Kai scrolled through a short article on Serafini Investments. “Your family has money.” He said.
“They’re not my family.” I countered.
He nodded and closed the laptop. “Why do you think Marco left and changed his name?”
I shrugged.
“That might be important.”
“Do you think Paolina knows? She was the one who called Majeedah on Kingston’s suggestion, but she said she didn’t know about me until her father told her about the meeting. This seems like a lot of effort to orchestrate a family reunion, and Kingston didn’t seem thrilled that I’d met them.” I rolled the possibilities over in my head, and the thoughts skittered away before I could examine them. Eventually, I gave up, knowing the puzzle would click into place at some point. “I do think Marco was killed here in Italy, but I don’t know any more than that.” I said quietly.
Kai looked worried, and I waited a considerable amount of time for him to speak, but he remained silent. It wasn’t that I thought he was withholding information, more like he was trying to solve the same puzzle I was. After a long time, he turned to me, his eyes shadowed with fear.
“Did you run your power through the polestar?” He asked.
I nodded, even though I didn’t like the fact that my Coyote suddenly looked very mortal and very worried.
“I want you to keep it in your pocket for now. If you need it,” Kai’s gaze fell to my stomach, but he gave a slight shake of his head. “It might give you a boost.”
I swallowed loudly. “But I don’t know how to use it like that.”
“You should wait until we’re out of the building before you break those rings,” Kai said.
“I’m hoping I can free Sidaffri without anyone knowing it’s happened, but eventually, Mariani will notice she’s gone. I doubt he’ll admit that someone stole his jinn, but he’s probably going to figure out I had something to do with it.” Suddenly my plan didn’t seem so great. “As long as I don’t break the ring right away, we should be fine, right?”
Kai lifted a shoulder and tried to look unconcerned. “Some humans find it hard to stop after just one jinn.” The corner of his mouth quirked up. “I’m sure Sidaffri would have warned us if that was going to be a problem, though.”
“My job was to stop the jinn from setting fires and to leave the existing structure of the Guild exactly as I found it. Technically, I have done what they hired me for, just not in the way some of them might have preferred. Since I fulfilled my contract, I’m just going to grab the lamp on my way out the door since Chairman Mariani didn’t specifically say anything about leaving his jinn alone.”
“And while you’re loosely interpreting your job description, I’ll be explaining the membership benefits of the United Coven and Alliance.” He laughed. “I wish I’d had time to get a welcome package printed up, or maybe some t-shirts or mugs.”
I tried to imagine what Kai would write in the brochure. “You’re okay in there alone, right?”
Kai smiled. “Ari, I’m good with people, and I completely understand why it has to be done this way. It’s not my fight, but there’s nothing to stop me from having as much fun with it as humanly possible.”
Chapter 28
We took a taxi to the building, and I got out two blocks before the Guild headquarters. I checked the time on my phone and waited a few minutes before walking toward my destination. I looked up at the top of the buildings and I saw Basir watching the street. He flicked his wing out, pointing behind me and I took the hint. One person was following me.
I ducked between two buildings and cast a quick invisibility spell. I heard the sound of shoes scrape against the pavement but I remained perfectly still. I waited until I could smell his cologne and I opened my eyes, whipped the water pistol out of my pocket, and fired the potion on the back of his neck. He froze, and I quickly shot him with the second Insta-nesia potion to wipe his memory. I pulled out an out of focus spell and shook the fine grains into my palm. I sprinkled it over myself and hurried by my immobilized stalker feeling giddy from the adrenaline.
I ran up the steps to the headquarters of the La Gilda Maghi and pushed against the glass doors. Locked.
I pulled out a spell, blew it into the mechanism and...nothing. I tried again. Still locked.
I so wasn’t going to let my mission fail because I couldn’t get through the door.
I hauled on the currents of energy and traced through the spell that was keeping the door locked. It was much more complex than anything I’d ever seen.
Woven around the door was an intricate web of power that was stronger than what I’d encountered in Italy so far. The currents were thick and bright, somehow reinforced with an energy that brought to mind desert sands and camels.
