“Okay. I think we’re good. Do you want to eat something before we go?”
“No. Let’s just go.”
He wrapped his arms around her, teleporting her to what they hoped was an empty alley. The second teleport was far less traumatic; Annie merely leaned against a stone wall and took a long sip of water.
“Not as bad this time?” Spencer asked.
“Better.”
“Sorry. I just wanted to get us here. We’ve got a while until we meet the Amborix Wizard Guards so we can take our time. We’re just around the corner from our first stop,” he said.
Annie took another sip of water. “It’s okay. I promise. Let’s keep moving.” She peered out onto the busy street, and then they entered the crowd as though they had always been there.
They had arrived in Europe long before they were to meet the Amborix Wizard Guards; there was something they wanted to see first. Not keen on waiting around doing nothing, Spencer and Annie strolled through the heart of Paris until they found the location in which Amelie’s picture had been taken.
“The march was here?” Spencer asked as they turned toward the Arc de Triomphe.
“That’s what the article said. The crowd was along here and there.” Annie pointed to the sidewalks on either side of the road.
So as to not draw attention to themselves, they strolled along each side of the street, like the other tourists. Only these two tourists glanced upwards to the building roofs, to the street signs and traffic lights, searching out the cameras.
They took pictures, made notes, and sent coordinates to Bucky Hart.
“Do we have a name of the photographer who took the picture in the paper?” Spencer asked.
“Actually, that’s a good idea. We really ought to have Graham Lightner and the Vampire Attack Unit get at that film,” Annie agreed. “I’m on it.” She continued to type instructions for Bucky. She and Spencer scoured the street, their eyes roaming each corner—for what, they weren’t exactly sure.
At the far end of the street, they turned and glanced to the opposite end, finally getting a clear picture of the day of the peace march. “Do we have everything from here?” Spencer asked.
“Thousands of people lining the streets, and the photographer manages to take her picture.” Annie sighed.
“Better than discovering it before anyone else does,” Spencer reminded her.
“I think we’re good. There’s nothing else to see here.”
They wasted time on food, sitting beside the Seine River and watching the boats float by until it was nearly time to meet the Amborix Wizard Guard.
They headed to a secluded alley at the end of a little-used street. Spencer secured Annie against his body, landing them smoothly inside the forest. Unlike the last teleport, she felt stronger and only leaned against a tree for support.
“Rest here. I’ll take a look around,” Spencer ordered. He slunk through still-bare trees, careful to remain hidden from whatever security force might be surveying this land. Neither Annie or Spencer trusted the Amborix Wizard Guard. They would continue to take precautions.
“Are they here?” Annie asked.
“You sure you’re okay?” He felt her forehead, checked her pulse at her wrist. “I can request Gibbs to help. You can go home,” he offered.
“I’m not sick,” she insisted.
“Can you make it?”
“I have to do this. If the lead on the case isn’t here to lead the investigation, Amborix can take the case away from us. Anyone around?” She finished the bottle of water. Her throat felt tight as she swallowed.
“Lial’s location is good for now. The coordinates they sent were close. I just wish our friends would show themselves. Otherwise I’d think we’re being set up,” Spencer said. His eyes darted through the forest.
Spencer stared at the map of the castle ground Lial Peng had been able to provide and traced their path to the gravesite. Now all they needed was the Amborix Wizard Guard team.
“Shhh.” Spencer placed his finger to his lips as they heard twigs cracking and dry leaves crunching. Spencer stood over Annie with his arms out and protective of her.
Two forms emerged from the thick trees.
“Spencer, Annie?” the first man asked.
“Marcus, Philippe?” Spencer responded.
“Yes.” Both men held out their hands. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said one. “Though your news came as a great shock to us all. I’m Phillipe, by the way.”
Spencer shook his outstretched hand and introduced them.
“Yeah, well, I was shocked when I received the package,” Annie commented. She held the nearly pristine envelope out for the two men to peruse. When they finished the article, Phillipe handed it back to Annie.
