by E. G. Foley
“Didn’t you get enough walking last night?” Nixie drawled, twirling her wand idly between her fingers as she lay on the couch, ankles crossed.
The Guardian shrugged.
“Well, I’m not walking anywhere.” Jake shut his eyes. “I’m too full of waffles and bacon. It’s wonderful.”
“I don’t think they’d let us go out, anyway,” Isabelle said with a yawn. “I’m sure the soldiers outside our door would say it isn’t safe.”
Jake didn’t open his eyes. “Aye.”
The palace people hadn’t even let Dani walk Teddy herself. A self-important footman had taken the scruffy terrier by his leash and led him outside to do his business, looking slightly offended by such a low task.
When the footman had returned, Isabelle had asked if perhaps their group might join the regular public tour of Buckingham Palace. But when this request was passed along to Her Majesty, the answer that came back promptly was an emphatic no. It was best for them not to be seen.
A maid did, however, bring them some games and cards to pass the time. Unfortunately, nobody felt like playing childish games when they all knew war had come to their very doorstep.
In any case, noon came and went, and another two hours limped on with still more restless waiting.
At least they were being fed well; a line of footmen had marched in at one with a spread of sandwiches, soups, and casseroles, followed by a sweets course of fluffy chocolate mousse in crystal goblets.
Jake was in heaven.
Even Teddy ate like a king after the people were done. The servants brought him a bowl of the same rich mutton and potato stew served to the royal dogs.
A smile tugged at Jake’s lips as he watched the scruffy terrier clear his plate in thirty seconds flat, then lick his chops and make one of his odd little warbling yowls to Izzy.
Dani looked at the older girl. “What is he saying?”
Isabelle laughed as she quoted: “‘I could get used to this.’”
“Oh, the royal mutt, are we?” Jake scooped the little dog up before Dani could grab him. Dani smiled, watching him holding her pup.
“I hope Red’s staying out of sight.”
Jake nodded. “Me too.”
As the servants worked on clearing the table, Nixie began shuffling the cards.
“Come on; you people are boring,” said the witch. “Let’s at least play a round of Old Maid.”
Brian, Isabelle, Dani, and Jake mumbled that they were willing, but Archie raised a brow and dryly declined.
“Oh, too primitive for you, brother?” Izzy teased.
“Rather,” Archie said as a footman brushed the last crumbs off the table into a miniature dustpan. Then his colleague whisked the tablecloth away, and both efficient fellows hurried out. “That’s beside the point, however. It so happens that I have a better idea.”
“Big surprise,” Jake murmured with a smile.
Then Archie turned to the junior Lightrider. “I say, Dani, ol’ girl. Since we’ve nothing better to do—”
“Hey!” Nixie said with a mock scowl.
“—would you mind my taking a look at that gauntlet of yours? I’d love to see if I can’t figure out a bit about how it works.”
At once, Dani hugged her arm to her chest. “You’ll break it!”
“Miss O’Dell, you insult me,” the boy genius said lightly. “This is me you’re talking to.”
“Yes, exactly, and we all know how much you love taking things apart and putting them back together. If you damage it, Arch, they’ll throw me out of the program.”
“Upon my honor, I shall do nothing of the kind! Please? Pretty please? It’s killing me, you know. I need to study that thing. Just for a minute?”
She chewed her lip, debating. “I’m not allowed to take it off.”
“I can work around that. Here.” He pulled out a chair at the table. “Oh, come. Aren’t you curious yourself how it works?”
“Well, actually, now that you mention it… I have been wondering what some of the buttons are for.”
He bowed. “World-class brain, at your service.”
Nixie snickered. “Modest, Arch.”
“Oh, very well,” Dani said. “Just don’t break it. Or I’ll break yer head.”
“She can, you know,” Jake remarked, watching in amusement.
“Oh, yes, we’re all highly aware of our fighting Irishwoman’s pugilistic skills,” Archie said.
