been a bit distant ever since …. At least, you’ve stopped coming to see me as often.”
“That’s because I’m an idiot,” he replied, as honest an answer as he could give. Even if he wanted to tell her about the trade he’d made, now was hardly the time with Heckle and Jeckle watching. “After this is over, and we send these two on their merry way with Raul in tow, we’ll talk.”
Concern, and perhaps the slightest hint of anger, passed over her eyes. She opted for a nod and ran her hand through his hair. His scalp tingled under her fingertips. “I’ll hold you to that. No more running away.”
“No more running,” he promised.
Slowly, taunting him, she leaned in until the smell of her overwhelmed his senses. He suspected she was testing him, seeing if he would run away right now. But his feet felt cemented to the ground, and if she told him to, he would stay there forever.
She brushed her lips over his, the faintest pressure, a promise of more once they both found their footing. Then she gave his hair a light tug and turned on her heel, her ponytail swaying as she went into the house. With a quick wave she closed the door, and Jeff inhaled sharply.
From the window he could see Jayden and Brady grinning like mad fools. Grins that quickly disappeared as Cassie entered the room, both men flying away from the window.
Jeff shook his head at how chaotic his world had become over the course of six hours, and started home.
The cool breeze cleared his head, and for the first time since he entered his apartment that afternoon, he took his time to think.
Raul in Montreal for six months. Jayden and Brady come to play bounty hunters and bring him home. Raul with no powers. Cassie wanting the truth.
It was a lot to absorb, and he didn’t know where to start.
The beers from dinner swirled in his head, making it impossible to tie any of his thoughts together. All he wanted was to fall into bed, and pretend for the next eight hours that his life wasn’t a tangled mess. Then he could wake up with a clear mind and they would find Raul. They had to. Even if it took weeks, they had no other option.
Not like he was in a rush to get back to work.
He reached his building and took the elevator—rationalising it because of the hour and the amount of walking he’d already done that day—and let himself into his apartment. To make sure no other surprise guests lurked in the shadows, he poked his head into each room.
Reassured, he took a quick shower and then buried himself under his blue comforter. After a week of hotel sheets, his own felt luxurious. Within seconds he was asleep.
***
What felt like five minutes later, Jeff awoke to his cell phone chirping on the desk beside him.
Not alarm. Can’t be alarm.
It took three rings for everything to fall into place. Jayden and Brady. Raul. Andvell? His eyes flew open, and he breathed with relief to see his own room around him. No unwanted transportation.
But his phone was still ringing.
Bleary eyed, he reached over and glanced at the screen. Cassie? The clock read six-thirty.
“Hey,” he answered, “is everything all right?”
Sniffling on the other end, rough breathing. “No!” she shrieked, and Jeff held the phone away from his ear. “Oh god, I don’t know what happened. How do I tell you—”
Fully awake now, Jeff sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Deep breaths, Cassie. What happened?”
“Jayden and Brady. They’ve been abducted!”
Chapter Four
Jeff rose to his feet. “Abducted?”
Scrambling into his jeans, he pulled a shirt over his t-shirt, keeping the phone glued to his ear as he released a muffled, “What do you mean abducted?”
“Taken! Manhandled into the back of a car!” Cassie’s panic rose, and Jeff held out a hand to calm her down, forgetting she wasn’t there to see it.
“Start from the beginning.”
“We were all up early,” she said, her voice trembling so badly Jeff had a hard time making her out. He heard the rattle of mugs in the background and the click of a kettle turning on or off. “I was making breakfast, and I heard them in the living room. Suddenly they were all excited about something, and next I knew the door was open. I went to the window to see what was going on and—and—”
“It’s all right,” Jeff said automatically. Clearly it wasn’t. She sounded like she was about to break down. He wished he was there. Stuffing his wallet into his pocket, he rummaged on his desk for his keys.
“This black car pulled up. I saw Jayden start to run, but three guys jumped him and forced him and Brady into the backseat! It was over in seconds, the car was gone before I reached the sidewalk.”
The tremor in her voice worsened. Jeff heard the whistle of the kettle, and then another click as it shut off. He found his keys buried under a pile of dirty clothes from the night before.
“Did you recognise any of the men?” He ran his hand through his hair and paced back and forth in front of his desk. “How is this even possible?”
“They were all—all in suits. Nice suits. Tidy hair. The car was clean and expensive. A Mercedes, I think. Like out of a movie where the government agents whisk people away. God, Jeff, what the hell are we going to do? Maybe there was someone following us yesterday. We should have listened and followed that guy. I’m so sorry.”