A jinn powered spell.
“For heaven’s sake.” I muttered, looking for a way to bust through the barrier. I felt along the edges until I found one spot with a tiny fracture in the current. I grasped the polestar in my pocket and drew out a spark of clean energy that I shot into that fracture. The barrier wobbled.
People were passing by, cars were speeding down the street, and I was standing in the middle of Rome with my hand extended in an awkward position, clutching something in my pocket with my other hand while looking like a giant grey blob. Inconspicuous wasn’t my strong suit. I fired another spark, causing another shudder in the ward. Because I was feeling nervous and exposed, I let loose a third burst that zinged into the barrier.
The ward shattered like a mirror. It made a sound like falling glass and I looked at the ground, expecting to see glittery shards, but there was nothing. I looked over my shoulder, but nobody else seemed to hear it over the passing traffic. I pulled on the door again and slipped inside.
The lobby was deserted and I snuck up the stairs, feeling about as comfortable as a nun in a chorus line. I had no idea where to find the lamp in the building, but the offices seemed like a likely place to start. I bypassed the closed doors of the conference room and continued to the upper floors.
I ran to the end of the corridor, glancing at the name on the door before I grabbed the handle. The last thing I saw was the name R. Mariani before searing hot magic burned my palm.
I hissed out unintelligible swear words and looked at my seemingly uninjured palm that felt like it was stuck in a raging inferno. It was the third time I’d nearly lost a hand, and I wasn’t amused.
I hauled on the currents beneath my feet, letting anger fuel my magic and the worms slithered through my body like a rush of maggots that made me gag. I pushed them through my palm, letting the slithering magic cushion my skin against the searing heat. The door was both warded with a spell and locked the traditional way. It seemed like overkill. Because of my frustration and pain, I shot such a rage-fueled spark into the mechanism that it shattered the ward and popped the lock in one loud snap, leaving the strike plate glowing red with heat.
I froze for a second, wondering if they had heard that in the conference room below. When the silence stretched on, and nobody came up to check on the noise, I stepped over the threshold.
Inside Chairman Mariani’s office, I scanned the surfaces for an obvious lamp. It would have been easier if it were just sitting in the open, but I wasn’t that lucky. I tossed the bookshelves and opened the desk drawers. There was nothing else that looked like it was big enough to contain a lamp. I moved pictures looking for a safe and even pulled back the area rug to look for a hidden compartment. It was empty. I checked two other offices before I came to my senses.
The lamp was magic, and I should be able to feel it, but the only thing I could feel was the magical burn on my palm. I crouched in the center of the hallway and put my palms on the marble, focusing all of my attention on the currents that swirled around me. In the corner of my awareness, I felt a dim buzz of magic that didn’t seem to belong. I examined that closer and followed where it led me.
I walked down the stairs, feeling the strange sensation thicken. It seemed to come from ev
erywhere, so I let my eyes take in the frescoes and mosaics. I was on the bottom step, one floor above the lobby, and the conference room where Kai was keeping the Guild occupied was to my right. I looked around at the marble walls, and I could feel the ancient magic, but I couldn’t localize it.
I looked down at the lobby, at the mosaics that lined the walls and let my eyes roam over the scenes. “Ah! That’s clever,” I whispered, noticing the tree with the serpent spiraling up the trunk. It was a little biblical, but that twisted serpent shape was also carved on the rock in my pocket, and I had seen the real thing rendered in flames an hour earlier.
The logic hit me, and I froze. There was no way I could free all the jinn in Rome, or even all the jinn held by the members of the Guild. I was pondering that as my eyes roamed over the lobby floor.
The marble sparkled with faint traces of blue, much like the sarcophagus in the Tomb of the Egyptians. There had been something about the Bacchanal carvings on that sarcophagus that tickled the back of my brain, but the situation with Sidaffri happened too fast for me to consider the carving. We’d had to flee because the other men had shown up, then the Swiss Guard and I’d completely forgotten about it until that moment.
