“Car empty?” she asked Samuel. She received a confirming nod. “I’ll take Lilith with me so you can take over the household again.”
His relieved smile proved she’d might the right choice. He’d be checking every inch of his domain to confirm it was ready for anything.
“Are we going to the compound?” Lilith asked once they were winding through the streets of Olde Town.
“Later, when Gabriel should be awake. Vulnerable human first.” Ari had taken over the driving and turned toward the market area where Claris had her shop. They had to park two blocks away. Tour buses were the only vehicles allowed on Market Street.
The bell tinkled when they entered the shop. Ari scowled at the javey sitting cross-legged on the shop floor, loudly chomping on a head of lettuce and scattering pieces around him. Lilith, who hadn’t seen Mangi before, stopped short to stare.
“Manners, Mangi.” Ari’s gaze flew to Claris, behind the counter. “Are you OK? Nothing’s happened since we talked?”
“Everything’s normal around here, except for
him
.” Claris’s eyes were big as if she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “He won’t leave, and I’m running out of food. I can’t believe I’m in any kind of danger. And before you ask why Brando isn’t here, I sent him to the store. He’s been in and out all day, but when he’s here he paces and mumbles. They’re both driving me crazy.”
Ari went behind the counter and hugged her friend. “Why don’t you fix us some coffee while I talk to Mangi?” Claris would do better if she had some activity to occupy her, and Ari desperately wanted to get that deer-in-the-headlights look off her friend’s face.
“Yes, I can do that.” Claris went through the beaded curtain to the kitchen in back.
Ari squatted in front of Mangi, who was picking at the mess on the floor and stuffing pieces in his mouth. “OK, now explain why you’re here.” She gripped his forearm to stop him from grabbing more food.
He swallowed the last mouthful. “Zylla told me to come and keep Claris safe. Zylla saw something.” The young werejavey wrinkled his snout; his eyes moving from her to Lilith, who had one hand on her pistol. “Did I do wrong? Are you angry with me?”
“Only about the mess you’re making.” She glanced at Lilith. “He’s not a threat to us.” As if to prove it, Ari laid a reassuring hand on the javey’s knee.
“If you say so.” Lilith gave her a doubtful frown but stepped back and leaned against the front wall, where she split her vigilance between the room and the street outside.
“You did the right thing in obeying Zylla,” Ari told the javey. “I just wish I knew why she sent you.”
“Trouble.” He gave her a thoughtful look that was wise beyond his years. “But her prophecies are not so clear anymore.”
“Yeah, she told me.” Ari stood and walked over to lean against the counter. “She must have seen enough to know Claris was involved.”
Mangi shrugged. “All Zylla told me was to keep her safe,” he repeated. “You want me to go home now?”
“No. Not if Zylla told you to stay.”
“Can he at least move to the kitchen?” The beads clattered as Claris came through the doorway carrying a tray with four mugs of coffee. “I’d like to keep the shop open, but I won’t sell anything if he looks at my customers as if they were edible.”
Ari glanced at the boy with his pig snout and hooves for feet. She gave her friend a brief grin. “I suppose we could arrange that. Now be honest, has anything else happened that bothered you? Any strangers hanging around?”
“Nothing.”
Claris set the tray on the counter, handed a mug to Lilith and two to Ari, who offered one to Mangi. She was surprised when he stopped eating long enough to accept it and thank her.
“Since you weren’t in town, I called Ryan when Mangi first appeared. Ryan reminded me who Zylla was and said she’d being having premonitions about someone in danger. You hadn’t said anything to me. Protecting me again?”
“Her premonition wasn’t specific, and I didn’t want to worry you. Zylla didn’t know who was at risk. We thought it was Andreas. Now, I’m not so sure.” She cocked her head. “So why’d you call Ryan instead of Brando?”
“I called them both. I guess I was kind of freaked.”
“I don’t see either of them here now. If Brando’s at the store, what happened to Ryan?”
“I don’t know.” Claris explained that both men came right away when she called them, but after talking with the javey, they decided he should stay. Brando had been around most of the time since then, but Ryan had been in and out. “Mangi is apparently my bodyguard until the risk is over.” Claris’s lower lip came out in a thoughtful pout. “So I was out-voted. I don’t know how we decide when he should leave, since we don’t know what the risk is.”
