Magic on the Line

by Devon Monk

  “Do you have the boss’s number?” Jack asked.

  Shame jerked a thumb my way. “Allie. The boss is Allie. You can’t tell me you don’t have her number.” He plucked up a maple bar. “Later, lovelies. C’mon, Jack, my friend. Let’s see what this city’s made of. Bet it’s whiskey.” Then Shame was out the door, Jack following him.

  I watched Zayvion’s body language relax by a fraction. Why had he been worried about Shame? And then it hit me. Zay had Closed Shame’s mother. Shame had been arguing with Terric, but he had also been completely ignoring Zay. They hadn’t said one word to each other. That wasn’t like them at all.

  Great. Just what I needed. More problems between us.

  “So Shame is going to track some Veiled,” I said, “and see if they are behaving differently than normal. Terric, you’re going to get information on the epidemic. That leaves you and me, Zayivon.”

  “And where do you think we’re going?” he asked.

  “To the cisterns.”

  “Lot of cisterns in a city this size,” he noted.

  “Are there ghosts in the cisterns?” Bea asked excitedly.

  “I don’t think so.”

  She deflated like a popped balloon.

  “So why are you Hounding the cisterns?” she asked.

  “Because they hold magic for the city. That’s a large concentration of magic. I just want to check and make sure there aren’t any Veiled messing with it.”

  Okay, that was only part of the truth. The rest of the truth was that I wanted to get to a source of magic—if not a well, then at least a holding and storage facility, so I could make sure that the contagion wasn’t being transmitted by magic itself. Because if magic was tainted, poisoned, we were all dead and just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I was finishing off my second doughnut and checking my phone for messages from Nola when the elevator out in the hall dinged, soon followed by a soft knock on the door.

  Nola and Cody.

  I walked over and opened the door.

  Nola wore a really cute red wool jacket, jeans, and boots. Her smile was like sunshine on a gloomy day.

  “Hey, Nola.” I gave her a hug and once again remembered how much smaller than me she was even though she was in heeled boots and I was in running shoes. “Missed you.”

  “Missed you too. I haven’t been up here before. Is it yours?”

  I stepped back so she could walk in. “I’m leasing it, along with the second floor, for the Hounds. Hey, Cody. How are you?”

  Cody looked how he always looked. Fair-haired, blue-eyed, a little lost, but happy. Even though he had a childlike view of the world, he was in his early twenties. “Monster doesn’t talk anymore.”

  I knew who Monster was. It was Stone. I hadn’t seen Stone for days. “Have you seen Monster?”

  Cody nodded. “He doesn’t talk anymore.”

  “Where have you seen him, Cody?”

  “Outside.”

  So not helpful.

  “Maybe he’ll talk again soon.” Stone didn’t talk. So all I could assume was that Stone wasn’t making his cooing sounds. That was sort of odd.

  “Come on in, Cody. This is one of my houses.”

  Nola gave me another smile and walked in, Cody right beside her.

  “Nola, you know Terric and Zayvion,” I said. “This is Beatrice Lufkin, and Eli Collins. And over there on the bed is Davy Silvers.”

  Nola stopped in her tracks, her smile faltering. “Is he sick?” she asked. Which probably meant she’d seen the newscasts and the warnings of the epidemic.

  “He is,” I said.

  “Bad.” Cody took a step forward. Nola reached out to catch his wrist and stop him from strolling over to Davy, but he pulled his arm out of her way, his one and only goal being Davy’s bed.

  “Hello, Cody,” Collins said. “Do you remember me?”

  Cody looked up as if seeing him for the first time.

  “I do remember you,” Cody said.

  I totally couldn’t read his tone of voice. Not exactly afraid, not angry, more like someone who had just opened the door to a salesman and was too polite to slam it in the salesman’s face.

  “Why is he hurt?” Cody asked.

  Collins seemed to spring into motion. “I think magic is poisoning him, Cody. Can you look and see if magic is poisoning him?”

