by Corwin, John
"How? Where? What?" I couldn't form a complete sentence.
"As I said, my lady and gentleman, there is very little danger of you stumbling across our humble abode." He stepped through. "If you'd continue to follow me, please."
I looked sideways at Elyssa. She wore a dull expression as if she'd seen this sort of thing too many times before. Maybe she had, being a Templar and all. Considering what she'd told me about the Gloom and other planes of existence, being a Templar sounded more adventurous than the Peace Corps.
I took her hand and stepped through the door. Phissilinth shut it behind us and locked it again. As if to show us that, yes, his precious little key was magic, he unlocked the door and opened it to reveal a blank stone room that seemed to go nowhere.
"Will that key take you anywhere?" I asked.
"This is just a copy of the Master Key," he said. "It can take you quite a few places, but the Master Key can take you just about any place there's a door."
I really wanted to get into the hows and whys of magic keys. Could he use it on doors without locks? What about folding doors, car doors, or the toy doors on a Barbie playhouse—not that I had one of those, mind you, but darn it all, I wanted to know! But the little man tucked the key away and led on while I kept my curious mouth shut. Besides, my mind had more pressing concerns weighing on it—like how to survive what was to come.
Then something occurred to me and I smiled.
"What are you thinking?" Elyssa asked.
"I just figured this all out," I said. "Well, not the magic key part or the guardian angel part, or even the strange mystery girl part, but something important."
"Spit it out then."
I cupped my hand over her ears like a kid telling a secret. "The little guy is Underborn."
She tilted her head to the side, looking the little man over, probably sizing him up and deciding if I was right. It made sense to me. We'd probably reach a room somewhere then he'd take a seat, proclaim his real identity, and then murder us after having a good laugh.
I shuddered.
After a few short minutes we reached a large stone room with a roaring fireplace against one wall to chase the damp chill from the air, and a large round wooden table with about a dozen or so seats around it. Several brown leather couches sat in a triangular formation with a rich oriental rug spread out on the floor between them all. A stout oak coffee table covered with magazines and books took up the space between the couches.
"If you'd take a seat, please," Phissilinth said, motioning his hand at the couch. "Would you like some hot tea and biscuits while you wait?"
"Are they poisoned?" I asked. "Are you going to kill us?"
He chuckled. "Murdering guests would make for dreadful manners, sir. Please make yourself at home and my lord will be with you in a few moments."
Elyssa sat down and picked up a Cosmopolitan from the table. "Hey, it's a current issue." She showed me the cover.
"What kind of assassin keeps Cosmo on the coffee table?" I said, looking over the stack. I found a copy of Popular Magic and flipped it open to an article demystifying the reaction between Mentos and soft drinks.
Though the noms have their own "scientific" explanations, we've discovered their theories only partially account for the volcanic reaction between The Freshmaker and tasty carbonated beverages. How? Because Mentos were created by one of our very own Overworlders who added his own magical twist to the candy. How else do you think young people miraculously come up with great ideas to crash parties, recover lost soccer balls, and land that hot young lady after eating one of the delicious candies?
"What are you so engrossed in?" Elyssa asked, bending over the magazine.
"I want a subscription to this magazine," I said. "You should see all this cool stuff they do in here."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to be a magic nerd aren't you?"
I nodded enthusiastically. "Holy crap, they did a test of flying carpets in here." I looked at her. "Flying carpets! They exist!"
"I wouldn't trust my life to one of those stupid things. They're still magic-fiction as far as I'm concerned."
"What do you mean? Haven't they been around since Arabian Nights?"
"That's a fairy tale, silly." She giggled. "Yes, things like flying carpets and brooms and all that nonsense have been around for ages but the Conclave banned all means of obviously magical transportation so the noms don't freak out."
My heart sank. "That sucks."
"If you're really set on zipping around on a magic carpet, there's a guy in the Grotto who rents them out."
My heart soared. "Why didn't you say so in the first place, woman? We could've been flying all over the place instead of walking."
"I didn't think about it. And I don't trust those flimsy things either."
I rubbed my hands together. "Man, I hope Underborn doesn't kill us. I really want to fly on a magic carpet."
Elyssa squeezed me and kissed my cheek. "You're so sexy when you giggle like a kid."
"Yeah, yeah," I said. "A kid in a candy store. It's really gonna suck if he does kill us." I pressed a hand to my forehead as gravity popped a hole in my happy balloon. "All I want is to enjoy life, not feel like me or the people I care about could die at any moment."
"We have each other," Elyssa said, leaning her head on my shoulder.
I shifted so I could see her better and stroked her cheek with the back of my hand. A lock of black hair came loose from behind her ear on cue and waited for me to put it back in its place. But this time, I left it as my heart swelled with such emotion my eyes got a little misty. "I don't know what I'd do without you, my pretty ninja girl."
Her eyes softened and a gentle sigh escaped her lips. "How do you do this to me?" She laughed softly. "Boys never made me feel like this before. I never cared. But you do something to me and none of the rules apply anymore."
"It means the world to me I can touch your heart in a way nobody else has."
