Taking one last look at her reflection she headed downstairs, back toward the library which seemed to be Olivia’s favorite room and aside from the kitchen, the one place everyone seemed to congregate.
Olivia stood in the center of the room while the others surrounded her. Scarlett had observed much over the past few days and it always seemed to be the same. She doubted they were even aware that they did it, but it was almost like they were drawn to her, like gravity.
Olivia was dressed much the same way Scarlett was, in jeans and a hoodie, the only difference being Olivia had added her favorite leather jacket.
She stood in front of Jake and Roni as they held her children in their arms.
‘You will be careful,’ she worried, ‘they’re my whole life,’ she reached out and stroked Theia’s dark curls.
‘I swear Olive,’ Jake told her seriously, ‘we’ve got this. The twins will be safe with us I promise.’
‘And we’re here to back them up,’ Danae added as she stood next to her brother, ‘plus we’ve got a crap ton of mythological creatures out in the woods. They’ll be safe.’
‘I know,’ she hesitated, ‘I know, I trust you guys I do, but…’
‘Olive,’ Jake stroked her arm soothingly, ‘I know its soon after those assholes managed to get through your wards.’
‘Asshole…’ a little voice whispered, and Olivia glanced down at her son, her expression dry.
‘Maybe I should be more worried about the vocabulary my children will be picking up while I’m gone.’
‘Sorry,’ Jake grimaced.
‘What he’s trying to say,’ Roni threw her husband a look, ‘is that we know you’re feeling a little vulnerable because the Veritas violated your home, your sanctuary and that’s perfectly natural but you need to trust us. We’ve got this.’
‘Yeah, we’ve also got the eye of hobbit,’ Jake nodded.
‘Horus,’ Roni corrected.
‘Whatever… just go,’ Jake gestured with his free hand. ‘Go get your husband before they start doing weird experiments on him or something.’
Olivia’s mouth twitched slightly.
‘Love you guys,’ she told Jake and Roni.
‘We love you too,’ Roni replied as she blinked back the tears, ‘just be careful okay. It’s bad enough we have to bury Mac, I can’t handle losing anyone else right now.’
Olivia nodded.
‘Be good,’ she whispered as she kissed each of her children. ‘Mommy’s going to rescue Daddy, we’ll be back soon.’
Stepping back, she turned to face Logan and Scarlett who were waiting for her.
‘Okay then Logan, where to?’
‘Elias if you don’t mind,’ he corrected her. ‘I’ve been Elias for so long, Logan sounds strange to my ears.’
‘Whatever,’ she shrugged, ‘Elias… where to?’
He watched as she pulled the compass from beneath her clothes.
‘You’re getting lazy Olivia,’ he smiled in amusement. ‘We’re not using your compass, we’ll travel by witch smoke. It’s undetectable; I’m not sure we can say the same about the compass.’
‘What do you mean?’ she frowned. ‘Are you saying they’ll be able to detect it?’
‘Maybe,’ his eyes narrowed as he studied it in the palm of her hand, ‘it has a strange resonance about it. You probably can’t feel it because it’s attuned to you, but I can hear it. It’s almost like it’s singing.’
‘Singing?’ she replied dubiously.
‘Never mind,’ he turned to Scarlett and pulled a small cylindrical object from his pocket. It was long and thin, a bit bigger than a pen and made from silver. ‘You should probably have this back.’
She took it from his hand and wrapped her fingers around it, squeezing tightly as she felt its familiar weight and shape.
‘I found it, in the penthouse in Vegas with the rest of your things. They’re waiting over at the Boatman when you’re ready to have them back.’
‘Thank you,’ she whispered as she clutched it tightly.
‘What is it?’ Olivia asked curiously.
‘It’s my staff,’ she gripped it tighter and it extended to full length revealing strange looking ancient markings. ‘I’ve had this a long time,’ she folded it back in and tucked it in the back of the waistband of her jeans, pulling her hoodie over the top to conceal it. ‘I would’ve hated to lose it.’