“I’m on my way over. We’ll figure something out. Just sit tight, okay? Make sure your doors are locked.”
“Thank you,” Cassie said, exhaling slowly. “I can’t believe it. Even if that man yesterday was spying, how would they know who Brady and Jayden were?”
Jeff opened his front door and stopped. A man stood in the hallway, arm half-raised to knock. A clean-cut sort of guy in a tailored black suit, his red tie perfectly centred over a red shirt, with short blond hair and a square jaw.
“You Jeff Powell?” he asked, his grammar not quite reaching his level of fashion.
“Yes,” Jeff replied, curiosity winning over his desire to point the man to Mr MacGregor’s door.
“Jeff? Who’s there?” Cassie spoke up in Jeff’s ear.
“I have a message for you,” said the man. “From Raul.”
Jeff, and Cassie on the other end of the line, were silent, too stunned to reply.
“He says to meet him in Old Port. He’s waiting for you by the Clock Tower.”
“Who is it?” Cassie hissed.
“Who are you?” Jeff asked.
“I wouldn’t dawdle. He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
The man turned and stalked down the hall, leaving Jeff to heed the message or not.
“Not like he can do much about it if I’m late anymore!” Jeff called after him.
“So?” Cassie asked.
“I guess I’m heading to Old Port.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Fear flooded Jeff’s throat. “What’s the point of putting yourself in danger if you don’t have to? Raul may not be all with the zombie summoning, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hurt you. I’d rather you stayed away.”
“And leave me waiting to hear back from you? What if something goes wrong? There’s no use arguing, Jeff. I’ll be there.”
Jeff headed down the stairwell, his voice echoing around the cement walls. “Fine, but please keep your distance. If something does happen, at least you’ll be there to call the cops, or scream, or throw something at his head so I can run away.”
He hung up as he reached the street and headed left. Even if Cassie called a cab it would take her fifteen or twenty minutes to get there, and by then Jeff could gauge how much trouble Raul intended to cause.
At this early hour, Old Port hosted a few commuters biking along the path, but the tourists weren’t yet out and about. Without them, the setting looked abandoned.
Jeff crossed the bridge and went through the park to the quay. Walking towards the Clock Tower, he stayed behind the row of benches, hidden by the trees that hung over the promenade with their early autumn colours. He wanted to see Raul before Raul saw him.
The branches swayed with the wind coming over the water. The heat and humidity were already high, and Jeff appreciated the breeze.
Most of the benches were empty except for the one closest to the Clock Tower. A man sat at the far end of the bench, one leg over the other and his arm stretched out along the back. His head tilted back to catch the early morning sun, his eyes guarded under a pair of expensive sunglasses. He looked perfectly at ease with the setting, and Jeff stopped in the shadows of the tree to stare at him.
Impossible.
No wonder they hadn’t found Raul yesterday. Based on the most practical deductions of their world, they had assumed he would be destitute, a man out of his element, lost in a strange land without knowing the rules of his new environment.
The man on the bench didn’t have any of those problems. In a pressed grey suit with shiny black shoes, a trimmed beard, and stylish sunglasses, Raul could have stepped right out of Forbes Magazine.
“Jeffrey, is that you lurking over there?” he called out. Jeff stepped out from behind his tree. “I see Philippe managed to pass along my message.”
“Is that an Armani suit?” Jeff asked, still shocked at Raul’s appearance.
“Savile Row,” Raul corrected, patting the bench next to him. “Now have a seat so we can catch up without cramping my neck. I was going to invite you to this café I frequent, but thought you might be more comfortable out in the open.”
Jeff perched on the far end of the bench, and Raul chuckled. “I see we might have gone for cappuccinos after all. Come now, Jeffrey, I promise not to harm you.”
“From what I hear, you couldn’t even if you wanted to. Your magic’s gone.”
Raul sighed. Slowly, with the grace Jeff remembered so clearly, the ex-sorcerer pulled off his sunglasses, folded them, and tucked one end into his breast pocket so they dangled from his shirt. Jeff caught a glimpse of the Versace brand on the arm of the glasses before it disappeared.
“You heard correctly, although it hardly seems courteous or politic of you to mention it so bluntly. I’ve lost a great deal of who I am.”
Jeff could relate. Sort of.
“You lost the part of you that topples cities into ruins.”
Raul crossed his hands over his knee. “That’s only a hobby. I am so much more than my destruction. I create, as well. You remember my bear.”
Jeff glowered, his hands clenched into fists in his lap.
Raul leaned back and stared out into the Saint Lawrence. “Although, to speak frankly, I’m glad to have been given this opportunity. The chance to experience your city without the ability to destroy it. I like your world.”
