Mad Maudlin

by Mercedes Lackey

  "I'll do that," Greystone promised. "And you bring the kids back safe."

  "The kids, Hosea, anybody who doesn't run away too fast," Eric said, forcing cheer into his voice. "You'd better put a new wing on this place, my friend."

  Chapter Fifteen:

  Beardance

  Eric ascended the stairs of The Place slowly, having left Lady Day well down the block—and invisible—when he saw the people gathered in front of the building. The sight of the open door disturbed him, and he could sense the residue of baneful magic in the air, but that was no reason to go rushing blindly into a trap.

  He got to the top of the stairs. The room inside looked empty, but he could sense someone waiting just inside the doorway.

  Someone familiar . . .

  "Hosea?" he called. "It's me. Eric."

  "Eric!" The big man appeared in the doorway and enveloped him in a crushing bear hug, lifting him off his feet. "Boy, am Ah glad to see you! Where've you been?"

  "Underhill," Eric said briefly. "It wasn't exactly my idea."

  Hosea set him down and studied him critically. "Well, you're looking a sight better'n you did the last time Ah saw you. Got your hair back, too."

  Eric put his hand up to his head, feeling his hair. It was all shoulder-length again; he'd wondered about that, but he hadn't gotten around to asking anybody about it before he'd left Elfhame Misthold.

  Oh. Brain injury. They must have shaved my head at the hospital.

  "We've got trouble here," Hosea said gravely. "Kayla was here. An' she left in too much of a hurry to take her backpack. The place was like this when Ah got here."

  Eric looked around at the deserted flop. It was never empty this early in the evening, as he remembered—and Jaycie, Magnus, and Ace didn't go out at night at all.

  "And something was chasing her—or them—or someone that was here," Eric said, piecing things together. There it was again, the sense that he was forgetting something vitally important. "I wonder what it was?"

  Now that he looked—really looked—at the traces of magic on the walls, he could almost make out the thing that had left them. He whistled a few bars of "The Rising of the Moon," calling up his Power, and suddenly the traces burned bright and clear again.

  Elven magic.

  Unseleighe magic.

  Shadow Hounds. They were a magical creature specifically adapted for use in the World Above. Not much use Underhill, where the least breath of magic could sweep them away, but here, in the human world, they were deadly.

  And Jaycie—

  "That's what I was doing in the Park that day!" Eric burst out in alarm, remembering at last. "Jaycie's a Sidhe—I was trying to summon his Protector to take him home, but I called up Bloody Mary instead! I was so worn out from my battle with her that I walked right into that wolfpack of kids without noticing them until it was too late! That's what happened!"

  "What—whoa—slow down—" Hosea said. "What does Bloody Mary have to do with these kids?"

  "I don't know," Eric said. "I thought at the time I just dialed the wrong number, so to speak, but now I'm not so sure. What if Bloody Mary's Jaycie's Protector?"

  Hosea shook his head, obviously thinking that Eric hadn't quite gotten over his knock to the head. "Then why ain't she Protecting him?" he asked, reasonably enough.

  "I don't know. Maybe she's lost. He's sure lost. And slugging back Coke like there's no tomorrow—that's going to kill him—or send him into Dreaming at least, and I don't know what that would do to a Sidhe this far from a Node Grove. And now the Dark Court's looking for him, too—that's got to be it. We've got to find them—all of them!" Eric said urgently.

  It was all coming together at last, and the picture it made wasn't a pretty one.

  "If Kayla's with Magnus, and Magnus's with Jaycie, and Ace is with the lot of them, then find one, you'll find 'em all," Hosea said pragmatically. "Only how're you going to do that?"

  "Now that I've been around them—and if Kayla's with them—maybe a Finding spell," Eric said hopefully.

  Eric summoned up his magic again, but no matter how hard he tried—and even with Hosea lending his own Power to the Finding spell—he could gain no clear idea of their location.

  After a few minutes, he gave up.

  "No go. My guess is Jaycie's shielding them somehow, which means the four of them are together at least, but I have no idea where." He hesitated for a moment. "Look, Kayla probably has at least some idea of what that thing was that came after them. Where do you think she'd try to take them?"

