The Charm Runner (Broken Throne Book 1)

by Jamie Davis

  Artos started at the noise, then looked at her, smiling. “And none of this matters to you at all, does it? You only care about your missing cousin, yes?”

  “I care, Artos, I just don’t know what you think can be done about it. This is the world we live in. It’s screwed up and getting worse. Did you know Nils Kane is secretly a chanter?”

  “Of course he is.” Artos laughed aloud. “The whole Assembly is made up of powerful men who are secretly one of us. Haven’t you been listening? The people who wrestled control of the world in the aftermath of the Fae’s fall were all magic users. They’ve learned to hide in plain sight while demonizing the descendants of those they defeated. The chanters of this new world are the true stewards of magic.”

  “Like I said, I care. I just don’t see a way out. These are the cards I’ve been dealt, Artos. I can’t fix the world any more than you can.”

  “Perhaps that’s true, and perhaps not. There are curious events in the working right now that seem to belie that statement, my girl. Still, it won’t free your cousin either way, will it? Very well, I’ll look into getting some information on the whereabouts of this missing cousin. I should know something by morning. In the meantime, I need you and your friends to do me a favor down the road. I have a special charm that needs to be delivered and installed. I believe that you and your friends are the only ones up to this particular challenge.”

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t have it assembled just yet. I’ll let you know when it’s done, and what you’ll need to install it. For the time being, get your crew back on their feet. And pick up a few more friends you can trust. Things will get busier, and I want you ready to fill in the gaps.”

  “I don’t know about bringing more friends in to help. My existing crew is shaken up by Joey’s disappearance. Having more new faces around will make things worse.”

  “We must expand or die. The Assembly is growing their power base, too, I assure you. Find promising young talent and bring them into your crew. I’ll have more work for all the new additions soon.”

  Artos stood, circled his desk, and gestured to the door at the other end of the room. Winnie took the hint and stood. She didn’t have the answers she wanted, but Artos was agreed to find Joey. At least she’d have that piece of good news for Cait and Tris.

  “I’ll wait for you call, Artos. Contact me as soon as you know anything.”

  “I will, my dear. Don’t forget all that I told you. More people should know the truth of our origins. We’ve hidden from our true past for too long.”

  Winnie nodded and left as Mr. Gunderson came in to walk her out. Artos had given her a lot to consider. She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do with the information. She guessed she’d file it away with all those fairy tales her mother had told when she was younger.

  On the elevator ride back to the first floor, Winnie wondered what she’d tell Cait and Tris about what she’d learned about the Assembly. They knew what Danny had said about the Director. They didn’t believe it, but Winnie did. Now, with Artos’s explanation, it all made a sort of perverse sense. Resolutions were just laws to control magic so there was more for the Assembly members to use. She’d never thought of her magic as a finite resource. Now that she did, Winnie wanted to hold on to what she had.

  CHAPTER 26

  Victor opened his door and let Morgan in.

  She’d been coming here to his apartment for two weeks now, in the evenings after class, to help him go over the recordings from the shop. He’d even managed to get her on the payroll as a part-time transcriptionist and junior officer so she could be paid for her trouble. It was the least he could do, even though he knew that she’d help him for nothing. She had come to belief in the cause.

  Morgan smiled as she walked by. He watched her from behind, then closed and locked his apartment door. “You look nice,” he said, joining her on his small living room couch.

  “You say that every time I come over, Victor. Careful. A girl might get the wrong idea.”

  He pointed to his computer, the downloaded recordings ready to play. “These are from last night and this morning. I listened to some of it — they’re upset about Joey getting picked up running charms. They’re going to Merrilyn for help in finding him. This is how we’ll get close enough to bring the operation down, then use them to get to Artos Merrilyn himself.”

  Morgan leaned close. Victor felt her warm breath on his shoulder. “You always sound so excited when talking about your work. I never knew that so many bad things were happening until I met you. I’m glad you let me help you in your investigation.”

  “I’m glad you’re able to help. The evenings always pass faster when you’re here. I wish there were I had more ways to thank you.”

  “You’ve done so much already. I’m grateful for the job. And you know, I’m thinking of changing my major from Education to Criminal Justice. I think there’s so much more to do out there.”

  “Criminal Justice was my major.”

  “I know. It’s another way for me to thank you for helping me and my father out of this jam. Winnie should never have gotten involved with this and dragged us into it.”

  Victor felt a pang of guilt. He’d made up the charges against Morgan and her father to get her help placing the bugs. Since then, things had changed between them. Now she was his closest ally in his quest against Winnie and Artos. The fact that Morgan wanted to become an officer in the Department made him both proud and worried. They needed dedicated new officers, but he also knew that she’d eventually learn that he tricked her. Necessary, sure. But no less distasteful in retrospect.

  He decided to tell her something in confidence to make up for his guilty conscience.

  “Morgan, can you keep a secret?”

  “You know I can, Victor. What do you think I’ve been doing these past weeks?”

  “I know, but this is something that few people know, even in the highest levels of the department. It is something shared with me by Director Kane himself.”

