That got his attention. “I’m listening.”
I related everything I could remember – with a couple of prompts from Fudge, naturally. The line was silent for a minute, but I could hear the sounds of Gregory moving around the cottage. He was undoubtedly pacing as he thought about what I’d said.
“My guess is that, once again, you saw Ev. That single patch of magic could be my beacon spell tattoo. But as a bat? Transmogrification is highly-advanced spellwork and only a few can do it. I can’t.”
“Trans-what?”
A sigh escaped him. “You haven’t gotten that far in your studies yet. Transmogrification is transforming something – or someone – into something else. Like the proverbial turning someone into a toad.”
“That’s possible? I thought it was just a myth!”
“No, it’s not a myth. As I said, it’s highly advanced magic and not everyone is capable of such a spell.” He paused. “But elves might be. Go to work. I’ll call Nelion and let you know what he says.”
He hung up. I turned my attention back to the mundane. Social media was boring and there was nothing interesting in email. I quickly paid some bills then turned my attention to Mahjong for a few minutes before resuming my routine.
I found it difficult to concentrate on work. I stared at the phone, willing Gregory to call back and tell me what he’d found. I ate the lunch Cassandra brought without really tasting it. As she sat in my guest chair watching me eat, I quickly relating what had happened in New Orleans and in my dream.
“Your boss gets himself into the worst predicaments, doesn’t he?” she said when I finished. She took my plate. “I have to go back down but let me know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
Sally came in promptly at one. “Any word?” she said as she stuck her head in my door.
“Nothing yet.”
“So I guess we just keep on keeping on, huh? By the way, there’s an invitation to a party sitting in the stack of mail I have for Ev. Should I RSVP yes or no?”
“When?”
“Next Friday night. I don’t know who it is – they’re not in his address book – but it’s hand-lettered and has gilt edges.”
I snorted. “In his circles, everyone’s invitation is hand-lettered and has gilt edges. That way you look like you’re someone, don’tcha know. Decline. Even if we have him back by then, I don’t know if he’s going to be in any shape to go to a party. Even if he thinks he is.”
She laughed. “You got it, boss. You want me to run AP this afternoon?”
“No, I’ve got it. I’d rather you pull the contracts that renew in September. Compare them to notes and let me know what you think.”
The afternoon dragged. I finished my work, attempted to do some of Ev’s marketing (at which he excelled and I sucked), and finally started to button up my office for the day. Just as I was about to grab my purse and head for the door, Sally put a call through to me.
“Good afternoon, Amy,” Perchaladon’s voice oozed through the phone.
“Hello, Perchaladon. What can I do for you?”
“It’s what I can do for you, I think,” he replied. “Have dinner with me tonight.”
“Things are still up in the air,” I told him. “I don’t think I’d be the best company right now. Give me a few days?”
“Obviously, you still don’t have your employer back. Perhaps I can take your mind off matters.”
“Oh, honestly.” I was already on edge and his attention wasn’t helping. “Thank you, but no. As I said, give me a while. I have other things to do, anyways.”
“As you wish.” He hung up without a proper goodbye. Did I piss him off? Probably. But too bad. I snatched my things and waved to Sally as I stomped out the door.
My head was spinning with “what-if” scenarios pending a call from Gregory and I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a nap. As always when I was full of nervous energy, I cleaned.
“It is a good thing you have nothing decorated with spots. You would have scrubbed them all off by now.”
“Shut up,” I growled. “It’s better than just pacing up and down the hallway and around the living room.”
“You have studying to do. You could throw your energy into that.”
“I can’t concentrate. You should know by now I worry.”
Before Fudge could get in yet another wry observation, my phone rang. Without looking at it, I hit the answer button.
“Hello?” I’m sure I sounded out of breath, perhaps even nervous. I definitely wasn’t a calm, cool, and collected person.
“Calm yourself.” Gregory had read my mood correctly. “I just got off the phone with Nelion.”
