He looked up from the charms and faced me. “Most of the time, affecting someone magically requires either line-of-sight contact or possession of something belonging to the subject. These things—if they’re what I think they are—work like having something belonging to the subject, only in reverse. The person who created these things would be able to magically affect anyone in possession of one. They form a link between the creator and the holder.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
Owen called to Jake, “I need containment chambers, right away.”
“On it, boss.”
Owen turned back to me. “I can set these up to monitor anything they receive without it affecting us. Then I may be able to do something to feed back into the system and cancel any spell that’s sent out. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do much until they use the link, and then I’ll have to act quickly.”
“In the meantime, you’d better make a company-wide announcement about getting rid of these,” I said. “We don’t want our people to be affected.”
“I’ll get Sam on it.”
He sounded so discouraged, I patted him on the shoulder and said, “Look on the bright side. Us shutting off the flu spell may have helped. If people who didn’t buy them immediately felt better anyway, fewer people may have bought them, and that means fewer people will be affected by anything else they do with these.”
“We can only hope,” he said with a weak attempt at a weary smile as he headed into his office to call Sam.
While he was gone, I watched Jake place glass domes over the charms and amulets and tried to think like a magical megalomaniac. I didn’t know if I was flattering myself by amplifying the importance of my conference, but that was something coming up quickly that might have influenced the timetable for getting those conduit charms into the hands of as many people as possible. If someone wanted to bring MSI down, that would be a great place to hit.
Owen came back into the lab. “Sam’s making a company-wide announcement that these things are a security risk, and people are supposed to turn them in or they’ll be confiscated.”
“Good,” I said with a nod, then I asked, “When you get your bursts of foresight, how does it feel?”
He frowned in thought. “It’s an odd sensation, like a shiver and a brief bout of queasiness. Why?”
“It’s probably too late to call the whole thing off, but I suddenly have a very bad feeling about the conference, like it’s all going to go horribly wrong.”
“That’s not precognition. That’s logic. I don’t see how they’ll be able to resist hitting the conference, and that could be good for us. That may be what flushes the person behind all this out into the open so we can deal with whomever it is.”
I tried to hide my growing sense of unease with a smile that probably looked maniacal. “Well, that’s certainly a new way to think about it. The best-case scenario is that everything will go horribly wrong.” With a sigh, I added, “And now I’d better get back to planning the final details of the maiden voyage of the
Titanic
. I need to make sure we hit that iceberg.”
On the way back to my office, I passed Sam in the hallway. He was flying at breakneck speed, with several of the amulets dangling from his feet as an angry woman chased him. “Can’t talk now, doll,” he said as he flew by. “It’s contraband!” he shouted down the hallway at the angry woman. “You’re not gonna get the flu without it.”
I hoped the rest of the company was more cooperative about giving up the charms, or we’d be in big trouble.
Chapter Thirteen
The last few days before the conference suddenly became insanely busy. The crew creating the enchanted pavilions in the park set up the venue, then Rina took care of the decorations. I went uptown a few times to check on progress and make sure everything on the to-do list was getting done. I tried to anticipate every possible thing that could go wrong, hoping I could prevent a disaster.
“You’re sure no one nonmagical can see this?” I asked a building crew leader on one of my visits. It looked like an old-fashioned circus had set up in the middle of Central Park, and I couldn’t imagine that no one would notice.
“Not only can no one nonmagical see it,” he replied, “but no one who’s not on the guest list, either. That’s why we need to get the latest version of the guest list and keep it updated.”
“Yeah, I could see where that would be important,” I said, making a note. It would be awful if someone showed up and wasn’t able to find the place. And if anyone did wander in off the street because they saw the set-up and wondered what was going on, then we’d know we had a new magical immune to recruit. I hoped the spells were enough to keep out unauthorized bad guys, but I still suspected that the main bad guy was one of our speakers. I wondered if I could get away with “accidentally” removing Ramsay from the guest list.