Once again, there was no time to contemplate it. I had to get Sidaffri’s lamp before the meeting broke up, so that mystery was something I’d deal with later. I ran down to the first floor and set my hands against the mosaic in the wall. My burned hand felt better against the cool ceramic tiles. I pulled at the currents trying to find enough earth magic to break through the mortar that held the tiles in place. There was a metallic taste at the back of my throat, and I could feel the magic flowing over the tiles in a cool wash, but I couldn’t figure out how to get through the mosaic without creating a huge mess. I wanted to groan and beat my fists against the mosaic, but there wasn’t time to throw a temper tantrum. I needed to get through the barrier to Sidaffri’s lamp before someone stepped out of the conference room.
I felt something cool brush my arm, and I looked at Ka’Tehm floating next to me. “Can you get in and see if the lamp’s even there?” I whispered.
He floated through the wall and popped right back out, blinking twice.
“No?” I asked, confused. I was sure I was right.
Ka’Tehm floated three inches in front of my face and blinked once for yes, then he blinked twice for no. It took me a second.
“There are two lamps?”
One blink.
Two lamps and a rapidly ticking clock. I wasn’t sure how long Kai could talk to the Guild members about fires being handled and the limited benefits of working with the Alliance.
I held my palms against the mosaic and shot a spark of earth magic into the center of the tiles. The glossy surface shivered. The mosaic was a glamour, just like my mom’s clutter wall, only much more complex. I traced through the web of magic, awed by the complexity of the spell. It was a thing of beauty, but I had to be careful, or I’d never be able to repair it. With the polestar in my burned hand, I sent a spark of power into the center of the web, pressing my magic against the delicate strands and forcing them apart.
I was trembling from the effort when the glamour parted, and I noticed the iron box set into the wall. I was one hand short, so I tucked the polestar into my sports bra and pulled my pack around to my side. I reached in and withdrew a small crowbar the length of my forearm. Kai had picked it up somewhere in Italy because he could plan better than anyone I’d ever met.
I kept my magic circulating to stretch the glamour. When the metal box was completely exposed, I wedged the thin end of the crowbar between the wall and box. Plaster sifted out as I worked the tool side to side, shimmying the box forward until I could wedge my fingers around the sides and pull it toward me. It wobbled on the edge of the shelf, and before I could grasp it, the whole thing tumbled out of the wall.
I panicked when I saw it start to fall, and I threw myself to my knees, catching the box and sliding it down the wall. My injured hand slipped, and the sharp edge of the box ripped a gash in my arm. The disguise spell made it hard to determine how severe the wound was, but it felt painful enough to be deep. The box landed on the floor with a slight thud, and I pulled one of Kai’s spells from my pocket. He’d printed: For blood loss and potentially fatal injuries. I figured that was close enough to first aid. I ripped the packet open and slapped the herbs on the long cut.
I nearly passed out from the agony. Whatever he’d put in there felt like it had cauterized the wound. It hurt like the dickens, but at least there was no blood on the floor. My arm was nearly useless, but my thoughts were suddenly much clearer, and I was wide awake. The tang of metal in the back of my throat was replaced with a nasty ammonia smell that made my eyes water.
With the crowbar in my left hand, I levered up the top of the box and saw two lamps laid in opposite directions. I wasn’t sure which one belonged to Sidaffri, so I carefully placed both of them in my bag before I heaved the metal box back into the wall using my good arm and my shoulder. I slid it back into place and withdrew my magic, watching the weave of the glamor slowly regain its shape.
I stood back to admire my work and wobbled on my feet. I ran the toe of my boot through the plaster dust, and Ka’Tehm swooped over the mess, gathering the fine particles on his magical fur. He floated to the center of the room and spun like a vortex, distributing the particles like a fine layer of dust all around the room. I stood there with my mouth hanging open and a glazed look on my face. The beaver never ceased to amaze me.