“You should meet me brothers,” Dani said, using the brogue she usually tried to hide as she sat down beside him.
“Oh, no, he shouldn’t,” Jake said playfully as he sat back down across from them. “I prefer my cousin in one piece.”
Brian grinned, glancing curiously at Dani as he took the chair beside her. “Mean, are they?”
“Wild dogs,” Dani replied.
“She said it.” Jake shrugged. “I barely survived my first meeting with the Brothers O’Dell years ago. They would’ve pummeled me into the pavement if it weren’t for this one.” He cast Dani a roguish wink.
Then Nixie dealt the cards, and the rest of them split their attention between playing Old Maid and watching Archie poke around at the mysterious device on Dani’s outstretched arm.
That was how bored they were.
“Hmm,” the boy genius said often to himself. And “Huh. Would you look at that. Extraordinary…”
Jake and Nixie exchanged looks of amusement at the lovable eccentric’s puttering. But when he started explaining his conclusions, nobody understood a word.
Isabelle actually yawned. “I beg your pardon, Arch. If everyone will excuse me, I fear I need a nap.”
“I was thinking about that myself,” Jake admitted.
“Night-night,” Izzy said with a smile, pushing up from her seat.
Jake and Brian quickly offered the gesture of rising from their chairs at a young lady’s exit, but Archie, for his part, was too absorbed to bother. Besides, it was only his sister.
“G’night,” Jake said. “Do you want us to wake you if there’s any news?”
Shuffling off toward the girls’ hallway, Isabelle didn’t answer. Instead, she suddenly stopped, turned, and stared at the door of their suite.
Jake and Dani exchanged a curious glance.
“Isabelle,” Dani said, “is something wrong?”
With a dazed look, the empath pointed toward the door. “Derek and Miss Helena are here.”
“What?” Jake looked up, and Archie quit fiddling with the gauntlet.
Even Brian sat upright. “Really?”
Izzy nodded. “I can sense them somewhere in the building. They seem…nervous. I think they’re going in to see the Queen.”
“It’s easiest for her to sense the people that she’s close to,” Dani told Brian as she took back her arm from the mad scientist and gave the gauntlet a quick once-over.
“Took them long enough.” Nixie cast down another card. “Maybe we can finally get out of here now.”
Brian cocked his head and rose from the table, listening. “I hear people coming this way.”
“Maybe it’s them.” Jake jumped up and strode over to the drawing room door. Opening it a crack, he peered out with one eye, then turned around and nodded at the others.
Izzy was right, as usual.
Down the corridor and across the opulent state room at the end of it, Jake spotted the betrothed couple following the chamberlain into another elegant hallway that, if he recalled correctly, led to Queen Victoria’s private office.
Jake had been summoned there personally once, when the Order had first found him.
I guess Her Majesty wants to talk to them first. Find out what’s going on.
Jake would’ve liked to know that himself.
Unfortunately, one of the scarlet-uniformed soldiers flanking the door noticed him peeking out. The tall, strapping fellow pivoted, arching a brow. “Is there something you require, Lord Griffon?”
“No, no—thank you. Er, carry on.”
“Right.” Feeling sheepish, Jake had started to close the door when something strange happened.
Derek and Helena had no sooner vanished down one hallway off the grand state room, than who should emerge out of another but Aunt Ramona?
Jake furrowed his brow, pausing. What’s she doing here?
He was glad to see her, of course, but it seemed odd that she’d send the lovebirds to collect them when she was already here herself.
But, of course, they’d just made the Elder witch the head of the Order, he reminded himself, so perhaps she had more important business to see to concerning her new responsibilities than worrying about them.
Odd, though. Jake could not help thinking there was something almost furtive in the way the stern old woman gusted across the luxurious state room and hurried down the marble staircase.
Wherever she was going, she had certainly dressed to the nines in a burgundy bustle gown with a black fascinator perched on her head at a jaunty angle.
As she vanished down the stairs, Jake quietly shut the door, then told the others what he’d seen. The kids exchanged puzzled looks.