“Yes, that is quite a conundrum. I will say we thoroughly reread your files. We understand where you needed to manufacture evidence. We examined the autopsy photos. We can’t figure out where she would have been bitten. You were most thorough.”
“Guenther doesn’t think so,” Annie surmised.
“Well, he is quite upset. This is very bad. He is very worried,” Marcus chimed in. “You must understand our position in this.”
“Yes. I’ve been beating myself up since yesterday. I do understand the implication of Amelie ‘alive’ and well, roaming the Earth,” she said sardonically.
“Very well, then. I think we should see what’s in the grave,” Phillipe said, attempting to break the tension that hung in the air between them.
Spencer lead them, using Lial’s map. Annie couldn’t help but chuckle at the looks between the Amborix Wizard Guard partners as they followed the Americans through the Amborix forest.
They meandered away from the teleportation spot, turning west before heading north again. Spencer pulled out his map to verify their trajectory.
“Where did you get that map?” Phillipe asked.
“Our tracker obtained it from our telecommunications expert.” Annie answered. She slid closer to Spencer, feeling slightly woozy.
“You shouldn’t be able to get this map. We try very hard to keep the royal family safe.”
“If you’re only relying on magic, things like this will get through. Our telecommunications group can get into the satellites to get detailed images.” Spencer advised.
“There should be a no fly zone over the royal property,” Marcus accused.
“Satellites are higher than planes. They will capture whatever they’re aimed at. For our team, it wasn’t hard to get,” Spencer said.
“You rely on nonmagical tools to do your job?” Phillipe asked, sounding genuinely curious.
“We do. It makes our job much easier.” Annie said. Though she was normally in good shape, the trek through the forest felt more like a full workout. She could feel the discomfort through her entire body.
“You sure you’re okay?” Spencer whispered.
“Stop asking,” she said through gritted teeth.
Just inside the edge of the trees, they hid behind large trunks and peered inside the finely manicured five-acre clearing of land. Forest surrounded the clearing on all sides. At the center, a single oak tree’s gnarled branches hung over the lone headstone, as if protecting the princess.
“There it is,” Spencer said as peered around a thick tree trunk to survey the open clearing. Annie slunk closer to the tree line and swept the area with her binoculars, a difficult task as the setting sun was low in the sky and nearly in her eyes. The dim light deepened the shadows creeping across the lawn and further hindered Annie’s sight. She scanned the other side of the clearing and back to the center, searching for flashlights or burning crystals. It was quiet and dark.
“There’s no one guarding the gravesite,” Annie whispered and stepped back inside the trees.
“No. They don’t have a stationary guard at the grave. They send teams out every half hour to walk the perimeter and sweep the forest for intruders,” Marcus said.
A chilled, damp breeze blew throug
h the clearing, whipping against Annie’s tired body. The sun, almost completely hidden behind the mountains, cast elongated shadows covering a majority of the clearing.
“So how shall we do this?” Phillipe asked as he scanned the area with his own binoculars.
“We’ll dig if you can act as lookouts,” Annie suggested. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the headstone; it glowed in the dimming light.
“You take west and I’ll take east. Create your perimeter. If there’s any sign of security guards, we’ll throw a spell and stop time for them. Get confirmation and replace the earth. We need to do this quickly,” Phillipe said. Marcus nodded at his partner and headed through the trees toward the west. Phillipe headed east, leaving Annie and Spencer alone.
“Ready?” Spencer asked. When the two Amborix wizard guards were stationed, Annie and Spencer left their hiding spot, running low to the headstone.
They stopped at the foot of the grave and stared at the 8-foot-long rectangle where the grass had only started growing in before the winter months.
Was she dug up and released from the coffin? The grass should have been thicker before winter.
“It looks like something happened to the grass prior to winter,” Annie commented. She sniffed the chilled air; it smelled of rain and wet dirt.