I looked at the mosaic again, and it still didn’t look entirely right. There was a definite sag to the center of the picture like it was carved out of half-melted wax. I pulled another of Kai’s spells out of my pocket and read the word redirect in his neat printing. It was a disguise spell, but I figured if it worked for people, it would work for a slightly distorted mosaic. I blew the powder on the wall, and immediately my attention was redirected to the other parts of the room. No matter how much I tried to examine the mosaic, my eyes and mind wandered to something else.
I grabbed the bag and headed back to the tunnel where I’d left Idral and Sidaffri.
I found them huddled together, teary-eyed and looking hopeless.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Idral sniffled and bowed his head in shame, and Sidaffri gave me a perplexed look.
“Ari?”
I nodded and wondered how long Kai’s disguise spell would last. Crud. I couldn’t go back into the building looking like a gray blob.
I flipped through my pockets, looking for a nullifying spell or something else that would lift the enchantment. Idral let out a little sob.
“What’s wrong, Idral?” I asked, worried by the despair in that sound. I didn’t have an antidote to the spell, so I’d have to wait it out.
“I cannot accept my new position as guardian,” Idral said, sounding defeated.
I blew out a sigh of relief. “Okay. If you don’t want the job, that’s fine. We won’t force you if you’re happy here. Can you let me know when I’m clearly me again?” I said, impatient to get back inside.
The griffin sniffed again, and Sidaffri nodded as she reached over to stroke the tips of his round ears in a maternal way.
“Tell her, Idral.” The jinn whispered gently.
The griffin’s feathers made a soft rustling sound right before he dissolved into heartbreaking sobs. Sidaffri wrapped her arms around him and cradled his beaked face against her shoulder. The enormous beast dwarfed the jinn, but she cuddled him like a giant stuffed animal.
I didn’t have time for that. I put the bag down next to them. “Is the spell worn off? Can you see me clearly?” I asked the jinn.
“It’s getting better.”
I grunted. I made a mental note to ask Kai to include the counterspell for everything he put in my arsenal. Time ticked by as the griffin cried and the jinn whispered soothingly to him. I looked at my arm and saw the faint outline of a raised pink line.
�
�You’re clear, Ari,” Sidaffri said, running her elegant fingers through Idral’s feathered crest.
“Good. You can tell me the rest of it when I come back. Watch this for me, and don’t let it out of your sight, okay?”
Sidaffri blinked and nodded. Idral couldn’t even lift his eyes, but he nodded as well.
I looked down at my arm and the dry herbs that were sticking to my skin. I brushed the herbs away and ran back to the Gilda Maghi.
Chapter 29
I flew up the stairs and burst into the conference room.
Kai smiled. “And here she is now. You can ask her yourself.”
I blinked as fourteen pairs of eyes focused on me. The look on their faces told me they were all surprised to see me. That’s when I remembered I had strolled into their magically warded building. I gave them my best innocent look. “I’m sorry I’m late,” I said, smiling. “I had something to take care of.”
Heavy silence.
“You were going to ask me something?” I reminded them, keeping my tone bright and my smile in place.
Matteo Serafini cleared his throat. “Is fire magic the most potent in Rome?”
It wasn’t an innocent question. My father was a fire witch, so I could assume his half-brother was the same. Matteo was going to use that fact to exert a little superiority over the rest of the group. It wasn’t my fight, so I answered. “Since jinn are fire spirits, that’s the logical conclusion. The currents here are weak, but because they’re born in fire, jinn can access more power than any witch here.” It was an answer without being one.
“And the jinn who was setting the fires will not do that again?” A neo-pagan woman in a flowy yellow dress asked.
I shook my head. “I found the jinn who was setting the fires and handled that situation. That’s not the only jinn here, though,” I tried really hard not to look at Chairman Mariani, but as my eyes roamed around the table, two other witches looked away. “I believe the jinn blasting through the tunnels is under the control of the Chanson. They’re looking for a relic in Rome. I don’t think they’ll stop until they find it.”
Resistant Magic (Relic Hunter Book 5) Page 25