  “Haven’t I proven worthy of your trust yet?”

  “You have. I’m sorry I doubted you.” He paused and took her hand. “Morgan, there is more at stake here than some magical charms and illegal activity. This is a war for man’s very existence. Have you wondered what we do with all the magical items confiscated by our officers for impound?”

  “I assume they are held for evidence in trials or something like that.”

  “That is true in part. But after that, they are taken to a very secret location where a special technology is being used to destroy them and capture their magical energy.”

  “Why would you want to capture the magic? Isn’t destroying it what we want to do?”

  “That’s just it. Project X is there to protect us from magic by collecting it all in one place. Then the people who can be most trusted to use it responsibly can decide on its judicious uses. The time has come to wrest control of magic from the chanters once and for all. Project X will allow us, the middlings, to control the magic for once. Think about it. We’ll be able to use it for good and to uplift man, but only when it is most necessary.”

  “That is fascinating, Victor. Who knows about this Project X?”

  “You, me, Director Kane, and a few officers in the force who can be trusted with the knowledge. Those people and the scientists who created the great machine to begin with are the only ones who know about it. It is the crowning achievement of man’s technology to finally conquer and control magic.”

  “Why are you telling me this? Couldn’t you get in trouble?”

  “I trust you, Morgan. I wanted to show that in a way that would be above reproach.” There was an awkward silence as his statement hung between them.

  “Thank you for that trust, Victor. I won’t let you down.” Morgan picked up her notepad. “Shall we get to work on the day’s recordings?”

  She leaned closer, brushing up against Victor as he keyed the computer to play the recordings. They had a long night a
head, with many recordings to go through. She would continue to flirt, and now, he was allowing himself to respond. Perhaps tonight, he’d give in. She was younger and impressionable. She worked for him, which made things worse. And yet, Victor couldn’t resist forever. He was strong in his convictions, but not made of stone.

  Hours later, long after the sky had darkened to night outside the apartment, the computer continued to spill the charm runners’ plans. But the two forms tangled on the couch heard nothing.

  CHAPTER 27

  The next three days were excruciating for Winnie’s crew.

  Tris, when she could get away from her job, puttered around the store, making minor adjustments to repaired items on the shelves and straightening things that weren’t in need. Cait tried to stay busy by checking the store’s security arrangements and entrances. Winnie watched them, knowing they were masking an impatience that they all felt like splinters in their skin.

  She checked in with Mr. Gunderson several times a day, every day, to see if Artos had any news. The kind old gentleman always had the same words. “He is doing what he can, and will contact you when he has the information you seek.”

  Winnie was getting tired of talking to him. His repetition of the same old line and lack of new information only served to make her more impatient. She had nothing to do. There were no customers, no way she’d dare to open the shop and risk a Red Leg agent catching her unaware, or a rival gang swooping in to break up her operation. Not knowing what was going on was killing her inside.

  She looked at the sign on the door stating that Charmed was closed for renovations. It wasn’t wrong. Winnie had had a contractor come in yesterday and beef up the door locks at the front and back of the building. She had had also had a friend install security cameras near the store’s entrance, aimed at the customer area near the counter and register.

  Winnie used a spell she designed to modify the image shown by the camera to create a highlight around each person on-screen. A blue highlight meant they were a normal customer, seeking to do business there, a red highlight meant they intended to harm the shop and its employees. If the camera detected red, the computer would also send a text to all their phones with a still image of the individual in question.

  Winnie thought of all the preparations for trouble and realized they were all useless if anyone really wanted to shut them down. At best, the changes would give them a little time, a quick warning that trouble was coming or maybe already there. She chuckled, almost a snort, considering the futility of that brief a warning.

  “How can you laugh, Winnie?” Cait snapped, stopping her pacing to face Winnie, her expression a mix of anger and anguish. “Joey could be dead by now. Who knows what they’ve done to him? Hell, we don’t even know who they are.”

  “Cait, we’re all worried about him. Don’t pick on Winnie. It’s not her fault. She’s the most worried of all.”

  “Oh, shut up, Tris.” Cait turned on her other friend. “If you hadn’t waited so long for him to show up, maybe we could have found him before they got him.”

  Winnie stepped between them. She couldn’t have them fighting, too. They were the only ones who were keeping her sane amidst her worry over Joey’s fate. “This isn’t our fault. Someone else is responsible for this. They tracked Joey down and hauled him away. Artos will find him. We’ll hear something soon. We have to.”

  Cait turned back to Winnie. “How do you know? You said Artos would do something, but so far, he’s been useless. He only wants his money and power. He doesn’t care about us.”

  “You’re right, Cait.” Winnie tried to reason with her friend. “He only wants money and power. But we’re a part of that money and power now. He wants me to owe him a favor. He’ll find out what is going on. Word will come.”

  “The good news is, if he were dead,” Tris said, “then they would’ve found his body.”

  Winnie and Cait looked at Tris, both shocked by her callous remark. She was awkward around people most of the time, but this was over the top, even for her.

