Crushed (City of Eldrich Book 2) (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“
W
e
now have
undeniable proof that those tan walking shoes with the Velcro straps are bad on everyone,” Sid said. “If he can’t make them look good, nobody can.”

Jhoro stood before them in the clothes Russ had managed to find for him. A loud Hawaiian shirt—black, orange, and lime green—several sizes too large, baggy khaki shorts that hung to his knees, a red Phillies cap, black socks, and the offending shoes.

“What do you think? Is he effectively camouflaged?” Russ looked at him proudly. “Anybody still find him attractive?”

“Hell, no,” Sid said. “Woof. He looks awful.”

Natalie stared at her feet.

Brian smiled. “Well, I’m feeling better looking all of a sudden. Does everybody know what they’re supposed to do?”

Sid had identified seven wizards outside, all robed, but none of more than average height. They circled the house loosely, with most of the firepower out front—assuming that the only escape was in one of the cars parked on the street or in Brian’s police cruiser.

Eliot and Natalie had cooked up a diversion out front to keep their attention. When the magical fireworks commenced, Meaghan would go first, armed with her saucepan, and take care of anyone who remained in the backyard. If she needed backup, Eliot and Natalie would drop the spell wall and come after her, but the plan was for her to get to the truck and back it up as close to the house as she could get. Only then would Natalie and Eliot drop the barrier and lead everybody out.

Edna, Meaghan thought. We forgot all about her. “What about Edna next door?”

“I’ll head over and stay with her,” Owen said. “I doubt they’ll bother her, but I can hide her if they do. And this way you don’t have to go into battle wondering whether you can trust me.”

“And as soon as we’re gone, he’ll tell the wizards what we’re up to,” Sid said, glaring at Owen.

“I bet you can hex me, so I can’t tell them a thing,” Owen said to Natalie. “Your mother did a wicked silencing charm.”

Natalie nodded. “I can do that.” She waved her hands and muttered. “There. So where are we going?”

“You’re going . . . to . . .” He coughed. “Uh, it feels like somebody’s trying to strangle me.”

“You believe that?” Sid asked Natalie.

“You don’t believe I can do that spell?” Natalie waved and muttered again. “So, Sid, where are we going?”

“To . . . out . . . I want to say it, but I can’t. Fine. I surrender. Give me my voice back.”

With a smug look at Sid, Natalie reversed the spell. To Owen, she said, “But we’ll need to drop our spell wall to let you out.”

Owen shook his head. “No, you won’t. That’s part of the hiding thing. I can slip through magical barriers.”

Natalie gave him a surprised look. “Really? I never knew leprechauns could do that.”

“That’s because I’m the only one who can,” Owen said. “Long story. I’ll tell you about it next time I see you.”

Natalie nodded. “Okay. Take good care of Edna. Be careful.”

“All of you be careful too. Even you, Sid.” With a grin, Owen slipped out the backdoor and was gone.

“Wow,” Sid said, looking out the window into the backyard. “I’m actually impressed. I can’t see him anywhere. One minute he was there and then he sort of melted away.”

“You can trust him,” Ruth said. “We’ve known him for years and he’s never pulled any leprechaun crap on us.”

“He’s never pulled any
malevolent
leprechaun crap on us,” Eliot said.

Meaghan didn’t ask. “So, everybody ready?”

“Give us a second to make some noise out front,” Eliot said. He took Natalie’s hand. Eyes shut in concentration, they chanted something, then Eliot lifted his hand.

A loud boom was followed by flashes of light.

“There they go,” Sid said. “Running around to the front of the house.”

Meaghan gripped the saucepan and patted her pocket to make sure she had the truck keys. “I’m up.”

“Go . . .” Eliot made another hand gesture. Another loud boom shook the house. “
Now
.”

Meaghan darted out the back door. No wizard in sight. She took about five steps into the yard and felt a hand grab the back of her shirt.

“No, you don’t, bitch,” a gravelly voice said.

“Yes, I do, shit-for-brains,” Meaghan snarled. She twisted out of the wizard’s grasp, and, gripping the handle in both hands, swung the saucepan. She felt it make contact and heard the man exhale with a gasp as she started to run.

He tackled her, bringing her hard to the ground on her stomach. The saucepan bounced out of her grasp. Meaghan felt his hands go around her throat. She could hear a voice roaring from behind her. Reflexively, she jammed her elbow back and felt it connect with the man’s face.