She and Spencer knelt beside the grave.
“She was buried in July after she died. You’d think the grass would have been laid and grown out before winter came,” Spencer agreed.
“They kept that news quiet if that’s what happened.”
“A dug up royal grave would have made me nervous.”
“Maybe Amelie had the wherewithal to cover the grave well.” Annie summoned a crystal and maneuvered it across the bare patch.
“You okay to do this? It’s a lot of energy.”
“Yeah. Just go and do what you need to do,” Annie said.
Leaving her to her work, Spencer found his targets, Phillipe and Marcus. They roamed their small patches of land, waiting for signs of the security team. “I’ll signal if we need to leave.” Spencer strolled a wide circle around Annie, observing the trees, the open lawn, listening for voices or watching for flashlights against the darkness and shadows, always keeping an eye on the other wizard guards.
When Annie was finished with her sweep of the grave, she discovered a small amount of magical trace across the dirt.
A wizard freed her?
Since she was in no condition to physically dig, Annie worked quickly, uncorking a vial and sprinkling the potion across the mud, dissolving the first few layers of thick earth. She continued to pour until the potion was depleted, then glanced inside the grave.
Almost done.
With a flick of her palm, she removed another layer.
Hearing footsteps squish across the wet lawn, Annie glanced up. Spencer strolled to the hole, looked inside as she flicked her wrist removing the last of the dirt: Six feet below, the coffin lay nearly covered in a cement casing; however, the heavy lid was askew. Annie sniffed, and the unmistakable stench of decomposition wafted to her nose. She covered her mouth and nose with a mask before jumping inside.
After another quick flip of her wrist, the lid slid off, falling against the side of the hole. The coffin lid hadn’t been carefully closed, and a severely bug-eaten hand had been caught between the lid and the body of the coffin. The smell burned Annie’s eyes and nose; she turned and coughed.
“You okay?” Spencer called down to Annie.
“Smells bad.” She coughed again.
Cautiously she peered inside the coffin. The bright light from her flashlight showed the gruesome reality of what happens should someone be buried alive. The silk lining that had once concealed the inside of the lid was smeared with blood, clearly after continuous scratching and pulling shredded it.
Slowly, Annie examined the body.
Bodies?
The inside of the coffin showed the unmistakable truth: two bodies lay stuffed inside the coffin that had been built for one petite woman.
It’s not Amelie!
The feeling grew in the pit of Annie’s stomach that trouble was just about to begin. She knew for certain that of the two bodies she was staring at inside the coffin, neither was the princess.
Both were covered in the clothes they were killed in. The first man, once rotund, was now partially eaten by bugs and partially covered in decay. Donning gloves, Annie yanked open the dirty, fragile fabric of the cloak to search for any identification. While she reached, her fingers grazed a rough and worn rectangle object. She pulled it out—a wallet from inside the right breast pocket.
She opened the wallet and stared at the driver’s license.
“Is it her?” Spencer asked, peering down the hole.
“I know where Stonewell is,” Annie said wryly. Spencer’s eyes widened in surprise. She tossed him the wallet.
“We sure it’s him? He could’ve planted this when he took the princess,” Spencer replied.
“It’s a man, a cloak, leather shoes. Come on. It looks just like him. Perkins can make a positive ID when we get the bodies back,” Annie said.
“Bodies?” He took a closer look without jumping in.
“Yeah.” She highlighted both skulls with her flashlight.
“Any ID on the other one?”
“He’s entangled with Stonewell. I better not check just yet.”
“Vampire bites?”
Annie cringed at the thought. She bent closer to the top man and pulled the collar of his shirt away from the blackening skin. Two holes crusted in blood were still visible.
“Vampire bite!” she called out. She searched his face, his hands. “There’s no pooling of blood from what I can tell in this light,” she announced.
“She drained him.” Spencer watched the trail of light as Annie examined the two bodies.
