Annie watched the market unfold before her. A dragon limped across the silky dirt, kicking up dust, and two elves deposited full baskets in the booth nearest them. The same familiar haze hung above this market. She could feel it seeping into her hair and clothing.
Annie grinned as she stepped inside.
“Smells the same,” Spencer said as the scent of wet fur and burnt flesh filled his nostrils. He stepped to the side, allowing Joseph and Starla to enter.
A loud din enveloped them as they submersed themselves into the life of the market. Angry screeches filled the air as a booth owner argued a point. The air crackled with jinxes flying through the air, and fire rumbled with the creation of a fireball.
“Just like home,” Annie said, almost giddy at their discovery.
“Better start blending,” Spencer said. They split in pairs. Starla joined Spencer in taking the left as Annie and Joseph headed to the right.
“I always knew you’d find it,” Joseph said as they followed the horde along the outside aisle.
“You have way too much faith in me, I think.” Annie offered a smile as they took in the familiar scents and sounds of the black market. While this one was smaller than the original, it was so similar. Annie soon recognized several merchants.
I wonder…
Booths were filled with potion ingredients, creature parts, dragon eggs, and cauldrons. Annie stopped in the middle of the aisle after spying Gibbs’s informant, a man by the name of Arrowhead. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves or to him, she and Joseph strolled slowly to his booth where she searched the items on the table.
She knew he would know who she was, so she waited patiently for him to assist his current customer. When he was finished, he strolled to her. Annie tossed five gold avrum coins on the table. The coins were ancient forms of payment for wizards; they weren’t often used anymore, but they were still highly prized, especially at market.
Arrowhead scooped up the five coins and pocketed them in his upper breast pocket. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“Has the Fraternitatem of Solomon been here?” Annie asked softly.
Arrowhead’s expression remained stony as he held out his hand. She placed six more coins in his palm.
“They come. I would prefer the return of the djinn,” he said, referring to the being who tried to control the market prior to its collapse.
Annie pulled out ten additional coins and slid them to him. “Do they control it now?” she asked.
“No. But they’re making a move.” Arrowhead pocketed his new stash of gold coins. He glanced around the aisle, but anyone doing business was preoccupied with their own actions. He held up his finger and asked her to wait. Annie texted Spencer to let him know.
“They’re getting a foothold,” Joseph commented.
“Yes, they are,” Annie agreed.
Arrowhead returned with a pouch, a stem from a poisonous foxglove plant poking out. “For you when you return home,” he said and bowed once. When he looked up, Spencer and Starla were there. “I suspect your visit today will be short,” Arrowhead said as he re-entered his booth.
Annie showed Spencer the bag.
“Now we know,” Spencer said and led them from the market.
“What was that?” Starla asked as they exited the main market and stepped into the smaller one.
“Not now,” Spencer said. He walked them to the portal that would lead them back to the swamp.
“Are you staying?” Annie asked Joseph.
Joseph shook his head, looked around the market one last time, and jumped through the portal, landing in the Louisiana swamp.
*
Joseph had never been to the U.S. Wizard Hall. When Annie landed him in the courtyard, his eyes grew wide with curiosity, he offered a hearty, deep laugh. “Well, look at the Americans,” he said.
“We have a hotel at that far corner. You can stay there if you wish. We just want to see what Arrowhead left for us and then we’ll head home. I’ve already let the team know we found the market,” Annie said.
“That would be good, Annie Pearce. I am so enjoying this,” Joseph said.
“It’s a foxglove leaf. Why?” Starla asked, eyeing the pouch. Spencer glanced at her before looking inside the pouch. He pulled out a scroll and unrolled it.
The Fraternitatem of Solomon has a strong foothold in the market, and they are looking to control all magical trade.
Beware of Melichi, the leader of the Fraternitatem of Solomon. He has inquired several times about the Wizard Guard, specifically about Annie Pearce. They are coming for her and for her power.
