Doorways to Infinity (38 page)

“Not if. When.” Carl put a hand on Jamie’s shoulder and said, “But it’s getting late, and everybody’s gotta go home. You need you to make doorways for us now.”

* * *

Jamie sat in front of the Killian Annex on the second day of classes, hands pushed deeply inside his coat pockets, waiting for Fred so they could go to lunch in the dining hall. He had a clear view of the expansive courtyard, framed by the Coulter building on one side and the rec center on the other.

The concrete bench he rested on was long, stretching across the curve of the building at his back. Normally, it would be covered with students, roosting on it like pigeons, but today it was too frigid, and the concrete seemed to absorb and amplify the chill. He had it all to himself.

His only concession to the bitter January day had been his winter jacket — no gloves, no hat — and he wished he’d at least added a scarf. The air bit at the end of his nose and tips of his ears like pliers, pinching the sensitive skin. Jamie frowned and eyed the bench.
I can do something about that, at least
. He glanced around to make sure no one was observing him, and placed both palms flat against the concrete seat. Then he summoned his will and commanded:
Warmer
.

He felt the heat spread immediately from his hands and under his nearly frozen bottom, then away like a wave, down its arcing length in both directions. “Ahhhh,” he sighed. A blissful smile tugged at his mouth as he closed his eyes. He opened them quickly when he heard girls’ voices, and he saw three pretty young ladies with their shoulders hunched against the chill, walking up the steps toward him.

One of them cautiously placed a bare hand on the seat and said, “Ooohh, it’s warm from the sun. Let’s wait here.” And they all plopped down, only a couple of feet away.

Man,
Jamie groaned inwardly,
hope Fred doesn’t see them and get jealous
. He considered reversing the spell and cooling the concrete again, but after seeing the delighted looks on the girls’ faces, he decided against it.

He stood instead. It gave him a better view of the courtyard, anyway. Sidewalks curved around either side of it, forming a broad oval. Grass, normally deep green in the warmer months, was brown now with the advent of winter, and filled the spaces in between the wide ribbons of concrete.

Students were everywhere, chins tucked low and walking quickly, trying to stay ahead of the icy wind, bundled in coats and wool caps and fleece hoodies. Jamie knew Fred wouldn’t cover her head, though. She always let her hair flow free.

He spotted her as soon as she rounded the corner, even though she was walking in a crowd. Her red curls glowed in the bright sunlight, and the colors around her seemed dulled somehow, as if she were soaking up all available pigments and making them her own, to be radiated everywhere in brilliant hues.

He caught her gaze and held it, her emerald eyes dazzling, spellbinding. He couldn’t look away even if he wanted to. He felt an instinctive, visceral pull, a primal need to move closer, and he hurried down the steps, drawn to her inexorably, as the sun draws a comet from the outer reaches of the solar system.

He walked directly toward her and the crowd around them seemed to part, forming a clear path to the girl he loved, as if his magical connection with her formed a barrier, a tunnel, which no one could pass or enter.

Is it really our magic
, he thought idly,
or just chance?
There was a statistical probability that no one would step between them, wasn’t there?

Or maybe not. Statistics had nothing to do with it. It was supernatural, a power beyond understanding. He quickened his pace and they rushed closer together, and his final thought before they met —
could anyone be as drawn to each other as we are?
She ran the last few steps and kissed him immediately as if to answer….

No. Only you and I
.

* * *

Jamie found the text message from Terry on his phone when he checked it at the end of track practice.
Let’s hang out tonight. Bring Fred
.
No one else
.

Jamie met Fred in her dorm later, and Melanie seemed upset. “Why just you two?” she said, leaning one shoulder against the wall with her arms crossed, while Fred finished getting ready to go. “Is it because I don’t have any magical powers?”

“Rollie and Nova aren’t coming with us, either,” Jamie said, “so that’s not it.”

“So what is it, then?”

“Guess we’ll find out in a minute.” He made a portal and he and Fred stepped through it to the living room of Eric and Terry’s house.

The two agents were at the big table with the electronic equipment. They both pulled off their headphones and stood to greet them. Eric was his usual, expressionless self, but Terry seemed tired and pale.

