CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
COMPANY
I TOSSED MY NAPKIN on the table. “Company’s here. I think.”
“An owl rarely hoots at midday.”
“I know, right?” I got up and scooted out the backdoor. The screen door clattered a second time and Carter caught up with me, saying, “I’m coming with.”
“Don’t trust me?”
“Protective.”
Heavy dew still sparkled on the grass and dampened the toes of my sneakers as we strode across the yard, him matching steps with me. “Which reminds me, I need to discuss a theory Steptoe has with you.”
He looked down at me. “What theory might that be?”
“Something about the professor.”
“That should be interesting.” His attention moved. “It’s definitely Germanigold.”
And indeed, the harpy leader sat on the edge of our garage roof, her wings folded, and booted ankles crossed, watching as we drew closer.
“You expected her.”
“I hoped. She told me about the harpy communication system.”
We both craned our heads back, calling out our greetings. She sketched a wave. “Tessa and the young lion. Good morrow.”
I shot Carter a tiny look. He didn’t appear lion-ish. No amber eyes, no wavy tawny hair, nothing in that off-set tiny scar in his chin . . . maybe something in the way he moved. Was she watching his shoulder muscles ripple under his shirt the way I was? Or was it something else? I wondered if she knew something I didn’t.
“You asked for a word with me?”
“In case you hadn’t heard, and I know you have a network, but I thought you should hear it from me—we located the Eye last night, but it was taken by Devian and his crew.”
“I understand you lost a skirmish. It’s no wonder . . . the elves have been quiescent for a while now, and it is easy to underestimate them.” She spoke directly to Carter then. “You have plans to reclaim the item?”
“We do.”
“I wish you fortune on that, then. We both know how vital it is, but the family Broadstone has kept its virtues secret for many decades, so it’s possible Devian doesn’t quite know what he has, even though there is a bounty on it and a decree to obstruct justice. He may think he simply has an enormous jewel worth a king’s ransom.”
“We’re banking on that.”
“Excellent. I have news for you both, as well.” She hopped down from the roof’s edge, landing lightly. “We have elicited a few interesting facts. There was a betrayal in the House of Broadstone although I have no definitive name yet, but information was given out that I had the Eye of Nimora. Less than a handful of people, that I’m familiar with, knew that was Morty’s bridal gift to me.”
“Would Hiram know the others?”
“Tessa, he is one of the five. I would not count him out of trouble, and I will not confide in him of the other names I know. Are you certain of his loyalty?”
“Any day.” I would trust Hiram as I had his father Mortimer, but a tiny voice inside reminded me that Morty had betrayed us on that fateful trip to New York City. Was I as sure as I thought? But, as far as naming names, I’d discovered the hard way years ago that there were always more people in on a secret than there were supposed to be.
“From House Broadstone, then to my nest, where my sister eagerly plotted a coup of her own to displace me and put me in the hands of Judge Maxwell, bring Mortimer to a downfall, and turn the Eye over to an agent for sale. From what I gathered from her coconspirators, she never knew exactly what it’s capable of, but she knew a treasure when she saw it.”
“She just wanted the money?”
Goldie gave a little smile my way. “It takes money to fund a coup. More money to build a new nest. Property is expensive here in the northeast.”
So . . . they didn’t actually build nests somewhere. They bought houses, probably big ones, since their family sounded like a commune, and you bet that could be expensive. I kicked myself mentally for thinking of twigs and such making a harpy’s home.
Germanigold stretched an arm out. “Remember these five,” and she recited the names. I knew two, but the other three meant nothing to me, nor did they to Carter evidently who made a noncommittal hrmmm when she finished. I did find myself relieved that most of Hiram’s home redo crew weren’t on the short list. I’d liked all of them who’d come to work on our cellar. I found it hard to believe that Goldie thought she’d found a traitor in the Broadstone dynasty. Perhaps she’d been led astray. The magical side of the street didn’t operate all that differently from the human side, I’d discovered. Petty grievances, lying, envy, and so forth seemed universal. There seemed to be an imbalance, though, because I hadn’t really found any saintlike qualities on their side. Not that we had all that many on ours, but a few hit the commendable roll.
“When are you making your move?” she asked of Carter.
“Tonight, I believe. We really haven’t any time to waste. If Devian considers breaking the ruby up to make it easier to sell, he could destroy it as a magical relic. We’ve given him a decoy use for the gem, based on what he already supposes, and we’re confident he’ll take the bait.”
She nodded. “You do what you must, and if you need me, there are ways to reach me.”
“Besides owl?”
She winked at me. “The lion here knows many ways to reach those he has to.” Then, with a leap, she launched herself up, her wings came out, and she soared off over the canopy of trees dotting the neighborhood.