“And?”
“Yes, elves can perform transmogrification spells. Quite easily, although it is a practice that is frowned upon for rather obvious reasons. I described your dream environment and he thinks it’s an undeveloped area in their enclave in western Louisiana. One of his lieutenants will be checking it out this evening. We should know something tomorrow.
“Get a good night’s sleep. I will call you when I hear something.” Uncharacteristically, he hung up without saying goodbye. That made me nervous. He was hiding something.
“So now that you have had your telephone call, you should be able to concentrate on your studies, correct?”
I sighed. That cat was, in one regard, correct. I did have to study. Just like regular school, I’d have a test on two chapters in just three days. It was time to buckle down. I put the cleaning supplies away, sat at my desk and pulled the tome toward me.
Page four hundred fifty-five of the chapter on protection potions was more of the same. Not that I’d be expected to remember all these recipes (after all, isn’t that what a reference book is for?) but the methodology and ingredients were similar. Just a minor twist here and there, depending on the person who wrote the recipe. Gregory had been teaching me that customizing each potion to the individual situation was more effective. In other words, don’t rely on someone else; come up with your own shit.
Dinner came and went, and I was nose to the parchment. Fudge was curled up on the couch, ostensibly asleep.
The next chapter was on cleansing. Negative energy was a real thing – as I’d discovered when a vampire trashed my apartment a little over a year back. At the time, I hadn’t a clue about all this magical stuff. Cassandra had come by to smoke it out – literally. She burned so much white sage my apartment looked like it was shrouded in fog.
But there were times you couldn’t cleanse with smoke. In an office, for instance. In that case, you made a potion and either wiped everything down with it or used a sprayer. More recipes, all of which Gregory would tell me were starting points for my own concoctions.
“If I’m supposed to come up with my own recipes, why am I studying all this?” I mused to myself. Or, at least, I thought to myself.
“Because if you look at them, you will notice patterns in ingredients and methods of use. I believe the wizard means for you to absorb which are most common, so you do not always need to look up things in a book. Which you may not have at hand.”
“Hell, Fudge, I won’t have most of the ingredients at hand, much less the book.”
“Yes, you do and probably would. Look in your kitchen. I would wager many of the ingredients you are looking at are in there. I believe the same would be true in most human houses.”
I looked at the recipes in this section again. Sage. Not necessarily white sage but the kind you cook with. Lemon. Parsley. Thyme. Aw, crap. He was right. I pulled out my notebook and started making a list of everything in this chapter I knew would be in a well-stocked kitchen (not necessarily mine). It was pretty long by the time I was done.
I heard a whispered “I told you so” in my head as I closed my books and prepared for bed. Damn, smug cat.
One of the things I hated about taking over for Ev was I couldn’t turn my phone off when I went to bed. Clients, for the most part, were night owls and Ev handled problems at all hou
rs of the day and night. I regretted that fact when, at around 3:00 a.m., I was jolted awake by the shrill sound of my ringtone.
Heart racing from being woken so abruptly, I looked to see who was calling me. The notification simply read, “Private.” I stabbed the “answer” button and hoped the grumpiness sounded in my voice when I said, “Hello.”
“You must not want your boss back too badly. You didn’t call after my text,” said an unknown voice. It wasn’t a deep voice but definitely male, and the words were slightly slurred as if the caller were inebriated.
“What?” I almost shouted into the phone. Then got my shit together. “If this is the person who texted me last night, you used star-sixty-seven, you idiot. I can’t even return a text to a blocked number, much less call it.”
“Oh. Well, now that I have you…”
“What do you want?” I interrupted. “And what did Ev ever do to you?”
There was a pause on the other end. A throat cleared. “Your boss got in my way. You should be thankful he’s still alive. As to what I want? Money would be helpful. Say, a quarter million.”
I was ninety percent positive Ev was still alive and was the bat I’d seen in my dream. But this guy wouldn’t know that.
