Much Ado About Magic

by Shanna Swendson

  Owen and I exchanged glances, then he shrugged. “After you.” He gave me a boost into the cart and then swung himself over the side. We pulled a layer of sheets on top of ourselves as the maid got the cart rolling.

  I heard elevator doors open and close, and then had a sinking feeling as we went down. The cart was a bit cramped with the two of us in there, but there were enough towels at the bottom to cushion us. “I had no idea celebrity life was so glamorous,” I whispered to Owen.

  The elevator came to a stop, then the doors opened and the cart moved again. A moment later, it stopped and the maid’s voice said, “You can come out now.”

  We threw off the sheets and climbed out of the cart to find ourselves in the hotel’s laundry room. The laundry staff applauded us, and I hoped Owen had thought to put up some kind of illusion because Nita was there, too. “Yay! It worked!” she said. “Now, we’ll go out through the kitchen. There’s a service entrance there.”

  She guided us out of the laundry area and down a dark, narrow hallway. “I don’t think they’re on to us,” she said as we ran. Then we crossed another corridor, and I saw men in black at the other end.

  “They’re on to us now,” I said, and we picked up speed.

  We hit the swinging doors into the kitchen at a full run, Nita shouting, “Code red!”

  The people nearest us immediately threw white chef’s coats over our clothes and bustled us deeper into the kitchen. I eyed a rack of knives and wondered if it would come to that, but Nita’s plan apparently covered this sort of situation. When the men in black entered the kitchen, an angry chef was on them in an instant, berating them for violating his inner sanctum. Meanwhile, the kitchen erupted into chaos, with people running back and forth carrying knives, pans of hot food, and dirty pots. Under cover of this mayhem, Nita hustled us out another door and into a small alley.

  “The gate to the service entrance is open, and there’s a car waiting there for you,” she said as we handed her the chef’s coats.

  “Thanks so much, Nita,” I said.

  “Glad to be of service.” She gave Owen a saucy wink. “I’m a huge fan. Not that I have any idea who you are, of course.” With another wink, she was gone, and we ran to the metal gate at the end of the alley.

  A limousine waited there, the driver holding the door for us. We dove inside, he shut the door behind us, and then he went around to the driver’s side and got in. “City Hall,” I called out through the window to the driver’s compartment. “And make sure we’re not followed.”

  “In this traffic, that may not be easy, but I’ll see if I can confuse them,” he said. “Now sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  I collapsed against the seat back and caught my breath. Owen took off his cap and sunglasses and rubbed his forehead. “I’ll have to be sure to leave a huge tip when I check out,” he said. “That was hotel service above and beyond the call of duty. Do they really have contingency plans for sneaking celebrities out?”

  “I don’t know if the hotel does, but Nita’s been living for this, I’m sure. I’m impressed that she’s already got the whole hotel working with her on it. Her dad may be right. She’ll be running the place before long.”

  He found a bottle of water in a cooler and handed it to me, then opened one for himself. After a long drink, he said, “You’ve got to admit, this beats taking the subway.”

  “And it may be harder to track us this way. How will they know we’re in here?”

  The limo wove in and out of traffic on the way downtown, making a few abrupt turns along the way. Finally, the car stopped. “City Hall,” the driver said. “I haven’t noticed anyone following us, and there doesn’t seem to be anyone here waiting for us.”

  Owen paid him for the ride while I scoped out the area. The fact that the driver didn’t see anyone didn’t mean anything. I wouldn’t feel safe until I knew no one was there. But there was no one to see—no men in black, no Mr. Bones. We might stand a chance.

  As the limo drove away, I turned to Owen. “Do you have any idea which monument the stuff is in?”

  “None whatsoever, but this is supposed to lead me to it.” He took his mother’s key out of his pocket and drew the tip of it across his thumb, drawing blood, which he then smeared on the key. The key began glowing softly in his palm. “Let’s hope this works,” he said. He closed his hand around the key and paused, like he was listening for something, then said, “This way.”

