“It is an operant spell,” Liam insisted. “This aligns with what you told us, Dayna.”
“Well, let’s go check it out,” I said, and Galen trotted ahead, leading the way.
Chapter Twenty-Six
By the time I walked into the conference room, Liam had already lain down on the Berber carpet. The fayleene had folded up his legs underneath his body, and his nose almost touched the edge of the strange marks I’d uncovered. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t hear the words.
“I’m not getting anything I can use to track,” Liam said, in a frustrated tone. He got back to his feet and moved a few steps back. His cloven hoofs made dull ‘thuds’ on the carpet.
“Again, that would tend to support Dayna’s theory of a magical ‘bridge’,” Galen pointed out. “Allow me. I believe that we have reached the limits of fey magic in this case.”
The Wizard stepped into the spot Liam had vacated. He moved his hands in a circle as he chanted under his breath. Blue sparks flew from his palms like embers from a gas fire. Instead of winking out, they coalesced in three places.
Two of these places became larger spots, each the size of a quarter, on the inside edges of the massive window pane. The rest of sparks flew through the glass and hovered outside. Eventually, they marked out a boundary extending outside the building that was at best four feet wide and four deep.
“I’m not sure I understand,” I complained. What do these two markings on the glass have to do with the space outside?”
“It seems readily apparent when one activates them,” Galen said, and he touched his fingers to the two glowing marks. Another elevator-worthy ping, and the pane split in two, sliding back to either side with a rush of warm air and distant traffic noise from the streets below. Even this high up, the smell of car exhaust and vented steam filled my senses.
But my stomach felt as if it had been dropped into icy water.
Galen tapped one of the marks again. The two sides of the pane slid back together, and the crack that marked where their split merged into a single sheet of glass once more. Esteban shook his head and stared in shock.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s in the building code,” he remarked, before turning to the Wizard. “Are you saying that this ‘bridge’ thing is outside the window?”
“I did not explicitly state that,” Galen elucidated. “Yet this is apparently the case.”
“More importantly,” I broke in, “are we actually going through that?”
The Wizard blinked in surprise. “I see no reason why we should not.”
“Galen,” I said, trying hard to be patient, “that’s a twelve-story drop out there.”
“Which is relevant only insofar as whoever put it there knew what they were about. It prevents accidental activation or use. So long as the bridge is triggered properly, then the two entrants will be transported without fear of falling.”
“It’s the landing I’m concerned about, not the falling,” Esteban muttered darkly. “All right, Dayna. If it’s only going to be two people, then let’s go.”
“Fie!” Shaw stepped protectively between me and Esteban. “‘Tis too dangerous for one who is not versed in the ways of magic. I shall travel hence with the Head of my Knightly Order.”
“Both of you are muddle-headed,” Liam said, as he joined the argument. “Dayna shall need me to track down her suspect once we arrive!”
“Oh, come on!” I said firmly, and the voices around me finally simmered down. “Before we start drawing straws, we need to know more about what we’re up against. Galen, why can only two people go through?”
The centaur replied with alacrity. “The properties of this gate are very specific. It is one-way, designed to transport two beings at most, and only once every few days. Yet there is an even more pertinent limitation.”
“And that is?” I asked, as Galen turned and pulled a large sack out of his saddlebags.
“More pertinently, my spell has delineated the boundaries of the portal. That makes it suitable for Dayna and one other.” The Wizard threw up a hand and spoke one more magical phrase. With a fizzy pop, like a magnum-sized champagne cork going off, Galen’s form shimmered into that of a human male. He held the sack before him to cover his nakedness.
Everyone stared at the wizard in shock and surprise.
“Give me but a moment to change into suitable clothes,” he added, before turning around to dig clothes out of the sack. “Ever since I had to wear those awful ‘scrubs’, I’ve made a point to be prepared should I need to assume a human form.”