Ari noticed something missing from the story. Being full-blooded humans, Claris and Ryan couldn’t see or feel the magical vibrations in the city, but a wizard could. Why hadn’t Brando mentioned it to his fiancé? Was he being protective too?
“How long ago did Brando go to the store?”
“Two hours. He must have stopped to talk with some of his wizard friends again. There’s some big problem they’ve been discussing. That’s why he’s been in and out so much.”
Ah-ha. So he was concerned about the magical vibes and probably working with others to determine their origin. She needed to have a private conversation with him ASAP.
After she convinced Mangi to continue his guard duties from the kitchen, where he was quickly emptying Claris’s fridge of the remaining leftovers, she and Lilith left to track down Brando.
As soon as they stepped onto the brick walkway outside the shop, Lilith nudged her. “Check out that shaded entry to the pastry shop. It’s Ryan. I’ve been watching him. Seems like he has Claris under surveillance.”
“Figures. I thought it was strange he’d just gone away.”
They cut across the street. Ryan came out from under the awning and walked away from them.
“What’s he doing?” Lilith asked.
“He knows we’ll follow him. I’d say he doesn’t want Claris to know he’s watching her.”
When he turned at the first corner, they hurried to catch him and found Ryan waiting.
“I’m relieved to see you.” His face revealed lines of tension and lack of sleep. “When did you get back?”
“Just now. Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“Where’s Andreas?”
Ari sighed. “Long story. You first.”
He frowned, searching her face, but nodded. “Let me buy you a cup of coffee while we talk.”
They headed down the street toward a small cafe. “I can’t explain why the kid’s in Claris’s shop—good thing you warned me he was staying with Zylla—but I’ve heard a little about the vampires from Steffan and Brando.” He stopped and opened the door for them to enter the shop. It was relatively deserted at this time of day. The main tourist season was over, and only locals were chatting over coffee and soda. The waitress showed them to a booth in the back. When she’d poured three mugs of coffee and left, Ryan started talking again.
“I assume you’ve notice the magical stuff. Brando says any conjurer would pick up on some really bad vibes.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to miss. What is it?”
“They’re trying to figure it out. He’s at your Magic Lab, consulting with the council and the lab techs. They’ve been trying to identify the spell surrounding the vampire compound and its source.” Ryan leaned across the table, flipped her jacket open enough to reveal the Walther in its shoulder holster and let the soft leather fall back into place. “Since when did you start carrying that?”
“Way to go, Ari.” Lilith opened her eyes wide in approval. “You’ve graduated to a gun with real stopping power.”
“It was a gift.” She passed off the pistol with a casualness she didn’t feel. The gun’s bulk was a constant reminder of the unfinished business in Germany. She brought the focus back to the situation in Riverdale. “I should join them at the lab.” She hesitated when she remembered the problems that might raise with the Magic Council demanding an explanation of her recent activities. “Um, maybe I better call Brando first.”
Something flickered across Ryan’s face. “Good idea.”
“What?”
“Just call him.”
She tapped Brando’s speed dial number.
He answered immediately. “You’re here. Have you talked with Claris?”
“Yes, I just left there. I’m with Ryan now. Are you having any luck at the lab? Should I come over there?”
“We’re making progress. It’s a black magic energy barrier of some kind, cutting off everything. It’s almost as if the compound has been wrapped in another dimension.” Brando cleared his throat. “As for coming here…”
She heard voices in the background, then a new speaker came on the phone. “Ari, it’s Steffan. I’m sorry, but the magic council called in another guardian earlier today. With this crisis, they couldn’t wait to hear from you. Most of us resisted as long as we could, but the hyenas had been demanding your replacement for days.”
“I’ve been fired?” Her voice came out smaller than she’d hoped.
“Suspended, including your abilities. It will be permanent in thirty days.”
She stared at the phone, absorbing the news. It hadn’t occurred to her what getting fired would really mean. Losing her Guardian abilities. She’d had the enhanced strength, speed, and healing for so long they seemed a natural part of her. To lose them now, when she needed them the most… She knew from others—retired Guardians—that the abilities would wear off gradually over a few days. But that delay wouldn’t be enough to help her in Germany. By the time she returned to rescue Andreas, her Guardian abilities would be gone. She had the magic, the martial arts, the weapons training. None of that expertise would go away. And she ran every day, keeping herself in decent shape. Still.
