47
Next morning I went back over to the office and settled in to do a little answering of the mail, pay bills, and wait for Larry to call. I wanted to do this alone, but the speed needed between the spells to keep the chance of discovery to a minimum dictated at least three magickers working in tandem. I'd talked to the ones at the police station, and had asked Fawn if it was all right to request them for the job. I'd seen them work and had been impressed with how they handled the books. Fawn assured me that if they decided to work with me, they'd get paid leave to do so. I offered them each 3 months salary to work with me, and two of them agreed, so I had my trio.
Kent Nix was the first one to sign on. He was the oldest wizard employed by the Halifax police, being a nimble sixty two years old, and with a shock of grey hair atop a lanky six foot frame he looked the part of a wizard in a business suit. He was a solid magicker from what I'd seen of him. His partner was Kevin Love.
Kevin was about forty, and had the lean muscled frame that one gets from regular workouts at the corner gym. A balding wisp of blonde hair ringed his head just above his ears, and I almost never saw him without his Fedora. He considered it a good luck charm. Where Kent was solid, Kevin was brilliant. He'd powered through the magus tests and passed them easily. He could take any spell and break it down and identify it. His memory was purportedly eidetic, and if so, it made sense that he was able to operate magick so precisely. Together the two of them were a real asset to the police. I expected they'd be the same for me.
Cobb was still going to be coming along also, and I sat down and talked with the Kent and Kevin at my house before we were to meet him. “I want you two to know that Cobb is not our friend. He's maneuvered me into this 'service' and has been trying to manipulate how I work and who I work with. He's with us so I can keep an eye on him. There's some kind of creature he has communication with and it has attacked me three times now, so be on your toes. It produces a tremendous fear as it approaches, so my best guess is a RedCap. If you can beat the fear, you can hurt it, as anything solid will work against it, including bullets.”
“Now that you warned us, what's this fae supposed to do?” Nix asked. “His job is to conceal the way once we have it created. I'm hoping he'll do that. If he doesn't, we can try to do the job, but realize Anolyn will probably sense the barrier being messed with and he'll come looking for who's breaching the barrier. I don't think any of us want to find out what an angry dragon can do.” Kevin shook his head and chuckled, “Thank you no, I like my life just fine. No need to complicate it.”
Kent murmured an agreement and raised his head and looked towards the door. “See something?” I said as I turned to look. “No, just was thinking about what you said about this Cobb fellow. I don't like having an enemy in the camp, to borrow an adage. You're certain he has to come along?” That kind of ploy reminds me of your sister.” “Well it was Fawn's suggestion, and I agree with her. I want him where I can see him at all times.”
#
After getting our supplies and some weapons in case the creature showed, I drove over to the market land to pick up Cobb. He was waiting as usual at the entrance to Underhill. “Are you ready?” I asked him. He looked at the two magickers in the car and then turned his attention to a duffle-like bag the he picked up and carried over to the car. “This goes in the trunk, it should help us if the creature shows.” Yeah right, I thought. More likely it was a homing device for the creature. Paranoia is a good thing for keeping your skin whole. Don't knock it.
The trip to the bridge was absolutely uneventful. Cobb didn't venture any conversation, and Kent and Kevin fell asleep in the back almost as soon as we left Halifax, so I had a quiet drive. Once we got to the bridge, preparations began and each of us had a job to do. Mine was to create the bridge, Kent was the who had to activate the remains so it could be linked to my spell. Kevin, with his skill at unraveling spells had the job of creating a hole in the barrier, and Cobb was supposed to conceal it once we finished our parts. The one thing we didn't know was what Anolyn's reaction would be, and how soon we'd see it.
Kent Nix was the first one to sign on. He was the oldest wizard employed by the Halifax police, being a nimble sixty two years old, and with a shock of grey hair atop a lanky six foot frame he looked the part of a wizard in a business suit. He was a solid magicker from what I'd seen of him. His partner was Kevin Love.
Kevin was about forty, and had the lean muscled frame that one gets from regular workouts at the corner gym. A balding wisp of blonde hair ringed his head just above his ears, and I almost never saw him without his Fedora. He considered it a good luck charm. Where Kent was solid, Kevin was brilliant. He'd powered through the magus tests and passed them easily. He could take any spell and break it down and identify it. His memory was purportedly eidetic, and if so, it made sense that he was able to operate magick so precisely. Together the two of them were a real asset to the police. I expected they'd be the same for me.
Cobb was still going to be coming along also, and I sat down and talked with the Kent and Kevin at my house before we were to meet him. “I want you two to know that Cobb is not our friend. He's maneuvered me into this 'service' and has been trying to manipulate how I work and who I work with. He's with us so I can keep an eye on him. There's some kind of creature he has communication with and it has attacked me three times now, so be on your toes. It produces a tremendous fear as it approaches, so my best guess is a RedCap. If you can beat the fear, you can hurt it, as anything solid will work against it, including bullets.”
“Now that you warned us, what's this fae supposed to do?” Nix asked. “His job is to conceal the way once we have it created. I'm hoping he'll do that. If he doesn't, we can try to do the job, but realize Anolyn will probably sense the barrier being messed with and he'll come looking for who's breaching the barrier. I don't think any of us want to find out what an angry dragon can do.” Kevin shook his head and chuckled, “Thank you no, I like my life just fine. No need to complicate it.”
Kent murmured an agreement and raised his head and looked towards the door. “See something?” I said as I turned to look. “No, just was thinking about what you said about this Cobb fellow. I don't like having an enemy in the camp, to borrow an adage. You're certain he has to come along?” That kind of ploy reminds me of your sister.” “Well it was Fawn's suggestion, and I agree with her. I want him where I can see him at all times.”
#
After getting our supplies and some weapons in case the creature showed, I drove over to the market land to pick up Cobb. He was waiting as usual at the entrance to Underhill. “Are you ready?” I asked him. He looked at the two magickers in the car and then turned his attention to a duffle-like bag the he picked up and carried over to the car. “This goes in the trunk, it should help us if the creature shows.” Yeah right, I thought. More likely it was a homing device for the creature. Paranoia is a good thing for keeping your skin whole. Don't knock it.
The trip to the bridge was absolutely uneventful. Cobb didn't venture any conversation, and Kent and Kevin fell asleep in the back almost as soon as we left Halifax, so I had a quiet drive. Once we got to the bridge, preparations began and each of us had a job to do. Mine was to create the bridge, Kent was the who had to activate the remains so it could be linked to my spell. Kevin, with his skill at unraveling spells had the job of creating a hole in the barrier, and Cobb was supposed to conceal it once we finished our parts. The one thing we didn't know was what Anolyn's reaction would be, and how soon we'd see it.
posted by JD at
2:46:00 PM
0 Comments