I will be at the Snake Head Letters tomorrow at midnight. Meet me there.
A
“Stay vigilant. You want me to teleport you home?” Spencer asked.
“No. Go home. I’ll be fine.”
“Tomorrow, then,” Spencer said as he gave her a goodbye hug. Air rushed into the space he vacated as he teleported away.
“Can I help? I’d like to do more,” Starla said.
“You can come and work out of the main office any time,” Annie told her.
“Tomorrow.” Starla nodded and teleported home.
Annie and Joseph walked to the corner of Wizard Hall, where the all-wizard hotel had been established. They stopped just outside the front door.
“I had just set up my booth when you happened to find me,” Joseph admitted.
“It was lucky I found that market,” Annie said. The large courtyard was empty at this time in the morning. She watched the moon as it slowly traversed one end of the space to the other.
She leaned against a brick wall that lined the walkway into the hotel.
“How did you find this particular market?” Joseph inquired.
Annie glanced at the jovial man and smiled. “It’s a mystery to me. My very good friend had a contact who told him to try there. I happened to meet the vampire Sturtagaard there that first night. And he said the portal was there.”
“That’s some coincidence,” Joseph remarked.
“As I don’t believe in coincidence, I’m guessing the Sturtagaard put someone on Robin Price and knew we’d be there. It’s the kind of thing that asshole would do,” Annie explained.
“I have heard about that vampire. I thought you’d have staked him by now.”
“I thought I would have too. But as he always does, he dangled information in front of me. He knows I’m coming back for information on the other portals to the market.”
“Don’t let him influence your decisions. He’s not worth your time. Though I’m not surprised he set you up to find the market. From what I’ve learned, he’s the reason the Fraternitatem is after you.” Joseph was no longer jovial. His demeanor was of protector and friend.
“You and everyone else are right. But for now, I need to concentrate on this. Anyway, I should get home. Have a good night.”
Joseph laughed. “I shall, Annie Pearce. See you in the morning. This is amazing,” he continued to chuckle as he entered the hotel.
Smiling lightly, Annie turned and looked inside the courtyard before teleporting herself home.
Chapter 12
Cham slept peacefully as Annie stripped off her clothes and entered the hot shower, washing off swamp and dragon dung. Even detangling her mess of hair, she couldn’t stop smiling, knowing she had just discovered the main market.
Only because Sturtagaard helped.
She grimaced, not at the realization that he helped, but rather at the notion that he had tampered with her life and set her on the course when it was convenient for him.
That damn vampire!
While it irritated her, even angered her, she still felt no need to rush to his lair and stake him. The more entrenched she became in finding her mother, the less she cared about Sturtagaard. She preferred to think about what it would mean once Shiff and Brite proved that Emily lived near Samantha.
Beyond the bathroom door a jar or glass crashed. Annie jumped as the bath
room door squeaked open.
“You found the market!” Cham said as he sat down on the toilet.
“Yeah. The potion worked well. What crashed?” she asked.
“Zola. Are you almost done? Shiff and Brite are here,” Cham said.
“I’m almost done.” She rushed to rinse her hair and squeeze water from her thick tresses. She shut off the water and grabbed the towel Cham handed her.
“Okay. What’s up?” she asked when she stepped from the shower.
“They have some things they want to show you.”
Annie glanced at him quickly and threw on a T-shirt and shorts, leading them downstairs.
“Hey, Zola.” Her Aloja fairy held a tray with a sandwich and drink. Behind Zola, Jason leaned against the counter. “Okay, this can’t be good,” Annie groused as she saw the folder on the table between Shiff and Brite.
“Sorry, Annie. We…” Brite glanced at Shiff. “We don’t think this needs to be broadcast to the rest of the guard, but you should know now.” Brite slid the folder to her when she sat down.
“First, I’m going to say, they haven’t protected the house in any way. Almost like they’re baiting you,” Shiff advised.