‘Well then,’ Elias nodded, ‘you’re welcome.’ He lifted both of his arms, ‘shall we ladies?’
They each placed a palm on his extended forearms, Olivia to the left and Scarlett to the right. There was a swirl of bright purple smoke and they were gone.
‘That’s so cool,’ Jake murmured.
Logan, who was nestled comfortably in Jake’s arms, tilted his head as he watched the purple smoke dissipate, like he was trying to figure something out. He looked up at Jake and grinned. Suddenly there was another, much smaller swirl of purple smoke and Logan disappeared from Jake’s arms.
‘WHAT THE HELL?’ Jake gasped in panic, looking around the room frantically.
There was another swirl of smoke and Logan reappeared, standing on the ground holding onto Jake’s legs, laughing in delight.
Roni stared in shock, her mouth hanging open as Jake reached down with shaky hands and picked the little boy up, lifting him until he was eye level, his legs dangling.
‘Shit,’ Jake murmured as he looked at the grinning young witch.
‘SHIT!’ Logan clapped his hands happily.
‘Where are we?’ Olivia’s eyes widened as she rushed to keep up with Elias’s long-legged stride, but at the same time staring in wonder at the tall cream-colored row of uniformed buildings six storeys high, which ran either side of a wide road. The road and the buildings all curved in the same direction giving it a gorgeous effortless flow. Along the road, were tall red buses and chunky black cabs scattered in amongst the cars and everywhere she looked there seemed to be cyclists nipping in and out of the traffic with no regard to their own safety.
‘This is Regent Street,’ Elias told her. ‘Stay close, even though it’s dark the streets stay busy.’
‘Where are we going?’ Olivia asked as Scarlett strode along beside her seemingly unaffected by the stunning architecture.
‘Piccadilly Circus,’ he replied, suddenly he stopped dead, Scarlett side stepped him gracefully, but Olivia collided into his broad back.
‘Aliiiewrnniplse,’ she mumbled into his heavy black coat.
‘What?’ Elias turned to face her.
‘A little warning please,’ she blew her hair out of her face, ‘you’re like a six-foot wall of muscle.’
‘Sorry,’ he murmured a little distracted.
‘What is it?’
‘I think it’s probably prudent to use a glamor,’ he replied, ‘just in case they’re watching the entrance.’
‘You could’ve mentioned that before we left,’ she frowned. ‘There’s nowhere discreet, we’re surrounded by people.’
‘These are Londoners,’ Elias shook his head, ‘trust me they won’t notice.’
He pulled them both to the side of the street and they turned, as if they were perusing a window display. A few moments later they turned and casually strolled away. Olivia now looked like a teenager, with green eyes and retainers. Scarlett had a bigger nose, and wider chin, her hair had also lightened to an almost strawberry blonde. Elias was the most startling transformation of all, his eyes were now heavily hooded giving him an Asian appearance which matched his fair skin and jet-black hair.
They continued casually down the street until they came to two black old-fashioned looking streetlamps, with an adjoining bridge spanning above them. Mounted on it was a sign reading ‘public subway Underground’ and showing a red circular symbol with a white center and through it ran a blue bar.
‘This way,’ Elias led them between the two lamp posts where they found dirty concrete steps leading down.
They followed along in silence, bustling thro
ugh all the travelers who either had earphones in, were staring at their phones as they walked, or clutching maps. Olivia stared at everything, fascinated with the curved ceilings and tiled walls.
Elias brushed the metal barrier lightly with his fingers and Olivia felt a tiny rush of magic. The barrier, which required a ticket to pass, opened easily and they entered without a problem.
A little way into the station they came to a fork with two archways, the one on the right had a sign mounted above it which read Bakerloo line, Northbound and a little black arrow pointing down. Beneath it a cream tiled tunnel with green, red and brown stripes running along its base, curved to the right. On the left was another archway, above which the sign read Bakerloo line, Southbound and a little black arrow pointed to another set of descending stairs.
‘Which way?’ Olivia asked.
‘Southbound,’ he nodded.