  While he followed whatever signals the key was giving him, I kept an eye out for any possible pursuers. “I’m glad your mother thought of sending you a magical divining rod because there are dozens of monuments to everyone and his or her dog in this park. And wasn’t the park renovated not too long ago? Things have probably been moved.”

  Instead of answering, he moved faster, and I had to hurry to keep up with him. Soon, he was on his knees in the grass, next to a brass plaque on a stone base. He touched the key to the plaque, then the plaque popped open. In a cavity underneath was a manila envelope. Owen reached in and pulled it out, then the plaque slid back into place. He hurried to open the envelope, and I leaned over his shoulder to see what was in it.

  “There you are, Palmer,” a voice said. “Turn around with your hands up.”

  Instead of turning, Owen grabbed the hem of my T-shirt and shoved his hands under it, sliding the envelope under there. I instinctively wrapped my arms around my middle to keep it in place. He stuck the key in my pocket, then he hissed, “You know what to do.”

  He jumped to his feet and ran toward the man, startling him. That gave me a second to get up and run in the opposite direction, toward the office. There were shouts behind me and the sound of a struggle, but I forced myself not to look back. That was the downfall of women in every horror or action movie ever made, and I’d sworn I wouldn’t ever do the same thing if I were being chased. It grew harder and harder to keep my focus forward when I heard what sounded like blows landing behind me and when I became aware of running footfalls nearby.

  I clasped the envelope tighter to me as I felt someone clutch at my shirt. There was a rushing sound from above, zooming over my head, and then I heard something hit the ground behind me. “It’s okay, sweetheart, I got your back. Just keep runnin’,” Sam’s voice said.

  I was gasping for breath, and still I had to keep going. Sam and his security gargoyles fought off a few pursuers, and then we neared the street. “Sam, the light!” I panted. I’d be taking my life into my own hands to dart across that street against the light, but I couldn’t stop and wait for a walk signal with people chasing me.

  “I got it, doll!” he cried out, flying ahead. The moment I reached the curb, the light changed. There was a squeal of tires and a chorus of honks, but I ignored them and dashed across the street. Then I faced the mob of protesters. If they were all controlled by the charms and amulets, that meant they’d likely try to stop me. I got a firmer grasp on the envelope under my shirt as Sam dive-bombed them, but there were too many for him to fight off. Hands clutched at my clothes, pulled off my hat, tried to grab my arms. Keeping one arm around my waist, I struck out and kicked, fighting in sheer animal desperation.

  There was a crack of thunder and a roar of wind, and soon the crowd was being pushed away from me by an invisible force. I looked up to see Merlin standing, staff in hand, in front of the MSI doors. Sobbing with relief, I stumbled toward him. He escorted me into the building with an arm around my shoulders. The sound of those doors shutting behind me was more joyous to my ears than Christmas carols.

  I turned to Merlin, words pouring out of me in fits and starts. “Owen, they got him, back in the park.”

  Merlin said calmly, “Intervening at this point would endanger my position on the Council, and I need to hold that position to be able to help Owen. I hope he had a good reason for leaving his place of safety.”

  I pulled the envelope out from under my shirt. “So do I. It all depends on what’s inside this.”

  “Let us go to my office and
find out.”

  He got me settled on the sofa in his office, where I got a sudden bad case of the shakes. He went to make tea, giving me a moment to pull myself together. I wanted to go to the windows to see what was happening in the park, but I knew Owen would be long gone by now. They’d probably zapped him to wherever the magic jail was the moment they brought him down. The only way I could help him now was to use the information he’d risked his freedom to find—and that his mother had probably lost her life for hiding.

  I was a little less shaky by the time Merlin brought tea to me. At least, the cup only rattled slightly against the saucer when I held it. I took a few sips before telling Merlin what the letter had said and why Owen had to go to the park. “He opened the envelope before he gave it to me, I guess in case she’d sealed it magically.”

