by R. L. Naquin
I shook my head. “Give it up, sister. Get my books, and I’ll be on my way.”
She looked at me, long and hard, as if sizing me up. I waited, trying not to fidget or shift my feet. Finally, she nodded once, pushed her chair back and rose from the table.
“I have to trust somebody. Would you mind following me to my study? We need to talk privately, and it’s more comfortable there.”
Maurice and I followed her down the hall toward the back of the house. At the doorway, she paused and turned to Maurice. “I’m sorry. I really need you to wait outside.”
I opened my mouth to protest, and he put his hand on my arm. “It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll be right here.”
Bernice led me into a warm room lined with books. She closed the door behind us and pointed to an overstuffed leather chair in front of a small fire. I sank into it, and breathed in the scent of old books and leather and lemony cleaning products.
She settled into the chair across from me and stared into the fire, gathering her thoughts.
“I need help,” she said. “Something truly terrible is happening, and no one knows about it but me.”
I sat back and regarded her in silence for a moment. She wore a pinched expression on her face, betraying inner conflict. Her reluctance to share her secrets pooled on the floor, but rose no higher than my ankles. Distress and a desperate need for help outweighed any of her other emotions. They bled from her pores and smothered her misgivings, flooding up my legs and threatening to drown me.
It didn’t take a genius to put it together. That couldn’t be the real Board of Hidden Affairs in the dining room, and Bernice had no idea where my mother was. “People are going missing,” I said.
She nodded. “First it was a board member here and there. One by one, in no pattern we could sort through. Then the Aegises started to disappear, too. Other board members followed. Darcy Farthingale—you remember, I pointed her out to you in the dining room—she went on an assignment and never came back. That was about a year ago.”
“Maybe she got scared and quit?”
“No.” Bernice pressed lips together in a tight line. “Darcy loved her job. She wouldn’t have quit.” Her hands shook. “We found her body a month later.”
The protective shield Bernice had built around herself crumbled. Her sadness, guilt and fear flowed across the braided rug between us and engulfed me. My voice softened in response. “She died? What happened to her?”
Bernice took a deep breath and pulled her emotions around herself like a knitted shawl. “They found her strangled by a deflated balloon animal and left in a funhouse at a carnival. She was holding a paper cone that used to have cotton candy on it. The rats must’ve eaten it all.”
I shuddered. Every bad horror movie I’d ever watched at 3:00 a.m. ran through my mind.
“Who would do something like that?”
“We have no idea. Or rather, I have no idea. The members of the Board...they’ve all disappeared. Several were found in equally macabre and bizarre scenarios as Darcy. Under the bleachers at a baseball stadium, beaten with a bat and holding a box of Cracker Jack. Behind the movie screen at an old drive-in, stabbed through the heart with a corndog stick and clutching a bag of stale popcorn. Not everyone has been found, so I still have hope that a few are in hiding. Or captured.” She paused and took in a shaky breath. “That’s better than dead.”
My stomach knotted up, and a chill prickled my skin. “What about the missing Aegises? My mother?”
She shook her head. “We haven’t found any of them.” She looked down at her hands, which twisted the fabric of her sensible navy skirt. “I wish I could give you better news, but it’s the best I have.”
“What are those...things in the dining room? And all over the compound, for that matter?”
One side of Bernice’s mouth curled up in a mild show of pride. “Those are my golems. That’s my gift. I can create duplicates of people and they do what I want them to do. They can’t act on their own, though. I’m running all three divisions and all nine sub-divisions on my own. I created the figureheads so no one knows what’s going on—I give the golems orders that they pass along to their departments.”
“I don’t mean to judge, but you’re not doing a very good job of running things. The Leprechaun Mafia is loose and terrorizing people. Murphy O’Doyle said something about ogres.”
“That’s the O.G.R.E. patrol—Oversight and General Rule Enforcement. They aren’t all ogres. They aren’t very reliable, either. I can’t keep a very good eye on them from here, and without oversight, some of the patrols dispersed and left their territories unmanned. Usually, the leprechauns are harmless. They stick to their city and run a chain of dry cleaners as a front for their dealings with the black market for magic. We know about it and look the other way, as long as they don’t hurt anyone.”
“Well, I think I’ve neutralized them for now. O’Doyle’s clan, at least.” I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “So what are we going to do?”
“I’m going to try to keep things from getting too out of hand while I search for new board members to take over. It’s a long process. And you’ll stay here with me so we don’t lose the only Aegis in the country.”
I stiffened. “Bernice, I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen. I’m going home.”
She looked startled. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t keep you safe out there.”
I understood her position—probably better than I wanted to. But under no circumstance could I allow myself to be pushed around any longer. I knew she thought I could help the Hidden while sequestered in luxurious safety, but I disagreed. People at home needed me, too. And as much as Bernice thought having me around would help her predicament, I couldn’t look for my mother or the other missing Aegises from a barbed-wire-enclosed ivory tower.