“How wonderful.”
“Isn’t it?” Raul said, ignoring Jeff’s sarcasm. “I’ve learned how much fun it is watching other people destroy one another. I leave on the news stations just to see the creative means people have discovered to make life miserable for their fellow human beings. I also have quite an affinity for your architecture. And your coffees.”
Jeff’s patience hung by a thread. This conversation was going in no way as Jeff expected. But then, Raul had always been a genius at veering away from expectation. Questions flurried through Jeff’s mind, and he didn’t know where to start. He landed on what he thought was the most important issue.
“Why did you want to see me?”
“I’ve missed you!” Raul replied with a grin.
With the sunglasses off, Jeff could see the sorcerer wasn’t nearly as composed as he wanted people to think. On the surface, he appeared tidy and confident. The eyes, skittishly roaming the quay, jumping at every movement of tree shadows, betrayed a certain degree of madness, a wild insanity that made Jeff wish he was much farther away than the other end of the bench.
“Not just that, of course,” Raul continued. “I thought you might have heard by now that Jayden and Brady were taken into my care this morning. I didn’t want you to worry.”
“How did you even know they were here?”
Raul’s eyebrow quirked. “My dear boy, do you think I’ve haven’t kept a close eye on you since my arrival?”
“But—how?”
“You’re far from invisible, Jeffrey. On the contrary, I’ve watched your interviews on television with pride and joy. And I’ve read your books. Most excellent, although my point of comparison is rather small.” Raul smiled. “But I digress. In my circle of friends, it becomes a point of security to watch our potential enemies. Imagine my surprise when I heard you had company. And that you were searching for me!”
Jeff thought of the man in the mint green sweater. As suspicious and obvious as he’d been, Jeff had never figured out how he might be connected to Raul. It’s not paranoia if someone is really following you.
“At first I considered coming out in the open and letting you know I was here, but once I heard that Feldall bastard and my dear protégé were with you—well, I didn’t want to make things more complicated.”
“How considerate. Why did you take them? Why not just stay hidden once you knew we were looking for you?”
Raul’s smile widened. “Because I need them.” The grin faded, and he bobbed his head, rethinking his answer. “I need Brady. Jayden is an added benefit if it will keep his sister and that enchantress out of my hair for a while, but Brady, if he can be convinced to help me, will be a great asset to my plans.”
“He won’t agree to it,” said Jeff, s
urprised Raul would even consider it. “He loathes you.”
Raul rested his hand over his heart. “Your words wound me, Jeffrey. But no matter. He helps or he doesn’t, but either way I can’t have them interfering. I just thought he would rather align with me than die a horrible death. That will be up to him.”
Raul pulled up his sleeve to read the Gucci watchface. “I hate to cut this short, but I’m afraid I have another rendez-vous to attend. I don’t suppose you and Miss Murphy would care to accompany me? I’m sure you have more questions.”
Jeff’s spine straightened, and he turned his head to the left, noticing Cassie sitting against the tree behind Raul. The sorcerer may have been without magic, but apparently still had eyes in the back of his head.
Cheeks flushed, Cassie rose to her feet and came forward. Raul stood and took her hand, bending over to place a kiss on the back of it. Cassie stood statue-still, but Jeff read the fury in her eyes and admired her restraint for not slapping him.
“You look lovely, my dear,” said Raul.
“I must say, so do you. How’d you manage that? Summon a boatload of cash before you lost all of your magic?”
Raul clicked his tongue in disapproval, looking from Cassie to Jeff. “Your generation has lost all sense of courtesy.” He looked back at Cassie. “As it happens, I met a few generous individuals on my arrival here. Come, let’s walk to my car as I explain.”
Jeff took Cassie’s hand, and the two trailed behind Raul. The sorcerer talked without checking to see if they followed. Once his back was to them, Cassie gave Jeff a nudge, gesturing to the otherwise empty park. Jeff wished he didn’t understand what she was suggesting, but knew she was right. If they were going to stop him, gain the upper hand, this might be their only opportunity. Who knew where Raul was trying to take them.
He gave her a reluctant nod, and they both leapt, ready to tackle the sorcerer to the ground.
In mid-air, Jeff crashed into a wall and hit the ground with a thud, Cassie landing next to him. He groaned and shook out his head to clear the ringing, his skin tingling with the magic. He recognised the sensations, but didn’t know how it was possible. The effect had been similar to the barrier spell Raul had kept around Treevale. But how had he cast it? And why hadn’t Jeff’s amulet worked to pass him through it?