He rolled off her. She scrambled to her feet, breathing in panicked gasps. She saw John running towards her, shouting. Eliot was behind him.

Meaghan stomped on the wizard’s groin before he could hex John. The wizard howled in pain and curled into a ball. She kicked him hard in the kidneys and ran for the truck, Eliot and John now on either side of her. When they reached the alley, Eliot shoved John and Meaghan into the truck and turned to battle the trio of wizards that now ran toward them.

“Get in,” Meaghan shouted to Eliot, “and hang onto something.” She started the truck and jammed it into reverse. The yard was dark and she couldn’t see much behind her, so she accelerated backward in the general direction of the house.

Meaghan heard a scream and a thump, then the back porch loomed in the side mirror. She stomped on the brakes.

John and Eliot opened the back doors and the rest of the group poured into the truck.

“Putting the barrier back up so they can’t get in the house,” Natalie shouted. There was another flash of light and more shouting.

Eliot yanked Natalie into the back of the truck and shouted, “Meg, go!”

Meaghan slammed the shifter into drive and sped out of the yard into the alley, heading toward Sycamore. When she was close enough to see the glow of the lone streetlight ahead, someone stepped into the mouth of the alley.

One of the big wizards. He waved his hands over his head, sparks flying, as he threw spells at them.

“Get down,” Meaghan shouted as she drove faster. The wizard’s spells had no effect on Meaghan or the body of the truck, but one hex tore the windshield from its frame. The blast of air in her face caused her to swerve and she nearly lost control.

She steered the truck back into the middle of the alley and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. In the high beams, she could see fear flash over the big wizard’s face when he realized she didn’t plan to stop. At the last moment, he dove out of the way.

Meaghan screeched onto Sycamore, again almost losing control of the boxy truck as it rounded the corner. After a couple of blocks, she turned onto Main and roared south toward downtown.

The streets were deserted. She ignored a couple of stop signs, but had to stop about a mile down Main because she began shaking so hard she couldn’t drive anymore.

John was immediately at her side. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him, shuddering. Now that she had a moment to breathe, the fear hit her the way she’d tried to hit the wizard in the alley.

“Give me that,” she heard John say. He pulled back and dabbed her cheek with a soft cloth. “There, not too bad. Only a little scratch.” He pulled her close again. “I saw his hands on you, and I wanted to kill him.”

“But before you could, Meg neutered him,” Russ said, moving next to her even as John held her. “For a while at least. Nice shot, sis. He was puking when I ran past him.”

Meaghan had started to calm down a bit. “Good. He tried to choke me, the bastard.”

“That big one in the alley will need to go home and change his pants,” Ruth called from the back of the truck. “I bet he shit the ones he was wearing. You’re a badass, sweetie. I am impressed. A round of applause for Meaghan, huh?”

Everybody clapped for a moment, then Eliot spoke up. “I hate to be a nag, but the Order won’t be far behind us. We need to keep moving.” He motioned toward the empty hole where the windshield used to be. “Give me a boost, Red.”

After a moment, Eliot said, “Done. Now you won’t get bugs in your teeth while you’re driving. You okay?”

Meaghan stepped away from John. It wasn’t easy. She wanted to stay in his arms, where it felt safe, for the next week or so. “Yeah. I’m okay. Where are we going? I assume the sneaky drive-by plan is no longer on the table.”

“Maybe,” Ruth said, “we could double back and get the minivan.”

A blast rocked the truck.

“Oh, shit,” Eliot said. “Probably not. Go. Go!”

Meaghan jumped behind the wheel and they took off again, the wizards in hot pursuit. In Ruth’s minivan.

“Those sonsabitches stole the magic bus!” Ruth shrieked. “No,” she added when she saw Natalie raise her hands. “Don’t hurt it. It’s the only nice thing we got. We don’t have the budget to replace it.”

“It won’t work. It’s really well shielded,” Eliot shouted. The truck hit a pothole and threw everyone to the floor.

Brian struggled to his feet and made his way to the front. “Let me drive. I’m a better driver.”

Meaghan had known enough cops to not doubt him. Cops spent most of their work day behind the wheel. The average driver didn’t have a hope in hell of outrunning them. “How do we do this?”