  “That was very good thinking under pressure,” Merlin said with an approving smile. He picked up the envelope and pulled out its contents. It looked like a lot of documents, some on carbon paper, with a few Polaroid photographs, some regular snapshots, and a couple of cassette tapes. I didn’t know enough about the magical world to know exactly what any of it meant, but Merlin whistled softly under his breath as he read.

  “So, is it what we need?” I finally asked when I couldn’t stand the suspense any longer.

  “It appears that Owen inherited his attention to detail from his mother,” Merlin said, looking up. “These first few documents are enough to prove Ramsay’s role in the Morgan affair. I can only imagine what other incriminating evidence she recorded. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that Idris’s seemingly baseless accusation about Owen’s parentage—which he made under Ramsay’s orders—turned out to be true, and that will be the key to Ramsay’s downfall.”

  “What do we do now?” I asked. “How do we let people know about this stuff?”

  “There will be a hearing, at which Ramsay will likely carry out his plan to make it appear as though Owen is attacking me. We can bring up this information then. But we should be prepared—he is ruthless and driven, and when we foil his plans to look like a heroic savior, he may resort to force.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “You’ve done more than enough. You should rest and be ready for when they call a hearing. I don’t think they know what you had or why you and Owen were in that park. With Owen in custody, the enforcers should leave you alone. I will assign a security detail to you, in case Ramsay tries to find out what you’ve discovered.”

  *

  The next two days were sheer torture. I felt like I was going through the motions while life moved around me in a blur. I gathered Owen’s things from the hotel room and checked out, leaving a huge tip to be shared among the people who’d helped us escape. I brought Owen’s things to his house and took care of Loony. I think I carried on conversations with my roommates, but I barely noticed what they were saying. At the office, Perdita did her best to cheer me up and distract me, creating all sorts of new coffee concoctions—some more successful than others—before finally deciding it was best to leave me alone. Finally, on Thursday afternoon, Perdita stuck her head into my office and said, “The boss wants to see you.”

  I jumped up, nearly knocking over my coffee cup. This time, it was Perdita who rushed to the rescue and kept the cup from tipping over. I knew I was in bad shape when Perdita was saving me from clumsiness. I got up to Merlin’s office so fast I might have beat someone who teleported if it had been a race. “What is it?” I gasped as I ran into his office.

  “The hearing has been set for tomorrow,” he said. “I will need you with me.”

  “Of course,” I said, nodding. “What’s the plan?”

  “I think it depends on Mr. Ramsay’s plan. I do intend to reveal some rather incriminating information about him as soon as possible. I will have Jake and the research team there to break the amulet spell at the most opportune moment. Other than that, we should be prepared for—how is it you say it?—all hell to break loose.”

  “And from what I’ve seen of Idris’s work in the past, that may be literal,” I said with a shudder. “You’ve found enough incriminating evidence, then?”

  “I may have to propose a posthumous medal for Mina Morgan. Not only has she revealed Ramsay’s role in that plot, but he was involved in a lot of other mischief within the magical world. For instance, he was blackmailing the Meredith family about their takeover of the Vandermeer firm. Your friend Philip will be interested in that information, I’m sure. There appears to be almost as much fear and blackmail involved in Ramsay’s rise to prominence as there was magic. He is not as beloved and popular as he would like everyone to think.”

  “And what about that scheme to make it look like Owen’s the one to kill you? What can we do about that?”

  “I would hope that revealing Ramsay’s perfidy will negate that. There is little point in creating another villain when he has already been revealed as one, himself.” His eyes became steely and the air crackled with power. “Then he can face me one-to-one—wizard-to-wizard.”

  I had no doubt that Merlin could beat Ramsay in a fair fight, but I also had no doubt that Ramsay would cheat. Either way, I was afraid Owen would be caught in the middle.