“We have some news about Cage,” Eric said. “He struck again. At least, Terry and I think it was him. This time, he killed an Israeli diplomat who was staying at a friend’s home on the French Riviera.”

“He didn’t wait long for this hit, seems like,” Jamie said. “It hasn’t been that long since the last attack.”

“We think he wanted it to look like a reprisal by the Iranians.”

“Why do you think it was him?” Fred asked.

“Because of the timing, for one, if he’s trying to stir up trouble between Israel and Iran. And also the style. The guards were totally confused again, like the last hit.”

“What about surveillance video?” Jamie asked.

“The only thing that shows up is a mail delivery in the late afternoon, from a letter carrier on foot, but the killing happened late at night. Can’t see much in the video then because it was so dark.”

Fred pushed her mouth up at one corner, then the other. “Cage could’ve dressed up as a postman and used magic on the guards to gain entry, then easily hidden somewhere until all the lights went out in the house.”

“That’s what we think,” Eric said. “The Israelis are angry, but they won’t do anything to retaliate. Not yet, anyway.”

Terry tilted her head to one side and narrowed one eye. “It’s scary that Cage had that kind of intel. He knew exactly when this diplomat would be at this house, and that it was relatively unsecured. How did Cage know that? That doesn’t seem like info he could’ve gotten from the phones of those oil ministers, like the details for the last hit. Fred, do you think his witches had something to do with that?”

“Boy,” she sighed, “I don’t know. European witches must know stuff that American witches don’t.”

“Has Cage repaired his runway yet?” Jamie said.

“Still too cold, but he’s fixed his access road. He’s using that to drive to the closest airport, we think, and flying to his targets.”

“And that’s good to know,” Eric said. “The agency is planning an ambush for him on the highway leading away from his monastery. He’s more vulnerable there because he doesn’t have enough men to guard the public roads. In fact, it looks like he’s shut down his other two strongholds, and I’m guessing it’s so he could incorporate those security squads into his main force at the monastery.”

“So we’ll try to get a couple of teams of snipers to Romania and position them where they can get a shot at Cage while he’s on his way to the airport.”

Fred wrinkled her brow. “Won’t they have to wait in the snow? What if it’s weeks before Cage drives by?”

“It might only be a matter of days. They can handle that. They’re trained for it.”

“We have some other information on Cage,” Terry said. “We think it has something to do with why Cage turned.”

“Turned?” Jamie said.

“Became a bad guy, in layman’s terms.” She rubbed the end of her chin with a fingertip and gazed at the floor. “It took some doing, but I managed to find a report on Cage’s last mission with his Delta Force unit, one that ended very badly. They were assigned to capture a top Al-Qaeda leader in a village in the mountainous border region of Pakistan. That’s a really dangerous area, by the way, especially for Westerners.

“The mission was a failure. Two men from the Delta team were killed, and three were injured and captured. The rest of them managed to get to the extraction point, but they didn’t want to leave. They wanted to go back to rescue their buddies but were ordered to stand down. A few days later, the captured men’s bodies were found on the side of the road, beheaded. Cage left the force soon after that, and he became a mercenary and an arms dealer.”

“And then he became an assassin,” Eric said. “We think the bitterness over that experience changed him. The men on those Special Forces teams are tight. They have a bond that’s closer than family, from what I’ve been told. Cage probably felt betrayed when he wasn’t allowed to go back for his wounded comrades.”

“That doesn’t justify becoming a murderer,” Fred said.

“No. But that’s what he is, and we have to deal with it.”

“Um….” Terry folded her lips into her mouth and a pained look filled her eyes. “I want to talk to you about something else. I want….” She cleared her throat. “Did you talk to the healer?”

“She said she has to see Stacey before she can tell if Stacey can handle the treatment,” Fred said. “What did Stacey’s doctor say?”

“The last treatment didn’t help. The tumors are worse.” Terry squeezed her eyes shut. “We might have to put her in hospice care soon.”

“Oh!” Fred drew in a sharp breath. “That means…oh, gosh Terry!”

“Yeah, I know.” Terry nodded sadly. “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t let her go on like this, just wasting away. It’s awful.”

“I’m sure it is,” Jamie said. “Do you want to take her to Keeva right away?”