Carter and I watched her go before I turned to him. “Suppose anybody saw that?”
“She has her own ways of being seen and unseen.” He reached down to hold my hand as we walked back to the house.
“More protective duty?”
“No.” His scar deepened a little. “Because I like it.” He walked a bit more deliberately, forcing me to keep pace. “Now what’s this about Steptoe? What’s he said that’s got you thinking?”
I punched him lightly in the bicep. “I think all the time, thank you very much.”
“Not what I meant and you know it.” Carter stopped and turned to face me.
“He has a theory about the professor.”
Carter waited.
“He’s seen Brian hang back. Hesitate. And says he can smell the herbs and relics on him. He thinks he’s carrying the element for a pyre about with him, but . . .” My voice trailed off. The more indistinct my words got, the higher one of Carter’s eyebrows rose. “He thinks the professor has what he needs to do his ritual and is too cowardly to follow through.”
“Even with the pixie dust?”
“That’s what he thinks.”
Carter looked away from me then, over my shoulder to someplace I couldn’t see, maybe even across a vast Egyptian desert somewhere where he’d taken me once to try and show me what he’d been through and what magic had done to him. Finally, he said, “Could be.”
“If it were just him, I could leave it be, but I can’t, can I?”
“Why do you say that?”
I dug a sneaker toe into a grass clump. “There’s too much going on. This is a world that didn’t—couldn’t—exist, but it does. It gets more complicated every day, and I can see that there’s trouble. You, they, whatever, stayed hidden, but you can’t stay that way much longer. Something really nasty is coming along and we have to be ready to stop it.”
His voice tensed, just a bit. “You’ve seen it?”
“No, but it stomps through my dreams every night. I don’t think it’s Malender.” I shrugged. “I’m tough and can take it, but what if it comes after my mother? Or Evelyn? It’s already taken my dad.”
“We don’t know what happened to your father.”
“I know that he’s a ghost without much hope of going back or moving forward unless we can help him. What we don’t know is who did that to him or if he did it to himself, doing something he wasn’t supposed to, or if he fell into some kind of trap, or . . .” I stopped. I could see in Carter’s expression that my words were almost as painful for him as they were for me. “Anyway, things keep getting stranger and tougher.”
“It’s not a one-way street. Things also get more wonderful.” He leaned forward, and this time there was no mistaking the intent as we kissed again.
It warmed me from the inside out, uncurling and streaking through me until I could feel myself grinning instead of kissing, and he pulled back a little, with a short laugh.
“Think this is funny, do you?”
“No. Yes . . . no, it’s fun. Not funny. Just . . . fun.” And I grabbed his collar to bring him close again and, well, we didn’t move for a few minutes until we heard Hiram and Brian coughing from the back porch. We stopped and returned to the house.
“That really was an owl hooting, Professor,” I said as we passed them.
“No doubt. But he must have had quite a lot to say. Volumes. We got curious.”
“We have news.”
In the end, we didn’t tell the group everything Goldie told us. Without consulting each other, we left the names named out of the conversation, only that she hoped to have confirmation of the traitor soon. Hiram looked thunderous, resembling his father more than I’d ever seen him before. Mom stayed quiet and pensive, but I could tell she took things in and weighed them. I decided for myself that, despite what Germanigold had said, he couldn’t have gone Benedict Arnold on his father and family. Not just for myself, mind you. Evelyn was involved in it now, too, whether I wanted her to be or not, and neither of us needed to be disappointed in Hiram’s honor.
Our plan stayed simple: contact Devian. Offer a trade for Scout and the Eye of Nimora (which would simply be referred to as the Queen gem), with a contract for Hiram’s services as a locator in its place. Hopefully, in the short hours between last night and today, Devian hadn’t had a chance to verify exactly what he had in his possession and what its true worth might be.
Steptoe didn’t make an appearance until the last of our little convention, hanging back and leaning against the doorjamb. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him turn down a meal before. Or stay quiet. Marveling at these two things, I’d just cast a look at him when Carter said, “Don’t like admitting it, but I can’t see a way to get your tail into the negotiations.”
“Likely not, guv’nor.”
The two considered each other across the room. Hiram opened his mouth to say something, but Carter stopped him by putting up an index finger. “The way I do see it is that we are putting up a hell of a distraction while you go in and retrieve what you need. He’ll be watching us. You’ll be invisible. Devian will have exposed his cache, probably left it unlocked while he brings out the Eye, and that gives you the opportunity to get in and out, undetected.”
Steptoe considered it, looking as if he sucked on a sore tooth before asking, “What’s in it for you?”
