“Sorry. I’m not yelling. It’s just so… you guys have such a handle on these things all the time, right?”
“We screwed up. All the Wizard Guard units throughout the world ignored the subtle signs. We didn’t communicate, and now there’s a big problem for all of us. I’m sorry to screw up your vacation. And I’m sorry to not answer your question, but I have to go. Lots to do.” Annie sighed.
“Tell me what I can do,” Jack said.
“Not now, Jack. When you come back, we’ll see where to put you. I really have to run,” Annie insisted and hung up the phone before Jack could ask again. Glancing at her watch, she noted the time and ran for Zola before the chaos sucked her in.
*
Zola convalesced; her injuries healed while she slept, though her eyes behind the lids moved rapidly.
“She’s okay,” Samantha Chamsky said. Though she was relieved, she shook against her younger sister’s pant leg as she stood beside her.
“She’ll be fine. And I can’t stay. Is John going to sit with you?” Annie inquired of her sister. Recently married to Cham’s older brother, Samantha had flown from Wizard Hall to be with Zola and had taken several hours before alerting John of her whereabouts.
“Was he mad when he called?” Samantha asked.
Annie reached her arms around Samantha and kissed her cheek. “Worried, not mad.”
“You smell like elf,” Samantha commented and reached for Zola’s hand.
“Thank you. I need to go. Will you be okay here?”
“I’m a big girl. I think I can handle the prison. It’s not like I haven’t been here before,” Samantha said bitterly. She was, after all, a Wizard Council lawyer and had worked cases for prisoners. “Sorry. I’m concerned. You’re hurt and shouldn’t go back to the market.” Samantha focused her attention on the fairy. She pushed Zola’s dirty, matted hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear.
“I have to go. Everyone will be here soon,” Annie reiterated.
“Just be careful.” Samantha looked at Annie with sadness in her face. Her lips turned downward, and tears welled in her eyes. “I almost lost Zola, I can’t lose you too.”
It was the same conversation Annie had with her sister with every big case she ever worked. Regardless of how well-trained, confident, and prepared Annie was, Samantha worried. Annie refrained from sighing and pulled away.
“I have help. It’ll be fine. Take care of her.” Annie touched her sister’s hair and squeezed her shoulder as she reluctantly left Zola and Samantha for the larger conference room that overlooked the barren courtyard, where it was snowing again.
*
“That’s possible?” Annie asked into the phone. While she listened to the South American Wizard Guard unit on her cell phone, she watched the storm grow in strength.
“I promise, Annie. We will have to move quickly before it collapses, but yes. We will move the Patagonian portal off the mountain to the flat plane. You can start sending medical personnel and other officials there. We will join you.” The voice on the other end of the line belonged to Pedro. When he had finished assuring Annie of their next steps, she turned back to her to-do list and checked off The Portal.
“Thank you, Pedro. This will help. How many can you spare?” she asked as she scribbled additional notes, listing the team she had currently available and assigning their groups.
“However many you need, you will have,” he said in his accented English.
As they finished their quick conversation, Annie typed conference room, ten minutes into her phone and waited to be dropped into chaos.
*
Dave Smith landed at the base of the mountain trail leading to the portal and stared into the wide open space. This was where they would be building the paddocks and barns to house the shapeshifters until the Wizard Guard could return them to their human forms.
“We should have done this earlier,” he commented to his boss, Tad Singer, who was marking up the land and verifying that they had enough space for an animal corral.
“What’s done is done. Lead maintenance over there and help them set up the paddock,” Tad ordered as he reviewed the map once again.
*
A large tent was directed upward by busy hands that waved and swished. Canvas sprang forward and landed upright in the spot marked on the map.
“What’s this?” Danny Chamsky, Cham’s younger brother who was attending with his medical class, asked.
“This will be the main medical tent for less severe injuries. We expect mostly minor wounds of the nonmagical variety. Those who can be transferred will be sent to the hospital. Others will stay here until they can be teleported home,” Dr. Christine Anderson instructed as she finished setting the tent. She looked to the medical students who awaited their orders and pointed to what appeared to be a large pile of very small boxes. “Bring in those boxes there. Increase their sizes and start unloading the contents. When we get ten beds set up, I want you in the market looking for victims,” she ordered as she pulled open the first bed, waved a hand across it to grow it to its original size, and placed it in the tent.
*
Annie paced the conference room and glanced at her watch; it was ten minutes before the rest of the team was due to arrive. She stared at the phone; the disembodied voice on the other end belonged to one of seven members of the Executive Council of the larger Wizard Council. She rolled her eyes for Milo and Ryan’s benefit.
“Just do it!” the council member ordered.
“Yes, sir. We will find the djinn and trap him in the vessel,” Annie repeated back to him.
“We also believe the best course of action is to eviscerate the market. Reduce it to nothing before the protection spell is gone. Get out as many victims as you can, and then do it.”
Annie and Milo exchanged glances. Ryan sighed.
“On whose orders? Yours, or is this an international council request?” Milo asked. He glared at Ryan, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“This is our decision. Just make it happen.” With the tense phone call finished, the Executive Council disconnected the call.