“She’s really sick to her stomach right now. Even the slightest movement is torture for her. If we wait a couple of days, she might feel a little better, at least good enough so that I can lift her out of her bed.”

“Boy, she really is sick, isn’t she? I can take her this Saturday afternoon, if you want to go. I have a track meet in the morning. Will that give her enough time?”

“I hope so. I don’t want to wait any longer than that.” Her lips started to tremble and she pressed them tightly together for a moment. “But this could kill her, couldn’t it?”

“We don’t know.” Jamie spread his hands wide. “Keeva said there’s always that risk for someone who’s really weak.”

“I guess I’ll have to make a decision, won’t I? Whether to take a chance on the healer’s treatment, even if it kills Stacey right away, or do nothing and watch her die slowly and painfully.” Terry clinched her jaw tightly and stared at the floor while the rest of the room grew silent. Then she raised her head and nodded once. “Let’s take her to the healer.” Then she nodded again, firmly. “Yes. That’s what I want. I don’t know what we should do about my mom, though. I don’t want to tell her about the magic, but she lives with us and she’s looking after Stacey now. She’ll want to know why we’re taking Stacey out of the house.”

“Don’t worry about your mom,” Fred said. “I’ve got a spell I can use on her. She won’t even notice that Stacey’s gone.”

* * *

Jamie couldn’t take his eyes off the thin little girl, sleeping in her bed in Terry’s house in Virginia. Her hair was nearly all gone, with only a few limp strands remaining on her scalp, and her skin was practically colorless. A tube ran from her arm up to a drip bag full of clear liquid, hanging from a rack on a rolling stand nearby. The air in the room smelled musty and sickly.

Fred put her hand to her face and moaned, “Oh, Jamie, she looks so awful.” She leaned against him and he wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

Jamie turned his head when he heard the bedroom door creak open, and Terry entered. “Did the potion work on your mom?” he asked quietly.

“Like a charm. Mom knows we’re taking Stacey, but she thinks I’m taking her to another specialist.”

“Jamie,” Fred said, “should we have Stacey do the oath before we go?”

“I don’t want to wake her, and besides, she’s only four. Who’s going to believe her if she talks about magic doorways and witches and wizards? We can do that when she feels better.”

“Oh,” Terry said, her voice strained, “I hope does she feels better.”

“I believe she will,” Jamie said. “I already called the clinic and they’re expecting us. Anything you want to bring with you? They might want to keep her for a day or two.”

Terry opened the closet and pulled an overnight bag from the top shelf, unzipped it and looked inside. “This should have the basic stuff. Nightgown, underwear, toothbrush, and whatever. Though she doesn’t need the toothbrush because she hasn’t been able to eat real food in weeks.” She glanced at her nearly bald daughter and her mouth tightened. “She doesn’t need a hairbrush, either.”

Jamie opened the front door of the clinic in Rivershire and held it for the others. Fred carried Stacey’s overnight bag, and Terry cradled her sleeping daughter in her arms as if she weighed next to nothing, and they went inside. Dr. Burke, Dr. Shelby, and Keeva were waiting for them, and they wasted no time getting started.

“Put her right here,” Dr. Burke said and patted the examination table, which had been moved to the center of the room.

Stacey’s eyes flickered open as Terry gently laid her on the paper-covered padding. “Mommy?”

“It’s okay, baby,” Terry said and stroked her forehead tenderly. “I’m right here.”

“Where are we?”

“We’re at the doctor’s office. It’s a special one.”

“Hello,” Dr. Burke said and introduced herself and the other two women. “We’re going to make you feel better today.”

“Everybody says that,” Stacey mumbled sullenly.

Terry squeezed Stacey’s hand with both of hers. “These ladies are going to do something we haven’t tried, yet.”

Keeva stepped to the side of the table and took Stacey’s other hand, and gave her a gentle smile. “I am a healer, Stacey. Have you ever met one before?”

“Is that like a doctor?”

“I am a witch. A special kind of witch.”

“No you’re not. You’re too pretty.”

“But I am. She is, too.” She gestured toward Fred, and Fred nodded.

“Nunh unh. You can’t be.”

“I am,” Fred said. “And Jamie’s a wizard.” She poked Jamie on the shoulder. “We decided that you needed some extra help to get well, and maybe it was time to use magic.”