The Book of Lies

by Melissa McShane

  “What he refused to do was aid Wareton’s hunters in destroying invaders. He claimed that he and his people had discovered a way to contain the invaders, minimizing loss of life. He offered to teach this method to the magi of Wareton, asking only that they share their magic, their sanguinis sapiens, with him.

  “The Wardens eagerly accepted his offer. Only Adam remained aloof. The stranger approached him many times, asking for his help, but Adam would say only ‘My work is in the stone.’ As the Wardens shared more of their magic with the stranger, Adam continued to ward Wareton.

  “Jehanne’s account does not say who first suspected the stranger was not as he seemed, but tradition says it was Adam himself who discovered the truth. The stranger was an invader in disguise, a thing of monstrous intelligence and power who intended to drain the magi and use their magic to allow hundreds of its smaller brethren to enter our reality. With the Wardens weakened, Adam alone stood against the monster. In an act of bravery that cost him his life, Adam triggered the binding in every ward in Wareton and caused an explosion that destroyed the invader and most of the town, including its node.

  “Wareton was never resettled. Its survivors spread throughout England, with those who were Wardens telling the story of Adam to their fellows. Jehanne’s story was kept in secret places until the creation of the Athenaeum, where its original now resides and where copies are available to any who choose to ask.”

  Claude took a drink from the glass of water on the lectern. “Now that I am finished boring you with the details, I invite you to consider—what is the lesson we should learn from this story? Beware Greeks bearing gifts? With apologies to my good friend Iakkhos.” Iakkhos, sitting a few seats away from me, smiled and saluted him. “Keep your magic close and your enemies closer? But we are not magi; we have custody of magic, but not the use thereof. So what does the tale of a long-dead magus mean to us? Only this.”

  He leaned forward, and I was caught by the intensity of his gaze. “Adam was the first to use a ward as offense rather than defense. He saw potential where no one else did. My intent tonight is to invite you to, as the saying goes, think outside the box. As custodians, we have opportunities to serve in ways no one has yet considered. We can continue as we always have, or we can expand beyond our horizons. We—”

  Someone’s phone rang, not a melody or a popular song but an old-fashioned jangling bell. Stirlaugson jumped and reached inside her jacket. “Ms. Stirlaugson is excused to take this call,” Claude quipped, and nervous laughter rang round the room. Stirlaugson stood and walked away, not speaking, her head bowed intently over her phone. “Now, as I was saying,” Claude continued.

  “Excuse me, Monsieur Gauthier, but I have to interrupt you for a moment,” Stirlaugson said, returning rapidly to the lectern. “I have some news that affects everyone. You’re all aware of the current crisis regarding familiars. What you may not know is that this crisis has affected our hunting teams’ ability to suppress the population of invaders. The number of monsters loose in the city has reached a point where it’s dangerous for someone rich in magic, such as a custodian, to venture into the streets. As of now, this hotel is in lockdown. I’m afraid we’re trapped here.”

  9

  “But I have to work!” I exclaimed, standing to face Stirlaugson. “Abernathy’s can’t stay closed!”

  “I’m afraid we have no choice, Ms. Davies,” Stirlaugson said. “There are simply too many invaders, familiar or free, for the Wardens to be able to guarantee your safety going to and from the store. We’ll make an announcement and ask people worldwide to hold off on mailing in auguries, but for now, you’re stuck here with us.”

  “How long?” a man at the back asked.

  “Indefinitely,” Stirlaugson said, “but in practice I believe it should be only a matter of days. If necessary, we will make arrangements for your transportation if you miss your flights.”

  “What about ward-stepping?” I said. “We could travel between the wards!”

  “Wards have to be weakened for that to work. If we weaken the wards of this hotel, we open ourselves to even more potential for attack. Please, everyone, calm down.”

  The noise dimmed to a hushed murmur. “I’m sorry for this inconvenience, but I have just spoken with Mr. William Rasmussen, head of the Nicolliens in the Pacific Northwest, and he assures me they are taking every measure to end this crisis.”

  “Including detonating wards?” said the same man. “Is he going to destroy the city?”

  “It won’t come to that.” Stirlaugson seemed to realize she still held her phone clenched in her hand like a baseball and put it away inside her suit coat. “I apologize for interrupting your speech, Claude. Please continue.”

  “I think it would be impossible to continue after that,” Claude said with no rancor. “Ladies and gentlemen, I propose we retire to our rooms to ready ourselves for the evening’s entertainment. We should enjoy ourselves in the face of calamity, non?” He smiled and bowed, then stepped down from the lectern and went to speak to Iakkhos. Sporadic clapping turned into full-out applause, in which I joined without thinking. Abernathy’s closed. That never happened. Monday through Saturday, without fail.

  I pulled out my phone and called Judy. Around me, everyone else was making phone calls or texting or checking the news. “Judy,” I said when she picked up, “did you—”

  “I know. Father told me. At least you’re trapped in the lap of luxury. Father’s restricted me to the house. Did you know the news has already picked up on a couple of ‘dog attacks’ the paper magi weren’t able to cover up?”

  “I don’t know anything except that I’m stuck here. I was going to tell you not to bother going in to the store, but it sounds like your father has already made that point.”

