"We'd better just keep quiet, stay close to Coro, and keep our eyes open," I said. I seriously wanted to get to the ladies' room and discreetly retrieve the Angelrod from under my dress. I could probably stuff it in my tiny purse. At the same time I hated the thought of leaving the room while Namiko was in it.
I caught Nana Nina's eye from across the room and she shook her head slightly. That meant she still hadn't seen Evangeline Coro anywhere, but my concern had shifted away from Evangeline now. Even if they were both involved, Namiko was on the spot.
Aleshu Coro stepped behind the podium just then and a wave of applause started in the front row of the crowd and rippled back, growing as folks noticed him. He smiled and waited for the noise to die down. The crowd surged forward as people moved in from the other rooms to hear the speeches. That was bad. The human tide pushed us further away from Anzai Namiko, and it became increasingly harder to keep her in sight. I was tall, but she wasn't, and her sleek black bob disappeared behind the throng of heads.
"I'm going to try and get closer to Namiko," I whispered to Jake. "You move up towards the podium. I don't know if anything's going to happen, but I don't want to be caught by surprise if it does."
He nodded, but looked doubtful. "I'll try," he said. "Be careful, Kit." He caught my hand and squeezed it once, then let go and started toward the podium. Well, at least he was a fast learner. He'd stopped trying to talk me out of things.
I wouldn't have believed that the room was so big, but it seemed like I squeezed and waded through miles of sweaty tuxedos, horrible gowns, and drippy drinks in my quest to get to the other side. Coro had begun speaking, but I wasn't paying attention. It was your standard charity affair speech—why the cause was so important, who the leading supporters were, that kind of thing. Before I got to the bar where I'd last seen Namiko, Coro had relinquished the podium to someone else and stood just off to the left of them looking pleasantly attentive.
Finally I emerged from the thick of the crowd, just down the wall from the bar. I made a quick visual sweep of the folks standing in line for drinks or nursing them nearby. No Namiko. Phash!
Empty chairs lined the wall. The mingling wasn't finished yet, and you couldn't see the podium over the heads of the crowd if you were sitting. I made my way through another knot of lemur-lovers to the chairs, slipped off my shoes, and climbed up on one upholstered seat. Yes, I know that's not proper etiquette at a function like this. But I needed a better vantage point to find Namiko, and with luck anyone who noticed me would just think that I was rude and uncouth and wanted a better view of the speakers at the podium.
Jake had managed to get pretty close to the podium, where the speaker, a young man in his twenties with shoulder-length blonde curls, seemed to be drawing his remarks to a close. I swept the crowd over and over, looking for Namiko's grey-streaked dark hair, but it seemed hopeless. There were just too many people. I couldn't pick her out.
Since I'd lost Namiko, it seemed like the best thing to do was to join Jake up near Coro, so I climbed down, slipped my shoes back on, and plunged into the crowd again. I'd made only about ten feet of progress when a small figure appeared in front of me, with unmistakable bobbed dark hair and a red and gold damask gown. She was up on tiptoes, craning to see the speaker, but I doubted it was doing much good.
Gotcha, I thought, and stopped where I was. This was perfect. I could monitor her every breath, and she was within arm's reach if she tried anything. I breathed a deep sigh of relief as Aleshu Coro moved back to the podium to thank the speaker and introduce the next one.
The good feeling didn't last long. He hadn't said more than a couple of words before he stumbled midway through a sentence, and a look of confusion passed over his face. I glanced at Namiko, but she continued bobbing around on tippy-toes, apparently just trying to get a look at the podium. Coro had fallen silent. I looked up and saw that he appeared to be gasping for breath, face suffused, his hands clutching his throat.
I lunged forward and grabbed the diminutive Anzai Namiko by the arm, spinning her around to face me. "Stop it! Stop it right now!" I demanded.
She stared at me wide-eyed. "What—who—"
I shook her. "I mean it! Whatever you're doing to Coro, stop it this instant!"
She recovered from her initial shock, at least enough to defend herself, and drew herself up like an offended pigeon. "I'm not doing anything! Who are you, anyway?"