Her mouth opened slightly as she regarded me with a wondering expression. "Do I touch you the same way, Justin? Do I affect you more than Katie or Stacey or any other girl?"
I gripped both her hands in mine and pressed them to my chest. "Anything I felt before you was a candle compared to the sun. A whisper to a hurricane." I chuckled. "See, you even have me going all poetic on you and I suck at it."
She pushed me against the armrest of the couch and lay atop me. "It's perfect. It's beautiful." Her lips met mine and fire spread down my neck, my chest, and the embers of my love roared into full heat.
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her tight, pressing my lips, my tongue against hers, wishing I could take her all into me at once. Her hands ran up under my shirt, her fingernails raking against my bare skin all the way down to the small of my back. I shivered and moaned.
"Ahem."
We jerked upright and stared at the thin sallow man with a copper tray balanced on one hand.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir and madam, but I've brought you tea and biscuits," he said in a very proper British accent, similar to Phissilinth's. The butler—I assumed—placed the tray on a clear spot of the coffee table, moved some of the magazines to clear another spot, and set the table with napkins and utensils. "Would you like one lump or two?" He pointed to a tray with cubes of sugar.
"Uh…what?" I asked, my mind still very much on what Elyssa and I had been doing.
"We'll do it ourselves," Elyssa said, pulling her shirt back down over her flat stomach, her face bright red.
"Very good, madam. There is milk and cream as well. Should you need me, please pull the sash over there." He motioned to a silky black strand hanging from the ceiling with a brass ring tied to the bottom. "I am Milton, at your service."
With that, he left the room with all the dignity of a person accustomed to the nuances of being a house servant, including love-struck teens tearing each other's clothes off on the couch.
I looked at Elyssa about the same time she looked at me. "Were we real
ly about to do…uh, you know in Underborn's secret lair?"
Her lips tightened. "I'm going to be majorly ticked if we die before it happens."
"That's putting it mildly."
We stared at the tea then back at each other. At the tea again. Back at each other. Then we burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation—at least I was.
"Just when I think life can't get any stranger—"
"He will see you now," Phissilinth said from the doorway.
Elyssa and I stood.
"I'm sorry, but Justin is the only person he will see right now."
"She can hear whatever he has to say to me," I said, not wanting to separate from her. If we were going to die, it would be together, not apart and alone.
"He was very specific—"
I sat back down. "She and I are in this together. You go tell him we're both coming." My nerves knotted so tight my hands tried to shake. I clenched my fists and jammed them under my legs. What was I doing? Underborn might be the only person who could stop my dad from dying but I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Elyssa alone out here. Things had been just peachy so far—tea and crumpets, and the polite Mr. Phissilinth, but it could all be a front and her life was the most precious thing to me in the world.
Phissilinth raised an eyebrow. "Then sir, you must leave. I will show you the way."
I shook my head. "I'm not leaving until he sees both of us. Tell him that." I jabbed my finger down toward the couch. "We're not leaving this spot."
"Justin, it's fine. Go see him," Elyssa said. "I'll be all right."
I shook my head. "No." I tightened my jaw and forced as much seriousness and determination into my expression as possible, hoping it didn't make me look mentally unstable. "Tell Underborn."
"I am not your servant to order around," Phissilinth said, his voice remaining calm and proper as ever. "You, sir, must either leave or get past me and tell him yourself."
Elyssa gripped my arm tight. "Don't do it," she hissed in my ear. "For god's sake, Justin, leave me and go by yourself."
I shook my head. "No, it might be a trick. They might do something to you after I leave you here alone."
"We're in his headquarters, for crying out loud. Do you think there's anything they couldn't do to us right now?"
"As long as we're together, we're strong."
I stood up and advanced on Phissilinth, knowing even if I had my full strength, this guy could probably whip my tail. But I had to see Underborn and I wouldn't leave Elyssa.
"Justin, no!" she said and put herself between me and the small man. Her hands pressed against me and shoved me back until she immobilized me against a wall. "I'm not letting you fight him. We'll either leave or you'll go in alone. I will be fine."
"She will come to no harm. You have my word," Phissilinth said.
"Fine, fine," I said holding my hands up in surrender. "I'll go in alone."
Elyssa directed a penetrating gaze into my own and released me. I walked across the room and over to Phissilinth. As he turned I grabbed him. Air exploded from my lungs as my back slammed into the floor. The small man's face filled my view. He was smiling.
"You're rather persistent, aren't you?"
"Uh huh," I said, gasping for lost air.
"He said you would do this. That it was your nature."
"Underborn?"
"Indeed." He held out a hand. I gripped it. "Up you go," he said, jerking me to my feet despite his small stature.
Good lord, the little man was strong. I bent over and took some deep breaths to fill my lungs. When I straightened, Elyssa gave me a concerned look.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded and she slapped me hard enough to make stars flash before my eyes. "Ow!"
"Never, never lie to me, Justin." Her voice was low and angry, but more than anything full of hurt. "How dare you lie to my face? You say you love me and then you serve me up a bald-faced lie and attack someone who could kill you in a heartbeat."
