The Dark Side of the Moon (Wine of the Gods Book 23)

by Pam Uphoff

  Spell after spell crashed into their shields, and they held.

  Heliotrope faced Answer directly, reaching behind to hold Indigo and Obsidian's hands, all three of them more or less facing Answer. A battle triad, Answer had called it.

  Answer nodded in satisfaction. "You three together ought to be able to take Jade and Teri together. If they have a third, for a triad, you could have trouble. Remember, you can call for help." Her lips pressed together, some slight leak of a deep emotion, so faint Heliotrope wasn't sure what it was. Anguish? Anger? Pain? "If you are more than three or four hundred miles away, you'd better yell for the God of War. I can't teleport that far."

  Heliotrope nodded, and slowly let the triad fall apart.

  Answer snorted. "Go away for a week. Then come for a couple of days every week. And practice a little every day."

  As soon as they were out of the old witch's hearing range, Indigo snorted. "I'm going to go home and heal a little bit every day!"

  Obsidian nodded. "Well, I have a baby to raise, but I will practice . . . and then we need to figure out how to find the Hors."

  "Yeah. I'll work with Q, and see if she'll check in with Magic Central and find out if they've heard anything."

  ***

  "First time in my life I've been glad dad was filthy rich."

  Heliotrope raised eyebrows.

  "He's a silent partner in so many businesses, and outright owns so many buildings, that there was no problem finding high points for the repeaters. I used standard Oner equipment, and the comms seem to work . . . mostly." Q scowled at her computer screen.

  "Umm, let me see . . . " It was a relief to bury herself in technical stuff. Nothing but a residual ache to remind her that she had a child out there. Stolen. Treated who knew how. I want to cry on Asti's shoulder . . . I want to let him be strong for me, for just a little bit. I just need to find Jade or Teri one more time . . . And then I'll find out if he wants me any more.

  Heliotrope straightened her shoulders and walked over to Lord Fredie's computer.

  "I think I've got the overlay working. But . . . something's a bit off . . . "

  "I think the scale . . . " Heliotrope dived back into the tech. Emotions later.

  Students and professors can and went . . . but not Asti.

  Fredie caught her glance toward his machine. "He always checks downstairs, asks if you're here. And . . . well, now he stays away. You two are being stupid, you know?"

  She bit her lip. "Yeah. I know."

  ***

  "You need a haircut." Yoderite looked her up and down and shook her head. "Badly."

  Scarlet looked over. "At least the bruises have faded. Really, you and Indigo . . . well . . . I guess I understand. I just don't see what you can do."

  "So let us haul you out for a haircut. And a facial. And your nails. Old Gods, Helio, what were you doing? Digging with your bare hands?"

  "Learning. Oh who cares. Do you still go to that Tressa person's place?"

  "Leanna's place now, although Leanna says she's just the manager. They're still very good."

  She let herself be swept away, and down to their favorite beauty shop. Ignored their heavenward gazes at her over-sized purse that she used more as a briefcase these days. And relaxed under a mushed vegetable mask that did feel good on her face, eyes closed and relaxed while an amazingly dull girl worked on her fingernails.

  She shut out her sisters' chatter and softened her shields. The dull girl . . . had a horribly roiled aura. Nothing like any of the distressed or frightened people she'd felt from time to time. It was more like she'd been attacked, parts of her hacked away.

  She has no volition, no sense of self. If a computer had an aura, it would feel like this. Just a . . . thing . . . responding to orders, doing its programmed routine. What happened to her?

  Jade or Teri? Ricardo?

  Do they come here? Ever? Regularly?

  I need Indigo and Obsidian, so we can . . . no. We shouldn't attack them here. We need to follow them, without them suspecting us.

  Locations . . . that's all I've been working on for days.

  She subdued an urge to reach for her purse. For her comm.

  "Well, well. Look who's just stepped into my shoes." A stranger's voice. Female. Hostile. Sounding like she was across the salon . . . no, not a complete stranger. That was Tressa, the owner . . . who had disappeared when Leanna took over running the place.

