by Amber Lynn
Whoever had been kidnapped was as sticky subject, which only made it harder for me to figure out on my own. Their conversation didn’t make me think they were talking about one of my daughters, which was good. I would’ve killed them if they thought letting one of the girls die was okay.
“Let’s answer the easy one first. It’s exactly two months since we drove you into that spell, May first,” Nate said.
“Holy crap, it’s May?” I said, not able to believe I’d been asleep that long. “What in the world has gone on since I’ve been gone? How many wild parties went on in my house?”
I could tell no one was ready to speak up about the kidnapped person, so I was fine giving them a few minutes to settle into a discussion about what had been going on. Eventually we’d get to the point where they spilled their guts.
“Sorry, sis, but wild parties weren’t our priority, although they would’ve been fun without you around making sure everyone was enjoying the appetizers. You passed out on us, leaving us to investigate the warlock alone. Liam wasn’t getting any good vibes, so our group stayed with you in the car while the others went in to investigate. At that point, we were pretty sure he set the spell and took off,” Rick said.
“And he did, but he left a note behind with a list of demands. I guess it wasn’t much of a list. He just wanted, as you heard earlier, you as defenseless as possible so he could turn you over to Malphas,” Nate added. “As you can imagine we weren’t really willing to just do as he commanded, so we’ve tried a number of things to buy time. I can’t believe we’ve actually made it a whole two months, but no one ever said warlocks were brilliant.”
“So who brought me out of the spell anyway? No one was waiting by my bedside like last time, which was probably good, since I contemplated stabbing the last person in the room after one of my comas.”
“The jinn did. As powerful as they are, and even with Eva’s guidance, there were a lot of booby traps and road blocks in the way of this one. Last I heard, they thought they just about had it. It’s a little odd that they weren’t waiting when you woke up,” Liam said.
“I’m sure they’ll show up soon enough, especially if they return to the room and find you gone. Chances are they just wanted to grab some food or showers,” Rick said. “Let’s get back to the problem at hand. We have a deadline to meet.”
“Okay, give me all the gory details,” I said. “Before that though, I just want to note I’m glad to see your blood vessels are no longer about to burst and your face isn’t red anymore. I really thought you were going to kill anyone who looked at you crossways, which was cool to see, but at the same time a little scary.”
He gave me a menacing smile, and continued to fill me in on the important details. “Now that you’re up, we have more we can do. The deadline is seven o’clock tonight. We’re supposed to bring you to one of the most cliché places in Chicago, Wrigley Field. Thankfully the baseball team is out of town, or there may have been real fireworks.”
“Have you guys sent in recon to try to figure out the best places to put our guys? What all did you guys pack for weapons on this trip, anyway?” I asked. “I know the bigger items were left at home, but I can’t imagine you left all the fun stuff.”
“Yes, we sent a team out to scout immediately after receiving the most recent note. They’re still in the area trying to find anything that may be suspicious,” Joseph replied. “As far as weapons, you pretty much name it and we have at least one of them. When we travel, we travel in style.”
“Good. I doubt we’ll be able to use a third of it, but it’s nice to have options. Where’s Vinnie? I’d like to figure out some schematics.” Even without all the details, my mind went straight to strategy.
“Hold on, I’ll call him,” Nate said, bringing out his chatterbox. I’d have to remember to ask where mine was. I hadn’t see one upstairs waiting for me. “Vinnie, your presence has been requested in the dining room. Please bring your genius computer mind down here.”
“I’ll be there in a second,” I heard Vinnie reply over the airwaves. No questions, just give him a second.
“He doesn’t sound too happy about being interrupted,” I said to the group.
“He never is. He’s been busy building more gadgets for you. One in particular will come in handy in the future. In fact, now that I think about it, I bet the jinn disappeared to his lab to help with testing,” Rick said.
“That makes sense. He’s reworking the spell detector so this type of thing won’t happen again. He borrowed your ring, if you didn’t notice, and is supposedly installing it in that because that’s the only thing we could think of that you wear all the time. The knives and weapons you carry sometimes change, but the ring is always there,” Kyle said.
I looked down at my hand and saw all of my fingers naked. “If it works, I’m all for it. So, while we wait, anyone want to tell me what was up with Alana? I don’t remember her being quite that hostile. She never offered to braid my hair, but I figured she knew Frannie already had that taken care of.”
“She tried to take over as you within the first week of your incapacitation. We, of course, looked towards Nate for leadership and I think she got a little miffed by that. I think she thought we let you lead just because you’re a girl and we’re some type of matriarchy. I don’t know if the snakes as a whole missed the boat when the prophecy was read, or if they just have an airhead for a leader,” Rick explained.