Brian reached around her for the seat adjustment lever. “Keep your hands on the wheel and I’ll slide under you. Hang on.” He slammed the seat back, slid neatly under Meaghan, kicked her foot off the gas pedal, and grabbed the steering wheel with his left hand. “Let go.”

She dropped the wheel and Brian dumped her off his lap onto the floor. John caught her and dragged her back into the cargo area.

Brian cut the headlights and took a sudden left at full speed. The tires screeched, and it felt like they went up on two wheels for a moment. He shouted, “Somebody take out the tail lights.”

There was a pop and sizzle as the spell shattered the bulbs.

Meaghan knew she couldn’t have made that turn without rolling the truck. They were in a shadowy alley she’d never seen before. Another sharp turn and they were in a dark parking lot. Brian screeched across it into another even darker parking lot.

The minivan had fallen behind, its driver flummoxed by Brian’s sudden turns in the darkness. Brian moved from parking lot to service alley to parking lot, avoiding the street. He finally veered into an open garage, screeched to a halt, and shouted, “Shut the door. Get it shut.”

John dove out the back of the truck and pulled the aluminum door down.

Eliot waved his hands over his head in a complicated maneuver, chanting in what sounded like French. “There. Everyone shut up. Not a sound.”

The only sound was the metallic ticking of the cooling engine. After a tense minute, they heard the crunch of tires driving slowly through the alley behind them.

“And now . . . they’re . . . gone,” Eliot said. He leaned back against the truck wall, his eyes shut, and slid to the floor. “Can I throw up now? Nice driving, officer. Where the hell are we? And how did you know there’d be an open garage back here?”

“Back entrance to Jeff’s garage. Kady set up this charm for me.” He pulled a fat key ring out of his pocket. “It’s like a magical garage door opener. So I can get in whenever I want if the cruiser gets a flat or I need the bathroom or something.”

“Jeff and Kady?” Eliot asked, eyes still shut.

“Kady’s my witchy baby sister and Jeff’s her boyfriend. So, now what?”

Meaghan couldn’t believe how calm Brian was. Natalie had conjured up a dim light source so they could see each other in the dark garage without turning on the lights and attracting attention. Meaghan looked around the cargo area. Everyone looked as queasy as Eliot. Except Jhoro. He had a big stupid grin on his face. He buzzed something to John, who smiled, too.

“He says that was almost as much fun as flying and he wants to do it again,” John said.

“No,” said everyone else in unison.

CHAPTER THIRTY

“
W
e need somewhere
to hide,” Meaghan said. “Any ideas? And where the hell are we anyway?”

“We’re right behind Eldrich Brew,” Brian said.

“Nate and Sally converted the second floor to their apartment,” Russ said. “They’d hide us.”

“But it’s only one big room,” Natalie said. “It’s all lofty. Is that a good idea for us all to jam into one big room?”

“Last time I saw them, Sally was in love with Jhoro and Nate was not pleased,” Meaghan said. “Eliot, can you do anything about that?”

“I’m kind of straining as it is,” Eliot said. “If I try to refocus too many people, I’ll lose control of all of you.”

“We need Natalie functional,” Meaghan said. “Any other ideas?”

“Why not here?” Brian asked. “It’s not terribly comfortable, but it’s got a bathroom. And a table and chairs and a sofa in the break room.

“Plus they already missed it,” Eliot said. He looked around the garage. “He do any bodywork? Any sheet metal around.”

“No,” Brian says. “Only maintenance and repairs. It’s a small operation, just Jeff.” He pointed at a large roll-up door in the cinder block wall. “He rents out the other bay to that blacksmith guy. He might have some sheet metal.”

“Terry,” John said.

“There’s a forge in here?” Eliot grinned. “Perfect. No place safer from magical attack.”

“Terry’s a blacksmith?” Meaghan asked John.

“He makes things,” John said. “Special tools, things for the yard, swords for playing.” John wore the same purposefully blank expression that Meaghan saw on Russ’s face whenever he lied to her.

John had told Meaghan back in June that his sponsor was a good fit because he’d “once been a big deal to his people, then not anymore.” And he was clued in and surrounded himself with iron. She wondered who this Terry had pissed off and what John was trying to hide.

Secrets. They were driving her nuts. Everybody still hid stuff from her. Hadn’t she proven herself yet?