Shame constricted my throat and I looked away. I hadn't even thought about it like that. "I'm sorry."
"I made my choice, Justin. Respect me enough to abide by it."
I breathed hard to choke down the guilt and looked at her. "I'm sorry, Elyssa. Please forgive me for being an idiot."
She touched me tenderly on the cheek she'd slapped. "I forgive you for that all the time, my love. Don't ever lie to me again. Okay?"
I pressed her hand to my face. "Okay."
"If you'll both accompany me, he will see you now," Phissilinth said, the barest hint of an amused grin on his face, and walked through an open set of double doors and down the hall.
My forehead almost cramped from the confused look sprouting on my face. "But you just said—"
"Yes, of course. All in due time. All in due time."
Had it been a test?
Elyssa took my arm and guided me down the hall without another word. We passed through a long hallway lined by closed doors. Sounds emanated from behind the doors, all too muffled to make out, and I wondered what atrocities were hiding behind them. Portraits lined the hall, unfamiliar faces looking out from each one. Tiny brass labels had a name and a date beneath the portraits and I wondered if these were former members or victims of the Guild.
The hallway dead-ended at a single door. Phissilinth stopped.
"I will leave you here," he said. "Simply enter and close the door behind you." He turned and walked back down the hallway.
I took a deep breath to calm my frayed nerves, braced myself, and opened the door. Bookshelves lined the room beyond, and a large stone fireplace held a crackling fire. Elyssa closed the door behind us and we walked further inside what looked to be a library stretching on for several hundred feet.
"Greetings," said a voice containing no hint of an accent.
Elyssa and I spun to the right. A figure stood there, wreathed in the shadow of a support column blocking the light from the large chandeliers overhead. The figure reached out a hand and pulled the chain on a lamp mounted on the column. The light flickered on.
And I looked into the face of a man I knew.
Chapter 28
Mr. Turpin, my English teacher, smiled warmly back at me. "I see you're staying on task, Justin."
My legs turned to goo and I almost butt-planted on the floor. Elyssa had a similarly shocked expression on her face, her mouth hanging open, eyes wide.
"But you're a nom. A high school teacher," I said.
"Yes, I am."
"And you're Underborn?"
"The one and only, Justin."
"Are you going to kill us?"
He laughed. "Why should I bother when there are so many others willing to do it?"
Cold fear wrapped itself around my midsection. I clenched my teeth and forced the fear away best I could, replacing it with anger. "You're the almighty Underborn? The one who put a bounty on my dad? I want you to leave my father alone and tell me who put the hit on him."
"Oh, is that all?" He walked to a small round table in the reading area of the library. "You two have a seat and we'll discuss matters."
I gave Elyssa an uneasy glance before pulling out a chair for her and then me.
"Good manners, Mr. Case," Underborn said. "You always were a smart student. Not like Nathan Spelman and the bullies he associates with."
Approximately one point three billion questions burst into my mind, each one begging to be answered by this guy, but I buried them all beneath the most pressing items. I folded my arms on the table. "What will it take to make you call off the hit on my dad?"
"I assume you know of my fees?"
"A little. Something like whatever is most precious to the buyer."
"Yes. That which they treasure the most. A rather simple arrangement."
"How do you even know what they value the most?"
"My associates are excellent at profiling and discovering such things." He steepled his fingers and smiled. It looked really creepy knowing he was a school teacher, for
god's sake.
"And I assume you know what I value most."
He turned his gaze to Elyssa. I wanted to jump across the table and throttle him.
"In your dreams," I said, barring her with my arm as if it might stop him from looking at her.
"In this case, Mr. Case," he said with another oily grin, "Or should I say, Mr. Slade, the payment has already been met."
I jumped up from my chair sending it toppling over backwards and pressed my clenched fists against the table. "What did you do? What have you taken from me?" Fear and anger used my heart as a punching bag. I was two seconds from charging him.
"Calm down, Justin." He motioned me to sit. "I have taken nothing from you except your time."
I wondered if he had some magical way to suck years from me even though I was supposed to be immortal. "Time?"
"I placed the original bounty on your father. I also placed the tracker on your father and gave the information to certain parties of interest."
"You what?" My shout echoed in the room. A feeling of helplessness overcame the anger and I had no idea what I could do against someone like this. Against someone so underhanded and evil.
Elyssa gripped my wrist, probably thinking I was about to attack Underborn. "Justin, please sit down." She looked at me with pleading eyes. "Please."
Somehow, I found my chair, righted it, and took a seat. I ran my hands through my hair and gazed forlornly at the wooden table.
"I did this for good reason, Justin. I had to know what kind of man you are. How you would respond to certain stimuli. In effect, I tested you."
"Didn't I already pass your lousy English exams?"
He laughed. "Your dark sense of humor is one of the things I like about you, not to mention your ideas of justice and desire to do the right thing not just by you, but your friends."
"You've been psychoanalyzing me?"
"Consider this your trial for the troubled times which lay ahead, young man." He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "While I find you a rather admirable subject, you're also lacking in important areas, namely strategizing. You tend to ram headlong into things without thinking first. This is why you and Miss Borathen are quite the package deal."
