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Mattie perked up as Cameron walked back into Tiger Face Coffee, the café next to West Magic, where she and Trevor had set up camp while Cameron did his espionage. She waved him over to their table and pushed his soy vanilla latte toward him.
“Well? What did you find out?” she asked.
He sat down with a wince. “Matts, you’ve got to let me take things slowly today. I’m glad you sobered me up, I really am, but holy fuck, there is no way James Bond drinks that many martinis and also does spy work.”
She chuckled sympathetically. “Sorry. Have some more coffee. Take your time.”
Cameron sipped his latte and closed his eyes blissfully. “Oooooh, I can feel it going straight to that throb in my head.” He opened his eyes. “Man, that Fawn is kind of obnoxious, huh?”
“Yes, very much so,” agreed Trevor.
“Did she hit on you, too?” Cameron asked.
Mattie choked on a laugh. “She hit on you?”
Cameron raised an eyebrow. “What’s so funny? I’m a catch, I’ll have you know. Just because you threw me back. And now Rebecca’s thrown me back....” He trailed off. “Maybe I’m not such a catch, actually, now that I think about it.”
Trevor shot Mattie a look and she forcibly restrained herself from flirting. She gave Trevor a small smile and a nod, and he turned back to Cameron.
“You are totally a catch,” Trevor said. “You’re good-looking, smart, and loaded. What’s not to love?”
“Right,” said Cameron. “True love is out there.” He raised his mug and clinked it against Mattie’s before taking another sip.
The door of the coffee shop opened, and Mattie reflexively looked up. She saw a familiar face and hastily ducked down, hiding under the table, her chai latte sloshing slightly onto her hand. Mattie winced at the heat. She carefully reached up to set the mug back on the table and groped on the surface for a napkin.
“Uh, Mattie?” Trevor leaned down to peer at her. “What’s up?”
“That’s him,” she hissed as she wiped her hands and then tossed the napkin onto an empty chair. “That’s the guy who stole my phone. The Auditor.”
“What’s going on?” Cameron’s face appeared below the surface of the table too.
“You guys have to sit up. This is going to look super weird,” said Mattie. “You’ll attract his attention.”
“Whose attention?” muttered Cameron. But the two men straightened in their chairs.
Mattie popped her head up just enough to see over the table. The guy was otherwise engaged, staring up at the chalkboard menu posted above the counter.
“Do you see the beige-looking guy who just walked in?” Mattie whispered.
“Sure,” said Trevor.
“That’s the Auditor who stole my phone. The one who tackled me and then disappeared.”
“The Auditors are the people Tillie is running from?” said Cameron. They had given him the same basic rundown of events they’d pawned off on Phil – vague, shadowy enemies with none of the real magic and motives.
“Right,” said Mattie. “And he’s one of them. He must have tracked her here too. I bet he’s headed to talk to Fawn next.”
The Auditor was now speaking to the sullen barista – the same one they’d encountered the day before. He ordered a plain black coffee, fortunately to go. Hopefully, Mattie could get out from under the table soon.
She ducked back under as the guy glanced in her direction.
Mattie frowned in disgust at the assortment of pink, green, and white gum stuck under the table. Why did people do that? Just throw it away? And why did people enjoy chewing on a piece of flavored plastic to begin with? She’d never understood gum.
Trevor’s head appeared again. “He’s gone. You can come out now.”
Mattie waddled out from under the table and stood up from her crouch, stretching her legs. “We have to follow him,” she said.
“Oh, I’m not doing that,” said Cameron.
“Fine, save our seat. Trevor?” Mattie raised an eyebrow at him.
“I feel like he’s going to see us if we do that, and then attack again,” he objected.
“You guys are the worst,” said Mattie. She strode to the door and glanced up and down the street. The Auditor was nowhere to be seen, so she cautiously opened the door and slipped out. “Hey, Phil,” she addressed the busker, who was back in his habitual spot. “Did you see a really boring-looking guy come out of the coffee shop and go into the magic shop?”
He looked up from his guitar but kept playing his cascading notes. It sounded like something you’d hear in a spa, and Mattie felt herself automatically relaxing.
“Uh, I wasn’t really paying attention, sorry. I tend to get a little bit lost in the music,” he said. “I mean, I’m sure I’d notice if it was your sister, but a boring-looking guy? Not a chance.”