  “No,” Nola said. “Cody doesn’t use magic. And people do not use him to do so. Allie?”

  “I’m sorry—Nola, was it?” Collins said. “I didn’t mean to overstep my bounds. But I believe that is what Allison brought Mr. Miller here to do.”

  Nola turned her accusing stare on me.

  Great. Ass of a thing to do, Collins, I thought.

  “Let me tell you what’s going on,” I started.

  “I said no one can use Cody for their magical needs,” Nola said. “You know that. It’s the only way to make sure that he can live as normal a life as possible.”

  “I know. And if you decide you don’t want him to help us in any way after I explain everything, I will not push it. You’re his Guardian. What you say goes.”

  She held my gaze for a long moment. “You’ve changed, Allie. Do you even know that?”

  It was like she had just slammed her fist in my stomach. I had changed. I’d been possessed by my father, joined the Authority, lived a secret life trying to keep the city safe from people who used magic in secret ways. I’d walked into death and back. Literally. And I’d tried to keep her safe from it all. Cody too. I was asking her to break her own rules, rules she put in place to try to keep Cody safe. Maybe this was all wrong. Maybe I was all wrong.

  Be patient, Dad said. Cody will come to no harm.

  Cody rubbed at the side of his head with his palm. “Hello?” he said.

  That was weird.

  “Yes,” I said, to Nola, as steady as if I were sitting on a witness stand. “I have changed. But I’m still me. Please listen before you go.”

  She looked down, thinking.

  “Hello?” Cody said again, looking up at the ceiling.

  “I have doughnuts,” I said.

  “Doughnuts!” Cody said. “Please can I have one?”

  “If Nola says you can.”

  She looked back up at me. Shook her head, but didn’t look as angry. “Yes, Cody you can have a doughnut. One,” she added.

  “Okay, one,” he said. He walked over to the box and studied the contents before choosing a jelly-filled.

  “So what is the problem?” she asked.

  “How about some coffee?” I walked with her to the kitchen area because I wanted space between us and everyone else in the room. Not that they wouldn’t be able to hear us. Even though Bea was chatting with Collins, something about the most gruesome magic deaths they’d both witnessed—girl had a macabre sense of humor—there was no hiding our conversation in this echo chamber.

  Still, I felt bad dragging Nola and Cody into this.

  “You really are worried, aren’t you?” she said.

  “How could you tell?”

  She pointed at the coffeepot. “A half-burnt pot of coffee on the burner? Blasphemy.”

  I laughed. “That, I can fix.” I took the pot to the sink, filled it with fresh water, scooped fresh-ground coffee into the filter, and started the pot.

  “Davy’s been hurt by magic—poisoned, more specifically,” I said. “Collins is caring for him medically and magically. That table full of gadgets is mostly magic and tech units doing what they can to slow the spread of magic in his body.”

  She glanced at the table, taking note of everything there. I had no doubt that she’d be able to recall every object if asked. Nola had a very sharp memory.

  “Collins said he’s fine-tuned the instruments to the best of his abilities, but we wondered if Cody could fine-tune them even more.”

  “With magic?” she asked.

  “Not necessarily.”

  “I don’t think he can use magic, Allie,”
she said. “He’s not ... up to that kind of thing.”

  She was right. Cody’s mind was broken, Closed. And I doubted that he had enough mental stamina and concentration to actually be able to use magic. “If he could just look at the things Collins is using, maybe he can see something we can’t.”

  “He won’t use magic?”

  “I don’t think he’ll have to.”

  She nodded. “We can try that.” She walked over to Cody, who was shoving the last of the doughnut into his mouth, a little bit of red jelly on his bottom lip.

  “Cody, Davy is sick,” Nola said.

  Cody looked over at Davy, then back at Nola. Waiting.

  “Allie wanted to know if you could look at the magic things the doctor is using and see if you think they’re good.” She shot me a look and I nodded.

  “Just the things on the table,” I said. “Some of them have dials and stuff. We don’t want you to touch them, but look at them.”