“Is this reversible?”
“I can’t answer that, but you should try. If you’re home for good, I’d make an immediate appeal and—”
“I’m not. This is only temporary. I have to go back.” She sighed and gave a rueful smile that only Ryan and Lilith could see. “At least I don’t have to feel guilty that Riverdale is being neglected.”
“You know I didn’t want this. I’ll do anything I can to make it go away.”
“It’s OK. I was warned this could happen. So who’s the new Guardian?”
“His name’s Tom Bodie, a warlock out of St. Louis. He seems OK, but I think they pulled him out of retirement.”
“Is he a fire witch?”
“No. His abilities are based in earth magic. But, uh, now that he’s here, you realize you’re not the Guardian in charge of this case.”
She kept her voice steady, emotionless. “Yeah, I got that. I guess I should stay away from the lab, huh?”
“Uh-huh, but there’s no reason we can’t meet with you somewhere else. I got the impression from Bodie that he’d come too. He was recommended by Moriana.”
Interesting. How had her former witch mentor gotten involved in this? Obviously, the St. Louis connection should have been a clue that the two would know each other, but Moriana wasn’t the type to pay attention to things outside her own city. Ari had a dozen more questions, but she’d wait to ask them when the current crisis was over.
“How about we meet at my place for a beer or two in about an hour?” Steffan asked. He always had a chilled keg available. Werewolves loved their beer.
But Ari had a better idea. “I’d rather make it the back of Claris’s shop. It’s time she knew what was going on, and I don’t want to leave her alone for long.”
“Sounds reasonable to me. We’ll be there.”
In the meantime, Ari wanted a quick look at the vampire compound. If a conjurer was inside, maybe she could get a feel for his magic.
* * *
The boarded-up warehouse that hid the entrance to Olde Town’s vampire compound was barely visible in the gathering dark. A streetlight cast the building in dark shadows. It stood silent and apparently deserted. The warehouses in the area that were still in use for anything except occasional storage of overflow goods were two blocks over and closed for the evening. The vampires owned this entire block, and the dilapidated access doors were identical. Without prior knowledge, it would be impossible to know which one was still in constant use.
Ari, Lilith, and Ryan halted at the end of the street. They’d agreed to proceed with caution before going any closer.
“Is this magical stuff stronger here?” Ryan asked.
“Oh, yeah. Someone or something is expending a lot of energy.” Ari rubbed at the sensation of slimy things crawling over her skin. “It’s similar to the dark magic I felt during the treasure hunter case, only much more sinister. I don’t recognize the spell, even though something…seems familiar. A faint scent or a trickle of energy.” She shook her head, when she couldn’t pin it down. “It could be nothing, just one of our vampires. My sensory system is being compromised by the negative energy, but I can sense vampires are inside.”
Lilith hunched her shoulders. “Even I feel the bad vibes from this close. Usually I don’t pick up on sorcery.”
“It’s pretty heavy duty.”
Ryan looked around uneasily and shrugged. “Glad I don’t tune into these psychic things, but it does seem rather gloomy down here.”
Ari cut him a speculative glance. Unless he was picking up on her mood, the human cop might be more psychic than he thought.
She studied the rooftops for sentries or snipers. “I don’t see anything unusual outside. Andreas doesn’t keep guards out here because we have the cameras.”
Ryan perked up. “Any way to tap into them?”
“No, they’re on a closed circuit. Wait. That’s not completely true. There is a way. Andreas has camera access from the house that he installed two years ago.” She called Samuel on her phone. “Have you checked the compound cameras?”
“One of the first things I did. I didn’t call you, because the tapes are blank.”
“How can that be?”
“They were wiped or turned off at 2:17 a.m.”
Geez. Didn’t this conjurer make mistakes? “What’s the last thing on them?”
“An empty street, then nothing.”
“Dammit. That doesn’t help, but it was worth checking. Thanks. Any other news?”
“Nope. It’s quiet here.”
“At least that’s something.” She disconnected. “Blank tapes,” she reported. “But he hasn’t had any trouble at the house.”