No Quest for the Wicked

by Shanna Swendson

  While Sam ranted, Owen called the office to update Merlin. “They’ll try to track down the fiancée,” he said when he finished his call.

  “What should we do?” I asked.

  With a shrug, he said, “We may as well go back to the office and help. There’s not much else we can do until we have a target.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on the elves while you kids check in with the boss,” Sam said. “I wanna make sure they don’t get up to no funny business.”

  As we boarded the magic carpet, I glanced back at the club, thinking I’d seen something out of the corner of my eye. I hadn’t counted the number of jockeys along the front of the building on my way inside, but it seemed like there were more of them now. And if I wasn’t mistaken, one of them had a beard.

  That was kind of weird, but the way this day was going, it only came in at about a four on a weirdness scale of one to ten. I was about to say something to Owen when I noticed something even more alarming, a man wearing a trenchcoat that was entirely too heavy for the weather, with a hat pulled low over his eyes. The carpet was already rising, so by the time I got Owen’s attention to point the man out, we’d reached the end of the block.

  “It’s probably just one of my usual followers,” Owen said with a shrug. “They want to make sure I’m not up to anything evil. I’m getting used to it.”

  “But if they find out about the Eye and learn it was there, they’ll know you were after it.”

  “I don’t intend to do anything with it that would give them a reason to worry. In fact, maybe it’s better that I have official witnesses along the way. Then nobody can accuse me of anything.” I would have expected him to say something like that with bitterness, but he was remarkably cool about it, if perhaps a bit weary.

  Even though the restaurant was well out of sight by this time, I couldn’t help glancing back over my shoulder to see if we were still being watched.

  Chapter Four

  Much to my horror, the flying carpet didn’t let us off at ground level when we reached MSI headquarters. Instead, it stopped and hovered in front of the open window of Merlin’s tower office. It was bad enough getting off one of those things when it was a few feet off the ground. Stepping from the carpet to a window ten stories up in the air was sure to give me nightmares for the rest of my life. Rod had the longest legs, so he made the jump into the building and then helped Owen and me across the terrifying gap. Once inside, I clung to Rod until I convinced myself that I really did have a solid floor under my feet. I’d never had a bad fear of heights, but if I had to travel by flying carpet too many more times, I thought I might develop one.

  A tray of sandwiches on the conference table reminded me that it was lunchtime. I decided to wait until my stomach made it the rest of the way downtown before I tried to eat. Owen also looked a little green, but Rod leaned over and grabbed a sandwich and took a big bite before he picked up a plate.

  Minerva Felps then burst into the office, making another dramatic entrance. “Unfortunately, engagements aren’t a matter of public record, so we can’t just get the documents from the courthouse, and not everyone gets a write-up in the Times,” she said. “We’re digging, though. I’ve got my people reading his cards, and then the hackers are looking for wedding registries and cross-referencing that with any galas happening tonight. Oh, and Katie? Your roommate’s looking for you—the glamorous one.”

  No sooner had she left with Rod to do further research than Trix, Merlin’s fairy receptionist, came in and said, “Katie, Perdita called and said Gemma was looking for you. She’s at work.”

  While Merlin and Owen discussed possible ways to destroy the Eye, I used Merlin’s desk phone to call Gemma. “Wow, you’ve been out of the office all morning,” she said when she answered.

  “I’m on a quest.”

  “In your line of work, I have a feeling I should take that literally.”

  “You should. What’s up?”

  “I checked the voice mail at home, and there was a call saying you need to pick up your grandmother at Penn Station.”

  “What?”

  “You weren’t expecting her?”

  I shook my head, even though I knew she couldn’t see me. “No. When did she call?”

  “A few hours ago.”

  “My grandmother’s been at Penn Station all morning? How did she get there?”

  “I’m guessing on a train.”

  “Very funny. But my grandmother has barely left the county. There’s no way she’d come all the way to New York without making a big production out of it. I’d have known about it weeks in advance.”