“You run the Executive Council; why can’t you stop them?” Milo shouted at Ryan. As the Grand Marksman, Ryan was in charge and could veto the decision if he chose to.
“I could veto it. I could say no, and we could keep the market intact as it were, or at least until we find every victim. And to what end, Milo? There’s nothing left, and once the protection spell is gone, the market—or what’s left of the market—will be exposed. Just make it happen,” Ryan said with finality.
*
A whirlwind of activity descended on Annie as the team congregated. She checked her phone, reading several text messages before checking off her list; medical, zoology. In the distance, Milo’s booming voice called the meeting to order.
“People. People. Enough!” Milo stood his small, squat frame on a chair as if that would silence the din of voices that echoed off of the stone walls. Everyone here was concerned about the market’s demise; theories and plans were discussed amongst the crowd.
Milo stomped his feet on the metal chair; it pinged, and that was enough to quell the noise. All of the wizard guards assembled, quieted, and stared at their boss. “Annie, you ready?” he asked her.
“Yeah. Zoology is on the ground, building barns and a paddock to house the shapeshifters we retrieve from the market or those that we find in Busse Woods. The medical team is building several tents to house any injured victims. Most importantly, we’re going to enter the market through the Patagonia portal. We’ll teleport into the region from the bottom of the trail. Pedro in South America assures me he can move the portal, as long as the market hasn’t crashed yet. We’ll enter there.”
“They can do that?” Lial asked.
“Yes, and we need to get supplied up and meet them there in an hour. This half of the room”—she pointed to her right—“head to Zoology. They have things for you to take. And this side”—she poin
ted to her left—“go to the hospital. Same thing: they’ve got field packs for us to bring with,” she said.
“What about those who already died inside?” Brite asked the question that weighed on everyone’s mind. Based on reports from the market, several shapeshifters had died while captive in the market.
Annie shuddered. “The hospital will pull out as many victims as they can, identifying bodies.”
Milo took a deep breath, an embodiment of the stress they were all feeling. “It’s been discussed at the Wizard Council. The market will be eviscerated with all the dead inside, should the portals completely break down and we can’t use the remaining one.” Sweat beaded along Milo’s forehead; he wiped it away. The reality of the black market’s demise and the number of people who had lost their lives was inconsolable for the entire Wizard Guard. They hadn’t been prepared for this eventuality.
The weight of the problem caused Ryan Connelly to stay in the prison the majority of the day as the plans were hashed out. Once a Wizard Guard and partner of Jason Pearce, he might have offered perspective on the situation. But all he could do was sit and observe.
“That’s not right,” Emerson said softly through tears. The plan was not optimal, but the magnitude was too large, and they were running out of time. Most of the team remained silent, lost in their own thoughts; anger and sadness sat in their hearts and roiled in their stomachs.
Ryan, now at the mic, offered Emerson a soft glance. As if he was speaking directly to her, he said, “I know this isn’t good. This isn’t how we’d like to play out this scenario. But the size of the market and the number of people force us to make difficult choices. I’m sorry we have to handle things this way, but the market grew bigger than any of the wizard guard units throughout the world could handle. It’s all of us who failed to keep it in check, to notice the changes. And we have to pick ourselves up and deal with what’s at hand, no matter how awful.
“As that stands, we move forward. Vampire Attack Unit has been in Busse Woods since the call came. They’re keeping the protection spell from disintegrating. They’re being assisted by the Scottish and English Wizard Councils. We move in ten minutes. Annie, this is your case—do you have your plan ready?”
Annie had rushed the plan because there hadn’t been much time. She had utilized past plans; she knew her team could handle whatever came up. She began to pass out a stack of papers. As they were received, each wizard guard read the bullet points.
“Here’s the deal. I’m waiting for word when the portal has been moved. We hope it doesn’t collapse as they move it. Like Busse Woods, the portals all over the world have been twitchy, humming, and vibrating.”
Annie rummaged through the package. “Once we’re through, Cham, Lial, Gibbs, and Spencer sweep the market for the master. His picture is in the packet.” Paper fluttered as all guards shuffled through the papers searching for the image. “If you need clarification, the picture is a compilation from Zola, Bitherby, and Huxley.”
Annie glanced at Ryan. He shrugged and offered her a wan smile.
“Don’t kill the master, djinn, genie, whatever the hell we should call him. Trap him, keep him alive. The Executive Council wants him imprisoned and stored for future use.”
“Why? Why would they let him get away with it?” Emerson cried out.
“He has some usefulness,” Milo grunted. His disagreement with the Council’s order was obvious in his voice.
“Listen, we’re not happy with some of these things. We just have to move on,” Annie said. “And with that, I’m taking Shiff and Brite. Come with me. We will go to the incinerators with Bitherby and Huxley to make sure the elves get out safely. Make sure you have masks. The smoke by all accounts is thick and difficult to breathe in.” Annie took a deep breath in the stuffy conference room air. “For the rest of the team, comb through the market. Any shapeshifter, real animal that broke through the protection spell, any person—witch or wizard—that’s stuck or trapped, get them out. Direct them to the Patagonia portal or assist them. If necessary, drag medical personnel in to help. They’re on sight and waiting.” She stopped when her phone buzzed in her back pocket.