“That’s probably the secret to his genius,” Mattie said. “They send him on all the missions where he would need to blend in.”
“You read too many spy novels,” Phil laughed.
“Probably,” she admitted. She flattened herself against the brick wall next to the window of the magic shop and carefully peered in.
“You look really conspicuous,” commented Phil. “A real spy would be acting more natural.”
“What do you suggest?” Mattie snapped.
He nodded his head toward a nearby bench. “Sit there. It’ll look to anyone passing by like you’re just enjoying my music – which, incidentally will make more people stop and listen – but you can easily see into the shop from there.”
“You’ve read a couple of spy novels yourself,” said Mattie. She sat on the bench. He was right. She could see Mr. Boring. He slipped something into his pocket and then approached the counter and began talking to Fawn, who turned from her task of rearranging some displayed merchandise.
Whatever he said didn’t sit well with Fawn. She frowned at him and gesticulated angrily.
Mattie really wished she could hear what was going on. There was probably a way to do it with a spell, but she didn’t want to miss anything while she figured it out.
Mattie leaned forward as she saw Fawn make the unmistakable universal sign for “Get out of my sight,” a dramatic, straight-armed flinging of the pointer finger toward the door. Mattie wondered if the Auditor would obey or if there would be a fight. Fawn might be an arrogant pain in the ass, but Mattie would side with her against the Auditors any day.
The Auditor lifted his hands as though in surrender. Looked like Mattie wasn’t going to need to charge in and save the day after all. But as he headed toward the glass door, she realized that she was going to need to move. As soon as he exited, he’d notice her sitting there.
Mattie jumped to her feet and looked around desperately for a hiding spot, but all of the shops on the block were joined together with no gaps to hide in. There was no convenient shrubbery to dive into either. She glanced back toward the door. The Auditor had his hand on the push bar and had turned halfway around to say something to Fawn.
He started to turn back toward the door, which was now opening with the pressure of his hand.
At the last minute, Mattie summoned her spelling instincts. “I can’t see you, you can’t see me!” she shouted and shut her eyes tightly.
She immediately figured out the flaw in this spell – she’d set it up so that no one could see her as long as she kept her eyes closed. But now how was she going to know when Beigy McBeigerson was gone?
She squeezed her eyes tighter, excruciatingly aware that it was entirely possible that the spell hadn’t worked at all and that she was standing there, fully visible, with her face scrunched up like an idiot. She counted to ten and then twenty and then thirty-eight.
Phil’s music had stopped. Hopefully, that was because she had shocked him by disappearing. It also seemed like a good sign that the beige Auditor hadn’t tackled her again.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She gradually opened one eyelid and then the other. The Auditor was nowhere to be seen. Phil was staring at her.
“What the hell just happened?” he shouted.
A woman passing by frowned at him.
Phil gave her a charming smile and she rolled her eyes and continued on her way. Phil returned his piercing glare to Mattie. “You shouted something and then just disappeared. You were gone for about a minute and now you’re back. What the fuck?”
She sighed. “I guess I’d better buy you a coffee now.”
“For starters,” he said. He gathered up his things again. It took him a little bit longer this time as his eyes never left Mattie’s face.
She sighed. “I’m not going to disappear again, I promise. Here, let me help you.” She stepped forward, but he drew back. She stopped and raised her hands in surrender. “Fine. No worries. I’ll wait.”
Even after he finished, he kept his focus on Mattie, stepping sideways until he reached Tiger Face Coffee’s front door. He opened it, sliding his hand down the bar on the glass door. “After you.”
Mattie walked through the door and back to the table where Trevor and Cameron were deep in conversation. Cameron was starting to look a little less dead on his feet. Not totally alive, but on his way to full resurrection.
She grabbed her purse and met Phil at the counter. He was still watching her warily as he gave his order to the barista. Mattie paid for it and led him over to the table.
Cameron and Trevor eyed her.
“What’s going on?” Trevor asked. “Did you get any new intel?”
“Seriously,” said Phil. “You all need to lay off the spy novels.” He seemed a little more at ease among company. Which was kind of silly, really, since the whole company was people who were with Mattie.
“Hi,” said Cameron, standing to shake Phil’s hand. “I’m Cameron.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Phil. “And do you also have the capability of disappearing into thin air and then reappearing a minute later?”
