An ingredient? The word banged around Jimmy's head. He looked at Maddie; she had a look of pity on her face. She felt sorry for him.
Maddie felt sorry for him.
Something cracked inside Jimmy.
The physical sensation was as real to him as the clothes he was wearing, and the ground he was standing on. Jimmy had spent his short life building up walls that allowed him to interact with other people without screaming at their stupidity. All day, every day, Jimmy had to swallow his disdain for the people around him – their limitations, their weakness, their empathy.
But no more.
Jimmy would no longer cower before those who were inferior to him.
"So, you came to Stanford for Maddie, not me?" Jimmy asked quietly.
"Bingo," said Lucy. "I knew you'd get it, eventually."
"She is the recruit," Jimmy continued, ignoring Lucy's condescending jibe.
"You're on a roll, James. Two for two."
"What about me?" Jimmy asked, looking up to meet Lucy's eyes.
"What about you?" Lucy asked.
"What happens to me?" Jimmy asked.
"That's a great question, James. It's why we've walked over to these trees. We're going to need a little privacy for what happens next. You see, it's like I said: we can't have people running around screaming about magic and monsters, including you."
Maddie spoke up. "Wait. You don't mean—"
"No, I'm not going to kill him," Lucy responded to Maddie. "We aren't savages, but we have our secrets and we guard them – zealously."
Lucy stepped in close to Jimmy again, this time reaching out a hand to grab hold of his arm. "I'm going to have to go poking around in that big old brain of yours, James." Lucy grinned. "Don't worry. I just need to wipe your memories of the past day or so and anything to do with magic and gypsy witches. And I'll try real hard not to damage anything while I'm in there." She winked at Jimmy.
When he thought about it later, Jimmy was able to convince himself that it had been the wink that pushed him over the edge. Of course, that was just the first of many lies he would tell himself.
Jimmy smiled, swiftly pulled Officer Melendez's gun from his pocket, pointed at Lucy's head, and pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 20
The sirens were getting closer, but I couldn't let Elyse go. I kept her crushed to me, breathing in her scent, my fingers entangled in her hair. She was really here.
"Um, Orson, I need to breathe," Elyse squeaked out.
I immediately loosened my arms, but I didn't let her go. She pulled back so that we could look at each other.
"So, I guess you're happy to see me," she said.
I growled.
Elyse laughed. Man, I had missed that laugh.
I couldn't ignore the approaching sirens anymore. They were close. "We need to move," I said. "Two naked people will definitely raise some eyebrows."
"I have a car not too far from here. I've got clothes, water, snacks," Elyse offered.
"Lead the way," I said.
We moved fast. There were people everywhere; the events of the night had caused campus-wide panic, and it seemed like every law enforcement officer in a hundred mile radius had descended upon the university. Luckily for us, everyone was in shock. A full-blown magic-fueled riot with a crap-ton of Low Creatures and imps thrown into the mix had left the students and faculty of Stanford dazed and confused. So, two naked people moving at supernatural speed was either ignored or lumped into the category of impossible things that aren't real. It turns out, the human brain is really good at denying things it can't process.
While we were running, my magic walkie-talkie erupted into a jumbled combination of buzzing and Lucy's voice.
"Ors – can you – Orson—"
I kept running, but dialed back on my speed, letting Elyse pull ahead a little further. I figured the conversation on how Lucy was able to pop into my head could wait until I was wearing pants.
I triggered the spell under my ear as I ran. "Lucy, can you hear me?"
"Orson—"
The buzzing cleared up a little.
"Hey, I think my spell's a bit fried, but I can hear you," I said. "But talk fast, because I think it might fritz out on us."
"Are you good?" she asked.
"I've been better, but I'll live. How about you?"
"Same. And the portals?"
"Closed – all of them, and I think we got all the imps."
"We?"
"Elyse is here. She took out a troll—"
"Your girlfriend – is here – at Stanford?"
"Yeah, I can fill you in. We're grabbing some clothes."