I steadfastly ignored the centaur’s well-muscled butt as the remaining three males started to argue their case all over again. But in the end, it was my decision. As soon as Galen had pulled on a tan-and-green tunic with matching trousers and shoes, I had already made my decision.
It wasn’t going to please everyone.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” I said firmly, and the room went quiet again. “One way or another, those runes are a challenge from the Creatures of the Dark. That means it’s a challenge for me. I’m going. As for who’s coming with me…”
A look around confirmed that everyone was both worried and resolute in accompanying me. Except for Shaw. He seemed less worried and more eager to charge headlong into danger.
“I’m sorry, Liam, but I don’t think I’ll need a tracker this time. Whoever’s on the other side of that bridge is waiting for me. They’re not going to make me chase them down. Shaw, that bridge is barely four feet across. There’s no way you’re going to fit.”
“Thou knowest that I can exhale,” the drake grumbled, but he otherwise kept silent.
“Alanzo,” I said, and I reached out to take his hand. “I’m sorry, but the person or thing on the other side of this bridge knows magic. A wizard’s going to be my best bet if I run into trouble.”
He clenched his jaw as if ready to argue, then sullenly nodded. “You just better come back, that’s all.”
“Promise,” I said, and I squeezed his hand before I let it go. “Keep the guys here company for a little bit, okay?”
Galen handed Shaw a medallion that was a twin to my own. “This is a spare transport spell. If someone besides Alanzo of the Esteban arrives, merely squeeze it to return you and the Protector to Andeluvia.”
The Court Wizard turned and touched the marks on the window a second time. Once again, the pane slid open with a blast of air, light, and warmth. Once again, my stomach decided to curl up into a knot. I forced myself to walk towards the edge, pressed shoulder-to-shoulder against Galen’s reassuring bulk.
“Are you properly prepared?” the Wizard asked, his voice raised to counter the wind.
Prepared? My brain was busy throwing hysterics that I only just managed to keep under control. Prepared? Are you crazy? This is suicide!
“No, I’m not prepared!” I shouted back. “But we’ve got to do this before I lose what little nerve I have left!”
With a sickening jolt, we stepped out together into thin air.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I didn’t have time to scream.
However, I did have time to let out a scared yelp.
Feet tingling, I landed on a carpeted floor. The shock ran up my shins and calves, making my knees wobble. Galen grabbed my shoulder before I went down.
“Thanks,” I breathed. “Where are we?”
“You are most welcome,” he replied. “As to where we are, I presume that you would be able to tell better than I. We appear to be inside a structure from your world.”
I whirled about, hand instinctively going to my shoulder holster. But no threats materialized in the dim overhead light. Said light came from an old incandescent bulb set into a shallow cone-shaped fixture. The fixture was black, and sported the words Snake River Brewing Company – Beer with a BITE! in radioactive green letters.
The rest of the place resembled what my Dad would’ve called a rumpus room. It smelled like it, too. Old pipe smoke, the harsher tobacco
scent of cigarettes, popcorn, and underneath it all the slightly damp smell that said, ‘converted basement’.
The old gray carpet we’d landed on bore pockmarks from faded cigarette burns. An even more ancient rear-screen projection TV and leather couch took up an entire corner. The space next to it had a counter packed with kitchen appliances: a microwave oven, popcorn popper, ice cream maker, minifridge, wet bar, even a vintage soda fountain. Posters touting bass fishing or mountain climbing covered the walls.
“This does appear to be my world,” I murmured. “Wait just a moment.”
I reached inside my jacket. Instead of my gun, I pulled out Shelly’s spare cell phone and tapped the screen to wake it up. It took a couple of seconds for the device to get its bearings and display the time.
“That’s surprising,” I said. “It looks like we’ve jumped forward by one hour.”
The Wizard inhaled sharply. “Then the bridge has transported us through time! It must be immensely powerful if it could–”
“Hold on,” I cautioned. “More likely it transported us through space, not time.”