Cameron froze halfway back into his seat. “No,” he said carefully. “And what do you mean by ‘also?’ Is there anyone who has that ability?” He finished sitting and leaned back, eyebrow raised quizzically.
“Ask your friend, here,” said Phil, nodding at Mattie.
Mattie smiled tightly, taking her own seat.
“What did you do now, Matts?” Trevor groaned.
“I had to!” she protested. “Mr. Beigypants would have seen me if I hadn’t! So I spelled myself invisible. Just until he left.” She sighed. “I kind of bungled the whole thing, honestly.”
“So, what you’re saying here,” said Phil, slowly, “is that Fawn is for real? This magic shop thing is for actual magic and not just idiots who wear too much crystal jewelry and have tattoos of pyramids with eyes?”
A middle-aged artsy-looking type passing by gave them the stink eye, and Mattie noticed a proud pyramid-with-an-eye tattoo displayed prominently on her forearm.
She gave the woman an apologetic smile and then addressed Phil. “Yeah, it’s for real. We may have left a few things out when we told you about my sister and her situation.”
She began to fill in the blanks, Trevor interrupting often to provide details that she missed.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she finished, “But that’s the whole truth. Mattie sat back in her chair, fidgeting, her eyes darting from Cameron’s face to Phil’s and back again.
Phil looked thoughtful.
Cameron looked pained.
“Honestly,” said Phil, after a moment. “I’m inclined to believe you. Sitting outside that shop, there’s been some stuff that was easy to dismiss, one at a time. But when you think about them all together – the weird noises, the flashing lights, the bizarre clientele, some of whom go in and then don’t come back out or come out even when I didn’t remember them walking in, the way Fawn talks about magic like it’s real.... And now watching you blink in and out like that – it’s hard to ignore. Maybe I just dismissed it all before a bit too quickly.”
“Okay, well, I’m not buying it,” said Cameron. “That’s all pretty easily explained. Back doors, special effects. Stage magic.”
Phil ignored him, turning to Trevor. “So, you’re saying I could be a mage too? Like anyone can be a mage?”
“That’s right,” said Trevor. “What kind just depends on your temperament.”
“It’s all just illusion, I’m sure,” said Cameron.
“Well,” said Phil. He sipped his Americano and then carefully set it down on the saucer with a clink. “I guess I tend to think a lot about the future. I plan things out really carefully.”
“So you’d be a seer, then,” said Mattie.
“Lots of people plan things out,” said Cameron. “There’s not just three types of people in the world.”
“And that’s what your sister is?” said Phil. “A seer?”
“Right,” said Mattie. “And I’m a speller and Trevor’s a stitcher.”
“These terms are ridiculous,” said Cameron. “Who came up with ‘stitcher?’”
“I guess I’m cautiously starting to believe it could maybe potentially be possible. Maybe. I would love to learn more,” said Phil. “I just hope there’s someone other than Fawn around who can teach me.”
“Or maybe it is real,” said Cameron. “And I’ve become invisible and inaudible!” He stood abruptly, his chair scraping back and clattering to the floor.
The entire café quieted as everyone turned to stare at him.
Cameron’s eyes widened and his lips drew back in a tight smile. “Maybe not. Sorry. Nothing to see here. Go back to what you were doing.”
With a lot of eye rolls and head-shaking, the other coffee shop patrons returned to their conversations or computers.
Cameron retrieved his chair and sat down again.
Mattie raised an eyebrow. “We hear what you’re saying. It’s just not helpful, so we’re ignoring it.”
“I don’t know how you can expect me to believe in magic,” he protested. “I’m a doctor, for fuck’s sake.”
“And that means you have to be closed-minded?” said Mattie. She stirred her chai.
“Not closed-minded!” he argued. “I’m skeptical. And scientific.”
“Rejecting something that doesn’t fit into your worldview is actually very unscientific,” Trevor pointed out. “Scientists consider new theories and test them out before coming to conclusions.”
Cameron opened his mouth to argue again and then closed it, leaning forward to lean his head against his hands, bracing his elbows on the table. “I am still way too hungover for this.”
Mattie slung an arm over Cameron’s shoulders. “I know, buddy. It’s a lot to take in.”
“Oh, my god,” said Trevor. “Mattie, isn’t that–” He pointed frantically toward the glass door.