“Oh, I almost forgot, my queen,” Brad said, in his tattletale voice. Yes, he did actually change his voice when he was about to tell on someone. “Rick said he was going to use the shackles on you.”
“I did happen to be present for that comment, but thanks for alerting me. I’ll just have to find them and hide them again.”
“Good luck finding them. After you ruined the pretty pink pair I had for you, I made sure to put them in a place you wouldn’t look,” Rick said.
“I’m sure they fit in well with your porn collection,” I said, smiling.
He grinned back at me and winked. I was pretty sure I guessed correctly on the location, and I bet I could get Brad to go retrieve them for me, if I decided I was too squeamish, but those were plans for later.
“This better be important,” Vinnie said, entering the room, followed by Mak.
“Well, since it was I who requested you, I think it’s very important,” I responded.
“Hey, darling, nice to see you up and about. What can I do for you?” he asked, immediately changing his tone. I loved that I had that effect on most people.
“It sounds like we’re heading to a shootout and I’m hoping you can bring up everything you know about Wrigley Field for me. I’ve got to do a little better job of knowing what I’m in for when I get to a place.”
“That isn’t an issue. I’ve had the information in my recent memory since we’ve been in Chicago. I figured you’d want to go take a tour, because of its landmark status, so I gathered what I could in case you needed a guide,” he answered.
“Great, first can you tell me if there are going to be any events there tonight? I want to know what kind of interference from outside forces we may be facing,” I said.
“There should only be grounds people around at that time. No specific events are scheduled, so there should be minimum obstruction. Tourists are always possible, but I think we can handle them.”
“Good. Since I’m sure you know the layout of the place, where would the best area for him to hide be?”
“I figure he’ll be hiding in one of the suites. Even if they aren’t the best hiding place, we’ve found out the last month this warlock likes to be comfortable. You should’ve seen the hotel room he was staying in. After we made sure the area was secure, I went up trying to scan and see if he left anything behind. That place put the osh in posh,” he answered. “Plus, the note he sent said that’s where he’d be.”
“I guess that makes it easier. Do you know if he has any friends we need to be worried about?”
; “So far we haven’t seen or heard of anyone else, but they do tend to travel in groups these days. We should at least plan for there to be one other, but we should be able to take care of them without a huge problem,” Liam said. “We were trained by the best, after all.”
“Now you’re just trying to butter me up. What time is it now?”
“Just after five. We have plenty of time,” Joseph replied.
“Good, now how big of a force do we have? If we can, I’d like to keep it below twenty actually inside, and potentially another twenty on the outside to make sure no one gets away,” I said.
“Those numbers are doable. We’ve relocated a lot of people here for your protection over the past two months,” Joseph informed me, which wasn’t a surprise.
“Great. I know I asked about firepower earlier, and I’m assuming you were reporting the lethal weapons we have. What about the just put them to sleep weapons?” I asked.
“Even though they aren’t as fun, we do have sleepy darts available to just knock the opposition out. I know that’s the preferred method, but if we take on fire, I’m not promising there won’t be shots fired,” Joseph replied. He’d really turned into a great lead enforcer.
“As long as you don’t chop any heads and start fires, we can still bring them out alive and detain them,” I replied. “So, I think you guys should take me in like I’m still out of it, just like he wanted. I’ll be armed with my usual knives and chopsticks. That should be more than enough for me to eventually turn the tables on him.
“I’d love if you’d let him try to take me to Malphas, so this can all be over, but I’m guessing that isn’t an option,” I said, mapping out my ideas. They were pretty simple, so I didn’t think I needed to draw pictures for anyone. “Then I want you guys to take the hostage and leave. The poor girl has been stuck with the warlock long enough, and we don’t know what shape we’ll find her in. I only hope she was strong enough that if they brought a demon in, she’s still in one piece.”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of leaving you with the warlock. We don’t know that you’re back to full strength,” Rick said.
I looked straight at him and said, “I don’t think we’re voting on this one. Chances are really good he isn’t going to just kill me, and if he thinks I’m unconscious, I have the element of surprise. Last I checked, I was the one who taught all of you to fight them anyway.”
“We’ll try it on one condition,” Nate said. Where in the world had they picked up the idea that they got to veto or change my plans? Clearly, I couldn’t leave them alone for two seconds. “If he’s able to, I want Mak to stay with you in smoke form. I’m sure you can handle him all by yourself, but I’d feel better if you had a bit of back up.”
“That I can probably live with. Has he had training while I’ve been asleep?”
“Yes, he’s gone through the courses and has mastered control of his magic,” Joseph reported.
“Good. Only one more question,” I said. I was fired up and ready to go, but I really needed one last thing answered. “Who does he have?”
Nate adjusted me so I could see his face. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but it’s Ettie.”