  Tressa. Old Gods. I thought she looked a bit familiar. Can that actually be Teri?

  Right here, right now?

  "So who put you in charge?"

  "I put myself in charge. Someone had to do something when you disappeared. No matter, You'll find everything in place and all the money accounted for." The nice woman who'd greeted them was trying to sound confident. "And of course I paid myself a salary."

  The dull girl finished her nails and started peeling the veggie mess off Heliotrope's face.

  "A salary? Oh, my. Now just how much did you think you were worth?"

  Heliotrope strained but couldn't hear an answer. She opened her eyes and tried to look casual as she turned her head and watched the two blondes walking further back and through the door to the staff parts of the salon.

  Damn. Is there an exit back there?

  The dull girl was dabbing at her face now, and chirped something about not touching any thing with her hands for a few more minutes, and as soon as Franz was open they'd shampoo and cut her hair.

  Heliotrope smiled and nodded. Didn't take her gaze off the door to the back. Blew on her fingers to hasten the drying of the pearly pink polish.

  A middle aged man, as dull and empty as the girl approached, and led her off for a shampoo . . .

  A laugh from the back as Teri walked back out. "An honest manager! Who would have thought it!"

  Heliotrope slipped her hand into her purse, pulled out the comm. Held it down and mostly out of sight while she turned it on. And walked over to the women.

  "Tressa! How nice to see you again. Did you have a good voyage?"

  Teri glanced her direction, and grinned. "Why yes, I've enjoyed every bit of my vacation . . . and in fact I think I'll get right back to it. Once I've collected a few more lotions and dyes." She had a bag hanging from her elbow, with bottles in it.

  As the witch turned away, Heliotrope dropped the comm into Tressa's bag, turned and followed Franz. Kept her shields up so her agitation wouldn't show. It was the longest, most horrible shampoo she'd ever suffered through. Only the occasional tones of Tressa's voice kept her from leaping up and running out with her hair full of bubbles.

  Tressa seemed to be having fun making Leanna nervous and defensive, as Tressa poked into everything.

  "I've done well by you! I earned my salary."

  Franz combed out her hair and started snipping.

  "Indeed. You've actually impressed me. Keep up the good work."

  Heliotrope sat up and turned to watch Tressa stride out the door.

  Heliotrope pulled out her coin purse, handed a handful of gold royals to Franz and followed.

  "But . . . I'm not done?"

  Helio ignored the poor confused creature. She spotted Tressa climbing into a taxi that turned and headed west.

  Helio strode quickly after them, as the cabbie turned at the first corner. She managed to get to the corner in time to spot them two blocks away, turning again. She grabbed her skirts and ran, but they were lost in traffic, or had turned again.

  She looked around, waved down a taxi. She felt herself blush as he stared at her hair. Tossed him a royal. "Take me to the university. South side. Merit Building. Hurry."

  She dug into her purse for hair pins, and twisted her wet, half cut hair into a bun at the nap of her neck. Flung the driver another royal and leapt out of the taxi, bolted for the computer room.

  "Fredie. Excellent. I had an idea, and sent one of my sisters out with my comm. Can Q's system find it? Track it?"

  "Ah. That's what that is. Q's off getting more rep
eaters, and I was frantic about what to do about that spot." He tapped his screen. "It keeps moving."

  Heliotrope grinned at the sight of the moving spot of light. "Where is that, relative to which repeaters?"

  "Here." Fredie scowled at the screen. An irregular grid popped up on the screen, and he nodded. "I think I've got the map overlay right . . . oops, but your comm's signal just died out . . . either the battery died, or more likely, my system just dropped the signal. It was in between stations, and out pretty far." He stuck a finger on the computer screen.

  Heliotrope nodded. "Well, it was an interesting test of your system. I'll go find Indigo and see if your tracking matched her movement."

  She leaned closer to the screen. "What's the grid size? Metric I suppose?"

  "Yes the lines are every hundred meters."

  So corner of Green Meadow and Cliffside . . . then seventy-five meters south and a bit over two hundred east.

  She kept up the appearance of nonchalance until she was out of the room. Then she strode out, heading for the main entrance. I need another taxi . . . She trotted through the doors and angled for the street.

