Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter 26

W
ith the help
of the witches, Meaghan got the unconscious wizard into a chair. A half a roll of duct tape later, he wasn’t going anywhere.

The witches cast some spells to reinforce the duct tape and block any spells he might try to cast. Natalie held her hands to his head to feel for serious injury but didn’t detect anything. Meaghan declined Natalie’s offer to fix his nose.

“Not yet. Let him suffer a bit,” Meaghan said. At Natalie’s raised eyebrow, Meaghan said, “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to torture him or anything. We can do the good-cop bad-cop thing on him when he wakes up. I’ll yell at him, scare him a little, and then one of you can offer him some comfort by putting his nose back together.”

Natalie and Kady took off to check on Jamie after Meaghan shared her concerns about him. Two other witches left to find Russ and escort him home.

Several derogatory comments were made about the Order’s general magical abilities, but it was clear to Meaghan that the witches were not taking any chances with this guy. The incident with Emily and Jamie had shaken them.

“Borrowed magic,” said Lynette, the witch with the silver bouffant, shaking her head. “I can’t believe Emily was foolish enough to use someone else’s magic.”

“Is that really bad?” Meaghan asked.

“Well, it’s dishonest,” Lynette answered. “And kind of icky when you get right down to it. Like wearing shoes from thrift shops.”

“What’s wrong with that? I wear thrift shop shoes all the time,” said Marnie, a younger witch about Kady’s age. Tall and slender, she had a ring in her nose, black hair cut in a severe angled bob, and wore a Harley T-shirt and plaid bermuda shorts.

“It’s like wearing jail underwear,” Meaghan said.

“Jail underwear?” asked another even younger witch. With a start, Meaghan realized it was Emily’s plump, ponytailed receptionist.

“Um, yeah,” Meaghan answered. “I have a friend back in Phoenix who’s a municipal court judge. She says the best way to scare female defendants straight is to tell them if they do time they’ll have to wear jail underwear. Bras and panties. Laundered but worn by other prisoners.”

The three witches in the kitchen pondered this a moment. They shuddered.

“Yeah,” the ponytailed witch said. “It’s kind of like that. If jail underwear made you crazy powerful.”

“Does she do that as a habit? Use borrowed magic?” Meaghan asked.

The young witch shook her head. “Not that I’ve noticed. I’ve never seen her that powerful before. If it’s a habit, she’s hiding it well. At work at least.”

“And she was out all week after the thing on Monday?”

The witch nodded.

Meaghan said to her, “You know, I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. We didn’t really have a chance to chat when we met last week.”

The girl beamed at her. “I’m Sarah. That was totally awesome how you stood up to her.”

“Thank you. Your coworker, the blond girl, is she a witch too?”

Sarah shook her head. “Chloe? No, but she says she’d like to learn how to hex Emily.”

Marnie and Lynette burst out laughing.

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Meaghan said. “So what’s Emily’s deal? Why does she hate Jamie so much?”

At that moment, Russ appeared in the hole where the kitchen door had been, flanked by Anna and Emma, the two young witches assigned to protect him.

“Holy shit, Meg, what did you do?” he asked, eyes wide.

She snorted. “I didn’t do it, dumbass.” She pointed at the wizard taped to the chair. “Voldemort here did it.”

Russ walked towards the unconscious wizard. His jaw dropped. “Then who did this to him?”

“I did.” She held up the saucepan, which she had kept close just in case. “With this.”

Russ goggled at her. “You took him down with a saucepan?” He thought about it a moment. “It is a solid pan.”

“Perfect for gentle simmering and personal defense,” Meaghan said.

“Wow,” Russ said, circling the bound wizard. “Damn. Remind me not to piss you off in the kitchen.” He looked up at her. “Is Dad okay?”

“Slept right through the whole thing. He’s still asleep. Natalie and Kady are over at Jamie’s keeping watch.” She glanced up at the clock. “We should probably check in. Would somebody call them and make sure everything’s okay?”

“I’ll do it.” Marnie pulled a cell phone out of the back pocket of her shorts and walked into the living room.

“Jamie?” Russ asked. “What’s he got to do with it?”

“Nothing, I hope,” Meaghan said. “But Emily got her extra power last week from these guys and used it against Jamie. And they’re working for somebody we don’t know. It seemed prudent to keep an eye on him in case hometown politics were involved.”

Russ ran his hands through his hair. “What a freaking mess. Bastard couldn’t pick the lock?” He sighed and sat down across the table from the wizard. “Hometown politics?”