I glanced back up at Coro. He continued to claw at his throat in a frenzy to breathe. I looked at the little woman. If she was using magic on him, she was damn good to be able to keep it up while being accosted by me. I made a quick check with my own magic. She was telling the truth.
"Sorry, wrong person," I said, and dropped her arm. Only those closest around us had even been aware of our little by-play. Everyone else's attention was riveted on Coro. I threw myself into the crowd again, this time heading for the podium. "Doctor, coming through," I kept saying, "Doctor here, excuse me." It was amazing how most people paid no attention to me and I had to fight my way past them anyway.
Something cold and wet hit my cheek, and I glanced up reflexively, just in time for something else cold and wet to hit me in the eye. People around me gasped and muttered, clearly confused, as wet droplets spattered everywhere and everyone. Sprinklers? Rain?
Then I remembered—Coro's magic ability. Light rainshowers, once a day. In his distress, his magic must have kicked in, an autonomic response. Too bad it wasn't more helpful. I struggled harder through the crowd. If I could get to the stage, I might be able to spot Nana Nina—surely a Spellquick would be able to help? I remembered her wink and comment, "My fellow shareholders." So there must be more than one Spellquick here. If only they weren't too concerned with keeping their abilities secret. This case had far too many secrets—
Something clicked so hard in my head I was surprised no-one around me seemed to hear it.
Kit, she's here, I heard suddenly, as clearly as if Nana Nina was standing beside me. I glanced to the side automatically, even though I knew damn well she wasn't there. Well, Spellquicks had telepathic magic in their repertoire. But did it work both ways?
Evangeline? I tried thinking at Nana, even while I kept pushing toward the front of the crowd. I dug an elbow into a bright red cummerbund and the man moved aside with a grunt and a muttered curse.
Kit, Evangeline Coro is here, she said again, and I assumed she hadn't "heard" me. One-way, then.
Aleshu Coro had fallen to his knees now, still gasping. His face was purple, eyes bulging. Sandrine clutched him, her eyes wild and terrified, but there was clearly nothing she could do. Like everyone else, they were rain-sprinkled, spots darkening like bullet-holes on Coro's suit. Jake stood nearby, fists clenched as he scanned the panicking guests, looking like he wanted to kill something but having no target. As I got close, he suddenly left the stage and pushed into the crowd. I wondered if he'd caught a glimpse of something I couldn't see.
I reached the podium and jumped up on one of the chairs behind it. I dragged wet tendrils of hair off my face and scanned the crowd for Nana, but I couldn't see her. Jake seemed to be randomly grabbing people by the hand or arm, then dropping one to move on to the next. I wondered briefly what the hell he was doing. Even more people surged in from the other rooms as word spread that something was wrong. Dammit, where was Nana, and more importantly, where was Evangeline Coro? With a jolt I realized I didn't even know what she looked like. Kiku had done the background on her, and I'd never seen a picture.
A commotion erupted in the area of the bar. I looked over to see that a side door had burst open. Saga stood there, clad in as much black as Glaive on a weekday, his long-barrelled LaserWaster resting on one shoulder. At the same time, I heard a familiar cry.
"Hiiiii-yahhhhhhh!" Trip flapped heavily over the crowd and executed some kind of spin-kick in mid-air, dropping down to land on the now-vacant podium in 'ready' mode. "Where are they, Kit? Let me at them!" he squawked menacingly. Coro managed a deep, ra
sping gasp of air. His attacker must have been startled for a moment and let his or her concentration lapse.
I've lost her, Kit, Nana said in my head. She sounded panicked. With Evangeline lost in the crowd—
Lost. "Trip!" I said, "It's Evangeline Coro. Can you find her?"
The goose's eyes narrowed as Aleshu Coro made a strangled gurgle again. Trip's Finder magic might not be fast enough, or strong enough—
"Get him out of here, Kit!" Saga roared. He must have the place surrounded. If I could get Coro out of the building quickly and far enough away from the magical influence that was killing him, he might have a chance.
But how was I supposed to get Coro out of here? He would be a dead weight, even if I could get Jake to come back and help, and it would take forever to get three of us through the crowd. Evangeline's strangling magic would kill him before we ever made it to a door.
