“Excusez-moi.” The receptionist had come out from behind her desk and was standing in front of them. Her arms were crossed, and she looked suspicious. “Did you talk to your aunt?”
“Even better,” Eden said. “I ran into my friend, and he knows where the assistant is staying. But thanks anyway, you’ve been great.” The receptionist scowled, turned on her heel, and went back to her desk.
“You may not believe this,” Eden whispered when she was gone, “but I came here tonight looking for Violet. Is there any chance at all that you followed her up to her room?”
“Yeah,” Tyler said. “I couldn’t believe she didn’t notice me standing right next to her in the elevator, but she was totally oblivious. I watched her go into her room. She’s in 707.”
Eden hugged him again. “You’re a miracle,” she said. She tugged his hand, and started down the hall. “Let’s go!”
Tyler picked up his backpack and followed. “We’re going to her room?”
“Yeah!”
“But why?”
“Because she’s going to help us. I hope.” Eden pressed the button to call the elevator.
As the elevator rose, Eden explained the plan she had in mind.
“You think that will work?” Tyler asked.
Eden shrugged. “It’s the best thing I can think of.”
On the seventh floor, they followed the hall to room 707.
“Here goes nothing,” Eden said. She took a deep breath and knocked.
“Who is it?” Violet’s voice called.
Eden cleared her throat. “I need to talk to you. It’s about Sylvana.”
The door opened a crack, and Violet peeked through.
She certainly didn’t look like she’d just been at a glamorous event. She wore a thick white hotel bathrobe, and her hair was in a messy topknot. She looked as unglamorous as Eden had ever seen her.
“Sylvana’s in trouble,” Eden said. “If you let me inside, I’ll tell you more.”
Violet squinted skeptically. “Do I know you?”
It was now or never, Eden supposed. She reached up and pulled the brown wig off her head.
“Yeah, you know me.”
Violet gasped and flung the door open. “Get in here,” she hissed.
Room 707 was actually a suite. Eden and Tyler entered into a living room dominated by a big crimson sofa, with two matching armchairs flanking it. They faced a formal coffee table with a dozen bloodred roses blooming in a vase on top.
The cream walls were paneled with gold trim and decorated with landscape paintings. A chandelier hung from above, and forest-green curtains blocked the view through the windows.
Violet stood in front of Eden and took in the sight of her. “It’s really you,” she marveled. “And you!” she exclaimed, moving to Tyler. Her face creased in thought. “Did I see you somewhere earlier tonight?”
“I came up in the elevator with you,” he said.
“That’s right! I thought you looked familiar. Now I remember: you’re the boy from San Diego!”
Violet was the first alum Eden had ever met in person, but they’d been adversaries from the start. After their first encounter on Mission Beach, conflicts had complicated Eden’s time on Earth. She’d never dreamed she’d come to Violet for help. And obviously, neither had Violet.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” Eden said. “But let’s start with the most pressing thing first.”
“Sylvana,” Violet breathed. “Why did you say she’s in trouble?”
“Can we sit?” Eden asked, indicating the sofa. Violet shrugged and took an armchair.
“I’ve been in Paris for almost forty-eight hours,” Eden said as she and Tyler sat. “I was summoned here when David Brightly rubbed the lamp two nights ago. But the granting took a bad turn, and I couldn’t make a request for reentry, so I escaped from his lab.”
“Why couldn’t you—”
“Like I said, it’s a long story.” Eden wanted to disclose as little as possible, while still convincing Violet to help. Most importantly, she wasn’t going to tell her that she no longer lived in the lamp. “Brightly has covered the lamp with a plasma shield—basically, a force field. No one and nothing can go in or out, and I don’t think the masters’ telescope works either.”
Violet’s face lit up with interest. “Wow. I never would have thought a mortal—”
“Could outsmart the masters? I know, me neither. And I haven’t even granted a wish for him yet.”
“So what does this have to do with Sylvana?”
Eden swallowed. She’d have to tread carefully now. She knew that Violet had seen Sylvana with Brightly, but Violet obviously wasn’t willing to offer up that information. Eden would be wise to keep her cards close too.
“I linked up with a few alumni in Paris. We’ve been working together to figure out how to get the lamp back. This morning we went back to Brightly Tech to do recon. I was invisible, thanks to a power granted by one of the alumni’s thousandth wish. While I was there, I saw Sylvana and Heloise at the office with Brightly, and I followed them to Electra.”
“You were at Electra this morning?”
“Yeah. I walked around with Sylvana and Brightly, then I went to lunch with them here at the hotel. Sylvana told him she has information about the lamp and proposed splitting its powers with him, fifty-fifty.” Eden eyed Violet. “Although, as you and I both know, Sylvana would never actually split those powers with anyone—especially a mortal.”
Violet stayed stone-faced. “Finish your story.”
Eden leaned forward on the sofa. “The point is, Brightly knew that too! I rode in his car back to the office, and I heard him talking on the phone. He was planning to bring Sylvana to the lab tonight after the auction to show her the lamp, then trap her there and question her. And I think that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Violet twisted a ruby ring on her index finger and thought for a minute. Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t believe you,” she said.
“Why?”