Galen looked at me, confused. “I’m afraid that I don’t comprehend your meaning.”
“I think we’re in a different time zone,” I explained, as I peered across at the far wall. “It’s…well, if we moved east far enough, it would change how we humans reckon time. We didn’t actually ‘jump forward’ or anything. In fact, I’m pretty sure we’re a thousand miles north of Los Angeles and a couple hundred east of it.”
“What brings you to that conclusion?”
“The far wall,” I said, and I motioned for Galen to follow me. “Look at this.”
Though it blended in well with the rest of the furnishings, I’d made out a handle for a sliding door. And just above the handle hung a laminated poster of an angler reeling in a leaping rainbow trout. The poster read, ‘WELCOME TO BITTERROOT MOUNTAIN, IDAHO!’.
Below it, written in dry-erase marker, was a single line of text.
When you’re ready, come on up. I’m not armed.
- Grayson Archer
The Wizard made a noncommittal grunt. “It seems that we are expected.”
I checked the phone again, but there was no signal. That didn’t surprise me. For starters, cell reception could be bad in anyone’s basement. And if we were outside a metropolitan area in a state as rural as Idaho, then it would be a minor miracle to get a signal in any case.
“Looks like we are,” I agreed. “And by someone we know.”
Galen hesitated. “Just because the former Captain Slate says he is without a firearm does not mean he is defenseless. Perhaps you should have your weapon out.”
“Perhaps, but Archer’s had a dozen chances to harm me before now, and he’s never taken any of them. Come to think of it, he could have killed us as soon as we came through that bridge.”
The Wizard nodded and strode over to the door. He gave a heave, and it slid back on well-oiled rollers. Sunlight filtered in weakly down a narrow set of steps.
I let out a breath. “I guess we ought to go up and greet our host.”
Without any further delay, I padded up the steps. Galen stayed close behind me, and I noticed that he kept both hands in a position where he could quickly cast a spell. I couldn’t blame him. My own nerves were stretched taut and ready for a dozen kinds of dirty tricks.
Hazy sunshine greeted us as we exited the basement and stepped out onto a house’s outer deck. The house itself was a sprawling one-story ranch-style place. The metal roof planes stood up in sharp peaks, ready to slough off a heavy snowfall. Wide lengths of ruddy-blond redwood made up the deck, which stretched completely around the house and out of sight on either side.
A dense garden of herbs and flowers bordered the deck. Beyond the garden lay a short swath of turf and either a dense mass of forest or a view of tumbled hills stretching away to distant snowcapped mountains. I didn’t see so much as a logging road cutting across those hills. We were well and truly isolated out here.
I didn’t see any signs telling us where to go, so I picked a direction on a whim. Galen and I turned left and walked along the deck. Each step made me cringe a little. The creaks of the redwood boards would announce our arrival better than any herald.
My nose picked up the scents of fresh pine, blooming lavender, redwood shavings, and oil-based wood sealer. Those last two surprised me. Either Archer was a do-it-yourselfer, or he’d hired someone to do work around the house. I doubted that either would surprise me much at this point.
Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable rustle of someone turning the page of a newspaper. I slowed my pace as a man came into view, sitting on the edge of the raised deck and facing away from us towards one of the views of the blue-hazed mountains.
He had dark hair that was now rapidly shading to steel gray. His shoulders were broad, and the khaki-colored flannel shirt he wore looked tailored to his lean upper body. A tray containing a trio of glasses and a pitcher of iced tea stuffed with lemon wedges sat glistening by his side.
Another rustle as he folded his newspaper over. He put it aside and weighed it down with an expensive looking metal-sheath pen. Finally, the man turned around.
He had the kind of face that any man running for mayor in a small town would have envied. The hint of frown lines huddling between his brows melted away as he spotted us. The voice he used was as smooth and smoky as old Scotch.