  "Maybe back to Guardian House," Hosea said, after a moment. "Nothing unchancy's going to be able to get inside. She'd know that."

  "Or maybe Ria's apartment," Eric said. "That's got shields too, and Kayla's got the entry codes to get in even if Ria isn't there. We'll have to split up. You take Guardian House. See if they've made it back there. If they have, sit on them. And whatever you do, don't let Jaycie out of your sight. I don't know how much magic he's got, but what I do know is, if the Dark Court is hunting a Sidhe child, there's going to be big trouble.

  "I'll take Ria's place. It's right on the Park, so I'm going to try calling up his Protector again. He or she has got to be here somewhere—or dead. Whatever shows up, I'll at least try to talk to it and explain about Jaycie."

  "Risky," Hosea said consideringly.

  "We've got to get him back Underhill before anything worse happens to him," Eric said. "And preferably without starting a war. If I can't find his Protector, I'll have to take him back through the Everforest Gate and dump a huge political hot potato right in Prince Arvin's lap, and that could be really awkward." In fact awkward doesn't even begin to describe it. . . .

  "Let's get a move on, then," Hosea said.

  * * *

  "Here?" Magnus said in disbelief.

  The four of them stood outside the lobby of Ria's building on Central Park South. Kayla sighed. Now came the tough part—not that getting them here had been easy.

  "Your friend lives here," Ace said tonelessly. "And you were sleeping up at The Place."

  "I said it would be a shock," Kayla said, keeping her tone deliberately neutral. "But those things can't get into her apartment. They shouldn't even be able to track you once you're inside. It's safe."

  "Just tell us which one of us you were after, and we'll go in," Magnus said, smirking at her nastily.

  Kayla felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was the question she'd have asked in his place. The three of them were terrified, and finding out about Jaycie and then being chased out of The Place by demonic shadows had been a real shock, but none of them was stupid.

  "Is that a promise?" Kayla said coldly.

  "You said there's nobody there?" Ace asked, hedging.

  "I'll ask before we go up, okay?" Kayla said.

  "That's fair," Ace agreed, nervously.

  "So," Magnus said.

  "Do you promise?" Kayla repeated.

  "Yes," Ace said, looking as if she was going to be sick.

  "All three of you?" Kayla insisted.

  "Let's go away," Jaycie said.

  "Where?" Ace demanded. "With those things after you? Where can we go? We left all our stuff back at The Place, and I'm sure not going back for mine."

  Finally—with Ace glaring at them—the other two grudgingly promised to go inside.

  "I was looking for Magnus—but not because of his parents. For someone who's about as fond of his parents as he is. Someone who wants to keep him away from them at all costs. So Eric was trying to find you before that hotshot PI they hired did," Kayla said, speaking half to Ace and half to Magnus.

  "Eric?" Magnus said blankly.

  "Yeah," Kayla said. Might as well tell him the whole thing. "You've got an older brother, moron. He ran away from home before you were born—your 'rents tried to make a musical prodigy out of him, too, and he didn't like it either. So he finally goes back to see them, and finds out about you, and that you've bailed too, only you aren't eighteen like he was, and they'
re going to drag you back."

  "So what— How come— Why—" Magnus stammered, flustered.

  "Because he found out they hadn't told you about him, and he didn't think you'd believe him if he told you, and he was afraid you'd just run off again and get your ass in a sling. And now he's disappeared, and nobody knows where he is. And now these things are after us, and we're standing in the street where they can get at us. So will you come on?" Kayla snarled.

  They went inside.

  "Good evening, Ms. Smith," the security man said.

  "Hi, Ramon," Kayla said, sighing inwardly. "Is Ria back yet?"

  "No," Ramon said cheerfully. "But you can go right on up."

  "Thanks," Kayla said. "They're with me," she added, waving in the direction of the other three. I hope.

  She ushered the other three over to the penthouse elevator at the far end of the lobby and punched in Ria's code. The doors opened.

  The kids hesitated, unwilling to get in.

  "Come on, guys," Kayla pleaded, "I've been straight with you."