  “Like art?” he asked.

  “Like looking at art, yes,” I said.

  Cody walked off to the sink and very meticulously washed his fingers, hands, and his arms halfway to his elbows.

  When he turned around there was more focus than I usually saw in his eyes. “Let me see,” he said.

  I led him over to Davy’s bed. “Those are the instruments there—they have magic in them too,” I said.

  Cody stepped over to the table and folded his hands behind his back, bending at the waist to take a closer look at the gadgets and their functions, but careful not to touch a single thing.

  “These work now?” he asked.

  Collins walked around the head of Davy’s bed and stood next to the table. “Yes. Fully functional. I’ve followed through with the designs, made some improvements, that sort of thing.”

  “Have you two worked together before?” Nola asked.

  Collins glanced at her. I noted his gaze did not wander all over her body. That must be something he saved just for me.

  Special.

  “Not really, no. But some of these designs are his. I worked for a business that he did some work for.”

  “Really?” Nola stepped up closer to the table. “Did you make some of these things, Cody?”

  “Some of them,” Cody said. He looked over at Davy, then back at the table.

  “Can we make any of them work better, help Davy get better faster?” I asked.

  Cody frowned. “I think that one.” He pointed with one finger but didn’t touch the machine.

  “How so?” Collins asked.

  Cody straightened and looked up at the rafters. He started rocking a little from foot to foot, maybe just agitated, but with his hands folded behind his back, he looked like he really was trying to figure out the problem.

  We all waited patiently.

  “I think something.” Cody looked back at Collins. “That’s the wrong magic.” He pointed at the machine he’d been studying.

  “What would be the right magic?” Collins asked.

  Cody looked around the room as if he were about to reveal a big secret no one should know.

  “You can whisper it in my ear if you want.” Collins walked over to Cody and Cody leaned forward to say something.

  I, and probably Bea, heard him clearly whisper, “Death.” I was pretty sure no one else, like Nola, heard it.

  “Ah. Well, I can certainly adjust that,” Collins said. “Thank you, Cody. You may have done a lot of good today.”

  I was surprised at how kindly Collins was treating him. Cody practically beamed. “Can I help more?” he asked. “Can I do magic?”

  “No,” Nola said. “I think you’ve helped enough. Right, Mr. Collins?”

  “Very much so.”

  Cody looked disappointed. “Okay,” he said quietly. Then he walked over and sat in the chair next to Davy, staring at him. “Bad,” he said.

  “I think I’ll be heading out,” Terric said. “Good day, all.”

  “See you soon,” Zay said.

  Terric left and I took a deep breath. “Okay, so that’s good,” I said. “Nola, I do have some other things I need to take care of today. How long are you staying in town?”

  “We’re leaving day after tomorrow,” she said. “Want to catch up tomorrow sometime?”

  “Yes. I’ll call.”

  “You better,” she said with mock sternness. “Cody, it’s time for us to go. Cody?”

  I looked over at him. He had placed his hand on Davy’s chest, delicately, so as not to disturb the magic or the leads that were connected there.

  His eyes were closed and he was humming softly.

  “Cody, don’t,” Nola said.

  “Wait,” I said. I could see magic. Could see the Syphon spell, and the hard ropes of magic that were slowly strangling Davy.

  And I could see more.

  Cody’s hand, in the center of Davy’s chest, glowed with a very soft pink light. And that light spread like slow water across Davy’s chest, reaching out to the lines of black. Where the light touched the black, they muddied and diffused, creating a sort of bluish fog.

  Davy took a deep, easy breath and exhaled. The tightness around his eyes and mouth softened, and a little color seemed to flood his cheeks.

  “Cody,” I said quietly, “what are you doing?”

  Cody opened his eyes, and at the sight of everyone watching him, stopped humming and snatched his hand away. “I want to go now.” He stood and walked stiffly away from Davy as if he’d been caught stealing cookies.

  “It’s okay, Cody,” I said. “You’re not in trouble. I think what you were doing was very nice.”