“No one can resist Sylvana. Why would this guy be different?”
“He wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was lying on his own,” Eden said. “But he was using this new technology he’s developed.” Eden explained about the Brightly Veritas—how he’d used it on her when he’d summoned her, and then on Sylvana at the restaurant.
Violet drummed her slender fingers on the side table. “How do I know you’re not making this up? Even if you were invisible, you’d have to have some nerve to chase around two people who’d do anything to find you.”
“I can prove it,” Eden said.
“How?”
“I saw you.”
Violet’s eyebrows lifted. “Me?”
“Yeah. We passed you when we were going into the restaurant downstairs. Sylvana said some pretty rude things to Brightly about you. How you’re so dependable, she forgets that you’re there. And that you’re like a reliable old dog.”
With that, Violet looked like she’d seen a ghost. She stood up and started pacing around the room. “But—” Now that she’d gotten her proof, she was struggling to comprehend it all.
“Violet,” Eden said, “tonight my friends went back to Brightly Tech to try to get the lamp, but I think they were caught. It might have even happened during the auction. Did anything unusual happen when you were there?”
Violet went a shade whiter. “Yes. Sylvana left early with Brightly.”
“My guess is, he found out they’d infiltrated his lab. He must have brought Sylvana with him—but once he got her there, I bet she found herself in the same position as them. Have you heard from her since then?”
Violet shook her head.
“Well, don’t take my word for it. Why don’t you call her? See if she answers.” If she was wrong and Brightly hadn’t followed through with his plot to trap Sylvana, Eden was going to be in a very bad position. But she didn’t think she was wrong.
V
iolet went into the suite’s bedroom. Tyler took Eden’s hand in his and squeezed it.
“So far, so good,” he whispered.
She grinned. She still couldn’t believe he was here.
Eden leaned over to peer into the bedroom. Inside was a huge bed, topped by a lace canopy. In one corner, a Louis Vuitton suitcase was open on a luggage rack.
Violet sat on the bed and pressed a few buttons on her phone, then held it to her ear. After fifteen seconds or so, she hung up. She tried again, with the same result.
“No answer?” Eden asked.
Violet came out to rejoin them. “No.” She sat on the armchair again. “Let’s say you are right,” she said. “You still haven’t answered my original question: Why are you here? You hate Sylvana, so I know it’s not just to warn me.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Eden asked. “If I’m right, that means we’re on the same side now. Our friends are in the same place, being held captive by the same person. And it’s up to us to save them.”
Violet stared at her for another moment. Finally she nodded, making the bun on top of her head bounce. “Okay. Let’s do it.” And, unbelievably, Violet and Eden shook hands in agreement.
“I don’t think we should try this alone,” Violet said. “We can ask some of the other Electric to help. But it might be tough to get them on board.”
Eden understood that. She wouldn’t have wanted to team up with them either, if there’d been any other option.
“Where are they, anyway?”
“Most of them went to a party after the auction.”
“But not you?”
Violet wrinkled her nose. “I wasn’t in the mood. Hey,” she said. “Heloise left during the auction too. After Brightly and Sylvana, but before the sale was over. Do you think Brightly’s got her too?”
“Could be,” Eden said.
“We’d better figure out what to do. Where do we start?”
Eden thought about how the Loyals had planned their mission. “We should use any resources we have,” she said. “Do any of the Electric have powers that could help us?”
“Absolutely,” Violet said. “Sylvana recruits based on powers.”
Tyler leaned forward with interest. He was in for a pretty intense look at the genie alumni’s world of magic. Eden hoped he could handle it.
“Okay,” Eden said. “What have we got?”
“Well, Monroe wished for super strength, and to need no sleep.”
“So she’s like a vampire.”
Violet laughed. “Basically. Except she doesn’t drink blood. I don’t think.”
“What about Athena?”
“Athena wished to remember everything. She’ll never forget a single fact or memory.”
“A perfect brain. That’s a good one,” Eden admitted.
“Julianna might have been useful,” Violet said. “She can change states of matter with a touch—so she can turn walls into gas and walk through them, turn a glass of water into ice—”
“Make plasma into gas?” Eden exclaimed. “Violet, that’s perfect!”
“But she’s not here,” Violet said. “She left for Japan this morning.”
“Oh.” Eden was crestfallen—but she kept thinking. “What about Kingsley?”
Violet stretched out her hands to inspect her fingernails. “Kingsley wished for beautiful things to fall at her feet. She couldn’t escape a life of luxury if she tried. Not that she’s trying.”
“I’m assuming the lamp doesn’t count as a beautiful thing?”
“Nice try, but I’m pretty sure Sylvana gave that a shot early on.”
Eden cleared her throat. “Just out of curiosity, what power does Sylvana have?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Violet’s deep-brown eyes met Eden’s. “The power of persuasion. Uncanny control over minds.”
“Mortals’ minds?”
“Mortal, immortal, animal, vegetable, mineral, you name it. No one can resist her.”
In a way, of course, Eden had known it. She’d seen Sylvana sweep everyone off their feet, from the cops in San Diego to the Rockwells’ father.
It wasn’t just her beauty or charisma. There was something supernatural about it.