Then I looked again at Trip, and I knew exactly what Saga meant, and what I had to do. I only wished I had some of Nana's prescription-strength Maginox®, because heaven knew what I'd taken earlier wasn't going to be enough. Everything happened then in far less than the time it takes to tell it.
I stepped toward Aleshu Coro's struggling form, and somewhere in the crowd a voice screamed, "No! Little bitch!"
Coro went limp, and I suddenly felt the grip of invisible hands tighten around my own neck. I gasped once, and saw Trip's eyes widen as realized what was happening. Reflexively I clawed at my throat, but there was nothing physical to grasp.
I dropped to my knees, still clutching my neck, and was dimly aware of Trip launching himself off the podium over my head, beating at the air as he rose toward the ceiling. Sandrine Coro put a hand on my shoulder, bless her, but there was nothing she could do to help me, any more than she had been able to help her husband.
Change, Kit! Nana Nina's voice whispered, anxious and urgent in my head, but bright lights sparked around the edges of my vision, pricking sharp holes in my concentration as I fought to drag air past the constriction around my throat. She was right, I could transmute my way out of this, if I could gather the mental focus to work the magic.
From somewhere very far away I heard Trip's battle cry again. "Hiiiii-yahhhhhhh!" Suddenly the formless thing gripping my throat relaxed. I heaved a huge gulp of air while I had the chance, in case the respite it didn't last.
From the doorway Saga bellowed "Everybody down!" as he pointed the LaserWaster out into the crowd. I twisted my head to see what was happening. Bodies fell like brightly-colored dominoes as people dropped to the floor in response to Saga's command, or possibly the dark maw of the gun sweeping the room. Trip came into view, planted firmly on the back of a slight woman with flyaway grey hair. Jake stood over her, too, looking satisfied. He seemed to be standing with one foot on her right hand. What good could he possibly think that would do? I resolved to have a talk to him about efficient methods for restraining suspects. He'd obviously spent too much time with only the computer for company. The woman struggled to throw Trip off, but his choice of arcades over exercise had made him a hefty burden.
Don't take any chances, Nana Nina whispered in my head. Remember, she's a Spellquick. Get Coro out of here.
I wished Jake would conk her over the head or something, but he didn't know she was a Spellquick. I hadn't told anyone that, because I didn't know it was important. Stupid, stupid, Kit.
I was still panting, deep and hard, trying to convince my lungs that I could in fact breathe again, but I knew Nana was right. Even with Nana Nina here, I didn't know what Evangeline might be capable of, or if she had help.
I crawled over to where Coro still lay, recovering his own breath, and shooed Sandrine aside with one hand. "It'll be okay," I rasped, my voice harsh and low after the assault on my throat.
Shouts erupted somewhere in the room suddenly, but I couldn't take the time to look and see what was happening. Probably Evangeline had used magic to disable Trip and Jake, but I couldn't help them and save Coro, too. Saga and the others would have to come to their rescue. I focused my mind and used my magic to transform Aleshu Coro into a mouse, cupping my hand over him so he wouldn't skitter away. Being transmuted can be—disorienting. Sandrine screamed.
The nausea rose blindingly and I turned toward the back of the podium and threw up as quietly as I could, not releasing Coro, hoping he wouldn't bite me. Blinking as stars threatened to fill my vision again, I transmuted myself into a small hawk.
This time I recognized the voice that cried, "Kit!" It was Jake. He was probably so traumatized, he'd never want to speak to me again.
But I had to save Coro. I caught the still-gasping mouse up in my talons and flew over the crowd, toward the door that still hung open behind Saga. He ducked as I swooped through it, and I heard screams explode behind me, which wasn't very surprising.
It was a hell of a coming-out party.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Transmutations and Culminations
I had only transmuted myself once before, long ago when I was still a teenager and just discovering that I had the ability. For a few short moments I'd been a cat, and it had been frightening, confusing, and made me so violently sick that it was very effective aversion therapy. I'd sworn I'd never do it again.
This time was better, probably because I didn't think about it so much, and I knew it was necessary. And flying—I can't describe it to you, so I won't even try. But the experience was enough to make me think that maybe this transmutation stuff might not be so bad, after all. Maybe I'd given up too easily.
