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Scotland
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PRU AND HARLEY WERE starting to worry that something bad had happened to Rudy, Leroy and Emelia. The trio had been gone for almost twenty-four hours. The pair had slept restlessly and had woken to find their friends and new ally were still missing.
“I’m sure they’ll be back soon,” Harley said, but his tone held no conviction. They had no way of contacting the trio since none of them had taken a cell phone with them.
“What are you basing that on?” the witch asked in a surly tone. She’d switched to drinking tea rather than coffee to try to soothe her churning stomach.
“Faith,” the kid said solemnly. “We’re supposed to save the world. Nothing bad can happen to any of us until after we’ve stopped the bad guys.”
“This isn’t a movie,” Pru pointed out. “Real life doesn’t work that way. Bad things happen to good people all the time.”
“Not this time, Mamma,” Rudy said as he, Leroy and the fairy suddenly appeared. “At least not to us.” He and Emelia looked weary and even the phantom looked a bit ragged.
“Where’s Asha?” Harley asked, looking around expectantly.
“She’s still being held captive,” Leroy told him. “But we think we’ve finally narrowed down where she is.”
“What took you so long?” Pru asked crankily. She was anxious to rescue Asha before anything horrible happened to her.
“The spells that are keeping her hidden are strong,” Emelia said as she sank down onto Jake’s usual armchair.
A mug of coffee appeared in front of her without her needing to ask. Rudy nodded his thanks to the invisible brownie when coffee arrived for him as well. The beverage was followed up with two plates of sandwiches. Harley and Pru had already eaten, but the kid reached over and snagged one of the leprechaun’s sandwiches anyway. Rudy gave him a rueful look, but didn’t bother to protest. He was well aware of the young hunter’s bottomless appetite.
“How did you find where Asha is being kept if the spell is so strong?” Pru asked.
“Through the process of elimination,” Leroy told her. “I had an idea that we should pretend to be Jake and be methodical about our search.”
“It was a good idea,” Emelia said. “It took us until an hour or so ago to finally narrow down the dryad’s location.”
“Is she in another institute?” Harley asked.
“It looks like it,” Rudy replied. He swept his hand at the plate in invitation. The kid dived on it and snatched up another sandwich. The leprechaun wasn’t particularly hungry for once. “We couldn’t actually see the building where we think Asha is being imprisoned,” he went on. “We know the property is large, around a hundred acres or so.”
“The building is invisible?” Pru asked in surprise.
“Not exactly,” Emelia replied. “There are wards that deflect the eye from it, which makes it seem as though there is nothing there. We assume the dryad is being held behind the wards because it is the only place in the general area that holds any magic.”
“Great, we’ve found her, now how are we going to break her out?” Harley asked.
“I wanted to go in and take a look, but those two wouldn’t let me,” Leroy said sulkily, hiking his thumb at the leprechaun and fairy.
“Sheridan Harwood is aware of your existence,” Emelia reminded him. “Her warlocks could have erected wards that would warn them if a ghost breaches their defenses.”
“She thinks I’m with Jake,” he said in exasperation, as if they’d had this conversation already. “What harm could there be in me just taking a peek?”
“There could be ghost traps inside the building, lad,” Rudy warned him. “If you get stuck in one of those, the warlocks could siphon off your energy until you wither and fade away.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” the spirit said belligerently, glaring at him. “Our little sister is being held by those mahfas. It’s our duty to get her out of there.”
“Do not fear, we will rescue the dryad,” Emelia said. She’d eaten a couple of sandwiches and had found them to be more edible than she’d expected. Nothing in this world was familiar, but she knew she would have to get used to it. “But we’re not going to rush in blindly,” she added. “What use would there be in us getting caught? It would be best to be cautious and to work out a plan first.”
“How can we work out a plan if we can’t even see the place?” Harley asked. Rudy had only eaten a couple of sandwiches before relinquishing his plate. The young hunter rested it on his lap and was polishing them off one by one.
“You’re good with electronic devices,” the leprechaun said to him.
“Yeah, so?”
“Can you fly one of those drone thingies?”
“I’ve never used one, but it can’t be too hard. Kids fly them all the time.”
“How is a drone going to help us see the building?” Pru asked. “Won’t the wards work against cameras?”
“The wards don’t extend all that high,” Emelia told her. “Leroy thinks Harley could fly a drone over them so we can see what lies beyond the boundaries.” She could easily call on her wings and fly over herself, but the phantom’s idea would be safer.
“We’ll have to use one at night, or it’ll be spotted for sure,” Harley mused.
“It’s nighttime in Texas right now,” Rudy said with a sly grin. Pointing at the couch beside the kid, he stole a drone from an electronics store he knew of. “Get to work, lad,” he ordered.
Harley paused long enough to gulp down his coffee, then tore the box open and began to assemble the drone. “The battery needs to be charged,” he said when he was done.
“How long will that take?” Pru asked.
“A couple of hours maybe.”
“That’s unacceptable,” the witch said. Chanting, she touched the dragonfly brooch to call on its power and sent a jolt of energy at the drone. It flared bright white for a moment as the spell kicked in. “See if that worked,” she ordered.
Harley pressed a button on the controller and the drone hummed to life. It took him a few minutes to get the hang of flying it and he grinned. “Now I just have to connect the camera feed to my laptop and we’ll be good to go.” He got to work and quickly had the drone fully operational. It zoomed upwards until it was hovering just beneath the ceiling. Their images were displayed on his laptop in full color.
“Are you done?” Rudy asked expectantly.
“I’m done,” the kid confirmed. “Pru, can you carry the laptop while I fly this thing?” he asked. The witch nodded, then heaved herself to her feet and picked up the computer. “Let’s go,” Harley said and Rudy teleported them to Texas.
They appeared a few hundred yards away from the place they suspected held their friend. Emelia stood guard as the others moved into a huddle. Harley sent the drone zooming high into the air, then flew it where Rudy pointed. The moment it passed over the ward, a dark image of a huge building came into view on the computer screen.
“Bingo,” Pru said in satisfaction as they examined the four-story brick edifice. From the bars on the windows and the heavy security that guarded the place, they’d found the location of their kidnapped friend.
“Get the drone to circle around the building so we can take a look at it from all angles,” Leroy suggested. Harley set the device into motion, searching for a way to infiltrate the institute without them being seen.