She turned to look. There, striding confidently past the café, were the other two Auditors – the heavy-set man and sleek woman who had attacked them at Tillie’s building.
“They must be heading for the magic shop,” said Mattie, breathlessly.
“Should we be warning Fawn?” asked Trevor, toying nervously with the handle of his mug.
“I bet that bitch is in league with them,” said Phil.
“I don’t think so,” objected Mattie. “It really seems like she was just planning to hire Tillie. She probably doesn’t deserve to have Auditors crawling all over her store. Even if she is kind of aggravating.”
“You guys are being ridiculous.” Cameron stood up again, more carefully this time. “I’m going to go talk to these people, and you’ll see that they’re just ordinary people, like everyone else, just going about their business.”
“Their business of hunting down my sister and attacking people with magic,” hissed Mattie, grabbing his hand. “You can’t go out there.”
Cameron wrenched his hand away. “It’s a free country, Mattie. I’m going out there, and your little delusion here is going up in smoke.”
He stalked off toward the door.
“We have to go after him,” said Mattie. She jumped up, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.
Trevor and Phil leaped up too, and the three began to follow Cameron outside.
“Oh, I know you are not just going to leave your table like that,” came the sarcastic tones of the man behind the espresso machine to their left.
Mattie glanced back to see that he was glaring at them, a hand on one cocked hip, the other resting on the half-wall that divided them.
“You guys go,” said Phil. “I’ll bus the table.”
Mattie rushed outside, closely followed by Trevor, heaving open the door and running out onto the sidewalk. Cameron was nowhere to be seen, and one of the Auditors was gone as well. She marched up to the remaining Auditor, who was sitting on the bench usually occupied by Phil and his guitar, lazily scrolling down his phone.
“Where is he? What did you guys do to him?”
The man glanced up and raised an eyebrow. “Ah, if it isn’t Mathilda’s sister! What is your name again?”
“It’s also Mathilda,” she admitted. “Mattie. Don’t change the subject.”
“How delightful,” he smiled. “How whimsical. Now, I believe you may be confused. I haven’t done anything with anyone of your acquaintance.”
“A man came out here just a second ago,” said Trevor, stepping up beside Mattie. “He was going to talk to you and your accomplice.”
“Accomplice?” The Auditor’s eyebrows shot up. “Such a negative word.”
“Fine.” Trevor crossed his arms. “Your . . . associate. Now both said associate and our friend are gone.”
The man stood up. “Well. As we told you before, we don’t harm non-mages. I believe we also mentioned that you are in over your head and that you should let it go. And yet, here we are, several days later, halfway across the country, and who do we run into? You two. If you get the hell out of here right now, I might be inclined to assume it’s a coincidence.” He stepped forward, standing very close to Mattie and looking her straight in the eye. “Otherwise, you just might get caught in the crossfire.”
Mattie held her ground, holding his gaze. “You don’t scare me, you posturing bastard. I’m a high school teacher.”
His lips curved. “I’m sure you’ve seen some hell raised. Nevertheless, I assure you that those little brats have nothing on me and my associate, to say nothing of our organization as a whole.”
Mattie narrowed her eyes. “Yes, please tell me more about your organization.”
Just then, Trevor’s phone began to ring. “It’s Cameron,” he said.
“Your friend?” The Auditor smirked. “You’d better take it. He might be in trouble.”
As Trevor turned away and answered his phone, Mattie glared at the Auditor. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a real asshole?”
“Constantly,” he replied. “I don’t let it get to me. Self-esteem is so important.”
Trevor grabbed her hand and began to pull her away. “Come on, we gotta go.”
“This isn’t over,” she called over her shoulder, as she followed Trevor past West Magic.
The Auditor cheerfully flipped her off and resumed his seat on the bench.
Mattie turned her attention to Trevor as they jogged down the street. “Where are we going? Is Cam okay?”
“Not sure. He sounded pretty panicky. Corner of – There!” He stopped abruptly and pointed straight ahead and slightly upward.
Mattie followed his finger. There was a small park there, and Cameron was sitting on the limb of a large tree next to the sidewalk.
She ran past Trevor and looked up at Cameron.
He met her eyes and gave her a tight smile. “Well, I think I’m ready to believe you now,” he said.
“I guess it’s time for Plan C,” said Trevor.