  But she could tell that seeing the elevator—the penthouse elevator—and hearing Ramon greet her by name had been too much. She was losing them, losing even the fragile trust she'd been able to build.

  Jaycie reached out—

  A flash of light exploded in her face, and Kayla fell back, stunned.

  * * *

  Hosea got back to Guardian House in record time. The place was quiet. Kayla's apartment was empty—he still had her spare set of keys, so he checked it, just to be sure.

  Eric's place was similarly deserted—he knew Kayla had the code to Eric's apartment—the upstairs apartments all had key-code pads instead of key locks—so she might have gone there.

  Last of all he checked his own apartment. Maybe she'd called from a street phone.

  She hadn't. But someone else had.

  "Hosea? It's me. Caity. Oh, I wish you were there! Listen. Julie just called. There's something tonight—in a hour—up at Neil's place. Something big. And . . . I don't think I like it much. Hosea . . . Sarah's daughter Amanda's going to be there. She's only four. I just thought . . . I think . . . That can't be right, can it? Anyway, I just thought . . . But there isn't anything you can do. I wish—"

  The answering machine cut off, and Hosea never did find out just what it was that Caity wished.

  He knew, though. Clear and plain, in the silences and unfinished sentences of the answering machine message was one simple plea: Hosea—help me!

  At last he had the freedom to interfere with Master Fafnir's group.

  And it had come at the worst possible time.

  He grabbed Jeanette and slung the strap of her carrying case over his shoulder, and ran downstairs to Toni's apartment.

  * * *

  Fortunately Toni was there. She opened the door at Hosea's frantic pounding, took one look at his face, and ushered him into the bedroom where they could be private. He could hear the television going in her living room, and knew that Raoul and Paquito, Toni's two young sons, were probably firmly ensconced in front of it at this hour.

  "What's wrong?" she asked.

  "Caity's called for help," Hosea said shortly. "Apparently this cult she's gotten tangled up in is throwing a big party tonight, and she says that they're bringing the four-year-old daughter of one of the members to it."

  "That's bad," Toni said, making a face. "You know where?"

  Hosea nodded. "And nothin' Ah can't handle. But Eric an' me are tangled up in another matter right up to our eyes too, an' Ah'd appreciate a little help there." Quickly, he laid out the details of what he and Eric had discovered earlier that evening up at The Place, plus what Eric had told him about what had happened up at Central Park a week before.

  "Wait a minute," Toni said. "Eric thinks that Bloody Mary and this Elven Protector are the same thing? And he can call it up?"

  "Ah don't credit it myself," Hosea said. "The first part, anyhow. But that he can call it up somehow, or that it's drawn to him somewise—that Ah believe."

  "Well, then, at least we have a place to start. Finally," Toni said. "When the rest of this is over, we'll have to ask him for a demonstration, and get rid of her once and for all. Meanwhile—go. If Kayla and the other kids show up here, we'll grab them. I'll have Greystone keep a special eye out. And if any shadow-things show up, we'll be prepared."

  * * *

  Eric, riding Lady Day this time, returned to the place he'd originally cast his first spell. Lady Day's magical senses were a lot keener than his own, and the elvensteed would protect him from casual muggers—by Gating him to Underhill, if nothing else would serve. And if he actually was dealing with either a crazed Protector or something Unseleighe, he'd prefer not to risk any innocent bystanders being hurt when it showed up.

  If it showed up.

  This time, having some idea of what his Calling might summon, he took time to build defenses—serious defenses—around himself and Lady Day before he started. When he was done, the spell walls were almost visible to the unMagely eye, hanging in shimmering purple and green curtains around the two of them.

  Eric summoned up his Flute of Air and began to play "God Bless The Child," wrapping his Calling spell around the melody—now there was an appropriate tune. He thought of Jaycie as he'd last seen him. Scared, and lost, and angry—and drugged on caffeine—surely somebody cared that he was missing? Surely somebody wanted him back?

  Suddenly—just as before—the temperature dropped sharply and the dark night went darker. Just as before, Eric was surrounded by a howling storm of grief bordering on madness, but this time he'd come prepared, and his shields deflected the worst of it.