  “No news is good news, is all I’m saying. If Joey were dead, either from the Red Legs or another gang, they’d have left his body out as a warning. Artos or someone would have found him by now.”

  Cait paused, looking at Tris as if trying to understand her. Then she started pacing, checking the entrances again. Winnie gave Tris a half-smile. She meant well. They were all on edge.

  She checked her phone, heart skipping a beat when she saw a text from Gunderson, along with an address. She keyed the address into her map: City General Hospital.

  What did that mean?

  No matter, they’d know soon enough.

  “I got an address,” Winnie said. “It’s City Hospital.”

  “I thought we checked that hospital?” Tris asked.

  Cait shook her head. “Not since the first day. If he came in unconscious and his ID was stolen, they wouldn’t have known who he was.”

  “Well, whatever the reason, Gunderson sent us the address from Artos. It has to mean they found him. Let’s go and check there.”

  The trio left the shop and Winnie flagged down a cab. They spent the ride in silence. They all had questions, but the answers would be coming soon enough.

  Winnie jumped out first when they arrived at the hospital. By the time Tris and Cait caught up, she was already inquiring after her cousin at the information desk.

  The elderly volunteer peered at her computer screen, scrolling through entries until she found what she was searching for. “Yes, there is a Joey Kerry registered. Strange, he’s been here for two days but was only entered into the system today.”

  “What does that mean?” Winnie asked.

  “I don’t know, my dear. I’ve never seen that before. He’s on the general surgery floor. Go down to those elevators and take them up to the fifth floor. The nurses at the desk can direct you to his room. Here are some visitor badges for you and your friends, but only two of you will be allowed in his room at a time.”

  “Thanks!” Winnie said, then the three girls all took off for the elevators.

  Winnie got there first and punched the button then pounded the linoleum, pacing as she watched the numbers lighting above each elevator door until one promised a return to the main floor. When the door opened, she didn’t wait for people to exit, pushing through the people trying to get off and turning to jam her thumb the fifth-floor button. Cait and Tris waited for the door to clear before joining her, just as it closed.

  The nurse upstairs at the main desk looked at a bank of monitors. As they approached, Winnie could see the moving lines and waveforms representing vital signs monitored at the central desk.

  “I’m here to see Joey Kerry. I’m his cousin.”

  “Ah, yes. The new patient. We didn’t know his name until the Red Leg officer gave us the rest of his personal details.”

  “What Red Leg officer?” Winnie asked.

  “It was a constable, but I don’t recall his name. He seemed angry that he had to give us the information, as if he were being forced to do so. Until the constable returned this morning with the name and other information, we were just calling your cousin John Doe.”

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He had brain surgery following a severe head injury. At least that’s what the constable’s report said. Honestly, to me, he looked like he’d taken quite a beating. He’s back in room 517. Don’t get him agitated. He needs his rest.”

  The nurse turned to address the beeping from a row of monitors in front of her. Winnie looked at Cait and Tris, fear in her tearing eyes.

  “Winnie, let’s go see him before we jump to any conclusions,” Cait said. “It might be worry for nothing. He could be recovering already. You want Tris and I to stay here?”

  “No, I need you both with me.” She didn’t care about the rules on visitors. Winnie wanted her friends next to her. This was all her fault and she needed the support.

  Tris reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand.
“Of course. We’ll be wherever you need us to be. Come on. Let’s go check on Joey.”

  Cait joined them, flanking Winnie opposite Tris. They walked with her down the hallway, checking room numbers until they stood outside Joey’s room. They paused to compose themselves, then Winnie opened the door and led them inside.

  Joey was lying in bed, eyes closed, his head wrapped in bandages. There was an IV inserted in his arm and tubing connected to a bag of clear fluids hanging from a pole set beside the bed. Wires sprouted from his chest, connecting to a monitor on the wall. Winnie saw the wave forms from his heart and some other things she didn’t recognize. But he was breathing on his own. He wasn’t hooked up to one of those breathing machines — that had to be good news.

  She took a few hesitant steps to his bedside, reached down, and picked up Joey’s hand, clasping it between both of hers. Her shoulders sagged, shuddering as the tears started to flow. Cait came up beside her with Tris on the other side. They hugged her, tears welling.

  Joey’s eyes fluttered open. He looked around and saw the three friends next to his bed. Winnie started to smile, happy that he was conscious, until she saw his face. He was suddenly upset. He started pushing them away with his hands as though he didn’t want them there.

  “Winnie, I didn’t tell them.”

  “What?”

  “I didn’t tell them anything. No matter what they did, I wouldn’t tell them who I was running for.” Joey’s voice was raspy and weak.

  “No, of course you didn’t. I trust you, Joey. We all do.” She tried to reassure him, but Joey kept shaking his head.

  “Then they sent me here, said if I wouldn’t talk to them, then they’d make sure I never caused any trouble, ever again.”

  Winnie wasn’t sure what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. They’d found him. “Joey, you don’t have to worry. We found you. You’re going to be alright.”