“And how do I know he’s still alive? Put him on the phone so I can confirm for myself. Once I know he’s okay, we can talk about the money.”
Silence. He’d put himself into something of a pickle by changing Ev. Last I knew, bats couldn’t talk. At least not any language I’d understand.
“Your boss is just fine but he’s not able to come to the phone right now. Make arrangements for the money and I’ll return him unharmed.”
This guy obviously didn’t know any kidnapping rules. “Nuh-uh. I don’t pay until I speak with him. Call me back when he can talk.” I hung up and immediately hit speed-dial for Gregory.
“Mmmpf. Hello?” I’d obviously woken him.
“Hey, it’s me. I think Perchaladon’s friend just called.”
“Is that so?” Gregory was now awake. “And what did he say?”
“Told me Ev was fine and asked for a quarter-million ransom. I asked to speak to Ev and he said Ev couldn’t come to the phone. Told him I wouldn’t pay anything until I’d spoken with Ev, hung up and called you. By the way, he sounded sort of drunk.”
The sound of movement and water running came through the phone. The next words were a little muffled as Gregory cradled the phone on his shoulder. I was betting he was making coffee. He chuckled.
“Somewhat difficult to put a bat on the telephone, isn’t it?”
“That’s what I thought,” I giggled.
“This guy really is an amateur, isn’t he? You did right. I’ll tell Nelion what happened when he calls sometime later this morning. Go back to sleep.”
“’Night,” I said, hung up, threw the phone on my bedside table and snuggled back down under the covers. I could get a couple more hours’ sleep before the alarm went off.
I spent the next several minutes snickering as visions of a bat holding a cell phone to its ear floated around my brain. First, it was a normal-sized bat holding a normal-sized cell phone by wrapping its wing around the phone. Then the cartoons kicked in, with a bat-sized phone.
Fudge got up from his spot on the spare pillow, turned a circle, and plopped back down again.
“I am never going to get back to sleep if you keep thinking of these things. Neither will you.”
“Sorry,” I replied. “But after dealing with an idiot, it’s hard not to.”
“Ommm…” Fudge’s chest rumbled, as well.
Between the nondescript sound and Fudge’s purring, the images finally left my head and I drifted back off to sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
At eleven the next morning, the office door opened. I sighed as I put my pencil down. Who, now? I slipped on my shoes and went out into the reception area.
To find Perchaladon holding a huge bouquet of roses. There must have been three dozen. He smiled over the flowers and held them out toward me. “For you.”
“Why, thank you,” I said. “Let me find a vase for these. I’ll be right back.”
I rummaged through the cupboards and finally decided I was going to have to divide the bouquet in two. I just didn’t have anything large enough. I carried two vases out to reception and set them both on Sally’s desk.
“They’re beautiful,” I told him. “But for what?”
“Can I not give a beautiful woman some beautiful flowers?” he asked.
“Well, yes,” I blushed. “But…”
“I did have an ulterior motive.” He looked at me slyly.
It figured. He probably wanted something. My face must have reflected my thoughts. “What?”
He frowned. “Nothing untoward. I wanted to know if I could take you to lunch.”
Not as bad as I’d thought but his attention was beginning to get annoying. I tried to be polite. “I’m sorry but no. There’s too much happening with Ev gone. Perhaps a rain check?”
“Despite the stress you must feel, you have to take care of yourself, too. A nice, relaxed lunch would help keep you calm.”
I heaved a very audible sigh. “I’m sure it would be very pleasant but once again, no.”
“What must I do to convince you?”
“Ask again another time. Thank you for the flowers; they really are gorgeous. I do hate to be rude but I have work to do so if you don’t mind…” My statement was punctuated by the phone ringing.
“I understand. Of course. I’ll call again at another time, then.” With a wink, he turned and left the office as I picked up the phone on Sally’s desk.
“Angelich Security, how may I help you?”