No time to worry about it now. She filed the mysterious blacksmith away with her questions about Owen Finnerty—what had he done centuries ago that still upset people? And the prophecy, she reminded herself. Don’t forget about Finn’s cryptic comments about a prophecy.

“All right,” she said, putting the brakes on that train of thought. One magical mystery crisis at a time. “We stay here. Can we get into Terry’s forge?”

John sighed. “I have a key.” He pulled an amulet from his pocket. “Here.”

“A magical lock?” Eliot said, eyebrow raised. “Who is this guy?”

“My AA sponsor,” John said. “Nothing more.”

Meaghan rolled her eyes. John was a terrible liar. He had no skill at all. “Where’s the bathroom?”

Brian pointed toward a dark doorway on the far side of the garage. “Last door on the right.”

“Can I turn the light on?”

“Don’t,” Brian said. “It’ll be visible from the street. There’s a flashlight around here somewhere.”

“I’ve got a flashlight app on my phone. I’ll only use it if I have to.”

Meaghan didn’t need it. There was enough light coming through the plate glass window in the front office to light her way and the bathroom had a small window. Besides, what she really wanted to do was be alone for a few minutes to pull herself together.

The dark of the garage had hidden her shaking hands. Everything hurt from her fight with the wizard. She dropped the cover down on the toilet and sat down. The small room began to whirl and she leaned over with her head between her knees until it stopped.

“I’m too old for this shit,” she murmured to herself, not for the first time.

When Meaghan had to go to Fahraya to rescue Jamie, she had thought the waiting was the worst part—that it would have been easier to simply be dumped into the situation.

She’d been wrong about that, she now realized. It had felt like a constant onslaught since she’d encountered Jamie’s poltergeist-constructed tower of office supplies. She thought of a quote she’d seen somewhere about how fear was peeing your pants and courage was doing what you had to do with wet pants.

What she really wanted was a moment to put on dry pants. But if the last two days were any indication, she wouldn’t get the chance.

She washed her hands and took a few deep breaths. She decided not to ask John about Terry, the mysterious blacksmith. He’d be evasive and she wasn’t sure she had the patience right now to deal with it.

What Meaghan needed was a plan. They were seriously outgunned by the Order wizards. Natalie and Eliot would need reinforcements if they wanted to do something besides hide. Odds were good that the other witches were as addled by Marnie’s spell as Natalie had been before Eliot interceded. If they could get to Marnie and reverse her love spell, they could recruit the other witches.

But they didn’t have any chance at all of getting to Marnie without the witches. And Eliot couldn’t redirect the spell in anyone else without potentially losing control over everybody. Which would leave Meaghan without Natalie once again.

Unless they came at the problem from a different direction. The strongest one of them right now, by far, was Jamie, assuming he hadn’t already reduced city hall to rubble and they could get to him. Which meant the tunnel. More metaphorical pants-peeing. But she didn’t see any other way.

Meaghan opened the bathroom door, stepped into the hallway, and saw a pulse of red and blue light. The large plate glass window fronted on Elm Street, one block north of the square. Two gas pumps sat out front with a small parking area for garage customers.

An Eldrich police car, light bar flashing, blocked the entrance to the parking lot, hemming in Ruth’s minivan.

A traffic stop. A cop had pulled the wizards over. The cop stepped out of the cruiser and walked slowly to the minivan, gun drawn. Meaghan recognized him as the officer who’d accompanied Brian to Jamie’s house the previous evening. Lyons, she thought, remembering the name tag on his uniform shirt. Meaghan crept up to the front counter and crouched behind it to get a better view.

“Sir,” Lyons shouted toward the minivan. “Stay where you are. Stay in the van.”

The large wizard Meaghan had nearly run over stepped out of the driver’s seat, holding up his hands, seemingly in a placating gesture, then shouted something. Lyons flew backwards against the cruiser, hitting it hard enough to dent the door panel. He crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.

The wizard walked over to Lyons, checked his pulse, then unbuckled Lyons’s utility belt and handed it to one of his gray-robed companions. The wizard conjured a small hovering ball of light that dimly illuminated the parking area. He pulled off his gray robe to reveal black paramilitary clothing and poked around Lyons’s still form with his foot, then bent to pick up something.

