When Arden arrived at Bell, Book and Candle, the place looked empty and closed up. But that's how Kyle wanted it to look when he wasn't there. She sensed the gentle nudge of his wards, urging her to leave the building, don't approach the front door, there is danger here. She brushed them away as she got out of her silver Mercedes. She'd parked directly in front of the place. It was getting on toward daybreak, the LCD on her dash reading four-thirty four.
Arden came around the front of the Mercedes and couldn't help but look up at the veranda along the front. The doors that once remained open most of the time, to allow a breeze inside, were closed and shuttered. The pots that once were home to a variety of climbing vines and flowering plants were now ceramic graveyards to starved flora and memories. No one, not even Dharma, wanted to spend time upstairs or on the veranda to take care of them.
It was too painful.
It didn't look like anyone was up there, but Clerics could be very deceitful. She should know this better than anyone. Kyle's call about Cosgrove alarmed her. The fact he would use his own Air Elemental to illegally search a Witch's home infuriated her. That was a breech of protocol—the man should be thrown out! Warlocked! His reputation left in ruins!
But then again, the Grand High Witch was a lot like the position of President. Not a lot of checks and balances actually worked.
Yet she'd noticed the subtle shifts in the Clerics, and in Parliament, ever since Circe was brought in and Samantha admitted to being tainted with Arcane. At first their actions had been inconveniences, really. Meetings held at times she couldn't attend. Actions taken in several other parts of the country where Witches rumored to be tainted were rounded up, or just plain disappeared. No word. No trial. No investigations.
She hated that she hadn't paid more attention then. But she'd been so concerned with her own life.
She always had.
And now there was a new force inside. Here. In New Orleans.
Kingsley Thorn.
How did they learn Samantha's power had been stripped? And even more distressing with Cosgrove's visit earlier to her home, and then to Kyle's home, how did they know about a child? How did they suspect? Where were they getting their information?
And what was it Cosgrove had been looking for?
Shove all that down on top of the gnawing anxiety in her stomach caused by not knowing where Lizzie was. Not really knowing who took her. Not knowing if she was safe, happy, fed…alive? There had been no ransom note, and Cosgrove's appearance at Kyle's had been confirmation the Witches didn't have her. Or at least in Arden’s opinion. It seemed to her with Cosgrove’s visit to Kyle the focus had shifted, from is there a child to is there an heirloom?
Arden's phone buzzed so she pulled it from her purse, only to see herself from the perspective of one of the cameras attached to the top of the veranda. She looked up at the camera and then down at the real-time image on her phone. Words appeared in a text bubble in her peripheral vision. She looked at them.
Are you coming in? I can make tea.
Ivan was still inside. Good.
She gathered her skirts as she stepped up on the sidewalk. The door unlocked with a click as she approached and then swung open for her. With a smirk, she stepped inside, through Kyle's barrier, and then the door closed behind her.
Ivan, dressed in his usual jeans, t-shirt and hoodie, stood from his computer at the back counter and came toward her with a smile and a steaming mug. "It's Oolong. Kyle said it was your favorite."
She took it from him and then turned her cheek to him as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to it.
Unlike Kyle's more muscular lean build and all American looks, Ivan was different. His Japanese American heritage shown through in his exotic facial features. They gave him an almost…pixie look sometimes. She wouldn't have been surprised to see pointed ears peeking through all that hair. He kept it trim if not a bit bushy, and he was always clean shaven and smelled of aftershave.
It wasn't just his looks that impressed Arden, but his magic. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. He could manipulate anything connected with a circuit, infiltrate most networks for access without leaving behind a footprint, and he could communicate securely with everyone he chose to. Such as the text message outside.
But there was also a very distinguishing feature to him. His eyes. They were no longer human eyes, but touched by Dragon Blood, and able to see Arcane in any object, or person. He'd gone through excruciating pain to get his sight back, and he owed Crwys a great deal.
She sipped the tea. Not too hot, not too cold and perfectly sweetened. "Very good, Ivan. I'm impressed."
He smiled, but it wasn't a full smile. It didn't touch his eyes and she saw sadness there. "No word on Lizzie?"
"Nothing. But we do know the Witches don't have her."
"Yeah, I figured that from Cosgrove’s visit to Kyle." He gestured for her to join him and she followed him into the back to the large oak table Sam kept for the break area. A few things had changed in the back. Sam's office had been cleaned out to give Kyle an office. Kyle's herb shelf was empty now, everything gone and moved into his and Jack's house.
The biggest change was the staircase that once led down to the basement. The entrance, the staircase, the doors, were all gone. There never had been a basement. It was all Sam's magic, creating a space to keep things away from Cowens, to keep them safe.
The only stairs that remained were the ones going up to Sam and Crwys' apartment.
They sat at the table, with Arden at the head and Ivan to her right.
"Well, he visited me earlier."
"Dharma did mention it, but I don't know what happened?"