  “No,” Cody said. “I want to go now.” He walked over to the door and stood there facing it, not opening it, but not turning back to the room either.

  “What did you see?” Nola asked.

  “Nothing bad,” I said. “I’m not sure it was magic. He just had his hand there and it seemed to help Davy some.”

  Collins frowned and cast a Sight spell that stank to high heaven.

  Okay, whatever Cody had done couldn’t have been magic—it didn’t stink.

  “Is he okay?” she asked.

  I looked at Cody. “I don’t think he’s done anything wrong. I don’t think he used magic. Is Davy all right?” I asked Collins.

  He nodded. “He’s perfectly fine.”

  I gave Nola a quick hug and walked with her to the door. “Whatever he did it wasn’t a bad thing.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive.”

  She nodded. “You’ll call tomorrow?”

  “Yes,” I said. Whatever we decide to do should have chocolate involved.”

  I opened the door for them, and Nola touched Cody’s arm. “Now stop being sad,” she said. “Everything is okay. I promise.”

  Cody nodded. “Everything is okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Monster isn’t talking.” He walked out in the hall beside Nola.

  Just before I shut the door I heard Nola say, “That’s okay with me. Monster is too noisy.”

  Cody laughed. “No, he isn’t.”

  I turned back to the people in the room. Collins was carefully adjusting the dials on one of the machines.

  “Did Cody do something?” I asked. Dumb question. I knew he did something. I just wondered if he made things worse.

  “He did indeed,” Collins said distractedly. “I don’t know what, exactly, he did, but Davy is resting much more comfortably.”

  “Do you think he helped slow the poison somehow?”

  “I’ll run tests. I’ll let you know.”

  I picked up my coat and shrugged into it. “Bea, can you see who’s available to keep an eye on Davy and Collins while we’re out?”

  “How about me?” Sid said, walking into the room.

  “I don’t need a guard,” Collins muttered.

  “He’s not a guard,” I said. “He’s my eyes and ears in case anything changes with Davy.”

  “Typical micromanag
ement,” Collins muttered. I didn’t care.

  “Ready?” I said to Zay and Bea.

  Bea bounced up like she had springs in her shoes. “This is going to be so much fun!”

  I exchanged a glance with Zayvion. Tracking down magic to see if it had been contaminated or if the Veiled were messing with it somehow sounded like the same kind of fun as a root canal. Plus, if we found out magic had been poisoned, the next logical questions were: from what and by whom?

  Usually those answers were found only on the other side of a heaping pile of pain.

  “I’ll drive,” Zayvion said.

  I zipped up my coat. “Good. Bea, I’d like you to take your car. Better we have options.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of you two lovebirds,” she cooed.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  She giggled and headed out the door. If she did her job right I wouldn’t see her again until this was done.

  “We should have sent her with Shame,” I grumbled.

  Sid snorted.

  Collins seemed to notice there were people in the room again. He looked over at me, then at Zayvion. We were just about to head to the door.

  “Allison,” he said, “I’d like a word with you. In private.”

  “This is as private as it’s going to get,” I said. “Talk.”

  “There is something I thought you might need.” He walked over to the door and I followed him. Beneath his coat that was hung neatly on the coat hook on the wall was a black leather doctor’s bag. I hadn’t even noticed it.

  He picked it up and opened the lock. No magic, but I believe some kind of high-tech scanner was involved. He pulled the handles apart and sorted through a few things on the inside, all muffled by cotton or cloth since they didn’t make any sound against one another and didn’t squeak or smell like plastic wrap either.

  He withdrew two small bundles wrapped in cloth. The string tying them tight was certainly magic in some way. The strings seemed to be moving around the packages, like a slowly creeping snake, even though with normal sight they just looked like string.

  “What are they?” I asked.

  “Weapons,” he said. “Of quite a fine design, actually. And useful even in the hands of someone who doesn’t use magic.”

  I hesitated to take them.

  “Come now,” he said. “Faint heart never saved fair Davy.”