  Stumbled to an uncertain halt as she recognized the trap pulling to a stop, the man leaping out of the back seat. "Asti . . ."

  She heard her voice going squeaky and stopped. His father was driving, Lady Sashi was sitting beside him.

  "Helio, I need to talk to you."

  She grabbed his arm. "I . . . I need to go somewhere, right now. We can talk, please? But later?"

  "Get her in here, son. Heliotrope? Where do you need to go?" Lord Andre lifted his reins suggestively. "I was going to take Sashi for a drive . . . so give us a destination."

  Asti hauled her to the trap. "We can talk on the way."

  "Oh . . . it's dangerous." She shook her head. "Corner of Green Meadow and Cliffside. Go down Main to Heso and . . . then I need to go on alone. If Jade or Teri is there . . . You can't protect yourselves, you can't hurt her. You must leave me there."

  "You'll need help." Asti set his jaw. "Call up some other witches."

  "Oh!" :: Indigo! Go get Obsidian! I have another possible location for Teri! Meet me at the corner of Green Meadow and Cliffside. That’s two blocks south of where Cliffside crosses Heso. ::

  :: Right! Should I call for Q? ::

  :: Tell her we're investigating . . . if she's not across on some other world. ::

  Heliotrope looked back at Asti. "Right I've got other witches coming."

  Sashi turned around in the front seat. "Be careful. Asti told us about your baby. I understand how frantic you must be . . . but . . . oh, don't get yourself killed, please!"

  Heliotrope swallowed . . . felt the prickle of tears and shook her head. Hold onto your anger . . . "I will find my daughter."

  Lord Andre cast a worried look over his shoulder, then steered the team around the corner. "Two blocks, you say?"

  "Yes. Then let me out. I'll need to pace it out."

  Heliotrope frowned as Asti hopped out at the corner.

  "I'll just help you measure it." His jaw stuck out stubbornly. "And wait with you for your friends."

  Heliotrope glowered. "No. You will wait here and direct my friends to go . . . " More conversions . . . Six hundred and, and more, feet east. An eighth of a mile, pretty much.

  She turned away from him and started counting her paces. Long city blocks, but with smaller streets running off the main ones. Large private houses on large—for the city—lots. She crossed one side road and kept going. Half the block. She slowed, looking east. She was pretty much in line with the houses facing south on the next small street.

  "Wait here, Asti. I'm going to use an unnoticeable spell, and walk down near where my signal ended. I need your help—but you have to stay out of the fight. Stay here, and send the others down this road. Tell them roughly an eighth of a mile east. I hope to figure out which house."

  His mouth was tight, and his nod jerky. "Be careful, damn it."

  She turned away and started walking.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Fall 1397

  Karista, Kingdom of the West

  Six hundred feet put her just past one house, with a large one just ahead. Unkempt looking shrubberies, weedy half-dead flower gardens . . . Heliotrope closed her eyes, and softened her shields. Nothing alive, unless it was incredibly shielded.

  This is it.

  She slid quietly down the carriageway, peeking into rooms. Reached for the back door's knob . . . jerked her hand back and backed away breathing fast . . . paused and felt mentally for spells . . . Oh yes. She forced herself to quiet down enough to counter the panic spell, the dread, the revulsion. Took a deep breath and walked up to the door again. Shielded against mental effects as hard as she could and tested the doorknob. Locked. A soft rotary spell took care of that, and she pushed the door open, standing carefully to the side.

  Nothing happened. She stepped in. A dusty boot room, a few footprint scuffs on the floor, but not the path that regular use would have created.

  Damn, damn, damn! They don't live here.

  She walked cautiously further into the house. Dust again. Undisturbed on furniture, barely tracked up on the floor. She followed the footprints until they split, some one had gone down to the basement and come up . . . and gone into the main part of the house and walked upstairs and down.

  She eyed the dark at the bottom of the basement steps and decided to check upstairs first.

  The footprints led past closed doors, no sign she'd deviated from a straight path to that door right there. There was light showing at the bottom of the door. Daylight, not lamplight, by the color.