"Oh he was looking for traces of a child. Asked me right up front, but he didn't dare release his Air Elemental in my house. Not with my girls there. And my own Water Elemental hanging about." And as if on cue, her Elemental, a small basket-ball sized Undine, appeared in the air beside her. The Elemental swam as if she would in the sea and then moved to sit on Arden's shoulder, amidst her thick, black hair. "Don't worry. We threw him off."
"This was before Lizzie was taken."
"Yes. Which is why at first I thought it was the Clerics. That I'd said something or he suspected anyway so they came in and took her. But I don't think so anymore. Why else would they want to exhume Sam's body?"
"And her body isn't where—"
"We thought it was. Though I don't think Tas is sure she was ever there, though there are some things remaining. Items. We're assuming Crwys took her somewhere else."
"Why? You think he knows the Clerics are looking for a child?"
"I don't know what Crwys thinks. We don't even know if he's awake. Tas can't tell." She sipped her tea. "I also got the information you sent me on Thorn's people. That helps a lot. Thank you."
"I'm glad it helps. I won't lie—that scares me. That this one individual has that kind of power."
"Exactly." She set her mug on the table. "Have you tried to dig anything up on him?"
He laughed softly. "Ever since I logged out of Kyle's house. But there's just nothing there. Nothing I can get to, anyway. He hasn't left any kind of magical print in Cyberspace. Other than the mundane stuff. His birthday, where he was born—"
"What are those?"
"Well, he was born in 1960, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Both parents were Witches, though his father came from a Ceremonial background. But that's where the basics of magic end. Then it just goes on that he graduated with top honors, got a full scholarship to Princeton, majored in Pre-med, but did not go to medical school."
"So, he never became a full doctor?"
"Nope. After that everything goes dark."
Arden pursed her lips. "Have you tried the Magical Web?"
"The what?"
She blinked. "You don’t know about the Magical Web?"
"I guess not. Is that like the deep web?"
"I don’t know what that is." Arden pushed her chair back. She pointed to Sam's old office. "There stil
l a computer in there?"
"Yep, a brand new one."
She marched in there, noticing the newer, more modern furnishings and the flat screen iMac sitting on the desk. Not to mention the nicely framed images of Wiccan deities on the walls. "Password?"
"It's Kyle."
Right. She typed in MagicalMen.
The computer came up and she typed in the url to enter the Magical Web. This wasn't something on the mainframe of any company, or server. And it wasn't searchable, by any engine. The screen went blank. It took a few seconds before a prompt showed up for name and password. She entered hers and clicked the submit button.
At first she thought she'd been locked out too, until the standard symbol of the Clerics showed up, a triangle and dove with a caduceus. She pulled down the menu for search and hit personnel. She typed in Kingsley Thorn and hit enter.
INFORMATION UNAVAILABLE.
"Wot?" Arden put her hands on the keyboard.
"Arden, can I try?"
She pushed her chair back. "Be my guest. Nail that sucker."
Arden vacated the seat and Ivan sat down. He didn't really put his fingers on the keys as much as rested them on top. His eyes glowed green as he connected, this much Arden knew. Things flew across the screen. Files and images moving so fast she couldn't keep up with them.
They abruptly stopped as Ivan yanked his hands away and pushed himself and the chair back. He said a few choice words under his breath and put his hands to his face.
She immediately put her hand on his back. "What? What happened?"
"Ice…those fuckers installed Black Ice on that system." He had his face buried in his hands so his voice was muffled.
"I don't get it—"
"Ice means Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics. They're programs installed to stop hackers, like me." He moved his hands away but stayed bent over, keeping his face hidden. "They're…three kinds of ICE. White, which trips an alarm. Grey fights back. And Black will follow your ass back to where you came in and fry your computer."
Arden straightened and looked at the iMac, half expecting it to explode. "So…you said Black ICE. Did it come after you?"
His shoulders were moving and at first she thought he was crying—until he sat up and she saw tears coming down his cheeks and he was—laughing!
She stepped back and put her hands on her hips. "Did you just lose your shit?"
"No, no," he said between bouts of laughter. "It's all good. And so am I." He wiped at his face with his sleeve before he pointed to the computer. "Oh I tripped the bad shit. I fucked with Black Ice."
Again she looked at the computer. "Did…did it destroy the computer?"
"Nope." He scooted forward again and touched the keys. The screen lit back up and looked like the normal backdrop for Kyle's computer. "I'm going to pool all the files into a single folder and put it into a redundancy. Meaning I'm going to make lots of copies and send them out to safe areas on the web."
"So—what about the Black ICE?"
"Oh, that." He looked up at her and grinned. "I don't go into systems without my own countermeasures, Arden. I keep a record of IP addresses here," he pointed to his head. "So I spoof my location—sort of like a VPN service."
She held up her hands. "In English??"
"I made the Black ICE think I was coming from somewhere else. So I turned left, and it turned right and followed that false lead." He reached into his pocket and shoved a small jump drive into the back of the computer.
"So, where did you send it?"
"To the IP address of Martin Cosgrove." He started copying files.
Arden laughed. And then she laughed harder. And then she rubbed her face. "Oh Sweet Lord and Lady, Ivan."