The morning of the conference dawned bright and sunny, with a slight hint of a breeze and lower humidity than normal. The beautiful weather could have been a good omen, but it didn’t make me feel much better. I was afraid it only meant we’d have a pretty backdrop for the magical showdown or whatever else happened. When I got to the park, Rina was putting the finishing touches on the décor and on the welcoming breakfast. “How does it look?” she asked.
“It’s fabulous,” I told her, in all honesty. She’d really outdone herself. The assembly area looked like a forest, with the food and drink stations set up on large fallen logs or massive boulders. Magical medieval instruments hovering overhead provided a lilting soundtrack, and ethereal nymphs floated around the scene, carrying trays. I was tempted to find some little thing to mess up so that could be the worst thing that could happen and I could relax, but I knew it wouldn’t work. Whatever was going on was far bigger than Murphy’s law.
We still had about half an hour before the guests were due to arrive and I needed someone to shake me back to sanity before I snapped, so I went out to the enclosure where Owen had transported his dragons. The moment I stepped through the doorway, a voice called, “Duck!” and I did so without stopping to question why. A split second later, a gust of flame shot right through where I’d been standing. “Sorry about that,” Owen said, running over and giving me a hand up. “They’re a little jittery. I don’t know if they’ve picked up on my stage fright or if they’re still adapting to the new surroundings.”
One of the dragons gave a roar that petered out into a whimper, and then it curled up into a ball on the ground, wrapping its tail around itself. Owen raised a hand and closed his fist, and the light in the tent dimmed. That seemed to soothe the dragons. Then I took another look at Owen. He was dressed in jeans and a sooty T-shirt, not at all like he was prepared to make a presentation. “This is a new look for you,” I remarked.
He glanced down at his clothes. “Don’t worry, I’ll change before I go on, but after I spend the day with these guys, anything I’m wearing will be a mess. Did you need something?”
“I was just checking to see how things are going,” I lied, suddenly feeling foolish—not for fearing that something bad would happen, but rather for feeling like I could do anything to stop it other than make sure the conference itself went smoothly. “And it looks like we’ll want to dim the lights for the dragon show.” I made a note on my clipboard. Then I picked up on what he’d said about stage fright. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with an attack of nerves. “Are you okay about doing this?”
He ran a hand through his hair, and I noticed that the hand trembled ever so slightly. “Well, you know me and talking. I’m sure I’ll be fine when I get up there, but thinking about it gives me jitters.”
“You’ll do fine,” I said, patting him on the one clean spot on his shoulder. “You’re awesome in meetings. Just think meeting mode. This isn’t interpersonal at all. You’re presenting your latest findings to fellow professionals. You can do that.”
With a big grin, he said, “Yeah, I can do that. I’d kiss you, but I don’t want to make you smell like sulfur.”
“You know, I think playing with these dragons is your excuse to avoid going out there and interacting with customers.”
His cheeks went pink, and he slowly shook his head. “You’re getting to know me far too well.” Then he gave me an appraising look. “And how are
you
holding up?”
“I’m a basket case,” I admitted. “It’s terrifying knowing that the best-case scenario involves the bad guys making a move that will disrupt the conference.”
“If they do, it’s not a reflection on you and your work.”
“I know. But even if I hadn’t planned this event, I’d be going crazy waiting for the other shoe to drop—and to find out what kind of shoe it will be.”
“I’m not just in here to play with dragons,” he said, gesturing toward a table set against the far wall, where his set of Spellworks charms lay under glass covers. “I’m monitoring these things, so I’ll know if they use the conduits.”
“And what happens if they do?”
“Then I’ll have to act fast,” he said with a grin that bordered on cocky. More seriously, he added, “Don’t worry, I won’t let them mess things up. I’ll put a stop to whatever it is. Does that make you feel better?”
I nodded, then sighed. “I guess so.” I attempted a brave grin and said, “Look at us—you with stage fright and me being a nervous Nellie. Is it too late to run away?”
“Probably. But ask me again in a few hours. I might change my mind.”
