Her eyes went wide. “Butch is going to kill you. You know that, right?”
“He’ll do what he’s gotta do,” I grumbled.” At least he’ll be alive.”
Gen hopped up on the old stone fence next to the sidewalk. She sat there cross-legged, facing me, staring into my face. “We don’t have enough people to stage a rescue,” she said.
“I know. I’ve been trying to think of a way to lure Zane out.”
“It’ll never work. He knows it’s safe inside the casino, and he has everything he needs there. Including Talia. Why would he ever come out?”
“We could burn it down.”
“And kill a couple thousand innocent fae while we’re at it? I don’t think so, Hank.”
“We could kidnap someone important to him and make a trade?”
“Unlikely. Who’s important to a jerk like that? Zak maybe, but I’m pretty sure he’s dead after what happened at Siva’s.”
“We could boycott the casino,” I said.
She punched me in the arm. “Now you’re just being a smartass.”
I leaned up against the wall, gazing across the rooftops, towards the lake at the center of the undercity. It was the middle of the day, but it was dark down there. It was foggy topside.
“He’s got to have a weakness,” I said.
“He does. It’s that big fat gut of his. I’d like to stick a dagger in it.”
“Not that kind of weakness. Who does he bank with?”
She scrunched up her forehead. “Bank? How should I know? Who cares?”
“Fae National is tied into the human banking system, right?”
“Sure. I send money to my grandmother in London all the time.”
A smile came to my lips. Gen tilted her head and gave me a suspicious look. “What are you thinking?”
“I think I just came up with a plan.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense! What is it?”
“Not yet,” I said. “I’ll tell everyone at once. Come on, let’s get up there.”
Gen and I made the quick hike up to the cave. As expected, Butch and Tas had rounded up everyone in the place. They were all waiting for us upstairs. I felt pretty good when I walked into the room and saw their expectant faces around the table, looking up at me. I felt like, for once, I just might live up to their expectations. I hoped with all my being that I wasn’t about to let them down.
“All right,” Butch said. “We got everyone here, like you asked. Let’s hear it!”
I looked them over. “Who has cash?” I said.
They exchanged baffled looks. “Cash?” said Butch. “What’re you going on about? Zane won’t take money. He’s already rich!”
“I know that,” I said, digging out my wallet. I pulled out the wad of bills Siva had left for me. It looked like about two grand. I threw it on the table. “Come on, everyone, pony up. A woman’s life is at stake.”
Butch snorted and shook his head, but he pulled out his wallet. He threw his cash on the table. When he glanced around the room and nobody else had moved, he picked up his axe and laid it on the table in front of him. “You heard the man,” he growled. “Pony up!”
There was some grumbling, but they all emptied their wallets. When it was all on the table and counted, we had thirty-two hundred dollars in cash, and another grand in gold and silver coins. I looked at the pile with a satisfied grin.
“Not a bad draw for a bunch of unemployed rebels,” I said. I turned to Sam. “Bag it. I need you to go down to the Chalice and buy as many tokens and chips as you can.”
“Him!” Butch burst out. “We can’t trust a goblin! Talia’s life is at stake.”
“That’s our life savings yer givin’ him!” someone else shouted. The others joined in, their voices rising in a cacophony. They went on like this for a few seconds, until I ran out of patience.
“I trust him!” I snarled, banging my fist on the table. It bounced, and the room went dead quiet. I took a step back, glaring them in the eyes. “Sam is the only one who won’t draw suspicion. No one in the casino has seen him with us, and a goblin is the last person they’d expect to be working for the rebels. Sam is the last person they’d expect to be helping me.
A look of understanding dawned on their faces. Everyone in the undercity knew Sam and I were enemies. He’d never made any secret of the fact, and I’d certainly never had anything nice to say about him. I drew my gaze around the room, satisfied that I’d managed to make my point. I went on: “Sam will go to the casino. He’ll trade the cash for as many chips as possible. He’ll go alone. That’s final. Butch,” I added, turning to face him. “You will help Sam later. For now, I need you here.”
I turned to face Tas. “How’s your hacking?”
His face widened into a grin. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Good. I have a plan for you, too.”
“All right then,” Gen said. “What’s all the mystery? What’s your plan, Hank?”
I leaned in, putting my hands on the table as I looked around the room. A smile came to my lips. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are going to rob a casino...”
Chapter 13
Ispelled out a few more of the details of my plan before sending them on their missions, but not too much. I was playing my cards close to the vest. I couldn’t risk one of them getting caught and spilling the beans on the entire operation. The less any individual knew the better. When anyone objected, they got the same answer: “Deal with it.”
As the meeting adjourned, we rose from our chairs and I turned to face Gen. I lowered my voice, so the others couldn’t hear. I said, “Can I borrow your car?”
“No,” she said without skipping a beat.
“What? Why not?”
“Because I’ve seen what you do to cars, Hank. Besides, you wouldn’t fit in mine. What do you need it for, anyway?”
“I need to run an errand.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Need to get some groceries, Hank? Some toothpaste and low fat yoghurt?”
“Something like that.”