  *

  Early the next day, I went with Merlin to the Council headquarters. The security guard was properly deferential to the distinguished Council member and allowed us into the Council chamber. “Now, we will search the room to ensure that nothing has been hidden,” Merlin said once we were alone in the room. The two of us went over the chamber inch by inch, comparing what we saw. We didn’t find anything out of place, which bothered Merlin. “I know Ivor Ramsay would not assume he could win without cheating,” he said, frowning and scratching his beard. “But how does he plan to cheat?”

  “He may bring something in with him. Too bad you don’t have the magical equivalent of metal detectors at the entrances.”

  “Unfortunately, it would be nearly impossible to tell the difference between good and bad because it’s the intent that matters, and I doubt we’d ever get this Council to agree to ban all magic from the chamber. How else would they show off? Some of these people don’t know how to function without magic. Rudolph wouldn’t be able to tie his shoes.” He sighed wearily. “I suppose we have done all we can to prepare. We will have to remain on the alert.”

  A livid Gloria was the next to arrive, with James in her wake. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded of Merlin, getting up in his face. “Why won’t they let us see him? They wouldn’t even let us bring him a suit for the hearing.”

  “I hadn’t heard anything about that,” Merlin said. “I suppose after he managed to escape from them so easily, they’re worried about security.”

  “It wasn’t a nice suit and a visit from his father that allowed him to escape,” she said with a derisive snort.

  Merlin promised to look into it, then left to go prepare in the Council offices. Gloria then turned her attention to me. “So, it is true about him, then?”

  “Yes, it is.” I’d brought the letter and the key with me, and I handed her the letter.

  She and James read it, then she said with a sniff, “I suppose she couldn’t have been all bad if she had a child like that.” Her expression softened ever so slightly. “How did he take it?”

  “The last time I saw him, it hadn’t yet had time to really sink in.”

  More people began arriving. It was much like the previous hearing, but there were a lot more strangers. I was fairly certain I recognized a number of people from the mob of protesters at the MSI building and a few of the people James and Gloria had scared away from Owen’s house. That left me with no doubt that Ramsay had something in the works. But what?

  We took our seats in front, with Rod and Ethan soon joining us. Two minutes before the hearing was set to begin, Ramsay made his grand entrance, with the usual adulation from most of the crowd. His fan club was in for a big surprise, I thought with some satisfaction. He took the front-row seat
across the aisle from us, and he knew better than to even pretend to give James and Gloria a friendly acknowledgment. He carried a briefcase, which he set on the floor in front of his feet. Had he brought his own evidence?

  The Council members then took their places at the head table, and Rudolph stood and struck his staff on the ground while giving the ritual opening. I felt the wash of magic as the wards took hold. This time, I knew no one would drop the wards for Owen. He was stuck until we proved our case.

  Then they brought Owen in, and James, Gloria, and I gasped in unison. He was dressed all in black, like the uniform of the enforcers, and it looked like they’d scavenged whatever they could find for him to wear. The dark, ill-fitting clothing made him look small and pale. The only hint of color on him came from his eyes—and from the ugly bruise under his left eye that spread over his cheekbone. It was a few days old, so it looked like sunset over the Grand Canyon, all reds and purples, with a hint of yellow. James had to grab Gloria’s arm before she instinctively went to him.

  The one improvement over the last hearing was that his hands were bound in front of him this time, which had to be more comfortable. Mack being his guard probably had something to do with that. I felt a little better about his situation.

  Owen caught my eye as they brought him in. I could see the question on his face and realized that he didn’t even know if what we’d found was useful. I nodded, and his shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

  And then the hearing began. Rudolph read off a list of charges, which included the earlier conspiracy to commit magical crimes plus charges of escape and evasion. He added, “And these crimes are even more alarming when taken in context with the allegation that Owen Palmer is none other than the son of Kane and Mina Morgan, who were so disastrous to the magical community. We know he can’t help the accident of his birth, but we also know he has great power—a power he may have inherited from his alleged parents—and there is also the possibility that the capacity for darkness has been inherited, as well.”