Guardians Inc.:Thundersword (Guardians Incorporated #2) (10 page)

      Oscar scowled. “Come on.”

      “I'm sorry, but I really appreciate what you're doing,” Thomas told him, “and your opinion about him. Can we trust him?”

      Oscar took his time to answer. “As much as to trust him...” he murmured. “Well, let’s not count that the Boogeyman, and all other names he has been given are sometimes used as a nickname for the Devil. Based on his historical meddling, I would say that trusting him has a 50-50 chance of triumph or…death.”

      “50-50?”

      “Basically, he's the face of temptation and ill advice, Thomas.” Oscar said. “I mean, I even found a children's book app about him for God's sakes!” Oscar showed him a picture with a cartooned Man in the Trench Coat—the long nose and pointy fingers gave him immediately away—and he looked evil, but funny at the same time.

      “But,” Thomas argued, “he doesn't always kill whoever looks for him; some of his advice and guidance has helped. He's not always completely, utterly evil.”

      “Oh no, you can't think that way about this guy,” Oscar said. “Everywhere he's popped up there has always been a winner and a loser. So you can say that he does the same amount of good as he does evil. It's just a matter of who gets what. Of course when he does evil…well…”

      Who gets what.
Thomas thought about that for some time. If he was going to contact this Boogeyman, he had to make sure that he came out on top and that Thomas was the winner, not the loser. Of course, ideally, he would never need to contact him, but it was nice to know that he could actually benefit from an encounter with him.

      “Thank you, Oscar,” Thomas said, standing up from his desk. “I owe you one.”

      “Well . . . about that!” Oscar said before he could leave. “I guess you could introduce me to your friend sometime. You know, the cute one?”

      “Elise?” Thomas asked. “Sure.”

      “Is that her name . . . Elise?” Oscar exclaimed, turning his attention to the computer, no doubt browsing the Intranet for Elise's profile. Thomas approached him and turned off the monitor.

      “No creeping,” he said quite seriously, and Oscar hunched his shoulders. “Promise.”

      “Okay, I promise.” Oscar turned on the monitor and closed the window. “But you have to start calling me Bruce.”

      Thomas hunched his shoulders back at him. “Mrs. Pianova would get angry if I did,” he said. “I'm sorry.”

      Oscar sighed and turned on the monitor to the computer again.

Thomas left after he made sure that Oscar wasn’t looking for Elise’s profile.

Bolswaithe's Gift

      Thomas, Elise, and Tony waited patiently for Bolswaithe to pick them up at the Mansion's entrance. The final logistics of his plan had taken just short of five days to accomplish.

      Thomas yawned involuntarily; Bolswaithe had forced them to go take a long afternoon nap, a feat Tony said was impossible for him but Elise took care of everything with a simple spell, and before Thomas could say anything, she had cast the spell on him and then herself.

      Six hours later Bolswaithe had woken them up. The clock on his wristpadd read almost ten o’clock at night.  

      Henri, Jean Luc, and twenty more of his brother grotesques had already left the Mansion grounds and gone to their assigned posts. In 1625, Magus Phillibert Le Roi, architect and Guardian, had created a total of thirty-six grotesques to protect Versailles. All of them had been transported to Pervagus Mansion after Maximillien Robespierre decided to destroy them, afraid that they would up-rise after the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

      With the grotesques out of the picture, Robespierre instituted the “Reign of Terror” after the French Revolution in which he purged not only political enemies, but also magic-attuned humans and even Fauns and Fae that lived in France. He even went after some of the Guardians to try to eliminate any competition for his new rule.

      Because of their respect of the Magna Carta they had helped create five hundred years before, the Guardians couldn’t do anything more than try and save as many people as they could as they watched the guillotine work day and night.

And with Robespierre’s blessing, the guillotine worked overtime.

Of course, it was the same device that ended the life of Robespierre in July 1798. History ascribes his last scream of terror to the executioner’s tearing up the bandage that had held his broken jaw, but Henri and his brothers knew better.

How terrifying must have been for a man who had helped send so many to their deaths, including the King and Queen, to see thirty-six devils standing up from the roofs of the surrounding buildings and pointing an accusing finger at him just before the guillotine blade fell.

