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“I meet the most interesting people when I’m with you,” I said once we were safely in the car and on our way home. I hoped the quip covered up the fact that I was shivering. I knew it wasn’t from the cold, but I wasn’t sure if it was a reaction to having been surrounded by all those creatures or if I was still feeling the aftereffects of that kiss. He’d barely touched me since he’d been here, so being hit with a kiss like that out of the blue had really done a number on me.

“I just hope we can count on them,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove. “Spirits like that are notoriously unreliable. For one thing, they’re very old, so time means little to them, and matters that are important to us look trivial to them. They get comfortable where they are and become less inclined to stir themselves. But they might show up to hear more music.”Advertisement

“I guess that means I need to find more music.”

“What you did tonight was perfect.”

“What I did tonight was play my school fight song at a slower tempo. Can’t we just bring a CD player and give them something really good?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s the act of creating music that has the effect on them. A recording doesn’t work.”

“I hope you actually have a plan for dealing with Idris working in that crazy genius brain of yours.”

“Nothing elaborate. I’ll merely give them what they want.”

“Which is you.”

“Exactly. And then I’ll lead them to the creek area, where I’ll have reinforcements.”

“So your brilliant plan is to use yourself as bait.”

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“Sometimes there is brilliance in simplicity.”

“And is the boss likely to go for that?”

“I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

He went with me to work the next morning, against my objections. While the would-be wizard army hadn’t yet made it to the feed-and-seed store, I didn’t like him being out and about. He wouldn’t even take the baseball cap I offered him. I wore the necklace that alerted me to magic in use, and I could tell he wasn’t using an illusion to hide his appearance. That would have been a waste of power, but it might have kept him safer. At one time, I’d wondered if he was maybe a little too perfect, but as I got to know him better, I was learning that he was as flawed as the rest of us, one of his major flaws being that he was stubborn. Since I was a real prizewinner in that category myself, I supposed it took one to know one.

I was able to convince him to stay back in the office, where he was somewhat hidden from anyone who wandered into the store. Dean showed up for work on time, for a record-setting two days in a row, and came back to the office to talk to us. “You’re driving them crazy, staying out of sight like that,” he said to Owen. “After a whole day of searching, they haven’t seen you yet. Some of them are starting to wonder if you really exist. One group went home this morning. I’m not sure if they were discouraged or just not feeling well. They were all complaining of headaches.”

“That evens the odds a little,” I said, trying to be optimistic. It sounded like my magical candles were doing their job.

“I’ll give them a show later today to help bait the hook,” Owen said. “What I’d like is to engineer a showdown tonight, get them all in one place, and then teach them a good lesson.”

“There’s a meeting this evening around sunset,” Dean said. “That might be a good time to show up.

What kind of lesson do you have planned?”

“The magical version of shock and awe. When I’m through with these people, they’ll never want to go near magic again.” There was a dangerous glint to his eyes that made me glad there wasn’t nearly as much power to draw upon here as there was back in Manhattan. That meant he might not be able to do too much damage.

Sherri called from the front of the store, “Katie! Someone’s here to see you.”

I excused myself and went to the front register, where Rod and Merlin stood. Sherri was practically draped across the counter and drooling at Rod, who eyed her in return. He quickly moved his gaze away from her when I approached. I guessed it took a leopard awhile to change its spots completely.

“I assumed we might find you at your family business,” Merlin said.

“Yes, I’m here.” My voice involuntarily went up in pitch from nerves.

“And I take it we might find Mr. Palmer here, as well?”

I wished I had a way to warn Owen, but I had a feeling he’d be expecting something like this. “Yes, he is. Come on back.” Sherri gave us all a really funny look, but I decided to leave it to Dean to explain it to her. pqdm.com