Meaghan shrugged. “Jamie’s heir to John’s throne. It’s fair to assume the guy who tossed John out hasn’t forgotten that. I don’t know much about Fahraya, but I do know politics.”

“And you were afraid you couldn’t do this job,” Russ said. “Feeling more confident?”

She smiled. “Yeah. I am. A bit. I think Mr. Wizard here wanted to scare me. Kind of surprised him when I got pissed off instead of quivering like a damsel in distress.”

“Heh.” Russ laughed. “Yeah, I bet. I’ve seen you get mad. It’s not pretty.”

“He tried to hex me too. He was even more surprised when that didn’t work.”

Russ frowned. “He did? The Order know all about Matthew and word’s been out for a while that you’d probably be taking over for him.” He appraised the young wizard. “And there are ways they could have tested whether magic worked on you without tipping their hand like this.” He looked back at Meaghan. “They set this kid up.”

Meaghan glanced at the unconscious wizard and felt the tiniest spark of compassion. He was just a kid. “Why would they do that?”

Nobody answered. They all stared at the wizard for a moment and then Marnie trotted back in.

“What’d I miss?” she asked. “What are we doing?”

“The Order set him up,” Sarah answered. “We’re wondering why.”

Meaghan pulled her eyes away from the wizard. “Is everything okay with Jamie?”

Marnie nodded. “Natalie and Kady are putting up a bunch of protective spells to be safe but no sign of trouble.”

“So, they only came after me and sent someone who didn’t know he couldn’t hex me. Set him up to fail,” Meaghan said. “Although they probably didn’t expect him to fail this badly. What are they up to? Trying to scare me?”

At that moment, as if on cue, the wizard groaned and lifted his head.

He looked around at the assembled witches and Meaghan. His eyes widened. He was visibly shaking.

“Hey, sunshine,” Meaghan said brightly. “Time to wake up. Welcome to my home. Try anything, and I do mean
anything
and I’ll trade the saucepan for something pointy. My brother buys good knives too.” She pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. “Kid, you’re in the deep shit right now. You don’t like witches? They don’t like you, either. And five of them are staring at you right now. I’m the least of your worries.”

He screwed his eyes shut and began to chant what sounded like Latin in a squeaky voice.

Meaghan gently flicked his broken nose with her index finger. He yelped.

“Knock it off, Merlin. That doesn’t work on me. Remember? And the nice ladies here have hexed the crap out of the airspace around you.” She stared at him, trying to read his face. “The Order set you up, sweetie. They sent you here to fail.”

His eyes flew open, wide with fear, and he jerked against the tape holding him to the chair. Meaghan saw nothing on his face but raw terror. What happened to the smug bastard who blew down the kitchen door?

“How old are you anyway? Sixteen, seventeen?”

He continued chanting.

“You really weren’t top of your class at Hogwarts, were you?” Meaghan sat back. “Keep it up and I’ll give you to the witches. If I could kick your ass this hard without magic, think what they can do to you.”

That seemed to take the fight out of him. He slumped back against the chair and began to cry.

“Look at me,” Meaghan said. He didn’t respond.

“C’mon,” Meaghan continued. “I need to take a look at your pupils and make sure they’re the same size. Make sure I didn’t scramble your brains too hard. The less trouble you give us, the more likely we’ll be to get you medical attention if you need it.”

He finally looked up. His face was chalky white, his eyes red and brimming. Confusion and terror fought for control of his tear-stained face.

Something’s wrong with this, she thought. He seemed like a different person from the wizard who had attacked her. This was a terrified, half-starved kid. The tiny spark of compassion Meaghan had felt for him ignited into a feeble flame. Time for some good cop.

“Tell you what,” Meaghan said. “Let’s at least get that nose fixed up for you. That’s easy enough. Ladies?”

Lynette stepped forward. “I got this.”

Meaghan suspected Lynette was experiencing the same feeling. Something was off. The kid seemed to have no idea what was going on. No defiance, only confused fear.

Lynette placed a hand on the top of his head. He flinched at her touch, as if expecting to be struck. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze with the other hand. “This won’t hurt,” she said in a soft voice. She moved her hand from his shoulder and held his mangled nose delicately between her thumb and middle finger. She breathed a few soft words Meaghan couldn’t make out. With a sigh, the boy slumped in the chair. After a moment he sat back up.

“Better?” Lynette asked.

He nodded at her, his eyes wide with wonder. “Thank you,” he croaked.

