6

COLIN

I set my alarm for six o’clock in the morning. Normally, I wouldn’t have considered such an ungodly hour of the day as time to wake up after such a difficult week. But I had a strong suspicion that my door would be rattling under Timmy’s potent intrusion soon. I hadn’t told anyone I was back in Boston. I was pretty sure Lucien would know anyways. My dreams that night were full of five-headed fang-mouthed sand worms swimming underneath me in burning desert sand. Sometimes a dream is just a dream. I really hoped that was just a dream.

I actually had a little bit of cream and sugar in my morning coffee when the knock came. It wasn’t the full-out manic banging of Timmy that I had expected. The knock was a strong, but controlled, tap-tap-tap. I reached out with my senses, feeling for any supernatural aura or danger before I crossed over to open it. Before me, clad in his traditional silver three-piece suit, was Lucien Valente.

He nodded, his well-coiffed black hair obedient and well-managed. “Mr. Fisher.”

I tried to keep my shock from showing and nodded back, making sure my jaw didn’t hang open. “Mr. Valente?”

“May I enter?”

I stepped back and finished the rest of my coffee with a gulp. “Of course, sir.”

He crossed over the threshold and slowly looked around, taking in the massive apartment slash laboratory with a panoramic glance. “I enjoy your sense of style, Mr. Fisher. These relics look far better on display then hidden away in my warehouses.”

“Thank you, Mr. Valente.” I slowly walked behind him as he paced the perimeter towards the prayer rug wall.

“You made good time from Lafayette to Boston, Mr. Fisher. I was rather surprised to learn you were back home.”

“I made a deal with a devil.”

He stopped and looked back, with the closest I had ever seen to shock on Valente’s disciplined face. “You are full of surprises, Mr. Fisher.”

“I try.” I paused. “How did you know about Lafayette?”

“Freak sidewalk damage might not have caught my attention, particularly after an unprecedented Colorado earthquake. However, the lamppost wrapped around as if to imprison someone was noteworthy enough that I pulled what footage I could from nearby security cameras.”

I thought back, trying to remember any outdoor traffic cameras, but failed. I had a rather disturbing revelation. “Valente International owns a home security company, don’t they?”

Lucien grinned at me. “It pays to be well-diversified in today’s global economy.”

“Is this where you tell me I had no business continuing to chase Darien?”

“No, Mr. Fisher. You seem competent enough against him…and whatever he is doing is weakening. The CRTs, or your FBI friend, will bring him to bay soon enough, I have no doubt. Is she a friend still, Mr. Fisher? Or do I need to give Miss Wakefield specific instructions regarding her continued existence?”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“If you are romantically or sexually involved with her, I can ensure that Miss Wakefield’s temper does not get the better of her. Do I need to intervene on her behalf?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t think so. She’s…just a friend.”

“I understand the strange tides of the heart, my wizard. In fact, it is to that end that I came to see you. Have you made any progress on the project I asked you about?”

That surprised me, but I tried to not let it show. Romance was not a use for an amnesia potion that I had considered. Truth be told, I had never even considered Lucien Valente and an affair of the heart in the same sentence before, ever. “Six weeks of amnesia in a bottle? I’ve made a few notes. I’m going to try a couple of preliminary experiments later today.”

“I see. And how soon do you expect to have anything ready? I’m afraid I’m on a bit of deadline here.”

“A romantic liaison gone wrong? Anything…I should know?”

He stared at the lone eastern window of the massive second floor room. “I have been seeing a young woman for a little over a month now and she is…unreasonably attached to me. I do not mind seeing that she is well provided for, but she has learned things about my business and person that I do not wish to become public knowledge. If I reject her advances, I fear she would spread this information to any tabloid that would listen. I need her to not remember me anymore.”

I nodded. “And after you erase her mind?”

“What would you like to hear, Mr. Fisher? I gave you an ethics clause. What treatment of her is fair in this matter? Should she wake up in another city, far from here, with ten grand in her possession? More money? Less? What will make you comfortable in assisting me?”

I thought about it. “What happens to her if I can’t come up with a working elixir or alternative?”

He smirked and a small part of me hated him in that instant. “If I cannot erase her memory…I would be required to erase her.”

I sighed, wondering how I was going to live with myself after this. I didn’t like the idea of erasing the poor woman’s memory, but I didn’t cherish the prospect of Veruca murdering her either. “How long do I have?”

“I can give you another three days, Mr. Fisher.”

“When you first approached me about it, you said you needed it for them. I expected you to need more than one dose.”

His smirk, that despised smirk, stayed firmly in place. “A lot of my relationships go sour, Mr. Fisher.”