“No.”
“Gen-”
“Forget it. The only way you’re borrowing my car is if I’m driving. Besides, I’m not letting you out of my sight until this whole thing is over.”
“This is personal business. It doesn’t have anything to do with the Governor.”
“Good, then it can wait until tomorrow.”
I closed my eyes. “All right, you can drive.”
“Great! Where are we going?”
I glanced around the room, making sure everyone had cleared out. “I need to go back to the Hall of Records. I have a few more questions for my friends at the Preservation Society.”
Gen nodded. She may not have approved, but she kept her mouth shut about it. I was grateful for that. I didn’t need any lectures. I needed answers.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Twenty uncomfortable minutes later, we were back downtown. It was probably for the best that Gen was with me, because she had been right about her car. I’d forgotten how small the thing was. Even with the passenger seat pushed all the way back and lowered into a reclining position, I felt like I could hardly breathe. I don’t know if I could have driven that thing a block without getting into a wreck.
When we went inside, Marjorie was at the front desk. She didn’t notice us come in, until I hurried past her on my way to the door at the back. She was helping a customer as we passed her, and we almost made it by, but she saw me in the corner of her eye. She did a double take, and straightened up.
“Mr. Mossberg!” she called out, pointing a finger at me. “You can’t go back there!”
Gen paused, but I caught her by the sleeve. “Keep moving,” I said. I broke into a jog, scurrying around the counter and through the desks and tables at the center of the library. Gen was right behind me. In the background, I could hear Marjorie calling out: “Stop, Mr. Mossberg! You must check in!”
I rounded the corner of the last bookshelf and hurried to the
back wall. I came up short at the end, and Gen ran into me. “What are you doing?” she said, pushing away. “How about a little warning next time!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Gen came around to stand at my side, and found herself staring at a blank wall. “What is this, Hank?”
In the distance, we could hear the thumpety-thump-thump of Marjorie’s hooves as she galloped toward us.
“It’s gone,” I said under my breath.
“What? What’s gone?”
“There was a door here. It’s the way into the Preservation Society.”
“Are you sure? Maybe it’s one of the other aisles.”
I shook my head. “No, it was here. I’m sure of it.”
Marjorie appeared at the end of the aisle, breathing heavily and glaring at us. She had a wand in her hand, and she pointed it in our direction. “I warned you, Steward. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Where’s Fountaingrove?” I said. “I want to talk to him. I warned you people what would happen if you sent me running around in circles.”
I took a step towards her, and Marjorie waved the wand in the air. As she flicked it, I jumped forward, pushing Gen behind me. A bolt of lightning shot out. I thought the lightning would hit me and fizzle like most spells, but instead it stopped midair right in front of us and formed into a web, blocking our path. There was a crackling sound, and the scent of ozone and burning sulfur filled the air
“If you refuse to leave,” Marjorie said, “I’m going to call the authorities. I think we would all rather avoid that.”
I took a step forward, moving into the wall of zigzagging lightning bolts. Marjorie’s eyes widened. “I wouldn’t-”
Too late. I stepped into the web. It gave out a series of loud crackling and popping noises and then fizzled. It sucks being an ogre, I thought with a grim smile, until it doesn’t.
Marjorie backed away from us. “I’d heard it, but I didn’t believe it,” she said.
“Believe it,” I snarled. “Believe all of it.”
She squared her shoulders, summoning her courage. “Steward, you are no longer welcome here! Please leave!”
“Sure,” I said, stepping past her as I came out of the aisle. “I’ll be back in an hour with a road crew and a box of dynamite. If you have anything important, you might want to get it packed. And tell Fountaingrove that if he doesn’t come out of those tunnels, he’ll be buried in them.”
I continued walking as I said this, moving in the general direction of the exit. I made it a few more steps before Marjorie called out, “Wait! Mr. Mossberg, wait!”
I paused. I turned to face her. Her shoulders slumped, and she galloped a few steps in my direction. She stood there in front of me, shifting her weight back and forth. “All right, you win. I will show you the door, if you promise not to hurt anything.”
I grinned. “See how much easier things are when we all cooperate?”
Marjorie turned her head, nodding towards the back. “This way,” she said under her breath.” She started in that direction with a slow plodding walk, her eyes downcast like a pouting teen. This time, instead of turning left, she turned right. She took us around the desks and once again to the back corner. There, at the end of the aisle, stood the red metal door. It was almost directly opposite of where it had been the first time.
“You moron,” Gen said, punching me in the arm. “You went to the wrong side!”
I twisted my face up. “No... I’m sure it was over there.”
“The door moved while you were gone,” Marjorie said. “It does that every few hours.”
I scratched my five o’clock shadow. “That explains Gallan’s frustration. He couldn’t get Miley or Jacques to talk to him, and he couldn’t find the place on his own. Strange thing, though: If this door is magic, it shouldn’t work for me. Why didn’t I destroy it the first time I went through?”
“It’s not magic,” Marjorie said. “Not the way we would normally define the word. Not unless you consider the life bursting forth in the spring and the pollen on the summer breeze to be magical.”