Sarah handed her a damp paper towel. Lynette dabbed the blood off the boy’s face and then gave Meaghan a meaningful glance. “Girls,” Lynette said to the other witches, “I need to talk with Meaghan and Russ for a sec. Keep an eye on him.”

She pulled Meaghan into the hallway and Russ followed. In a low voice, so only they would hear, Lynette said, “He was possessed.”

Russ whispered back, “You sure?”

Lynette nodded. “I can feel the residual energy. That boy doesn’t have any power at all. Whoever came after you wore his skin and then abandoned him when the spell didn’t work.”

Russ shook his head. “The bastards sacrificed a pawn.”

“That’s exactly what they did,” Lynette said. “I don’t know how he got mixed up with the Order, but we can’t send him back. Even if he wants to go. Which I don’t think he does. I sensed a lot of fear and pain.”

Meaghan nodded. “He’s not going anywhere until we know what we’re dealing with. Come on. Time for a new strategy.”

Chapter 27

M
eaghan stepped back
into the kitchen followed by Russ and Lynette. The boy sat slumped in the chair, staring at the floor. Just a kid, Meaghan thought. Another lost boy. This time without Matthew to rescue him.

The boy’s stomach growled.

“You hungry?” Meaghan asked him. “Of course you are. Starved is probably more like it. If you’ll eat, we’ll feed you.”

He shook his head and continued to stare at the floor.

Meaghan shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She looked around the room. “Would you ladies like something? Russ, would you whip something up for our guests?”

Russ stared at her for a long moment, then nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

Without asking the witches what they wanted, Russ began frying bacon. Meaghan smiled. Russ had gotten the message. Threats weren’t going to work. Time to see what basic kindness could do. Bacon was hard to resist even if you weren’t a starving teenage boy.

“Russ, isn’t there some pie left over from dinner? That strawberry pie Natalie made?”

“Yeah, Meg, there is. Damn, that was good stuff,” Russ said.

“Sarah, would you grab the pie out of the fridge?” Meaghan asked. “And grab the bowl of whipped cream. And there should be a jar of fudge sauce right near it. Hot fudge on pie. Sounds weird, but it’s so yummy. Natalie’s kind of a genius.”

“Got it.” Sarah scurried to the fridge.

The young wizard’s stomach growled louder.

Meaghan turned back to him and smiled. “We do like to eat well around here. My brother’s an awesome cook. If you change your mind, let us know.”

“There’s also some leftover burgers in the fridge,” Russ called out from the stove. “I cooked them rare so they’ll still be good reheated. Grass-fed beef from a guy I know up the road. This bacon would be good on top of a burger. Or I could fry some eggs or make pancakes.”

“Ooh, I know,” said Lynette, catching what Russ and Meaghan were up to. “There’s nothing like a bacon cheeseburger with a fried egg on top. It’s a messy pile of joy.”

The young wizard whimpered and licked his lips.

“Lynette, you’re as bad as Natalie,” Meaghan said, laughing. “If I hadn’t already had a huge dinner, I’d be right there with you. I’ll have to stick with pie.”

Russ added, “Fried onions would be good on that burger too. Can somebody slice up an onion while I get the burger fixings together? Anybody want me to fry up some hash browns while I’m at it?”

The wizard groaned as his stomach growled even louder. The kitchen was beginning to smell like a gourmet diner.

The witches helped Russ prepare a small mountain of food, while Meaghan swept up broken glass, chattering the whole time about her favorite dishes. What finally shoved the boy over the edge was the smell of Russ’s home-baked hamburger rolls warming in the toaster oven. He began to sob, loudly, uncontrollably, his stomach roaring. Meaghan sat down in front of him and held half a cheeseburger to his mouth and he couldn’t stop himself. He ate it in three ravenous bites. If she hadn’t pulled back in time, he’d have bitten her fingers off.

Lynette took over, feeding him like a baby. A few forkfuls of potatoes followed by a bite of the pie. Meaghan poured him a small glass of milk, the full-fat raw stuff that Russ got from another guy he knew up the road, and held it up to the boy’s lips. He gulped it down.

“Can I have more, please?” he gasped.

“Not yet, honey,” Lynette said, gently wiping his face with a damp paper towel. “You’re so starved you’ll get sick if we give you any more right now.”

Meaghan smiled. She could hear the maternal concern in Lynette’s voice and see the boy respond to it. It was one thing to hate witches in the abstract. It was another thing altogether to hate a kind, motherly woman who called you “honey,” fixed your broken nose, and fed you good food when you were starving.