“South America is ready for us,” Annie announced after checking the text notification she had just received from Pedro. “Any questions?”
Annie wasn’t surprised when no one asked any. They were highly trained, smart, and resourceful. Stick them in the middle of any situation, and they would find a way to succeed.
Chapter 28
“I’ll be damned,” Annie said as she stared at the new location for the Patagonia portal. It no longer hung between a large boulder and the face of the rock cliff near the summit of the mountain. It now resided on a flat piece of land at the base of the rocky path. Not difficult to access, it was suspended in the vast openness of the Patagonia region of Argentina, exposed for the whole world to see, should someone want to hike in the mountains.
“No worries,” Pedro affirmed as she thanked him for his help. “We’ve set a perimeter around this area. We are safe from any prying eyes,” he promised.
Thick puffs of black smoke billowed from the portal. The entrance twirled and shrunk; lightning struck repeatedly, though they hadn’t opened the portal yet. It was as if the entrance was protecting itself from use.
I hope we can get back out alive.
Pedro and his partner, Fredrick, plunged a cursed knife into the portal. Rather than opening with a whirling mass of storms, the portal simply stretched wide, and shimmered in the gray day. The two men stepped through; Annie and her team followed them into the market.
They stood in awe of the once bustling black market. It looked as though a bomb had already exploded; most of the tents were destroyed, and those that remained were singed and ripped. For other tents, the internal structure was the only thing still standing. Wizards and witches trapped inside the market roamed aimlessly through the dead remains and piles of trash.
Smoke from the incinerators rose high above them, no longer held in by the protection shield. It billowed upward and out of the market, blanketing Busse Woods in thick, black smoke and ash. Through the hole, tall trees waved in the gusty wind off of Lake Michigan.
Animals scurried across the aisles to escape the smoke and flames, finding the most used portals.
“Why haven’t they turned back to human?” Rico Esposito asked. He worked at the Northwest satellite office and had joined them this morning to assist in the market.
“I’m not sure we’ll ever know for certain. Maybe the djinn cast a spell on them to keep them in this form,” Shiff answered.
“Maybe that’s what we need to do with the ring,” Annie said. “Just get as many of them out of here.”
The rest of the team broke away, scattering through the market. Rico, his partner Georgianna, and another from their office, Eddy Woods, desperately tried to convince a group of terrified shapeshifters to use the Patagonian portal. Even more headed toward the group.
“This is bad,” Spencer commented. “We’re losing all access to the evil and illegal. The world’s a big place, and all these former vendors will have so many places to hide and sell their illegal wares.”
As awful as the market could be, at least the Wizard Guard had known where it was and how to get there. Without it, they no longer knew where to find the black magic.
Dogs barked, and soft meows wafted through the mostly silent market. Above them, anxious birds flew. One dive-bombed Annie, entangling its talons in her hair.
“Damn it!” she shouted and swatted at the bird.
As she waved her hands about, Cham impatiently detangled the screeching bird from her curly locks. When freed, it squawked at her before flying away.
“Thanks,” Annie said, her cheeks burning red from embarrassment. She watched the bird as it flew away, scared and wobbling until it was higher than where the protection spell should have been, soaring through a hole in the spell.
“Be careful,” Cham whispered and kissed her. Igno
ring that they were in public, Annie wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you.”
“In and out,” he said, his fingers lingered against her cheek. She watched him leave with his assigned team as they made their way to a location where they thought the djinn might be found.
Annie jogged to catch her team, who had started a slow trek to the incinerators. She knew the last time she was here; she had walked in the opposite direction.
It’s all turned around.
Animals poked their heads out from behind stalls, garbage, or the dead. Their eyes followed Annie and her team as they sidestepped piles of junk and garbage and left behind wares. She could have stayed here pleasantly happy as she searched for rare treasures. Instead, she knew that by day’s end, the market would be nothing more than nothing.
Another squawking, dive-bombing bird attacked Annie, crying out as if complaining.
“Shapeshifters are dogs, cats and snakes, yes?” she asked, swatting the bird away.
He seems so humanlike.
“Yeah,” Shiff said. “But this bird seems…”
“Human.” Brite finished his partner’s sentence. “I guess it’s possible.”
The bird flew beside Shiff, squealing loudly. “Draw attention to us, and you’ll never get back to normal. Come with us if you’d like, but shut up,” Shiff ordered. The yellow-and-red bird seemed to understand the command as if there was a human underneath the feathers. It landed on Shiff’s shoulder.
“You have a new friend,” Brite joked.
“Fabulous.” Shiff glanced at the bird, who nestled against his neck and gently pecked his sunburnt skin. “Do you think he’s another shapeshifter?” The bird rested his head against Shiff’s face.
“We’ll worry about it when we leave the market. We need to move quickly,” Annie said.
Bitherby quaked with fear at being back in the market, though he had wanted to come, wanted to save his friends from the fires. His short, thick fingers grabbed Annie’s hand as they walked farther inside the death and destruction.
Wizard Hall Chronicles Box Set Page 60