      Thomas had shuddered when Jean Luc told him the story for the first time.

      He wondered now what anyone would think if they saw one of the grotesques apparently coming to life in front of them. The first time he’d seen Henri at his house he’d thought it was a demon coming for him.

      “What are we waiting for?” Tony asked, jolting Thomas from his thoughts. He approached a six-wheeled vehicle that looked more like a tank than a car.

A car horn answered him, one that Thomas had heard only a couple of times but was very familiar with. Grandpa’s car,
his car
, Thomas remembered, parked beside the tank, Bolswaithe at the wheel.

      The 1959 Black Chevy Impala reflected the sun beautifully.

      Bolswaithe opened the door. “I think your inaugural drive has been postponed for far too long,” he said as he handed the keys and some mirrored sunglasses to Thomas. Bolswaithe put on an identical pair of sunglasses and extended a pair to Tony and Elise. He opened the other door, motioning for her and Tony to get into the back seat.

      Thomas literally ran to the driver's seat.

      “For real?” Elise asked Bolswaithe. “We could be going into a trap.”

      “We’ll be fine,” he answered, but Elise and Tony didn’t move.

      “What’s this?” Thomas asked from inside the car; he had found a button that hadn’t been there before.

      “A small liberty I took,” Bolswaithe said, “and it was suggested by Babcor. I hope you like it.”

      Thomas gave him a wry look. He was sure Grandpa would’ve never allowed anything to be done to his car, and the capybara faun had not only one, but a dozen suggestions about the car.

“Go ahead, press it,” Bolswaithe said.

      Thomas pressed the button; there was a soft hum as the roof collapsed, folding into itself and turning the car into a convertible.

      “Same technology as our armor,” Bolswaithe answered Thomas’s questioning look. “Do you approve, Thomas?” 

“Yeah.” Thomas smiled. Maybe Grandpa would have never allowed something like this, but it wasn’t his car anymore. He suddenly felt a wave of sadness roll through him. He missed his Grandpa more than anyone knew.

Elise remained dubious. “Really guys,” she said. “Is it wise to bring a convertible to ah…” 

Bolswaithe had not disclosed all the information regarding the plan in case the Warmaster could somehow anticipate Thomas’s moves.

“Monte Carlo?” Bolswaithe said.

“I’m in!” Tony took the sunglasses from Bolswaithe and jumped over the door into the back seat, and then he checked himself in the side-door mirror. Bolswaithe followed him, leaving the front seat for Elise.

The three of them stared at her. 

Thomas softly patted the front seat.

Elise buckled and jumped in with a snort. She reached back for her pair of sunglasses, and after putting them on, she released her hair from the bun she always wore when they were on a mission.

“That's what I'm talking about!” Tony said.

Thomas revved the engine; it purred under his foot. “Monte Carlo?” he asked. 

“Avenue
Princesse Grace
,” Bolswaithe said with an impeccable French accent.

As they reached the main gate of the Mansion, Tony stopped them. “Wait! Wait! Wait!” he said, leaning through the front seat and fiddling with his wristpadd.

“What's up?” Thomas asked.

“There...” Tony said, “try the radio.”

Thomas turned on the radio, and the chords to
“Born to be Wild”
by Steppenwolf filled the speakers.

“We don't want to jinx the trip, do we?” Tony slapped Thomas on the shoulder.

“Happy delayed birthday,” Bolswaithe said from the back seat.

Thomas looked at him through the mirror with a smile and left the starry night under the Mansion for the morning streets of Monaco in Monte Carlo. He had grown used to the change in scenery after leaving the Mansion’s gate. The first time he had used it, they had been deposited in the busy streets of New York City. Since then, he had walked out from the Mansion many times and visited all continents.

As he recalled many of his grandfather and father’s stories about the car he realized that this was going to be his first story about it.

His first great adventure in the family car…he was finally adding to the tradition: the sea on one side, the mountain on the other, Hard Rock on the radio. He looked at Elise, a beautiful girl next to him.

Thomas clacked his mouth.

His parents would be proud, and he hoped to ask Grandpa what he thought about it the next time he saw him.

In the backseat of the car Bolswaithe noted Thomas’s smile, and for the second time, he
felt.