"I'm in the large quad at the center of campus."
"Got it."
The buzzing in my head disappeared, signaling that Lucy had switched off. I guessed the conversation was over.
Elyse led me to a mud covered all-wheel drive Subaru Outback.
"I live in the mountains," Elyse responded to my raised eyebrows.
"Hey, I love a good sport-utility crossover," I said.
Elyse swung the back hatch up and slid a plastic bin toward her. The bin held an assortment of clothes, and she dug through them until she found a pair of sweats for me and a long t-shirt and shorts for herself.
"Sorry, the sweats are all I've got that will fit you."
"They're perfect." I smiled at her.
Elyse pushed the bin aside and rummaged around the back of the Subaru. She came up with a package of beef jerky, a can of Pringles, and a couple of bottles of water. I stuffed my mouth with jerky and Pringles and took a long pull of water. Elyse and I stared at each other as I chewed. I smiled around my mouthful of food. Elyse grinned back, a twinkle in her eye.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but what are you doing here?" I asked.
Elyse shrugged. "I got your email and a four hour trip to San Jose is a lot more do-able than a ten hour trip to LA, and even though I didn't know your exact location, I figured you wouldn't be too hard to find, because trouble does seem to follow you, but I have to admit the trolls were a surprise."
"So, short answer, you came to see me?" I said.
Elyse smiled. "I came to see you."
I swallowed the last bit of jerky, tossed the Pringles can, grabbed Elyse, and pulled her toward me. My plan of pinning her to the car and having my way with her ended with me on my knees, grimacing in pain. It felt like someone had driven a spike through my head.
"Orson!" Elyse knelt beside me, worry in her eyes.
"Lucy," I grunted.
Elyse's eyes turned hard.
"What?" she asked.
"There's something wrong . . . Lucy is hurt . . ." I grabbed my head again as another wave of pain washed over me.
"Orson, I don't understand," said Elyse.
I stood up, ignoring the throb in my head. "That way," I pointed.
I took a step in the direction I knew Lucy was and stumbled. Elyse caught me, propping me up against the car.
"What is going on?" Elyse demanded.
"There's a spell that links me to Lucy—" I began.
Elyse stepped back and folded her arms. "A spell that does what?"
"It's a communication thing. Like magic walkie-talkies," I explained, using Wyatt's description.
"Magic walkie-talkies?" Elyse repeated, eyebrows raised.
"Yeah, but something's wrong . . . she's been hurt or something," I touched my finger to the spot under my ear that triggered the spell. "Lucy?"
Nothing.
I tried again. "Lucy are you there?"
"You're telling me that she can hear you?" Elyse asked.
"She's supposed to, yeah, but she's not answering," I said. "Something is definitely wrong. We need to find her. Now."
I pushed off from the car, swaying a bit on my feet. Elyse was watching me, a frown on her face. I could guess how all this looked to her, but I didn't have time to explain.
"Orson!" Wyatt's voice boomed inside my head, adding to my already giant-sized hea
dache. "Orson, are you there? I think something bad happened to Lucy." The kid sounded panicked.
I triggered the comm spell. "Wyatt, stop shouting. You're going to melt my brain, dude."
"Wyatt?" Elyse looked confused.
I held up a hand and mouthed 'one second.' I didn't break eye contact with her; I did my best to silently convey how important it was to me that she was here with me.
"Orson. Oh, man. Sorry for yelling," Wyatt said, quieter and with a sigh of relief. "Did you just have a bomb go off in your head?"
"Yeah, you felt it too?" I asked.
"It knocked me out of the chair I'd crawled into for a power nap. I thought I was having a stroke or aneurism or something. Is Lucy okay? Because after the pain, I got this awful feeling that she's in trouble."
"I don't know," I answered. "After we split up, things went extremely sideways here last night. Check the news. It's a madhouse here."
"Holy crap," said Wyatt. "They're saying there was some sort of drug-fueled riot on campus. They're even saying that terrorism can't be ruled out. Jeez, Orson, what the hell happened?"