They headed down the stairs, as Olivia marveled at the curved tube-like tunnels. The tiles although dirty with age, were charming, cream colored with patterns of red and green, almost Art Deco in design.
They reached yet another tunnel descending even lower. This time there were two escalators one to the left and one to the right, with stationary stairs in the middle. Olivia stepped on to the one on her right which traveled downward, as opposed to the one on the left which brought people back up.
She followed Elias who stood in front of her and Scarlett who automatically waited and instead of sharing the same step as her, stepped on behind and shuffled to the right-hand side, as did everyone else. Following suit, Olivia was puzzling out this oddity when she realized everyone standing to the right of the escalator was patiently waiting for it to carry them to the bottom, whereas every now and then, someone who couldn’t seem to wait the few minutes it took to travel down deeper into the bowels of the station would walk past, often smacking the standing people with their luggage as they walked down the moving stairs as if to reach their destination faster.
Smiling to herself in amusement, Olivia passed the minutes staring at the wall beside her. Mounted on the tiles were small rectangular framed advertisements for shows such as Les Misérables and the Lion King. There were posters for 2 for 1 tickets for Madam Tussauds, the famous waxworks museum and the London Dungeon. For a moment she almost forgot she was on a rescue mission, until her longing to visit these places with Theo, brought her snapping back to the present.
Every so often she would hear the sound of an engine slowing and stopping, or speeding up and gaining momentum, always accompanied by a kind of clanking sound as if the train rails were worn and uneven, causing the clattering of the carriages. Each time one of the trains would pass through the platforms and tunnels below, it would displace the air sending a warm rush of wind up the escalators and stairs.
Finally, they reached the bottom and followed the herd of people down to the platform, which was another small tiled tube, with the platform on one side of the track and a curved wall on the other.
Olivia looked up to the electronic sign above her which read Elephant and Castle 1 min, Waterloo 3 mins, Elephant and Castle 7 mins.
She followed Elias and Scarlett along the platform until they were almost at the end where there was nothing but a barrier and a big circular opening leading to a dark tunnel.
‘Now what?’ she turned and asked Elias.
‘We wait,’ he replied calmly.
Olivia found she could hear the same strange clanking of the train long before it emerged from the gaping tunnel at the other end, bringing with it once again the warm waft of air. The little electric train arrived, cream colored with red doors and a curved roof which perfectly matched the shape of the tunnel and pulling enough carriages to fill the entire length of the platform.
She twitched as the doors opened but Elias grabbed her wrist and shook his head. She was almost disappointed she wouldn’t get to ride the cute little train, but she watched the doors close, and a loud booming voice crackled through the speakers warning everyone to ‘mind the gap’
Elias glanced up at the electronic sign above them.
‘As soon as the train clears the tunnel, follow me. Do it quickly and don’t ask questions, we’ve only got three minutes.’
‘Three minutes for what?’ she asked as the train began to move, disappearing into the tunnel.
‘Three minutes until the next train, and we get splattered across the tracks I’m guessing,’ Scarlett replied as she grabbed Olivia’s hand firmly.
‘WHAT?’
But she didn’t have time to argue; within seconds Elias had the barrier unlocked and was leading them off the edge of the platform into the dark tunnel.
‘I really don’t think this is a good idea,’ Olivia squeaked as Scarlett towed her quickly through the darkness.
She could barely see a damn thing and wondered if Scarlett and Elias both knew how to miraculously see in the dark.
‘Here,’ Elias stopped abruptly and turned to the walls, running his hands along the filthy surface.
Olivia gripped Scarlett’s hand so tightly she almost cut off the circulation, when she heard the tell-tale clanking and felt the warm wind blast down the tunnel.
‘OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD….’
She saw the lights in front of her and suddenly she felt herself pulled roughly inside a doorway hidden in the wall, the cream and red of the train flashing past.
Olivia blew out a shaky breath before turning to Elias and kicking him solidly in the shin.
‘Ow,’ he frowned, ‘what was that for?’
‘For taking ten years off my life. You’re lucky I don’t turn you into a damn toad.’