  The curtains must be open.

  No spells on the doorknob. Heliotrope reached for it . . . then paused to lower her shields.

  :: Indigo? Obsidian? ::

  And faint and distant: :: Coming! ::

  She sent the address. ::No one here, I'm about to check out a room on the first floor up, at the back of the house. ::

  She opened the door.

  An empty room. Curtains pulled closed over a small window, the wall to the right was covered with a corridor. Dark rock, palm trees, the cone of a volcano rising above them. Bright sunshine making her blink a bit.

  :: We're in Karista now, on our way. ::

  :: There's a corridor here, to someplace in the tropics. I'll take a quick look. :: Heliotrope swallowed, closed her mental shields as tight as she could, and stepped through.

  A path to a clearing, straight ahead. Through the trees, she could see a house with a wide veranda. More buildings beyond it. Movement . . .

  Heliotrope dodged to the side, behind a palm tree. Not a very good hiding place, but at least I'm not obvious . . .

  She kept going, sliding between palms and bending low behind bushes, moving up gradually on the clearing. Half a dozen women. An outdoor kitchen, tables under roofs. A trio of teenagers over to one side, with . . . yes, there was Jade. It looked like she was giving magic lessons. The girl with the bright red hair was doing a basic power collection. Wavelength? No, she's only five. But the hair . . . And I'd swear that's Centauri. They must have a fast bubble . . . but how could they spend years in one? In four and a half months!

  Heliotrope stiffened as a baby's hungry wail reached her. One of the women walked over to a stone box, a large bed perhaps, and picked up a baby. More cries, and other women were headed for the box.

  Three babies at least. Mine and Indigo's twins. I don't see Obsidian's toddlers anywhere, though.

  The women nursed the babies, changed their diapers and put them back in the stone bed-box.

  Heliotrope's eyes searched the underbrush. If I could sneak around to that stone box, grab the three babies . . . Tell Centauri and Wavelength to run for the corridor . . .

  Obsidian and Indigo leaped out of the corridor and ran forward, concentrated power in both hands and murder in their eyes, as they started throwing spells.

  The two women by the babies collapsed. Jade spu
n throwing up a hand to cast.

  "Centauri! Wavelength! Run for the corridor!" Heliotrope strode out into the clearing, heading for the babies . . . jerking to a halt as Tressa, Teri, stepped out in front of the children.

  Teri laughed. "Oh, you little weakling. The girls don't want to go back to that boring, tame, routine. Girls, run into the jungle, there are going to be a lot of spells flying around."

  Heliotrope's breath caught as all three girls ran away, out of sight. "You bitch. What lies have you been telling them?" Teri started fashioning a spell, a simple stun, and behind it, slice.

  Mental shield, and behind it, physical. Heliotrope pulled up a simple push, and started shock. Bounce the stun, deflect the slice. Half of a palm tree crashed down. Helio threw the push with the shock on its heels. Bounce.

  Teri yipped as the shock got through, but she hadn't put enough energy into it . . . Heliotrope started pulling power, glanced to her right . . . two women were running to Jade, holding out their hands . . .

  Helio slashed out at the base of a tree and sent it crashing toward Teri. Turned and ran. If we don't get our triad up fast, we're all going to die here.

  A flash of red out of the corner of her eye. A small dragon, not heading for the corridor, but zipping under the veranda and out of sight around the corner of the house.

  Helio gathered power and sent a stun at the running witches.

  One of the new witches tripped, sprawled flat on the ground. And got right back up, reaching out for Jade's hand.

  Helio crashed through the last bushes, and reached for Obsidian and Indigo as she felt the power gathering as the Hors formed their triad.

  Helio held the energy shield and felt Indigo pick up the physical shield and Obsidian the mental barrier.

  She threw a fireball, then as she linked to the others, they started throwing multiple spells, coordinating tiny holes in the appropriate shields to send the attacks through.

  And absorbing or bouncing the spells flying in from the other triad.

  I'll never curse at Answer and her damned drills again! Heliotrope wasn't even sure which of them had thought that.