The Vagabond Plan

      “Stay on this street,” Bolswaithe told Thomas as they approached the marina with huge, and no doubt, incredibly expensive yachts moored inside. “We are going to Le Roche de Monaco.”

      “To the Prince's Palace?” Elise asked.

      “I always wanted to meet a princess,” Tony said. “You think any of them will be there?”

      “Excuse me?” Elise turned around, lifting up her sunglasses. “You’ve met a princess already.”

      “Tasha doesn’t count. I mean one who doesn’t want to kill me.” 

      Thomas contained a chuckle as Elise’s eyes widened. “Me!” she told Tony. “I am a princess!”

      Tony paused. “An Elven princess,” he said hunching his shoulders. “And, I’m sorry, but all Elves think they are royalty.”

      “That’s not really accurate,” Bolswaithe interceded before Elise burned Tony’s smug grin off his face. “Elise is fourth-in-line to the throne of Eidameran.”

      “Thank you, Bolswaithe,” Elise said. “I’m actually second; there’s King Seryaan, my dad, then me.”

      “And your mother and brother?” Bolswaithe asked, making Thomas glance back. It was one of those few times that he had seen the robot asking a question. Maybe it was because Elven customs were not common knowledge.

      “Mom’s fully human; she would become Queen consort but never reign. My brother’s younger than me, and Elves are not chauvinistic.” She sent a fierce glare Tony’s way.

      “Is that right?” Tony returned the glare. “Then, please accept my apologies, Your Highness.”

      Elise ground her teeth. “You’re right, you know?” she told him. “You’ve never met a princess who didn’t want to kill you!” She turned around crossing her arms.

      Tony leaned over the seat and hugged her. “You know I’m kidding!” he said. “You’re a beautiful, regal, intelligent princess!” he said, stressing
intelligent
. “The Elves couldn’t wish for more.”

      Elise resisted for a little bit, but then smiled and tapped him on the arm. “Yeah, whatever…” she said. “I’ll still try to find an opportunity to get rid of you.”

      Tony sat back again, laughing. “So,” he turned to Bolswaithe, “you think any ‘other’ princess will be there?”

      Thomas let out a laugh. It was like watching a brother and sister fight it out.

      “The House of Grimaldi has always been a friend to Guardians Inc., but we are not going to the Palace,” Bolswaithe said, pointing Thomas toward a street that was already closed by the Monaco Police. “We are going to the Monaco Cathedral.”

      “Is there a sign there?” Thomas was waved through by the policemen. A couple of yards ahead, a team of Guardians Inc. techs were setting up equipment as cover for the press and people of Monaco.

      “Not really,” Bolswaithe told him. “More to test a theory. Stop here.”

      Thomas stopped the car. As soon as they opened the doors the sound of a Magical explosion reached them.

      “A thunder-flash!” Elise said as her hands glowed in blue Magic. The Azure Guards used that simple spell as their flash-bang grenade. The thunder-flash created a flash of blinding light and the sound of thunder that could disorient most people. The Azure Guards’ version of the spell also created a small shockwave that pushed people to the ground. Killjoy had made Elise learn the spell and use it against them for training many times. At close range there was a telltale whizzing sound, much like when a branch cut through the air before the actual spell took effect. Thomas, Tony, and Henri had grown used to closing their eyes and covering their ears just to minimize the effects.

      Tony pulled out his dart gun and activated his armor. He tried to jump out over Bolswaithe, but the butler pulled him down. “What?” Tony demanded.

      “Let's go,” Bolswaithe told them. “There's nothing in there.”

      “What do you mean there's nothing in there?” Thomas asked. “There's no
Book of Concord
sign?”

      “No, there never was.” Bolswaithe motioned with his hands for them to go. “But this proves two things: the Azure Guards are indeed tracking us, and they are just following us blindly. They have no idea where the signs are.”

      Thomas accelerated, leaving behind the shouts of the police, the techs, and the magical flashes. “Where to now?” he asked.

      “Two streets on the left,” Bolswaithe said, and they entered Pervagus Mansion again.

      “So, all this was just to confirm that Morgan is tracking us?” Tony asked as Thomas parked in the Mansion’s circular driveway.

      “Why don't we go out again?” Bolswaithe said smiling. “Say, Santiago de Chile?”