“Hmm,” said Nixie, “I wonder what she’s up to.” As Aunt Ramona’s only student, the young witch had developed a fairly close bond with her mentor. Indeed, Her Ladyship was probably the only adult on Earth the little cynic revered.
Rising from her chair, the witch went over to the window to see if she could catch a glimpse of her leaving the palace.
Isabelle followed, drifting after her, then both girls stood framed between the festooned gold curtains.
“There she is!” Nixie suddenly pointed. “There, in the black hat.”
Isabelle stared through the glass with a troubled demeanor.
“What is it, sis?” Archie went over to her side and peeked out between the girls.
“I’m not sure,” Izzy murmured. “But I’ve got a bad feeling.”
Archie looked at her in alarm. “What sort of bad feeling?”
“Aye, and any idea where she might be headed?” Jake asked. Concerned, he joined the trio at the window, which offered a view off a section of the south front corner of the palace.
“Maybe she just wants to check on Beacon House,” Dani suggested. She and Brian hung back.
“No.” Izzy shook her head. “There’s more to it than that. Something very strange is going on.”
Nixie glanced at her uneasily. “What are you sensing?”
“That’s just it.” Eyes narrowed with concentration, the empath stared out at the street. “I could swear she knows I’m here, and she’s deliberately trying to block me from reading her emotions.”
“Why would she do that? She adores you more than anyone else in the world,” Archie said.
Jake noticed the fear in his cousin’s dark eyes as Archie moved aside to give him a better view out the window, pointing to where he should look.
Sure enough, Jake spotted the dowager baroness marching toward Spur Street with her head high and her little handbag in her grasp.
“Why isn’t she taking a carriage?” Jake asked.
“Good question,” Nixie said. “Or even using magic.”
“This is weird.” Jake looked askance at the empath. “Are you getting anything at all about where she’s going?”
“Let me try again before she’s out of range.” Izzy closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and was silent for a moment.
The others waited, exchanging worried glances.
Izzy did not open her eyes as she reached deep into her talent. “Her emotions are all in a whirl,” she reported. “This is most unlike her. Partly happy, partly scared to death.”
“The Elder witch, scared?” Jake said under his breath.
Izzy’s eyes suddenly flicked open, and she turned to him abruptly. “Something’s wrong. I’m sure of it. Jake—you need to go after her. Now.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
“Why do you say that?” Archie cried.
“Now, hold on! He’s not going anywhere,” Dani protested from behind them.
Izzy glanced at her impatiently.
The redhead marched forward with a stubborn look on her freckled face. “He’s the boy of the prophecy, remember? The Dark Druids are after him! Last night it was Nightstalkers and imps. Lord knows what might be out there right now, still searching for him. More to the point”—she planted her fists on her hips—“when the Queen of England orders you to stay in a certain room, you’d better stay put. For all we know, disobeying Her Majesty could be, like, I dunno, breaking the law or something!”
“I’m sure it’s not a law, carrot,” Jake said. “I appreciate your concern, but if Aunt Ramona is in trouble, I’m going.” She glared at him, but he turned back to Izzy. “What exactly did you get when you read her just now?”
Izzy shrugged, looking desperate and rather at a loss. “She’s in danger and she knows it. Whatever it is, we can’t let her face it alone.”
“I’ll go,” Nixie said in a hard tone. “Dani’s right. It’s Jake the enemy wants. After all Her Ladyship has done for me, if I can be of use—”
“Nixie, no. You can’t risk getting in trouble with Aunt Ramona. Besides,” Jake said, “the Elders have high hopes for you. Look what they did to me for disobeying.”
They’d barred him from the Lightrider program, at least for the time being.
“Jake’s right, Nix.” Archie nodded resolutely. “I’ll go.”
“You don’t have magic!” Nixie said.
“It doesn’t matter! I’m her nephew. We’re her kin. Jake and I will go together.”
Dani huffed and turned away in exasperation, shaking her head.