“See?” Meaghan said. “We’re not so bad.”

He began to cry again. “Hunger is pure, gluttony is a sin,” he gasped.

“Pfft,” Meaghan sputtered. Gluttony? The kid ate half a burger and drank a small glass of milk. No wonder he was so pathetically thin. “Russ, did you hear that?”

“I did,” he answered, his voice grim. “Kid, this isn’t gluttony. This is high-quality food, lovingly raised and produced, and skillfully prepared. This is a sacrament. Every bite is a gift from the earth.”

The wizard sobbed, snot bubbling from his nose. Great, Meaghan thought, they’d scared him again. But he was all softened up. Time to get some answers.

She held a paper towel up to his nose. “Blow,” she said. He obeyed like a child.

“Feel better?” she asked when his sobs had subsided a bit.

He gave a tiny nod.

“There are some things you need to know,” Meaghan said, “before I start asking you questions. First, I’m impervious to magic. It flat out doesn’t work on me. And the Order knows that. Or suspects it. And they could have checked it out for sure without coming near me. Whoever sent you here to hex me wanted you to fall on your face. Do you understand?”

He stared at her, eyes wide. “Nobody told . . . I . . .” He broke down again. “I don’t know why I’m here.”

Meaghan nodded. “That’s what I thought. I don’t want to hurt you. I really don’t. Unless you make me. If you behave, so will I. Deal?”

He nodded again, biting his bottom lip.

She gave him a moment, then helped him blow his nose again before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Caleb,” he said in a tiny voice.

“Caleb what?”

“Just Caleb.”

“You don’t have a last name?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“What are your parents’ names?”

“I don’t know.”

Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know? Are they still alive?”

“I don’t know,” he said in a small, timid voice.

This kid is breaking my heart, she thought. “Caleb, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty, I think. About twenty.” He looked at his feet again, his face turning pink.

No name and he doesn’t know his birthdate, she thought. Did these Order freaks kidnap him as a child? Was his face on a milk carton somewhere?

Meaghan nodded. “You’re a little older than I thought. Why did you join the Order?”

“I was raised in it,” he said shyly.

Meaghan raised an eyebrow. “I thought you guys avoided women. How did that work?”

“My parents. My father gave me to them.”

“What did your mother have to say about that?” Meaghan asked, feeling sick. This was even worse than kidnapping. There was no loving family out there searching and hoping. They’d handed their son over to the bastards.

“My mother obeyed him. She didn’t say anything,” he whispered.

“Not anything?”

He shook his head. “A wife must submit to her husband. My father commanded her silence.” His jaw clenched. “He never let her talk,” he said, his voice louder, angrier.

There it was. Even as she felt her eyes prickle with tears, Meaghan knew she’d found a way in.

“And she put up with that?” Sarah asked, shocked.

Caleb blushed darker. “I guess. I don’t know. I don’t remember her very well.”

“How old were you when your father gave you to the Order, Caleb?” Meaghan asked gently.

“I was about five, I think, I don’t really remember.”

Another abused kid torn from his mother and abandoned by his father. He’ll fit right in around here, Meaghan thought. “Do you like being in the Order?”

He met Meaghan’s eyes with a confused look. “What do you mean?”

“You’re an adult now. You get to choose. Do you like being there?”

He looked baffled, utterly confounded, at the idea that he had a choice. “I was pledged. I’m pledged to the . . .” His voice dropped to a whisper. “The Power.”

“The Power?” Meaghan asked, feeling a chill run down her spine. Was this the Big Bad pulling the strings? “Is that where the magic comes from?”

Caleb nodded.

Melanie had been right about that, Meaghan thought. The Order had a patron.

Meaghan continued her questioning. “It’s my understanding that the Order has started using magic only recently. Is that true?”

“No. Well, sort of. The Order is much stronger with the Power.” He yawned deeply, one of those huge yawns that come with extreme fatigue. His eyes were glassy, like he was about to fall asleep.

He must be feeling safer, Meaghan thought. Now what do I do with him? There was a lot more she wanted to learn from him. And she couldn’t throw him back to those coldhearted bastards who’d done this to him.

Crap, she thought. I’ve adopted a damn stray. Just what I need. “Caleb, it’s getting late and we’re tired. I can’t let you leave, you know that, but let me confer with the ladies and see if we can make you more comfortable. Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”

He looked up shyly. “May I use your bathroom?”

Yup, Meaghan thought. He was here to stay.