“Ah, there you are,” Grayson Archer said. “It’s about time you got here, Dayna. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I see you’re not alone,” Grayson Archer noted. “I figured that you’d show up with at least one companion. Bringing your Wizard along was a very smart choice. I’m grateful for that, truth be told.”
“Um…” I said, which helped hammer home how smart I really was. “Why is that?”
“It just makes things easier.” He waved a hand. “Come on and join me. Don’t make an old man raise his voice more than he has to.”
We really didn’t have much choice, so Galen and I moved to sit on a nearby section of the deck. The smooth redwood planks felt damp under my palms. But I ignored that as Archer continued.
“Your detective boyfriend would have wanted to put me in cuffs. The griffin drake would’ve been more prone to try and fillet me. I suppose that I could have spoken with the fayleene Protector of the Forest. The problem there is that his magical knowledge is mostly innate, not learned. He would not understand the way your Wizard can. But on the balance, I’m just glad that you brought a friend.”
“You’re glad I brought a friend,” I said carefully. While I didn’t think Archer was evil per se, I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him. “Why, so that you could play mind games with more people?”
“Oh, no. The mind games are all over and done with.” He chuckled at that. “There’s one other reason I’m glad that you brought along a friend, but we’ll get to that later. In the meantime, let me get you both some tea. We’re going to be talking for a while, after all.”
Archer slid the tray around where he could reach it more easily and quickly poured us each a glass. Galen sniffed at his portion before taking a cautious sip. I followed suit after our host chugged down a full half-glass. Actually, it was very good. A bit too much lemon for my taste, but the man knew his stuff.
“All right,” I began. “It took me a while to figure it out, but you’ve been doing a pretty bad job at being my nemesis. You bluffed me when you supposedly tortured Shelly. You may have stolen Galen’s weapon design with the Demon, but you’ve been busy trying to get it back. And it seems that you haven’t been responsible for murdering any of my friends. Only certain people at your own company.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re a good man. You’ve certainly threatened me enough in person. You had my car smashed up. You assassinated Chief Lucas Sims and got me to substitute evidence on that case. For all I know, you’re directly responsible for much of the death and
destruction that’s marred Andeluvia in the past twenty years. That is a great deal to answer for, Archer. Or should I say: ‘Sir Archibald Slate’?”
A look of pain flicked across Archer’s face at that. He drained the rest of his glass, looked out over the forest, and let out a sigh of regret.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name,” he said. “And I suppose that you’re right. I am responsible for a great deal of what’s been unleashed in this world and mine. It pains me more than you know. The list of my felonies could fill up a whole book and then some. Is that why you finally decided to come here? To take revenge upon me?”
I traded a look with Galen. The Wizard cleared his throat and spoke up.
“I would venture that our intentions are…shall we say, ‘flexible’. A great deal depended on what you had set up on your side of the bridge to meet us.”
“Perhaps you had better find out, then,” Archer said, after a moment. “Be my guest, fellow wizard. Cast your spells, find out what I have in place around this dwelling, and myself.”
Galen took a long look at Archer, as if trying to fathom what the man was up to. Finally, the centaur took a long last slurp from his glass and set it aside. He raised his hands and murmured for a few seconds, the air growing electric and charged as the Wizard drew in his power.
“Ante omnes, mihi quae occultatum!” he shouted, and a crackle of lightning shot across the clear blue sky. The peal of thunder that followed in its wake sent up a dreadful rustling from the trees around us as birds and other critters scampered for cover. Galen didn’t notice. Instead, he sat up straight in surprise.
“Dayna, this house is magically shielded from outside detection,” he said. “But that is not what startled me. It is Grayson Archer himself. There are traces of a powerful geas upon him.”
“A ‘spell of obligation’?” I asked. That made my skin crawl. Galen had put one on me the first time I’d come to Andeluvia, and they were spookily effective. “Does that mean someone is controlling him?”
Dragon with a Deadly Weapon Page 14