‘Sorry,’ his mouth twitched, ‘I didn’t have time to explain.’
‘Next time make the time,’ she scowled.
‘Okay,’ he nodded to the tunnel ahead, ‘shall we? We’ve still quite a way to go.’
She lifted her hand sarcastically for him to lead the way, with Scarlett following close behind. The tunnel was as dark as the train tunnel had been, but it seemed to be narrower, more of a foot path, definitely too small for a train to fit through and she found herself breathing a sigh of relief. At least she could tick dismembered by high speed train off her ‘things to avoid tonight’ list.
‘Be careful,’ Elias warned, ‘we’re coming up to steep steps that lead down.’
‘This would be a lot easier if we had some light,’ she whispered harshly.
He stopped abruptly and once again she found herself face planted between his shoulder blades. She felt him turn slowly to face her.
‘Olivia?’ his voice was puzzled. ‘Haven’t you figured out yet how to see in the dark? It’s a basic skill.’
‘Yeah well I didn’t have three centuries to study magic, you don’t need to make me feel like an idiot,’ she replied irritably. ‘I may have come from a witching family, but I wasn’t raised by them. I spent most of my life trying to make rent and get from one day to the next. All this Guardian stuff was just kind of thrown at me. I still haven’t figured it all out yet.’
‘Sorry,’ he apologized, ‘I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Here, give me your hand.’
Olivia reached out and felt him take her hand gently. ‘Close your eyes,’ he told her softly ‘and breathe.’
She did as she was told, feeling a little stupid. There were supposed to be sneaking up on the Veritas, not having magic lessons in a dark, dirty tunnel, miles beneath London.
‘Relax,’ she heard him whisper, ‘and open your mind; reach out and feel the darkness.’
She did as he asked and reached out with her mind. He was right, weirdly enough, she could feel the darkness, but it wasn’t dark at all, it was just like someone had turned down the contrast on the TV. She adjusted her eyes and when she opened them, she sucked in a sharp breath.
It was still dark, but she could see everything, in shades of green and gray. It was like wearing night vision googles.
‘This is so cool,’ she whispered.
�
�Come on,’ Elias tugged her hand to get her moving again, ‘the longer we take the greater the risk of discovery.’
She looked down and saw the old concrete and metal stairs curving downward.
‘How far down does it go?’
‘Quite a way,’ he told her as they set off again.
It seemed like they’d been descending those stairs for days when it finally opened out into a corridor which was so brightly lit Olivia had to cover her eyes until they readjusted. Blinking a few times, she realized that although it was tiled similarly to the Underground station above, it was much cleaner. The tunnel was long and winding, curving to the left; at intervals there were arches, leading where, she wasn’t sure.
‘That way,’ Elias pointed, and Olivia started off walking quickly with Scarlett at her side.
Now that they were in the bright light, there was much more of a sense of urgency and danger, as if they could be discovered at any moment.
‘Hurry,’ Elias told them, ‘we’re being followed.’
Olivia and Scarlett threw an anxious look behind them and quickened their pace.
Suddenly two tall suited men burst through one of the archways and grabbed Elias, Olivia turned, and started back toward him to help.
‘RUN!’ Elias shouted as he wrestled with them, ‘RUN!’
Scarlett grabbed Olivia and although her natural instinct was to go back and help him, she turned and ran.
Elias wrestled with the two burly men until Olivia and Scarlett were well out of sight. He stopped struggling and the two men released him and stepped back. They didn’t speak, simply melted into thin air with a faint wisp of smoke.
Elias watched as the two illusions disappeared, he pulled his phone from his pocket dialing a number and waiting.
‘It’s done,’ he replied flatly, ‘they’re on their way to you in the West tunnel.’
‘Very good,’ Faraday chuckled.
‘Now where’s my daughter, you son of a bitch?’ Elias hissed.
‘All in good time,’ Faraday crooned, ‘we’ll be in touch.’
Elias hung up the call, narrowly resisting the urge to hurl his phone against the wall and smash it to pieces.
The Veritas Page 30