Eden had even felt it herself when they’d gazed out at the Pacific Ocean from a hot-air balloon in San Diego. Eventually she’d managed to see the truth, but perhaps that was only because of the bracelet’s protection. Brightly had needed help to see past Sylvana’s lies, too—and he’d gotten it through his Veritas.
“Hold on,” Tyler said. Both Eden and Violet turned to him in surprise. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’ve got to get this straight. All of you Electric know that she has this power of persuasion, but you still commit your lives to her cause anyway?”
Violet looked at the floor. “I think we all have our own reasons for being part of Electra.” Her eyes lifted, and in them, Eden saw a spark of something new. “But to be honest, I’ve started to ask myself the same thing.”
“What about Heloise?” Eden asked. “Does she have any powers?”
Violet clicked her tongue. “You know, I’m not sure. “She only rejoined Electra a year ago. She used to be Electric, but then she disappeared for about a hundred years.”
“Disappeared? Why?”
“Apparently she and Sylvana had some kind of falling-out. But they’re best friends now.” Violet rolled her eyes, giving Eden the feeling there was more to the story.
That left only one other member of Electra that Eden could think of. “What about you?”
Violet seemed to shrink an inch or two. She looked down at the coffee table. “I don’t have any powers,” she said apologetically. “I didn’t make my thousandth wish wisely. So I’m not as valuable as most of the others.”
That was a weird way to put it, Eden thought. “Well, think how valuable you’ll be when you’re leading the charge to save Sylvana.”
Just then, Violet’s cell phone rang. She snatched it up.
“Bonsoir, Athena.” She paused for a moment. “No, I haven’t heard from her either. Have you tried calling her?” Her lips pursed as she listened. “Look, I think you should come to my room. I want to show you something.” She paused. “You’ve got to see for yourself. Trust me. This is”—her eyes drifted to Eden—“important.”
Violet wanted Eden and Tyler to wait on the balcony. That way she could explain the situation to the Electric before the women saw them.
This wasn’t one of the balconies with the red geraniums facing Avenue Montaigne, but a larger one, facing west. When Violet moved the dark-green curtains aside, Eden couldn’t understand why they’d ever been closed. Through the sliding glass door was a clear view of the Eiffel Tower.
“Violet!” Eden said as they stepped out into the crisp night air. She rushed to the black iron railing at the edge. “It’s spectacular.”
Beside her, Tyler whistled low.
Orangey-gold lights lit up the Tour Eiffel, making it glow against the stark night sky. Naturally, Eden had pored over photos of it back in the lesson room of the lamp, and she’d seen it from afar a few times yesterday. In daylight, it was a silver-brown sentry staunchly straddling a grassy field. At night, incandescent as it was now, it presided over Paris like a prince.
“It is special, isn’t it?” Violet said as she came up to join them. “I was here when they unveiled it for the World’s Fair, in 1889. Trust me, not everyone was a fan at first.”
“You were there?” Tyler asked in awe. Violet looked at him, shrugged, and nodded. Eden supposed she’d accepted the fact that he knew most of their secrets by now.
“I remember learning about that,” Eden said. This, like everything else, Xavier had covered in lessons. “There was a committee formed to protest its construction.”
“That’s right,” Violet said. “Thank goodness Mr. Eiffel didn’t listen.”
Just then, a knock came at the door.
“Here they are,” Violet said, seeming nervous suddenly. “Now remember, don’t
come in. I’ll come out and get you once they’ve digested the idea.”
“Got it,” Eden said.
Violet went inside and closed the curtains behind her. Eden and Tyler remained outside.
“Wow,” Tyler said. “The Eiffel Tower. I never really thought I’d get to see it.”
“I know what you mean,” Eden said.
Tyler turned to her. “So you’re on Earth for good. Right?”
“Yeah,” she said. “In New York, with a genie alum named Pepper. She’s so cool.” When Eden thought about Pepper, a weird lump rose in her throat. “Hopefully you’ll meet her tonight—when we get her back from Brightly.”
“Eden,” Tyler said, “that’s amazing. You’re living the life you dreamed about.”
When she thought about it that way, she had to smile. “I guess you’re right,” she said.
“I just wish you lived in California.” Tyler grinned, showing those crooked teeth again. “Think you guys would ever move?”
Right at that moment, the Eiffel Tower began to glitter with white lights. Eden clapped her hands together as they danced from its base to its pinnacle.
“Tyler!” she said. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yep,” he said. But he was facing her, not the lights.
Eden stared dreamily as it sparkled. She didn’t know whether this was a special event, or something that happened all the time—but either way, it had to be a good sign.
“Here she is!” Kingsley roared as she ripped the curtains open. She looked like even more of a princess than usual, in a mermaid-style peacock-blue gown. She yanked the sliding door aside and barged through. Behind her were Athena and Monroe.
Eden’s magic feeling dissolved instantly. Maybe she’d been overly optimistic—because the Electric did not seem interested in joining forces.
“Get in here, you little brat,” Monroe snarled as she yanked Eden off the balcony. Like Kingsley, she was also wearing a gown. Hers was lacy, black, and off the shoulder.
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