  “Hey, all I know was that there was a message from her saying she was at the station and she needed you to get her.”

  “Great. This is just what I needed,” I said with a groan. I was about to hang up when I got an idea. Gemma worked in fashion at one of the designer houses, so she might know some of the local high-rollers. “Maybe you could help me with something. There’s supposedly some big gala going on tonight, being put on by the fiancée of a financial big-wig billionaire named Jonathan Martin. She sounds like a real gold digging type—using a rich old man to buy her way into society, where she can soon enjoy a wealthy widowhood. I need to get her name.”

  “I know the type, but the name doesn’t ring a bell. I could check around, though. Where should I call if I find something?”

  “Owen’s cell.”

  “Someday you’ll have to join us in the twenty-first century and get your own cell phone.”

  “But then people could find me. Thanks a lot, Gem.”

  I got off the phone, still puzzling over what to do with Granny. She was a wizard, and if she’d chosen now to leave Texas for the first time in her life, I suspected it was because she felt there might be trouble. Had she sensed something about the Eye? Considering all the trouble I’d been through in the past year without her making the trip, that worried me. If I could get away to pick her up, I could probably leave her with Merlin while I was questing. She and Merlin got on pretty well and had a lot to talk about.

  But before I could let Owen know about needing to get Granny, the office doors blew open and a slight fog billowed around the floor. The Celtic version of elevator music tinkled in the background as three figures strode through the doorway and paused to pose against the backdrop of a golden light that couldn’t possibly have been natural, given that there was no window behind them. A wind that couldn’t have been natural, either, stirred the fog and made their cloaks billow dramatically.

  Now back to his normal self, with no trace remaining of the feebleness he’d shown earlier, Merlin gave a casual wave, and then the music, light, fog, and wind disappeared, revealing three elves who would have looked pretty ordinary if it weren’t for the pointed ears and slanted eyebrows. The billowing capes turned out to be trench coats that had been left unbuttoned and unbelted. One of the elves was Lyle, still looking like the height of eighties preppy fashion (he even had the collar of his coat turned up). The one in the middle appeared to be in charge. He had an eighties-vintage Michael Douglas look about him—slick, expensive suit, wavy hair blow-dried back from his forehead, and a firm chin. He gave the impression that he was ready to stage a corporate takeover at any minute.

  The third elf seemed like part of a “which one doesn’t belong?” exercise. He was younger than the other two—which meant he might have been only about a hundred years old while looking twenty-two—and instead of wearing expensive-looking clothes and a trench coat, he wore a faded War Games T-shirt and baggy jeans with an unzipped hooded sweatshirt. The points of his ears stuck up through messy hair. He looked more like a geeky college student dressed up as an elf for a science fiction convention than like an actual elf. I was tempted to see if the points of his ears came off.

  If the elves were mad at Merlin for taking away their special effects, they didn’t show it. They still posed as though the spotlight was on them. They seemed to be having a staring contest with Merlin to see
who would blink first—or speak first. I wasn’t sure if it was a defeat or a victory when Merlin finally said, “Sylvester, what brings you here?”

  The head elf did blink at that. I got the impression that he and Merlin had never met and that Merlin wasn’t supposed to know his name. “I heard Merlin had returned,” he said. “You are he?”

  “I am.”

  “Oh.”

  And then a wave of magic so strong it made the little hairs on my arms stand at attention swept the room, going back and forth between Merlin and Sylvester. It didn’t feel angry or vicious, more like a testing. A nimbus formed around Merlin, making him glow and blur ever so slightly. As soon as it appeared, one like it developed around Sylvester. Suddenly, all the magic stopped. Merlin and Sylvester appeared entirely unruffled, but I felt like I had to catch my breath. Owen’s gasp next to me reassured me that I wasn’t the only one.

  “You are Merlin,” Sylvester said.

  “Why, yes, I believe I said that earlier,” Merlin replied with a thin smile. “Do come in and have a seat. Would you care for a sandwich?”