“Good morning, Amy,” Gregory’s voice sounded more awake than I probably did after an interrupted night.
“Hey, Gregory. I’m on Sally’s phone. Let me go back to my office.” I put him on hold, walked back to my desk, and kicked off my shoes while picking up the receiver. “You have news?”
“In a way, yes.” I heard a slurp on the other end as he took a sip of his coffee. He probably heard the same thing on his end as I sipped mine. “Nelion’s lieutenant scouted the area in question last night. He didn’t see any bats or any evidence of them. No sign of any active magic, either. They are expanding their search tonight to include the national park that abuts the enclave. The lieutenant is friends with one of the park rangers, who may help narrow down the search area.
“In addition, their brand of law enforcement now has an all-points-bulletin for the Obrist character. If he’s found, they have ways of finding out what he knows, regardless of what he wishes to divulge.”
“So we’re still in a holding pattern, is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. There’s really nothing we can do until Ev is located and the elves are the best ones to do that.”
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “Lovely. Okay. Fine.”
“I will call again when I hear something. I’ve told Nelion not to hold off calling me until morning if he has news so I may call you in the middle of the night.”
My fists clenched but I unclenched them. There was nothing I could do but wait. “Fine. I’ll wait for your call. Bye.”
I turned my attention back to my work. Cassandra brought my lunch in about an hour later and after answering her query with “no news,” I absentmindedly ate my sandwich while going over insurance quotes. The agent wanted an answer in another two days so if Ev wasn’t found, I’d have to make the decision myself. I preferred to coach him which way I wanted him to go and let him make the choice. That way I got no grief and he still felt in control.
“Oooh, who loves me?” Sally’s voice interrupted my thoughts. I had to think for a moment, then remembered I’d totally forgotten about the flowers.
“I do. Actually, Perchaladon does. He brought those for me this morning and I forgot them on your desk.”
She stood in my office doorway, one vase in her hand, the
other hand on her hip and eyebrows raised to her hairline.
“The elf brought you flowers? And this many? Man, he must have the hots for you! Can I at least keep one vase on my desk? They smell lovely.”
“You can keep both,” I told her. “I’d undoubtedly knock it off.” I waved my hand around the piles of paper covering my desk.
“Take a break and talk to me. What’s up with the elf? And what’s the news on Ev?”
I put my pencil down and looked at her. “No news on Ev yet. And Perchaladon? I have no clue. I told him Tuesday night to wait until things had calmed down with Ev, yet he bothered me both yesterday and this morning. It’s getting irritating.”
“You have a drop-dead gorgeous man interested in you and you’re irritated? What’s wrong with you?”
“Ev. That’s what’s wrong with me. Gregory is leaving everything in the elves’ hands. Which is so unlike him it’s not even funny. That worries me. And I can’t think of anything to do, either. I’m stuck waiting. Which I don’t like. Then to have someone I really don’t know want me to act like nothing’s wrong and go on a date with him, even after I’ve told him the truth, that Ev’s disappeared, probably kidnapped? Sorry, he’s not looking out for me; he’s looking out for himself. Not my idea of a great guy.”
She frowned. “When you put it that way, I guess I understand. But damn!”
“Yeah, damn. Have you finished going through the contracts?”
“Not yet. Should be done with them this time tomorrow. Anything else I need to do?”
“Nope. Just keep me off the phone the rest of the day, if you can. I’m trying to sort out the workers’ comp insurance and it’s no fun. Fewer interruptions means I can get through this today, I hope.”
She stuck her nose in the flowers, inhaling deeply as she headed back to her desk, then raised her head long enough to say, “I’ll try.”
By Sunday, I’d had enough. I paced my apartment. Gregory wouldn’t talk to me, wouldn’t give me a reason why he didn’t go after Ev himself, when I knew approximately where he was. What was so special about the elves, anyways? On a normal basis, he’d have charged in like a bull moose, taking control of the situation and getting our boss back.
Transformation! Page 11