“He won’t know what hit him until after the deal is done and over. Then, realizing he’s lost the gem, he’s likely to go through the remaining treasures to see what he has. When Devian realizes he’s missing a few items more, he’ll be unhappy and impatient and at odds. Distracted and off-balance. The longer we can keep him that way—”
“The ’appier we’ll all be,” Steptoe finished. “A’right then. I know where I stand. When do we leave?”
“Soon as Devian gets an answer back to us.”
Steptoe moved to the table, pulling up a chair. “Any lunch left?”
“Of course,” Mom said. “But then you all are on your own. I’ve a paper to work on.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we all answered.
My phone rang, and I turned away from the table to answer it. As if she knew she might be interrupting, Evelyn whispered a quiet “Hello” in my ear. And a yawn.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore. If I hadn’t gone to the ER, I’d think it was broken. The only good thing is that Dad isn’t upset too much with me, and my mom is waiting on me hand and foot, at least until I go to bed. I slept all the way home, but I’m still a bit (yawn) drowsy.”
I covered my mouth before I gave a yawn myself. “Well, I’m glad you’re home and the dust has settled.”
“Not quite.” And her voice changed a little, just enough that when she started talking again, the hairs rose on the back of my neck. “You’re in trouble, Tessa Andrews, in the eyes of a foe far more dangerous than any of you and yours can imagine. Take care before you take harm.”
The tone of her voice took an icy dive into my inner self. “Say what? Is that you, Evie? What are you talking about?”
A slight pause before she coughed a bit and said, “Sorry. Falling asleep right in front of you! Talk to you later, and I want you to tell me everything you know about Hiram.”
Fat chance of that. “Sure,” I soothed her. “Later.”
The phone clicked silent. I thought a moment before shoving it aside and facing our gang of good intentions. My insides still felt chilled. “So. Devian mentioned a boss. Any idea who that might be and if these guys have any relation to the big evil baddie we’ve been told might return? ’Cause at this point, it’s my opinion Malender is not our guy.”
You’d have thought I dropped a conversation bomb in the middle of the table. Voices broke out at once, and Hiram’s deep voice shook the commotion into silence when he finally yelled, “Quiet!”
I sat very still, hoping my mother would not come out of her study unhappy. Or at all. Hiram looked about the table. “Decorum,” he suggested, before sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Precisely,” the professor said, looking squarely at me. “What is this about?”
“Not that I wasn’t grateful and glad to see you guys, but you weren’t the first to come charging to my aid. Malender was, and I’ve no idea how or why he did, because it was all I could do to breathe, let alone call anyone. And Devian threw the name Nico in his face.”
That brought the voices up again, and I put my hand out. “Can’t tell you that,” I answered Hiram, who wanted to know if he knew about the Eye. “Or that,” I said to Brian as the professor grunted, “Why didn’t he blast Devian into smithereens?”
But it was Carter who caught my attention, the expression unreadable on his face, eyes intent and that offset cleft going white against his jawline. “Was anything else said about Nico?”
“No, although it seemed he might have a hold on Malender somehow. So . . . what is this black cloud that’s around him? Is it of his making or did someone curse him with it?” I leaned on my elbows.
“We don’t know, and it’s nothing you should be investigating. We only have some very old familial memories of Malender, and they all suggest that he is a powerful being none of us should be involved with if we can help it.”
“He stopped Devian in his tracks. I was being floated out of the casino toward the archway when I thought I’d hit a brick wall. So even if he didn’t turn the elf into dust on the asphalt, he did stop him long enough that you guys could catch up, and that was more trouble than Devian wanted. And he had a reminder for the professor about being the Fire he needed.”
Brian had a mild coughing fit but blamed it on the sweet tea going down wrong. The rest of us stared at one another.
I finally added, “But who is Ni—”
“No one you should worry or ask about.” Carter’s gruff tone made it an order rather than a suggestion.
“Oh-kay then. Our minds are full and our plates are empty, so we wait to see what kind of rendezvous awaits us.” I smiled brightly in hopes their stormy faces would clear.
I didn’t get much of a response as I stood to clear the table, so I leaned over Hiram. “Evelyn wants to know allllll about you.”
He brightened. “And, lass, you need to tell me about her!” And he talked about his impression of my bestie until the room cleared in self-defense.
Devian’s choice of a meet wasn’t anywhere near the casino, or anywhere else in town. He chose an area near the Powhatan Mills Quarter golf course, west and a bit north of town, a quiet area with quiet money. Green and forested, with beautiful two- and three-story gray-stoned estate houses laid back off the looping roads, it looked too peaceful for a devious elf and nefarious plots. But there we were, about to meet one and step into the other.