People were missing. In some cases, they were already dead at the hands of some twisted serial killer with a penchant for family entertainment venues. The entire infrastructure of the Hidden government was hanging by a bent nail, and very few people knew enough about it to try to help before anarchy occurred. What would happen if no one governed the Hidden? Without rules, would they stop hiding?
I shuddered as I pictured the chaos of monsters and urban legends walking the streets in broad daylight. The screaming. The terror. The autopsies. Frightened humans had a way of destroying what they feared. I couldn’t let that happen. For the safety of humans and Hidden alike, I had to go home and regroup so I could do...something.
“I can’t help you from in here,” I said. “And you can’t do this alone. Besides, I’m safe in my home. Whatever’s responsible for these deaths and disappearances can’t possibly get through a fairy ring, a skunk-ape, a reaper, and a closet monster.”
Bernice pursed her lips, and her hands fluttered in her lap like small fish desperate for a pond. “I wish you’d reconsider.” Her fingers stilled, and her eyes clouded. “You’re all I’ve got, Zoey.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not all you’ve got. Art is a little prick with a grudge against me, but he’s loyal as hell to you, worships rules, and more than anything in the world, he wants to be a board member. Give him a chance.”
“He’s middle management.”
“You don’t have a lot of choices here. Trust him. He’ll do a good job.”
She nodded. “I really need somebody to go out and get the OGREs working again.”
“Who’s Darius?” I asked, thinking about Silas.
“What?” She blinked. “He’s a soul chaser. He’s just freelance. I’m not putting him on the Board.”
“No, I just want to know who he is. He sent the pooka to me, and I was wondering why.”
Her face was pensive. “He must know something. A pooka would offset the bad luck from the sigil we gave you. How could he have known a
bout the test?”
“Looks like not all your secrets are so secret.” One more thing was bothering me, worrying at the back of my brain. It took me a minute to sort through all the new information to grab at it. “There’s someone else.”
“Someone else, what?”
“Someone knows. Murphy O’Doyle said somebody told him there weren’t any more Aegises. He wouldn’t say who. Just ‘he.’ This mysterious someone also knew about the O.G.R.E. guys not being a threat. I think someone is spying on you.”
Bernice went pale in the firelight. “I’ll look into it.”
I tapped my finger on the cushioned leather of the chair arm, thinking. “Whoever it is, he didn’t know about me. He thought all the Aegises were gone.”
Bernice tilted her head. “I kept that information within the board while it was happening. And now that the members are all gone, whoever was leaking information isn’t up to date.”
I nodded. “Exactly. I’m guessing one of your board members was a mole and faked his own disappearance.”
She scowled and dug her nails into the palms of her hands. She didn’t say anything, and I could tell she was biting back something venomous and dark. I didn’t want to know what sorts of things a golem under her control might do to a person if she were truly angry. They probably made excellent torturers and executioners.
I breathed in, trying to dismiss the vision of how dangerous Bernice could be. Still, as powerful as she was, her reach wasn’t very long. Outside the compound, she had few she could rely on, including me.
“Isn’t there, I don’t know, something bigger than the Board? Someone you can go to for help? This is pretty huge.”
“Every country in the world would love to get their hands on this territory. The Canadian Hidden Association of Paranomalcy has been encroaching for years. They can’t know, Zoey. Some of the other countries are savages. Some treat the Hidden like a pool of free laborers, tax them exorbitant amounts, separate families. No. I can’t risk a takeover. I can hold the front a while longer on my own. I’ll take your advice and bring in some help from within. My job is to keep the Hidden safe, law-abiding, and unseen. I will continue to do that to the best of my abilities. If I can’t do that anymore by next year, there’s a meeting of the International Hidden Organization and I’ll lay my cards on the table. I’d rather not do that, though. It could mean the end of everything.”
“What about you?” I scooted forward and touched her arm. “Aren’t you worried for your own safety?”
She squeezed my hand. “I won’t leave the compound until the gathering. If they get me, it’s all over—at least until I get another board in place.”
I smiled, doing my best to be reassuring. I probably failed, but it was worth a shot. “I’ll do what I can to help. But, you know I can’t do that from here.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I understand.”
The light from the window had faded while I’d been engrossed. It was time to get moving before it got too dark. “Thank you for trusting me, Bernice. When I get home, will you call me and keep me updated? We’ll both be better off if we keep each other informed.”
She nodded. “We’ll work together.”
She walked with me into the hall. Maurice crouched on the floor against the wall, and he hurried to stand.
“We going now?” he asked.
I nodded. “I think so.” I looked at Bernice.
“I’ll have the plane ready, and your reaper outside to meet you in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.” I shook her hand and held it a moment. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out. Somehow, we’ll stop it.”
She squeezed my hand with both of hers. “I hope you’re right.”
I frowned. “Bernice, can I have my memories back?”
She let go of my hand. “I’m sorry. I can’t. Judge Michaels, the head of Hidden Arbitration, was our mnemotrancer. Unless we find him alive, I can’t help you reverse what he did.”