"It's a long story. You're still at HQ?"
"Yeah, just trying to grab a cat nap like I said. Everyone here . . . all night . . . and then . . . Cynthia found—"
"Wyatt, I'm losing you. My comm spell is toast I think. Sound the alarm. I'll let you know when I find Lucy."
Wyatt didn't respond. I really hoped he'd heard my last words.
I reached out a hand to Elyse, palm up. "Lucy needs our help."
She stared at me for a moment and then took my offered hand. We moved at top shifter speed, eyewitnesses be damned. The pain in my head suddenly dropped in intensity. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Stanford is a large campus, but with our speed, we found Lucy within minutes. It took a second for me to make sense of the scene before me. Maddie was cradling Lucy's limp body in her arms. And there was way too much blood.
"He shot her," Maddie said quietly.
I dropped to my knees next to Lucy's body. There was a hole just under the temple on the right side of her head. A small trickle of blood seeped out.
"He shot her," Maddie repeated. "I tried to fix it, but I think the bullet did too much damage."
She tried to fix it? What did she mean by that? I switched on my magic sight, and what I saw left me speechless. Maddie was generating a field of energy like nothing I had ever seen. Even the tornado vortex I'd witnessed around her aura before didn't compare. The field was massive.
Maddie was pulling every surrounding river of magical energy directly into her body. The magic warped around her, turning the air and the ground into a shimmering mass of molecules. All this energy was being directed through Maddie, into Lucy. A healer. Maddie must be a healer.
Lucy's aura was weak, but it was still visible. She was alive.
I reached out and checked for a pulse. It was barely discernable, but it was there.
"Maddie, you did it. She's alive." I said.
"She's alive?" Elyse was shocked.
"Just barely," I said to Elyse. "Maddie, we need to try to get Lucy to a hospital. You've done everything you can. You saved her."
"I tried to fix it, but it's not working. And I'm so tired . . . so tired," Maddie said, not even acknowledging my words.
I was afraid to touch Maddie, to break her concentration, thinking that she was the only thing keeping Lucy alive. I looked at Elyse. She shook her head as unsure as I was.
"Orson?" Wyatt's voice was weak, but I could hear him.
"I'm here," I answered. "Wyatt, Lucy's been shot in the head."
"What?" Wyatt's shout made my skull vibrate. So much for a weak signal.
"She's still alive," I assured him. "Maddie, the girl, the recruit we were looking for, she's keeping Lucy alive with the most super-charged spell I've ever seen, but we need help because I think the spell is tearing Maddie up inside."
"Help's on the way . . . we'll be there like . . . right now," said Wyatt.
Right now? How could they get here that fast? I wondered. And what did he mean 'we'? I craned my head around, searching for any sign of help.
The air behind Maddie began to lose its cohesiveness. A sound like a million pissed-off hornets pierced the early morning quiet. I heard Elyse gasp and looked over at her. Her eyes were wide.
"What is it?" I asked.
"They're opening a portal?" Elyse said, stunned.
A portal?
Damn it.
I'd had enough portals the past few hours to last me a lifetime. I jumped to my feet, prepared to shift. Elyse must have read my body language because she grabbed my arm.
"It's the good guys. No need to go all Ollphiest."
"What?" I asked.
In answer to my question, a portal opened in a burst of light, and Cynthia walked through, followed by three other Society members – two men and a woman I didn't know– and Wyatt. I looked behind Cynthia at the portal. It was three times the size and a much more symmetrical and stable version of the portals I'd experienced last night. Through the portal, I could see Ellen, the Council member with the creepy silver eyes, standing with her arms outstretched. She was powering the damn thing all by herself.
I was seriously impressed.
The three extra Society members must have been healers, because they went to Maddie and began speaking to her, quietly giving her instructions as they prepared to take over keeping Lucy alive. I noticed the look of awe the woman gave Maddie as the extent of her power became evident.
"Will she live?" Cynthia asked, a small tremor in her voice the only sign of emotion.