"Like I said, it's all good. And so is the stuff I just dug up on Thorn, but I don't want to look at it here. I'd like to look at it on a closed system."
"A what?"
"Something not connected to the internet. I have just the laptop to—"
Something made a noise above them. Both stopped and looked up, then looked at each other. He narrowed his eyes at her as he pulled the jump drive out and stuck it in his pocket. He trashed the folder and stood up. "Is someone in Sam's apartment?" he whispered.
"That's why I came over," she whispered back. "Wait…" Then she forced a Link and he blinked a bit.
She turned and headed out of the office.
Ivan followed her to the stairs.
TWELVE
Okay so…I really wasn't good at a lot of things in the life I knew at the moment. One of them being landing. After what felt like weeks of getting the hang of taking off, gliding, swooping, spinning, doing seriously crazy ariel maneuvers, getting back on the ground without a large body of water to splash into was proving harder than anything else I'd tried.
But I had to do it.
Why?
Er….because I'd splashed the lake so many times it was less than an inch of water now. God Mother had had to relocate all the fish and other things that lived in it to a safer place.
Twelve crashes, three possibles that ended in crashes, and then at the end of the day, a final semi-okay landing (with me learning to back flap my wings to slow my speed) and I finally got the nod from Zeph.
Yay.
So. Now what?
No one told me. In fact, a few days later, or what felt like days because I wasn't really sure how time passed here, and I hadn't seen God Mother. In fact, I'd only seen Zephyros twice. I had food I could hunt and eat, and yeah I was starting to like it, and there was a spring nearby for fresh water. When I was bored, which was a lot, I flew and discovered pretty quick that when I wasn't worried about staying in the air and just simply taking in my surroundings, I could look at the world around me.
And discovered something annoying.
It folded in on itself.
A better analogy would be—it repeated itself. It reminded me of the background of some of those old cartoons. If a character was running and you watched the scenery go by behind them and you’d noticed you saw the same tree and cloud a dozen times?
That was pretty much it. I'd go for a while, pass the now empty lake and then eventually, when I knew I was soaring in a straight line, I would pass the empty lake again. I tried this in all four directions (somehow I'd developed a sense of direction—imagine that!) and I'd come back on that lake every time. So I knew the world I lived in was finite.
It was after one of these frustrating flights that Zeph showed up again. He was in his human form, though still a bit transparent. He looked worried. And if an Air Elemental is worried? Yeah…then I'm worried. Zeph?
He stopped in front of me. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting. It wasn't my choice. But, God Mother is…" he cleared his throat. "Unsure how to proceed."
Eh? I tilted my head to the side.
"She had plans—a specific one—to prepare you for your new role, which is one filled with responsibility. But, something's happened. Something she wasn't prepared for. I've been arguing with her, having believed since she is the All-Mother that she wouldn't be caught off guard."
And you've discovered that even God Mother isn't infallible?
He nodded.
Sucks, doesn't it?
"Yes it does. And I'm not sure I'm happier with her new idea."
Which is? But he didn't have to say it. I saw it, in his mind. It was there, right in front of me. I'd never been able to read minds before, and I didn't count Links between—
Links between—that sounded and felt familiar. What had I had a Link with before? I'd shared a Link, hadn't I? With someone very special. Someone I had mixed fe
elings for.
Zeph cleared his throat. I looked at him. "That," he pointed at me. "Is why she feels—"
I should stay here. Indefinitely?
"It's where Her thoughts are going, but that isn't possible. You have many responsibilities waiting for you—and one in particular that can't—"
I was getting annoyed with his stopping and starting so I took the thought from him. It can't wait. There's something…no, someone, that needs me.
The sound of a child invaded my thoughts again. A baby crying. A woman screaming out a name. I turned and looked behind me. I always looked behind me.
"And there is why she fears you are not ready."
What? I looked back at him. Because I'm always hearing a child?
He didn't look at me.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure this shit out. But what it did take was all my patience with him. Zephyros—do I have a child?
His non-answer, answered me.
I turned away then, not really focusing on anything else. My mind thrashed about like a ping-pong ball, trying to break down walls I hadn't noticed before. Anger churned in my stomach as I thought, or even considered, that I'd been pulled away from a child.
My child.
How…how could she do that?
"Sam—"
Answer me, Zephyros! I turned and literally blew black smoke at him through my nostrils. Do I have a child?
He nodded.
And it's my child. I had a baby.
He nodded again.
My eyes stung then and I sat on my haunches, my wings folded against my back. I couldn't… How could she take me from my child? How could she make this decision? A child needs their mother! That last thought came out a bit louder than I intended and I saw it in the Air Elemental's pained face.
Finally he bowed his head and started to grow until he stood above me and looked down. I took a few hesitant steps back to the cave I'd called home as I looked up at him. "Sam, I need you to stop reacting emotionally, and listen to me."
But—
"NO DISCUSSION!"
And that's when I decided Zephyros was a scary bastard. But I did as he said, even though the sound of the child was louder now.
Elemental Dreams: An Urban Fantasy Series (The Eldritch Files Book 9) Page 8