Looked like I was on my own in all kinds of ways. I shrugged off my disappointment. There were bigger problems to worry about than remembering my ninth birthday. Or the heartbreak of coming home to an empty house after they took my mother.
Maurice put his arm around my shoulder. “We’ll find her, Zoey. I promise. She’s kind of my mom, too. We’ll find her together.”
Bernice walked us to the door. Outside, Riley stood waiting for us on the crumbling curb.
“Good luck, Bernice.”
She nodded. “Safe trip, Aegis.”
I felt horrible walking away from her. But there wasn’t a damn thing I could accomplish from a luxury suite in the middle of the country. I had to get home, gather my posse, and do what I always did—figure out a way to help.
When we walked through the door, relief painted itself across Riley’s face. I made it halfway to the curb before he swept me up in his arms and buried his face in my hair.
“I was so worried,” he said. “They wouldn’t let me see you. There are people all over the grounds, but nobody would say anything to me. Zoey, something really weird is going on.”
I rested my cheek against his shoulder and inhaled the familiar, comforting smell of him. “I’m okay.” My voice caught in my throat. “We’re going home now.”
The jeep that had dropped us off arrived at the curb, and we separated, still holding hands.
“Hiya, dollface,” the driver said, grinning. He was in desert camouflage, complete with helmet, and he was familiar.
“Silas?” I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“No time to explain! Get in!” He snickered. “I’ve always wanted to say that.” Obedient, and still at a loss for words, I climbed into the backseat with Riley. I couldn’t do anything more than stare. Maurice, looking equally startled, slid into the front seat. “Pooka?”
I nodded.
Silas laughed. “So you’re the neat freak. I bet you loved the mess I left to give you something to do. You’re welcome.”
Maurice grunted.
My mouth was dry, and I licked my lips. “How are you here?”
“I told you, I travel a lot.”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“The Board thinks nobody knows what’s going on, but I see stuff. I knew something was up. Darius isn’t the only one with his ear to the ground.”
“You could have said something.”
“Helping’s not exactly in my nature. Curiosity, yes. But not helping. That’s all you, doll.”
“You’re helping now.”
He waved his hand dismissively. “I owed you one. I kind of felt bad about the cruise ship. I’ve been keeping an eye on you from a distance. Thought you might need a rescue.”
“It’s a little late now. You could have broken me out of here days ago. Now all I need is a ride to the airstrip.”
He shrugged. “I wanted to see how this all went down first. I don’t know what you said to convince her to let you go, but it shouldn’t surprise me, I guess. You survived the Leprechaun Mafia. They didn’t ask about me, did they?”
“Your name didn’t come up, no.”
“Excellent. My luck is still holding.”
Maurice and Riley exchanged a look of disgust.
“Hey,” I said. “How come they can see you?”
He shrugged. “The reaper’s already seen me once, so I can’t hide from him. And closet monsters have those freaky eyes.”
“Hey, watch it,” Maurice said. “I can hear really well, too.”
As we drove off, Art stepped out on the porch. Our gazes met and held. He nodded and lifted his hand to wave good-bye. For the first time, his smile touched all the way to his eyes.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Home. I’d only been g
one for three days, but the two weeks leading up to my departure had caused me more anxiety than I’d realized. When I walked in, I found myself touching everything to reassure myself it was solid and real—the table by the front door where I often dropped my keys, the worn afghan on the back of my sofa, the smooth wood of the fireplace mantle. I realized just how worried I’d been that I might not come back.
Maurice was silent, watching me become reacquainted with my things. After my third time wandering through a circuit of hallway, kitchen, living room, he cleared his throat.
“Are you checking for dust? I cleaned the whole time you were gone. I couldn’t think of anything else to do.”
I looked at my fingertips, which I’d been trailing without thought across a bookcase. “I was just saying hello, I guess.” I dropped my hand. “It’s perfect, Maurice. It always is. You know I don’t expect you to clean.”
He shrugged and smiled. “It’s not getting done any other way.”
That was true. I was a terrible housekeeper.
Maurice wanted to feed me, but I declined. Sleeping and eating were about all I’d done for the last several days. As much as I liked being home, I needed to be outside for a while.
I called Sara first, to let her know I was back. She sounded relieved, but unsurprised.
“You took longer than I expected,” she said. “I was beginning to think they made you a better offer.”
“The life of a kept woman doesn’t appeal to me. I begged off and came home.”
“Somehow, I think you’re glossing over it.”
“The story of being locked in a room alone for three days isn’t that interesting, so I cut to the chase.”
“I appreciate the economy of words. You can give me the long version over dinner. You’re coming over tomorrow.” That was Sara. Straight to the point.
“I’ll bring dessert.”
“Only if Maurice makes it. I’ve eaten your cooking.”
I started to call Andrew next, but hesitated. No one had died at his grandparents’ party, but the celebration had been ruined. I knew Andrew didn’t blame me, but it was still my fault. The leprechauns had come for me. A phone call wasn’t going to do it.