  The three elves swept across the room. Sylvester and Lyle took seats at the conference table, leaving the third elf to stand behind them, shifting his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. There were plenty of seats, so there was no reason for him to stand. “Go ahead and have a seat,” I told him, giving him a welcoming smile.

  “He doesn’t need a seat,” Sylvester said sharply, making the poor guy flinch. Then Sylvester narrowed his eyes at me. “I recognize Palmer, but who is she?”

  “Miss Chandler works for me,” was all Merlin said. “Now, was there something you wanted to discuss? I hear your people have been trying to find the Knot of Arnhold, which has been inconveniently bonded with the Eye of the Moon.”

  “Yes, that has been on the agenda today,” Sylvester agreed, smiling thinly. “As you have been seeking the Eye of the Moon.”

  “That is rather a priority for us. You see, I remember the last time it was free in the world. Several wars began, killing thousands. I would prefer that not happen again. And why is it that you seek the Knot?”

  “Because it belongs to me,” the elf lord said through gritted teeth. “It was stolen from my people.”

  “There’s no other reason, then?” Merlin asked mildly. “You wouldn’t be planning to use it to gain invulnerability for yourself in, say, a power struggle?”

  Sylvester gave another thin smile. “I have no immediate plans to use it. It is merely part of the traditional regalia of my office. Does the queen of England have a practical use for the crown jewels?”

  “The crown jewels don’t have magical powers,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Not anymore,” Owen whispered in response.

  I made a mental note to follow up on that later as the conversation between Sylvester and Merlin intensified. “I’m more concerned about your plans for the Eye,” Sylvester said. “As you said, it is very dangerous.”

  “My plan is to destroy it or neutralize it so it can do no more harm,” Merlin said.

  Sylvester raised an eyebrow and smirked. “So you say now, but would you really be able to do that once you had it in your possession? I could imagine how tempting ultimate power would be for you. After all, you do need to consolidate your position in this century, when you’re not so closely aligned with political power. It must be difficult for you not pulling a king’s strings.”

  “I have no intention of going anywhere near the Eye,” Merlin responded, sounding deceptively unruffled. I’d worked with Merlin long enough to recognize the signs of a calm that heralded a storm. “The people I’ve assigned to this project are immune to its power. To them, it’s just another rock.”

  Sylvester glanced at Owen. “Yes, I’d heard that about Palmer. It’s true?”

  “I tested him,” Lyle said. “If he were magical, he’d be dead.”

  The elf left standing opened his mouth as if to add something, but before he could speak, Lyle said, “We don’t need to hear it, Earl.”

  “I suppose the girl is immune, too?” Sylvester asked Merlin.

  “Yes. As I said, I can trust them to find the Eye without being tempted to use it.”

  “They may not be magically tempted, but it is still a valuable gem, even without power. Can they resist that temptation?”

  “I’m actually not that big on jewelry,” I said with a shrug. Turning to Owen, I added, “It does match your eyes, though.”

  “It’s too gaudy for my taste,” Owen said. “I prefer my evil accessories to be more subtle.” Behind Sylvester, Earl smirked, then quickly straightened his expression.

  “For now I’ll take your word that your people won’t use the Eye for themselves,” Sylvester said. “But without magic, how will they destroy it?”

  “We figured we’d climb Mount Doom and throw it in,” I quipped, which earned a fleeting grin from Earl.

  Ignoring my interruption, Merlin said, “It can’t be destroyed magically. Believe me, I tried, and though magic has adapted over time, it hasn’t fundamentally changed in such a way that we can do things now that were impossible then. Technology, however, has changed significantly.”

  Earl opened his mouth again, but Sylvester waved him to silence, saying, “We don’t need your input, Earl.” I wondered why they’d bothered to bring him. They must have needed something to step on to get into their car. I gave him a sympathetic smile, but he didn’t respond. “And what of the Knot?” Sylvester asked Merlin. “What happens to it when you’re destroying the Eye?”