Brite pushed the folder to her. “We can confirm Emily, Levi, and Shiloh live there.”
Annie glanced at Cham before opening the folder. She found a copy of the marriage license, Shiloh’s birth certificate, her grandmother’s will, death certificates for her, Samantha, and Jason. Annie shuddered. Lastly, she found the photo of herself with Samantha and Jason. She showed Cham.
“We figure the picture of you and Samantha is either a painful reminder of what she lost or a reminder of what she had to do,” Brite said. Annie glanced at him. She could read the sadness and worry in his face.
Annie continued through the pile and picked up several pages of her grandmother’s will. “Grandma Gloriana is still alive. I have someone watching her house in case Emily tries to reach her.” She began to read the copy of the pages.
“Did she come to my funeral?” Jason asked.
Annie looked at him. “If she did, I wouldn’t have known her. No one that looked like Mom came up to Sami or me.”
Annie returned to the pages. Her jaw flew open. “There’s a crap load of money for Sami and me since Mom died.”
Jason sat beside Annie and pulled the will from her. “I expected the girls would have inherited a large sum, when they turned twenty-five. Sami should have gotten hers last year.”
“Mom has a six-million-dollar trust fund she’s entitled to now.” She glanced at Jason. “That would buy the Fraternitatem a lot of weapons, people, things.”
“Gloriana could be in danger,” Jason said.
“Good thing Milo and Lial will be watching the house,” Cham said.
“Milo?” Shiff asked.
“He wants to protect Annie,” Brite commented. He and Annie exchanged glances, sharing memories and emotions. Their silent exchange wasn’t lost on Shiff or Cham.
“Michael and I will continue watching Emily’s house. We’ll follow the family as well. We could use an additional team though,” Shiff said.
“We’re limiting access to information about Emily. I’ll vet another team and work out a schedule,” Cham said. When they were finished, Brite and Shiff stood up to leave. Brite squeezed Annie’s shoulder before they left.
“Mind telling me why we didn’t have a relationship with Grandma Gloriana growing up?” Annie asked her father.
He ran his hand across his two-day beard.
His hair is growing!
Though he was a ghost and shouldn’t have been able to physically change, he was. It was unnerving to watch his beard develop.
“From what your mom told me, they didn’t get along. Emily refused to see her mother, and when she died, Gloriana blamed me for Emily’s death. I wouldn’t let her toxicity affect my girls. She stopped trying to see you after a while. I did feel guilty and sent her pictures and notes about you, but she never came back.” Jason sighed.
Annie lay her head in her hands. She rubbed her cheeks. “That’s all fine and good. If Mom knows what’s in the will”—she pointed to the picture— “she might come back for her money. It looks like it would have come to her when she was thirty-five.”
“I think I’ll put a more detailed protection team on Gloriana. I’m starting to think the money could be an issue,” Cham said.
Annie yawned deeply and glanced at the clock on the wall; it was 1:30 a.m. “Okay. You protect my grandmother. I’m going to spend tomorrow chasing down Sturtagaard. I have questions for him.” She took a bite of the sandwich Zola had made for her.
“It’s almost over,” Jason said.
Annie nodded. She knew once it was, he would be gone, and either she or Emily would be dead.
Chapter 13
Annie glanced at her phone as she walked to the hotel where Joseph was staying. When she arrived, he was sitting on the patio, sipping tea and enjoying the American Sphinx, the American wizard newspaper, as he waited for her. He offered a wide, infectious smile that matched his enthusiasm for the job when she entered the small patio.
“Annie Pearce!” Joseph’s voice boomed as he pulled a chair out for her.
“Enjoyed your evening?” she asked with a smile.
He chuckled loudly. “I did. That is a wonderful hotel. Bagel?”
Annie shook her head and chuckled. “I just called in to security and they vetted you. So if you’re interested, I can take you in to the hall.”