  "I've seen him!" he shouted, hoping he was talking to the right person. "I've seen your charge! He's alive and well!" Not well exactly, not mainlining caffeine the way he was, but this was no time to equivocate or go into details.

  Had he guessed right? Did the violence of the storm battering his shields seem to draw back, to lessen?

  "He's somewhere in Manhattan!" Eric shouted. "The Dark Court has sent a Shadow Pack after him! You've got to find him before it's too late! I'll help you search, if you'll let me!"

  And suddenly the storm was gone, without answering.

  Cautiously Eric lowered his defenses, wary of further attack. But Jaycie's Protector—if it had been Jaycie's Protector—was truly gone.

  Had he really accomplished anything, other than proving he could, indeed, summon the same being twice? Maybe. He wasn't quite sure—maybe he'd given hope where there'd been none before.

  Or warned Jaycie's enemies that there was someone on their trail.

  Though now that he came to think of it, a Shadow Pack was an odd weapon to send against one of the Sidhe. Even a very young Sidhe . . .

  * * *

  "Are you all right, Ms. Smith?"

  Ramon was standing over her.

  She was lying on the floor. Her head hurt where she'd banged it against the wall.

  Jaycie had done . . . something.

  When I get my hands on that elf-boy, I'm gonna tie his pretty pointy ears in knots, Kayla vowed furiously.

  "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Slipped." Kayla struggled to her feet.

  She looked around. The three of them were gone. Of course.

  "Did you see . . . ?" she asked hopefully.

  Raoul shrugged apologetically. "Just ran out of here like their tails were on fire. You sure you're all right?"

  "Yeah. Kickin'." Kayla walked stiffly to the door of the lobby and looked out.

  Nothing.

  She rubbed the back of her head. She leaned back against the doorway, closing her eyes for a moment. This day had gone on way too long. Last night she'd been up at Gotham General, trying to put Eric back together. This afternoon she'd found out somebody'd stolen him. Then Ria told her that somebody might be after her. Tonight she found out Jaycie was an elf and somebody was after him. It'd been a busy day.

  "Maybe you oughtta come over and sit down awhile,"
Ramon said, sounding anxious.

  "I'm fine," Kayla said. "Really. Thanks." And I've got a killer headache. And I just realized I left my wallet up at The Place. Good-bye Visa card, cash, ID . . . My life is now officially perfect.

  She still had her keys and her subway card, though. She could get back to Guardian House. Or she could go upstairs. Ria kept some cash there. She'd be a lot more mobile with that. She could call Hosea. Maybe her backpack was still up at The Place. Maybe—against all odds—they'd gone back there. He could check for her. And then she could take off after the kids.

  She turned around and walked back into the building and called the elevator again.

  Forget The Place. The shadow-things had scared them out of there and, like Ace had said, they wouldn't go back there. So where were they really likely to go? They'd be too paranoid to try to get into any of the shelters, it was too cold to try to sleep in the open—they'd be risking arrest anyway—and they knew they had those shadows chasing them—what had Jaycie said about that? Slow but sure? So they wouldn't want to stop and hole up anywhere for fear the things would catch up with them, just for starters.

  The elevator doors opened and Kayla walked out into Ria's penthouse.

  She'd spent a certain amount of time here when Ria had been moving in—funny how Ria hadn't wanted to take any of her decorating hints—so she knew where everything was. Her first stop was the guest bathroom, where she grabbed a bottle of Excedrin and made for the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice, and slugged down six Excedrin along with half a quart of OJ straight from the bottle.

  Excedrin. Sixty mg. of caffeine per tablet. Another elf designer drug du jour.

  She rummaged around Ria's refrigerator further—fully stocked with the latest weekly delivery from Balducci's, all untouched because Ria hadn't been here—until she located a carton of something that looked good. She grabbed a spoon and wolfed it down cold, barely stopping to chew. She grudged the wasted time, but Healing Jaycie had taken a lot out of her, and she knew she needed to recharge. She finished the orange juice and then went in search of the play money.