“So he came to get her from the grave. He planned to have her turned.” Spencer surmised.
“If it’s him, that would be my interpretation,” Annie said thoughtfully.
“Okay. Shrink them. We need to keep moving.” Spencer summoned a body bag and lay it along the side of the hole.
Voices carried through the empty clearing.
“Annie, what’s the holdup? We need to go.” Spencer urged.
She reached inside and, with several waves of her palms, floated the bodies. They were intermingled where their stomachs had been eaten through in the natural course of decomposition. She grimaced as gravity did its best to pull them apart, as her magic waned in her weakened state.
“What’s taking so long?” Spencer asked.
“It’s a little messy,” she said.
“Time to go!”
“Where are Phillipe and Marcus?”
“I don’t know. Just hurry up!” Spencer said.
“Freeze them.” She gritted her teeth as the bodies landed beside the grave. She stretched out for the bloody coffin lining and yanked out a section, shoving it inside her pocket. After lowering the lid on the coffin, she teleported out of the hole.
Voices grew louder.
“Where the hell are they?” Spencer questioned.
With another flick of Annie’s wrist, dirt re-emerged and filled the hole, leaving it as it had been when they arrived.
The voices went silent. Two sets of footsteps approached.
“We don’t have much time,” Phillipe said through heavy breaths. “What did you find?”
“Finish first, answer later!” Spencer kept close watch on the flashlights that hung frozen on the path to the clearing.
Annie shrunk the body bag and grabbed it.
“It’s not her.”
Hurried voices broke the silence of the forest as flashlights resumed roaming along the trees.
“We need to go now.” Spencer reached around Annie’s waist, twisted, and teleported them inside the trees, to their original landing location.
“Crap,” Annie groaned as she slipped in a muddy pile and reached for a tree branch
. Behind them, two bodies replaced the air, which sizzled upon their return. They all ducked low as flashlights lit up the forest above their heads.
The security team ran through the clearing, separating to investigate each side.
“They notice something,” Spencer said. He glanced through his binoculars but it was too dark to see anything but the thin beams of light that examined the grave.
Annie lay on the damp ground. Mud, leaves and twigs stuck to her clothing, her jacket, and her hair. She held her breath as Spencer crouched down beside her. Within feet of their hiding spot, Phillipe and Marcus hid behind a dead tree trunk. Though Annie didn’t understand German, she could tell from the security guard’s voice that he was issuing frantic orders.
A light roamed the branches above them. She held her breath.
Apparently seeing nothing, the security team moved on, still searching the trees for the intruders. When they were out of earshot, Annie asked, “What do they think?”
“They think someone messed with the dirt. It was smoother than normal. The person at the other end thinks it was the gardeners,” Marcus said.
Within minutes, the clearing was quiet and calm. Spencer helped Annie from the ground.
“Damn. We need to get these bodies back to Wizard Hall. You’re starting to stink,” Spencer said.
“Or are you taking them from us?” Annie asked Marcus.
“No. No you are right. This is a continuation of your case. You must see it through. Not to mention, Guenther would be happy if he never heard from you again.”
“I think we can arrange that. If there’s nothing else, we should be going,” Annie said.
“So who do you think the bodies are?” Phillipe asked.
“Cyril Stonewell, a wizard who worked at the hall, went missing eight months ago. We think it might be him,” she said, not wanting to give away more information than necessary.
“How is he related to this?” Phillipe asked. His eyes returned to scanning the darkness.
“Our guess is that he knew she was turned. Why and how we’ll have to investigate, though,” Annie responded. She didn’t want to give them more information than necessary. At least not yet.
“Well, that was an adrenaline rush, to say the least,” Marcus said. “It was nice meeting you Annie and Spencer. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask.” After shaking Annie’s and Spencer’s hands, Marcus and Phillipe teleported from the forest.
Wizard Hall Chronicles Box Set Page 72