  “That would depend on which technology works to destroy the Eye,” Merlin said. “If the two can be safely separated, we will return the Knot to you.”

  “Gold does have a lower melting point than sapphire,” Owen said, earning another smile from Earl.

  “We could give you what’s left,” I added.

  Merlin gave us a stern glare before continuing. “But we don’t even know how they were joined—are they merely joined physically, perhaps by a jeweler who was immune to magic and didn’t realize what he was doing, or were they fused magically by someone who planned to combine their powers? Do you have any idea who stole the Knot?”

  “It was long before my time,” Sylvester said with a shrug, and I imagined that meant it was a very long time ago, indeed. “It is possible that the fusion was recent, and it is the combination with the Eye that made the Knot powerful enough for Lyle to sense.” I couldn’t read Earl’s expression as Sylvester said this, but he definitely had an expression.

  “I think the fact that this was done at all is of some concern to all magical races,” Merlin said. “Who did it, and why? This is as important as retrieving the brooch.”

  “Your man—” Sylvester indicated Owen “—suggested we work together on this. Why should we assist you?”

  “I rather thought of it as us assisting you,” Merlin said mildly. “My priority is to find this thing and render it harmless as soon as possible. That’s more likely to happen if we combine our resources. If you prefer not to cooperate with us, I would understand.” His tone sharpened considerably as he added, “But rest assured, I will not allow you to keep the Eye if you do find it first. I will get it back, no matter what it takes.”

  Sylvester stared at him, unblinking, for a long time, but he was the first to break the gaze. He did so in the guise of shoving his chair back from the table. “It’s good to know exactly where we stand. I’m sure we’ll be speaking again within the next day or so.” He stood, and Lyle popped up beside him. Earl barely got out of the way before they trampled him on their way out, then had to hurry to catch up with them. As they left the office, the golden light, Enya music, fog, and soft breeze returned, along with a faint peaty scent, but Merlin cut it off again with a gesture and waved the office doors shut.

  He then turned to face Owen and me. “You will find it first.” It was an order.

  “Yeah, I have to agree with Sam,” I said. “I don’t trust this guy.”
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  “He’d definitely keep the Eye and use it if he got it,” Owen added. “I’m not even sure I want him in possession of the Knot.”

  “It belongs to him by right,” Merlin said with a heavy sigh. “That’s why it would be a real pity if it were destroyed along with the Eye.”

  Owen and I exchanged a glance. It sounded like we’d been given another order. “The elves won’t like that,” Owen said.

  “If it can’t be helped, it can’t be helped, and they can take it up with me if they’re unhappy. At any rate, we need to find it before we can destroy it.”

  My stomach growled, and I figured that meant it had finally rejoined me after the magic carpet ride, so I leaned forward and picked up a sandwich. “I wonder how Rod and Minerva are doing on tracking down the fiancée,” I said.

  Of course, that was the moment when Minerva opened the office doors and entered with Rod in her incense-scented wake. “This is not gonna be easy,” she said. “Would you believe, several of the Jonathan Martins we’ve found are engaged, and we haven’t yet figured out which one goes with which.”

  “Doesn’t the fact that today is her birthday help narrow it down?” I asked.

  “Not as much as you’d think. It takes a little more hacking to get that kind of info, and believe it or not, the Social Security Administration and the Department of Motor Vehicles have pretty good magical firewalls.”

  “Then you could look for the Jonathan Martin with the aura of having his life sapped out of him by an evil vampire woman.”

  She shook her head sadly. “Sorry, honey, but when you’re dealing with wealthy old men, that doesn’t narrow it down much. They’re usually being drained by somebody. There are also a lot of charity galas going on tonight. Did you get from Martin whether his chippy is really running hers or maybe just on the board?”

  “I got that he wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, other than that he wasn’t invited because it was past his bedtime and she was concerned for his health.”