One of the dragons came over to him and rubbed its face against his shoulder, like an overgrown, fire-breathing cat. He scratched it behind the knee, and I felt a surge of affection for him. That image summed up Owen Palmer pretty well, I thought—powerful enough to tame dragons, but still sweet and even a bit vulnerable. If it hadn’t been for all the soot and the fact that he had a dragon looming over him, I would have hugged him.
Before I gave in to the temptation, I promised to check on him before his presentation and went back to the front of the main tent, where the customers had begun arriving. The sales staff were circulating and greeting their customers. Food and drink magically replenished themselves, and the nymphs collected empty plates and glasses.
Everything seemed to be going perfectly, but I couldn’t help noticing how many of the customers wore those colorful rubber bracelets or the anti-flu amulets. There was no telling how many of them were also carrying the smaller charms. If the Spellworks crowd did want to disrupt the conference, they had the people in place to do so. The question was, what would they do?
I saw a commotion near the entrance, and soon most of the attendees abandoned the food to head in that direction. It was like someone had sent up the Bat Signal—or was it all those charms kicking into action? I followed the crowd to see what was going on and found Ramsay, trailed by an entourage, glad-handing his way through the assembly area. You’d have thought he was a movie star from the way everyone acted. Several took photos with their cell phone cameras, and one guy even asked for an autograph.
It was enough to make my stomach churn. Why didn’t they see him the way I did?
On the other hand, why didn’t I see him the way they did? I had no actual evidence against him, just suspicion. I studied Ramsay and his fan club, looking for any sign of an influence spell. None of the worshippers had the tell-tale glassy eyes of a serious influence spell, but then the more subtle attraction spell Rod used to use hadn’t had that effect. How had I known Rod was using a spell? I tried to remember my early experiences in the magical world. I’d mostly noticed a discrepancy between the way I reacted to Rod and the way all other women did, as well as the discrepancy between their reaction and Rod’s appearance.
Based on that, I still couldn’t tell if Ramsay’s appeal was magical or ordinary. I certainly wasn’t under his spell, but I also hadn’t grown up in the magical world so that he’d been a lifelong hero to me. I hadn’t heard stories about him, didn’t know until recently that he’d once saved the magical world from evil rogue wizards.
Still, he just bugged me.
Someone suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me into the green room, where the speakers went to get ready for their presentations. “He’s here,” Kim hissed at me.
“Yeah, I noticed,” I replied, guessing who she meant. “That’s not a surprise.”
“Do you think he’s up to something here? This would be a good place for him to get his followers to help him take over. I’ll tail him throughout the conference, watch his every move, just in case.”
Why did everyone around me have delusions of being a secret agent? Before I could respond to Kim, a deep voice behind me said, “Ladies, is there a problem?” It was Merlin.
I was tongue-tied for a moment. I didn’t think I yet had enough evidence to tell Merlin about my suspicions, so I brought up something that might be a problem worth discussing in the green room. “A lot of the guests have those charms and amulets that Owen thinks could be used as conduits,” I said. “That has me worried.”
“I’m sure you have the matter well in hand,” he said.
There was a commotion at the doorway and Ramsay swept in. “This looks like an outstanding event,” he boomed.
“Ivor, good of you to make it,” Merlin said tightly.
“I wouldn’t have missed it. We need to present a united front. I’ve been out there mingling, and the customers have very nice things to say. My compliments to Katie for all her hard work.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying not to grit my teeth, “And speaking of hard work, I’d better get back to it.”
As I hurried back to the assembly area, the attendees were moving into the auditorium tent, where swirling lights and eerie music created a magical wonderland. It looked to me like a prom on steroids, but the guests were eating it up, so I figured it was working. “Great job, Rina,” I said as she scurried by me, barking orders into a headset. She flashed me a smile and kept going, and I gave myself a moment to take a deep breath.
As the opening session began, I went back to the dragon enclosure to check on Owen.
“How’s it going out there?” he asked.
“Okay, I guess. I had no idea what a celebrity Ramsay is, though.”