  “I don’t know that I’m in any danger. To hear him talk, the city is swarming with packs of escaped familiars, when really it’s only twenty. But that doesn’t include all the invaders the teams haven’t had time to destroy.” Judy’s voice went quiet. “Did you know ‘Rick Blaine’ is in town?”

  The ache in my heart throbbed again. “Yes.”

  “Nobody’s giving him grief because the situation is too serious. I just wanted to warn you in case he shows up unexpectedly. I don’t want you doing anything that will give you away.”

  “Thanks. I…don’t expect to see him for a while.”

  “That’s probably just as well.”

  “How’s Harry?”

  “Doing better. He’s almost able to regenerate magic on his own.”

  “Tell them I’m sorry I can’t come by.”

  “They’ll understand. Harry will probably worry more about you than about himself, knowing him.”

  She hung up as abruptly as she always did. Diane said, “It could be a lot worse.”

  I was still thinking about Malcolm and absently replied, “I’m not sure how.”

  “The monsters could be in here with us, for one.”

  “Oh. Well, that’s true.”

  “They should destroy all the familiars now rather than wait to see which will attack,” Iakkhos said. “I don’t know why that hasn’t occurred to Rasmussen.”

  “I’m sure it has,” I said, “but that would be a drastic step and it would make the Nicollien teams less effective. They need to find another solution.” I saw Rebecca Greenough seated nearby, leaning over slightly as if listening to me. “Familiars terrify me, but I have to admit they’re valuable,” I added, turning away from her.

  Diane stood and stretched. “That’s the most exciting keynote address I’ve ever witnessed. I’m going to my suite to get changed, how about you?”

  “I guess so. I’m not sure I’m in the mood for partying.”

  “Think of it as networking, and part of your job. You still need people to like you.”

  I made a face, and Diane laughed. “That’s the spirit.”

  “I never thought partying could be so stressful.”

  We parted ways at the elevator, and
when Diane was out of sight, I ran for my suite. Once inside, I bolted the door for extra security, then flopped down on one of the chairs and called Malcolm. This time it went immediately to voice mail. He’s busy, there’s a lot of work to do, he’s not ignoring me. I wiped away a couple of tears and went to change into something cute but comfortable. Why can’t his work be here? He had to know the Grandison was full of custodians, all of whom were appetizing to invaders, and he knew I was here. I zipped up my jeans and pulled a form-fitting blue V-neck sweater over my head and told myself to stop being an idiot. Wherever he was, it was where he needed to be. I wasn’t the most important person in this war.

  I ran a brush through my hair, dabbed on some lip gloss, and stuck my phone and key into my pockets. Stupid girl pockets. Deep pockets ruin the line, Viv always said when I complained, but most of the time I’d rather ruin the line of my clothes than have shallow pockets stuff tried to fall out of.

  As if on cue, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. CALL ME, Viv said.

  I checked the time. Thanks to Claude’s truncated speech, I had plenty of time before people would expect me to show up at their parties. I called Viv’s number and leaned against the wall listening to the ring. I’d almost given up when Viv said, “Hello?”

  “Wow, you sound like you didn’t just text me and weren’t expecting this call. What’s up?”

  “Mom, slow down, I can’t understand you.”

  “Oh, no. Viv, your date can’t be going this badly.”

  “That’s right.”

  “But you like him! And he likes you!”

  “Sometimes it happens like that. Do you need me to come over?”

  “Viv, Jeremiah’s not stupid. He’s going to know you’re ditching.”

  “All right. Give me fifteen minutes.”

  “Call me later. I want to know what went wrong.”

  “All right. I love you.” The line went dead. I closed my eyes and gently banged my head against the wall. I’d had such hopes for them, too. Well, sometimes people were just a mismatch, and Jeremiah and Viv were really different. I’d just thought…but it was obvious lately that what I thought about romance was entirely wrong.

  All the same, I tried Malcolm again and once again got his voice mail. I hung up before I could leave him a long message pleading with him to love me again. I was such an idiot.

  The mezzanine was empty when I reached it. The door to the vendor room was closed, but three of the other doors were open. I peeked inside Everest and saw people setting up amplifiers—magi, since the amplifiers were floating in midair. Viv would love having these guys as roadies.

  I seemed to be the only person on the mezzanine who wasn’t involved in party prep, so I trotted down the stairs and into the bar. Kevin wasn’t on duty; it was a tall, thin girl with red hair and a mass of freckles. I ordered a beer—I wasn’t in the mood to get creative—and settled in a corner to watch the rest of the customers.

  My phone rang. “Thanks for rescuing me,” Viv said.

  “Why did I have to? Viv, I thought—”

  “It was a disaster, Hel. He didn’t even look like himself. He was dressed up in a button down shirt and khakis. Then he wanted to talk about music, but we don’t have the same taste in bands. It was just so awkward.”

  “Doesn’t that sound like he wanted to impress you, though?”

  “I don’t want to be impressed. I like him the way he is. And I tried to get him to talk about himself, but I don’t know anything about software development. And to think I took out all my piercings.”

  “Wait—you did what?”