"She has a very good chance," answered the male healer. "It appears Lucy was able to shield herself somewhat, and that, combined with the magic this one has performed," he indicated Maddie, "gives us hope."
"We can stabilize her, but she will need to be moved directly to the infirmary. No jostling," said the woman healer who seemed to be the team leader.
"Wyatt, is it possible for you to teleport through an open portal?" Cynthia asked.
Wyatt, who had been standing wide-eyed, moved instantly to Lucy's side, slipping his hand gently around hers. "Everybody grab a hold of one another," Wyatt instructed. The three healers clasped hands, and Wyatt grabbed the shoulder of the closest healer.
"On three. Three, two, one."
Blink.
They were gone.
"I'll take that as a yes," said Cynthia. "Ellen can't keep the portal open indefinitely, and people are beginning to stare, so everyone through please."
"Wait, I was just—" Elyse began.
"Miss Kelly, while I am surprised to see you here and had not planned on bringing you to Society headquarters, I need you to follow my instructions."
Cynthia knelt down next to Maddie, who was sitting slumped-shouldered in the grass, looking exhausted. "Madison, dear, you have performed amazingly well. I know you are tired and you will be able to rest soon, I promise, but I need you to come with us now. Okay?"
Maddie's eyes were a bit unfocused and she mumbled, "I don't know why Jimmy shot her, but I tried to fix it. I tried . . . but there was so much blood . . ."
Cynthia shushed Maddie, stroking her hair in a very motherly way. "It's alright dear. Lucy is being attended to . . ."
Cynthia's words faded away as my anger grew white hot.
Jimmy.
We must hunt the coward down and destroy him.
I love it when we're on the same page.
"Orson, are you listening to me?" Cynthia asked.
"I'm sorry. What?" I said.
"Can you please help me with Madison?" Cynthia sounded perturbed at my lack of concentration.
"I need to go after the a-hole who did this," I said, ignoring Cynthia's request. "He can't have gotten far."
"You will do no such thing," said Cynthia. "Now, help me with Madison. We need to get through the portal."
"I'm not just going to let him go—" I began.
The witch dares to command us?
Oh, please. Don't start with this crap now.
We are Ollphiest. We . . .
I get it. We don't take crap from anybody, but right now we need to help. We'll find Jimmy. There's nowhere he can hide from us. Right?
You speak truth.
Good. Now pipe down.
I helped Maddie stand up and reached my hand out for Elyse. She took it without hesitation.
"Excellent. Everyone through." Cynthia gestured.
We stepped through the portal and into the Council chamber. Two serious looking dudes dressed in tactical clothing were waiting for us. Cynthia spoke with them quietly, the magic wards of the chamber keeping her words private. The two men nodded and stepped though the portal, back onto the Stanford campus.
"Hey," I said. "Where are they going?"
"To help clean up the mess," Cynthia answered, nodding to Ellen, who dropped her arms. The portal immediately closed with a whooshing pop.
"If they're going to hunt Jimmy, I want in," I demanded.
"They are not hunting anyone," said Cynthia. "The events at Stanford over the past twenty-four hours are going to need to be massaged so that we remain undiscovered."
"Memory modification?" I asked.
"On an enormous scale, yes. And that will be just the beginning. The two men I just dispatched will join the team already at Stanford, and others are already en route and will be there within the hour. It's a huge mess, Orson, and I need you to explain how it happened."
"I think we're going to want sit down, and maybe we could get some food." I gestured at Maddie, who smiled weakly. "I know I'm starving."
"Of course," said Cynthia.
Maddie, Elyse, and I were led to a small room off of the main chamber. It looked like a small, but modern, conference room. There was a table with seating for ten, a complicated computer-phone looking contraption in the center of the table, and a large flat-screen TV mounted on the wall. I was once again surprised at the meshing of the modern and ancient that the Paragon Society embraced.
Gypsy Witch: A Paragon Society Novel (Book 2) Page 20