“There is one other thing,” Izzy added. She lowered her head and studied the floor with a searching gaze, concentrating. “I get the feeling that she’s on her way to see someone important. Someone…from the past.”
“Oh no,” Nixie murmured, lifting her fingers to her lips.
They all turned and looked at her.
“What do you mean, oh no?” Jake demanded.
She didn’t answer for a minute, but her normally pale face had drained of any color.
“Nixie!” Archie insisted.
“Izzy’s right,” the witch blurted out. “You have to stop her. I-I think I know what this is. It’s just, if I’m right—she swore me to secrecy!”
“Nixie, tell us what you know!” Archie said, ashen.
Jake heard the panic in his voice and cast his cousin a dark, assessing glance.
“Oh no,” indeed, he thought, seeing Archie’s face. The last time he had seen the genius looking so unnerved, it was after he’d had another of his disastrous prophetic dreams.
Cheerful by nature, Archie didn’t usually like discussing his unpleasant visions. On the contrary, he was still trying to convince himself that he hadn’t really inherited his father’s clairvoyance at all. Being a math and science prodigy was enough of a burden. But looking at him now, Jake felt rather sure that his cousin must’ve had another ominous vision recently. One he had not yet disclosed.
Suddenly, Izzy’s “bad feeling” spread like a contagion to Jake. His stomach twisted on his lunch.
He turned to Nixie. “Are you saying you know who Aunt Ramona’s going to meet?”
“I think so.”
They all stared at her, waiting, but still, she balked at betraying her mentor’s secret.
“Nixie, who is she meeting?” Jake demanded.
The little witch gulped and whispered, “Zolond.”
CHAPTER 24
Tick-Tock
It was only a fifteen-minute stroll from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben. Ramona felt the years falling away with every stride.
Her heart pounded with excitement; her steps grew light.
She told herself that she was merely eager to see the crisis resolved in a safe and timely manner, but, of course,
there was more to it than that.
If she was honest with herself, she could taste the remembered flavor from centuries ago—the thrill a young girl felt slipping off to meet her beau.
Foolishness.
In truth, Ramona was shocked at how much she still cared about that evil bounder. She mustn’t let him use it against her.
Continuing up Spur Road, every now and then, Ramona glanced over her shoulder with the uncanny feeling that she was being followed.
Her decision to walk to the meeting wasn’t the most secure choice, admittedly. But after the shock of last night and the many hours she’d spent after the battle trying to put the Order back together again, she desperately needed these few minutes alone to clear her head. Collect her thoughts. And prepare herself to face her treacherous former love.
The Dark Master and she had promised each other safe passage to and from their meeting. But as the new head of the Order, she had to expect that she was being watched.
No matter. She had her wand and always kept her wits about her.
With a discreet glance around, she did not see whoever was surveilling her, but they did not intimidate her—and they certainly wouldn’t scare her away from the meeting.
She had waited a long time for this.
Striding for another ten minutes up the tidy, tree-lined street whimsically entitled Birdcage Walk, she found ancient memories of their youth together whispering through her mind. For a time, they had been ridiculously happy, finishing each other’s sentences, causing all manner of mischief together, combining their talents to help each other’s spells. Hiding together from the persecutors of those days. Smuggling away witches and fey folk the fanatics had wanted to burn.
He’d had a good heart once. Maybe, just maybe, there was a grain of goodness left in him. There had to be. Otherwise, why else would he have helped the Order last night?
Don’t be a fool. He did it for his own sake. If Wyvern’s coup had succeeded, he’d be dead.
And then we both would.
Ramona thrust away the troubling thought of the worst mistake she’d ever made—joining Geoffrey in the Montague and Capulet spell. She never would have agreed to it if she had known he would turn evil.
With a fretful frown, she strove to settle her nerves by taking in the fine autumn day as she walked on. A cloudless azure sky shimmered overhead, while eddies of dried brown leaves swirled across the pavement at her feet.