The night air on my face brushed away the last of the nausea and wooziness and the Aleshu Coro-mouse suddenly stopped struggling in my talons. That might mean that he was dead or unconscious, or possibly that he'd decided to relax and enjoy the ride. I wanted to set down and check on him as soon as possible, but I had no idea of Evangeline's possible range, so I hoped it was the latter. I flew a little longer, then landed as gently as I could on the roof of a moving van parked on a side street. It wasn't a perfect landing, but I didn't drop or squish Coro, so I counted that a success. I released him from my grip and was relieved to see the tiny, furred form struggle to get to its feet. Not easy when you suddenly have four instead of two. But he was breathing and didn't seem distressed. He sniffed the air with a pink nose, whiskers twitching, and stared up at me with eyes like tiny black beads.
Ugh. I wasn't looking forward to the next part—changing us back. I was going to be sick and woozy again, but it had to be done. I changed myself first, threw up over the side of the van, although there wasn't much left this time, then rested for a minute before changing Coro back. That time I only had dry heaves. Sometimes you have to be grateful for small mercies.
Coro seemed disoriented for a bit, and content to sit on the roof of the moving van in silence. Finally, though, he spoke, and he didn't say a word about the strange manner of his rescue, which I thought was very gentlemanly of him. "So, do you know who was trying to kill me?"
I drew a deep breath. There was no easy way to break it to him. "I'm pretty certain it was Evangeline."
He sagged a little, letting his hands rest limply on the grimy roof of the truck. He didn't seem to notice the dirt. "You know, I thought she took it awfully hard when I turned her down for that donation," he said. "In some ways it was worse than when we got divorced. I wondered at the time if she was quite in her right mind, but I let it go. I should have checked up on her then, to see how she was doing."
"We thought it could be Anzai Namiko," I said, "Or her and Evangeline. Namiko was there tonight, too. We didn't have a chance to tell you—we found out tonight that the Murder Prophet messages all came from MagicBase. But I should have paid more attention to the anagrams. I forgot them when we saw Namiko."
"Anagrams?"
I nodded. "All the Murder Prophet messages came from usernames that were anagrams of yours, PsychoticMuslinCrayon. Nana Nina told me that Evangeline liked elaborate, creative plans. I should have put them together."
<
br /> He nodded his head. "I've had that username since university. Evangeline originally anagrammed it out of hers—I forget exactly what it was..."
I closed my eyes, picturing the shifting letters. "Phash. MysticalPsychoUnicorn_245. If I hadn't missed that one, I wouldn't have been distracted by Anzai Namiko."
"Well," he said, "It doesn't matter now." He pulled cautiously onto his hands and knees, crawled to the edge and peered over the side of the van. "How are we going to get down?"
"Oh, these things usually have handholds on one side," I said, and peeked over the sides until I found them. "See? I'll go first, and you can follow me." I made it sound easy, but in the mauve dress and heels it was quite an undertaking. The short hem in front helped, and I made a mental note to thank Kiku again, this time for her foresight. I hadn't done much running, but it had been equally handy for crawling and climbing. Somehow I made it to the ground without falling, and Coro followed me without incident.
If anyone had looked out their window and seen two bedraggled, formally-dressed people clambering down from the top of the moving truck, they might have emerged to investigate. But the street stayed quiet and empty, and we hadn't walked very far back toward MageData when Glaive and Trip showed up in the Cloudwalker.
Trip hopped around in the front seat, talking a mile a minute. Feathers drifted gently down to land on Glaive's previously spotless upholstery. "Kit! That was the awesomest thing ever! Are you okay? Did you see the way I used my moves to take out that woman? She never even saw me coming! And then you were like, pow!, you're a mouse, and zing!, I'm a bird, and then you flew out—"
"How did you find her, Trip?" I said, mainly to interrupt him if only for the moment it took us to climb into the car. I'd told him to find her, but I hadn't thought about the fact that he'd likely never seen a picture of her, either.
The goose grinned. "It wasn't easy—a lot of those people were using magic! But I concentrated on finding the strongest source of active magic in the room, and it was her!"
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