  “Wore just the one pair of earrings. I didn’t want to look too outrageous.”

  Light was beginning to glimmer. “So basically you changed so he wouldn’t think you were weird?”

  “I wouldn’t put it that way.”

  “Viv, he likes you for who you are! He doesn’t want you to tone down your appearance. I bet you wore something conservative, too.”

  Silence.

  “Viv, give me his number.”

  “No! Helena, don’t—”

  “My love life is falling apart. I’m not going to let it happen to you. Either you give it to me or I make Judy drive over to the store to get it. And you know how she feels about driving in the dark.”

  Viv rattled off a number. “I’ll call you back. Or he will,” I said, and hung up.

  Jeremiah didn’t pick up right away. When he did, he answered in the tentative way you do when you don’t recognize the number on the screen. “Hi, Jeremiah, it’s Helena,” I said. “How did your date go?”

  “How did you get this number?”

  “I’ll make this short. You and Viv both screwed up tonight by trying to be people you aren’t. You really think Viv wants you to be buttoned-down and not wear your crazy T-shirts? I promise you she doesn’t.”

  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I just don’t think we have anything in common.”

  “I think it was nice of you to try talking about music, because that’s what Viv lives for. But you should have just asked her questions about what she likes and let her teach you something new. And don’t be afraid to tell her about what you like. Now, where are you? Home?”

  “Not quite.”

  “Change into something normal. I’m sending Viv over. And I want you to stop telling yourself she’s not right for you, because I think she might be.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not…” Jeremiah sighed. “You realize this is completely inappropriate for our professional relationship.”

  “We’re friends too. That’s more important.”

  “All right. But if it fails again, that’s it, all right? No more playing yenta for you.”

  “What’s a yenta?”

  “A Jewish matchmaker. Traditionally supposed to be nosy and interfering. You’ve never seen Fiddler on the Roof?”

  “It’s too recent and it’s a musical, so two strikes against it. I only watch musicals with Yul Brynner in them.”

  “You should see it anyway. Live outside your comfort zone. As you’re apparently making me do.”

  “Just one more chance, okay?”

  I hung up and called Viv. “It’s all settled,” I said. “Put your piercings back in, put on whatever you were wearing today, and go to his house. Here’s the address.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I looked it up yesterday in case you needed it. And it sounds like you need it.”

  “Helena! I can’t just drive to his house!”

  “Yes, you can. He’s expecting you.”

  There was silence for a moment. “What if it still doesn’t work?” Viv asked.

  “Then you at least gave it your best. But I think it will.” I hope it will.

  “All right. I take it you haven’t heard from Malcolm.”

  “He’s busy. We’re all trapped in this hotel because there are so many monsters running around the city.”

  “Why haven’t we heard about that on the news? It can’t be that bad.”

  “The hunting teams are keeping it quiet for the most part, but…remember, they look like dogs.”

  “Oh. That story about the little girl being mauled by a pit bull. That was them?”

  “Yeah. Malcolm killed the invader, but not before it hurt her.”

  “He must be upset.”

  “To put it mildly.” I sighed. “Now, go. And try to find out what Jeremiah likes that isn’t software development. I’m sure he doesn’t want to talk about work with you. You can talk about how pushy I am. That ought to give you common ground.”

  “I’m going. I’ll call you later.”

  I put my phone away and finished my beer. That was so out of character for me, pushing Viv together with someone…but then it was out of character for Viv to be so reluctant when it came to a man. I hoped I’d done the right thing. I just wanted someone to be happy, even if it wasn’t me.

  A blast of music immediately turned down to
barely audible levels told me at least one party was starting. I strolled out of the bar, across the lobby and up the steps to the mezzanine, where colored lights from the Rainier room beckoned. The hosts had set up a table with chips and dip and a couple of coolers of drinks. The overall effect was so mom-and-dad’s-rec-room I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

  “Not this one,” Diane said in my ear, startling me. “The drug use starts in about half an hour and then nobody can get any sense out of them. Come upstairs. We’ll bounce from room to room.”

  I never would have guessed these hotel rooms, even as big as they were, could hold so many people. We moved around, accepting drinks and greeting custodians. Everyone recognized me, though after the first half hour I couldn’t remember more than a handful of names because of the sheer number of people I was introduced to. The free booze had nothing to do with it. Almost nothing.

  We ended up on the top floor, giggling over I forgot what. “Should I host a party?” I asked.

  “It’s not expected. Maybe next time.” Diane drained her paper cup and threw it away in a potted tree. “Iakkhos’s place is next. For someone that old, he throws an excellent party.”

  “Does old age mean you stop having fun, really?”

  “It sure seems to. But Iakkhos is a kid at heart. He’s got the biggest model train set I’ve ever seen. In Crete, obviously, not here.”

  A low, throbbing musical beat came from one of the doors ahead. Diane pushed it open and indicated I should enter. Iakkhos’s suite looked just like mine, though decorated in mint green and silver. He had all the curtains shut and most of the lights off. Music with a heavy bass line pulsed through me.

  “Magnifica illusion,” Diane said, a little smugly. “Iakkhos’s people come up with a new one every year.”