“I do,” Gen said next to me.
Marjorie smiled -a rare one, not her usual enigmatic sneer- and said, “There may be hope for you, at least. You should limit your contact with this one,” she added, nodding at me. I snorted.
The centaur opened the door with her key, and once again, I started down that cold, damp tunnel. It was the same as before, only this time, Gen was at my side. She didn’t seem to care for it.
“It stinks in here,” she said, wrinkling up her nose.
“It smells like soil,” I said.
“And mold. I’d kill for some of those spring flowers right now. Would it be too much to run a dehumidifier down here once in a while?”
I chuckled. “I don’t think it would do much good.”
When we came to the door, Gen recognized the symbol. “That’s from the ring,” she said. I showed her Miley’s pendant, and she nodded emphatically. “I knew it! What does it mean?”
“Apparently, it’s the symbol of the lorekeepers.”
“Lorekeepers?”
“That’s what the members of the Preservation Society call themselves. It seems to be some sort of ancient organization. I’m not really sure what they do, but there’s magic involved.”
“Do the Elders know about them?”
“I have no idea. Does it matter?”
“Doesn’t it seem like they should know that there’s an ancient magical secret society right in the middle of the undercity?”
“It can’t be that secret if I found it. Besides, if they’re that concerned, they should get off their lazy butts and come down into the city once in a while. Otherwise, they have no claim on anything.”
Gen didn’t seem particularly satisfied with that answer, but we left it at that before it turned into an argument. I pushed the door open, and we stepped inside. I didn’t see anyone around, so I called out: “Elias! You’ve got company!”
Gen crossed to the center of the room with her jaw hanging open. She stood staring at the hovering globe.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” I said, joining her. I saw a speck on the ocean and moved closer. The clouds wisped out of my way, and I realized it was a tiny little ship. It was made of a wood, like a galleon or a carrack, but the design was different. It probably wasn’t that small, either, I realized. In comparison to the size of the ocean and the nearby landmasses, it may have been quite large. There just wasn’t any way to be sure without some sort of scale for perspective.
“Do you know what this is?” Gen said in a whisper.
“Sure, it’s a globe-thingy. A magical hologram or something.”
She turned to stare at me. “No, Hank. It’s not a hologram. This is a temporal orb. I’d heard of them, but I never thought they could be real...”
“A temp... what?”
“Temporal orb,” said a man’s voice behind us. “It’s a device used to monitor the passage of time.”
We turned to see Elias approaching us. His hooves clacked against the stairs as he came into the center of the room to join us.
“Like a DeLorean?” I said with a grin.
“No, it’s...” he hesitated as he stared at me. “Yes, Hank. Just like a DeLorean. Let’s leave it at that, shall we?”
I had the feeling I should probably have been offended, but I didn’t care. “I have a few questions for you,” I said.
He nodded. “Of course. I assumed you would.”
“If you knew I’d be back, why didn’t you just tell me what I needed to know in the first place?”
“What would you have learned from that?”
I glanced at Gen. “See how these guys are? I came this close to popping him in the nose last time.” I turned back to him. “You feeling lucky?”
He grinned, but he took a step back. I cleared my throat.
“Siva left a message. It was at her house, waiting for me.”
“No doubt. She wa
s quite adept at that sort of thing. I’m sure she knew exactly where to put it so even you could find it.”
I squeezed my hand into a fist. Gen touched my arm, and gave me a little shake of her head. I took a deep breath. “Siva is one of you, isn’t she?”
“Absolutely not! We would never invite a dark fae to join our society.”
“Then how do you know her?”
“She was a neopyhyte.”
I glared at him. “I thought you said she wasn’t one of you.”
“She was one of us, but she’s not anymore.”
“Why not?”
He squeezed his eyebrows together. “Didn’t I just explain the dark fae thing to you?” He glanced at Gen. “He’s a little dense, isn’t he?”
“All right,” I snarled. I lunged forward, grabbing him by the lapels. “I’ve had enough of your mouth.”
“All right, all right! Just tell me what you want to know.”
“Where is Siva?”
“I have no idea.”
“Why was she researching my heartstone?”
“I really couldn’t say.”
Gen jumped in: “You knew about heartstones?”
“Of course. It’s basic neophyte knowledge. We study the biology of all the races.”
I put him down, not because I didn’t want to hurt him but because his comment left me baffled. “Why didn’t you say something before?” I said. “You could have saved me a lot of trouble.”
“One cannot appreciate things he has not earned,” Elias said wisely. “If it is so with material things, then how much more so with knowledge?”
“Tell me what you know about heartstones,” I said.
“There’s nothing special to know. It’s all in the book.”
“How do they work?”
“They store information, obviously. When an ogre dies at a young enough age, he can be regenerated with all his memories intact.”
“By a spell?”
“A very powerful spell. Only one or two people in the entire world might be able to channel that sort of energy.”
“If these heartstones are nature’s way of saving ogres, then what happened? What happened to all the ogres?”
“Now that is the question you should have been asking all along. Come with me.”
A Dame to Die For Page 11