Lyons’s gun. The big wizard took back the utility belt, pulled out the spare clip, and dropped the belt in the bushes next to the driveway. He tucked the gun in the back of his waistband and shoved the clip in his pocket. In the dim light, Meaghan recognized him as one of the wizards who had kidnapped Jamie back in June. Not Cooper, the malevolent ringleader, but the one who had waited in the SUV with a knife to Jamie’s throat. The one who most likely had carved the sigils into Jamie’s chest and back.

Meaghan felt her temper rise, now sorry she hadn’t tried harder to mow him down with the food truck.

With a grim smile, the wizard turned back to Lyons and kicked him hard in the gut. Lyons groaned and curled into a ball.

Not dead, Meaghan thought, relieved. The wizards dragged him to the back of the minivan and shoved him into the cargo area. The big wizard climbed into the police cruiser and backed up to let the minivan exit the lot. She could see him talking to the wizards in the van. He pointed toward city hall and they drove off.

Meaghan thought he was going to follow the minivan. Instead he cut the light bar and headlights and, in darkness, pulled into the parking lot and down the driveway towards the back of the garage.

Meaghan ran down the hall. “We got trouble,” she shouted. “The big wizard in a police car headed straight for us.”

“Shit,” Brian said. He stood outside the door to Terry’s forge. “I need my gun.”

“Won’t do any good,” Eliot answered, grabbing Brian’s arm. “Everybody in the forge.
Now
.”

Meaghan made it to the forge a moment before the police cruiser rammed through the closed garage door.

And smashed right into the back of Russ’s truck.

The truck bumped up a few inches and that was all. The police cruiser absorbed the remaining shock, crumpling like an aluminum can as the airbags deployed with a loud bang.

Natalie had been right, Meaghan thought. That truck was built like a tank.

For a moment, everyone stood silent in shock. Brian moved first, but Eliot held him back. “Stay here. Big magic.” He motioned to Natalie. “C’mon, Red. You hold him, I’ll stun him.”

They didn’t need to do either. When they got to the shattered cruiser, they found the wizard trapped in the wreckage, barely conscious. Eliot motioned to the group. “Meaghan, come over here. The rest of you stay back, okay?”

Meaghan felt a savage joy, which ended abruptly as she neared the mangled car. Eliot had deflated the air bags and Meaghan could see that all they had done was give the wizard behind the wheel a few extra moments of life. Blood bubbled from his nose and mouth with each wheezing gasp. The lower half of his body was encased in the remains of the car. A piece of jagged bone jutted from his upper arm.

Up close she saw how young he was, no older than Jamie. As much as she hated him for the things she knew he had done, she felt a pang of shame at her initial delight.
He’s somebody’s son
, she thought.
Once upon a time, a woman gave birth to
him.

Meaghan’s eyes filled with tears. She didn’t want to feel compassion for this man, this monster, as he lay dying, but she couldn’t help herself. He no longer seemed huge and menacing, but small and fragile, smashed beyond repair.

“What’s your name?” she asked.

“Not . . . telling . . . you,” he gasped. “They’re almost here.”

“Who’s almost here?”

“Them . . . they . . .” He groaned and spit up a wave of fresh blood. “You’ll all burn . . . soon.”

Even with his threats, she couldn’t hate him anymore. “What have you done to Jamie? What are those things you carved into him?”

“The rift will . . . open. You . . . you . . .” The defiant look in his eyes vanished, replaced with fear. “It hurts . . . I . . . hurts.” He looked at Meaghan, a plea in his eyes. “Please . . . I . . .” He let out a final shuddering breath and was still.

The three of them stared down at him, silent for a moment. Natalie broke the silence. “How do people get so wrong?” She turned to Meaghan, tears in her eyes. “I can’t even hate him. I should. What he did to Jamie was vicious and evil, but . . . look at him.”

Meaghan put her arm around Natalie and pulled her close. “I know. I can’t hate him up close either.” She looked past Natalie to Eliot. “Whatever these things are, they need Jamie to help them get here and he told me he’ll pull the building down on top of himself and the Order to keep that from happening. We have to get inside city hall and help him.”

Eliot was staring at the dead wizard. “Oh, shit. They didn’t.”

Meaghan followed his gaze. “What?”

“They rigged him.” He shoved her and Natalie hard. “Go!”

Meaghan and Natalie ran, Eliot behind them. She heard a soft whoosh and felt a wall of air shove her from behind, then the world went dark.