Joseph nodded emphatically, paid his bill, took a final sip of tea, and tucked a bagel into his jacket pocket as he followed Annie across the courtyard. Joseph took it all in as they passed the picnic tables, some filled with employees drinking coffee or reading their phones or books.
“Can I ask how you came to pick that market to set up shop in?” Annie asked. While she didn’t believe in coincidences, she had a sinking feeling that all the pieces were connected. There were too many to ignore.
“We had several contacts who offered leads. This particular market had a steady stream of foot traffic and we believed we could glean much information if I was set up there. I wasn’t aware of the portal, however,” he admitted.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to investigate many markets, but it was by far the largest I had seen.”
“You think there’s more to it?” Joseph asked as Annie led him inside the employee entrance.
“Hi, Lorena,” Annie said, pausing her conversation with Joseph. “I have a visitor from the South African Wizard Guard.”
Lorena read the badge and reviewed his credentials. “No problem. I contacted South Africa after you called. They verified.” After Lorena issued the visitor’s pass, Annie cast her spell into the lock and led Joseph into the back hallway.
“To answer your question, yes, I think we are purposely being directed to the market. Why? I can’t say.” Annie had no reason to doubt that Sturtagaard was directing her to the market, but she didn’t know how Joseph fit into that.
“Your vampire led you there and your friend’s contact led him there. I was led there. Yes, that is disconcerting. I don’t see how it helps the Fraternitatem though.”
“You mind telling me who led you to that market?”
Joseph entered the elevator after Annie. She pushed the fifth-floor button. “You’re asking for a contact,” Joseph stated.
“Yes, I am.” She leaned against the wall.
“Remember, I was a merchant at the market before it crashed. I sought out many of my contacts after the market’s fall. While I was being trained as a wizard guard, my manager felt I was the right man to be useful back in this market.”
“You’re reluctant to give up the name.”
He nodded as the elevator doors slid open. Upon seeing the fifth floor, Joseph’s eyes bulged. The fifth floor buzzed and hummed as machines blinked and purred, and a thick din of voices hovered over the many departments on this floor.
He followed A
nnie through the maze of cubicles. “Here’s my space,” she said as she sat in her chair.
“This is amazing.” He chuckled as he sat across from her.
“Actually, your Wizard Guard is doing the right thing, keeping one of you inside the market to track what’s happening.”
Joseph leaned against the back of the chair. His eyes darted across her small cubicle, taking in her artifacts, the books, the pictures on her back credenza.
“His name was Levi Chasen.”
Levi?
Annie visibly shuddered at the name. She thought to tell him of her family situation, but she was holding the information close to her. Though the Wizard Guard security team had vetted him, it wasn’t enough for her to be total open. “Thanks. I promise to keep it safe.”
“What’s in that name? I saw you react to it.”
Annie leaned against her desk. “We’ve come across another Levi in our search for info about the Fraternitatem. It makes me wonder. When do you need to get back to the market?”
Joseph looked at his watch. “I need to check in at the office in about thirty minutes. I’ll take my portal to the market a little after that.” He returned to glancing across her cubicle.
Annie texted Bucky the name, Levi Chasen, and summoned the growing case file, leaving it on her desk. “I’ll start pulling together everything we have and sending the findings to the other guard units. What to look for and how to get into the market,” she said.
“So what’s next for you?” Joseph asked.
“We’ll be meeting here to discuss the next steps and update everyone on what we’ve found so far.”
“It is so very good to be working so closely with the Americans. You have an impressive wizard hall and wizard guard.” He nodded lightly.
“Thanks. It’s nice to know we have friends elsewhere.” She glanced at the clock on her wall. “Would you like me to walk you out?” He glanced at the clock and nodded with a very big grin on his face.
*
Bucky Hart texted Annie as she saw Joseph off, so she took a detour to the basement department.
“Hey, Bucky.” She sat in his open chair.
Wizard Hall Chronicles Box Set Page 150
