Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (19 page)

“You know what would be fun?” Liz said suddenly. “We could take Allie out for a makeover.”

“Ummmm, I don’t know about that guys,” Allie said.

“Oh, that’s a great idea Liz!” Candice said, lighting up like the sun coming out. “We could get her hair styled and buy some new clothes.”

“Really guys, I like my hair…”

“And some makeup would do wonders,” Liz agreed, giving her cousin an appraising look.

“Don’t you guys have to get going?” Allie said, desperately.

Both women rolled their eyes. Candice took Liz’s hand heading towards the door. “Don’t worry Allie we’ll get it all planned over lunch. Bye Jason, nice meeting you.”

“See you guys later,” Liz said over her shoulder, the door closing on the words.

“This isn’t funny,” Allie snapped at Jason who was almost doubled over behind the counter laughing.

“Are you kidding? That was hilarious. How are you going to fend off the makeover twins?” Jason snorted.

“Argh,” Allie groaned, limping back to sit behind the counter. “I don’t know. I don’t want a makeover. I like myself just fine the way I am.”

“So do I,” Jason said slightly more seriously, “But those two are going to have you tarted up like a Barbie doll if you aren’t careful.”

“Well maybe while they’re off plotting at lunch they’ll get sidetracked with something else and forget about me,” Allie said hopefully.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Jason said. “But speaking of lunch…”

*******************************

Ferinyth glared at Salarius, annoyed that the younger elf wouldn’t move from the doorway. Bad enough they were forced to stay in this shoddy mortal motel, a place he wouldn’t have kenneled a dog in. Worse that this boy thought he should be making strategic decisions when it was Ferinyth who was more experienced and adept at dealing with humans. “Get out of my way boy. We’ve wasted too much time already.”

“You set me to watching the girl. I have done so and I believe there is much more going on than you realize,” Salarius started, but Ferinyth was in no mood to hear it.

“I don’t care. Whatever foolish problems the girl has or those around her have do not matter to us. We should have taken her immediately and instead we delayed. And what resulted from that? She has gained a nominal position within the Elven Guard itself,” Ferinyth shook his head, frowning. “No more delays. We need to move swiftly and be done with this.”

“We are not the only ones who move against her. It seems foolish to risk going after her openly when we do not yet know exactly what else is going on,” Salarius crossed his arms, trying to seem imposing.

Ferinyth was not impressed. “Don’t tell me what is and isn’t foolish. Foolish is your father saddling me with watching you while charging me with capturing her. And if there is anyone else seeking the girl all the more reason to take her quickly.”

Sal decided to try a different tactic. “Perhaps you are correct. You do after all have more experience and knowledge. However we will have to plan carefully to succeed in taking her without killing her. She will not come willingly or easily, and she is often surrounded by others. If we are to have only one chance we should be certain it will be the best moment.”

At that Sal knew he had won. Ferinyth’s eyes narrowed but he had no quick comeback, which meant he was thinking over the younger elf’s words. Sal decided to try redirecting Ferinyth’s focus onto two things he knew the other elf enjoyed with an apparently endless appetite. “You made us some good money today selling the stolen goods my father sent us to finance our time here. Let’s see how much of it we can spend on expensive wine and cheap whores. We can decide how best to take the girl later.”

Ferinyth relaxed, his lips curving into a predatory smile, “So you are finding the borderland to your liking then little boy?”

Sal ignored the insult but returned the smile, “I can see the appeal of much of it.”

*****************************

Jason’s friend had shown up just after lunch and much to Allie’s chagrin had fixed the surveillance system in less than five minutes.

“See,” James said pointing to something arcane looking on the computer screen, “the program that connected the camera input to the system was deleted, here. Without that the cameras kept sending their signals but there was no way for the computer to receive it.”

“How does that happen? Is it some kind of virus or something?” Allie worried, chewing her lip.

“I’ll run a scan, but I don’t think so. I’d guess it was deleted manually by accident,” James shrugged, hunching over Allie’s laptop. He wasn’t at all what she had expected: tall, tattooed, and pierced, he looked like he should be fronting a heavy metal band, not debugging lines of code. “It’s an easy enough fix, and I can update your program while I’m here. You’re system is practically an antique.”

Allie sighed, “I know. My grandmother had it put in and I haven’t really done anything with it except tie it into my computer. I’m pretty sure I didn’t delete anything though.”

“These things happen. I see it all the time actually – someone is trying to clean up a bit or get rid of old programs or files and accidently deletes something essential,” James shrugged, staying focused on the screen and typing rapidly.

Allie frowned harder, sure that she hadn’t deleted anything. She was not a computer savvy person and she almost never risked messing with her system because she relied on it to handle online orders and emails and track books she had ordered or shipped. She considered it a major accomplishment to have set up her little website using one of the free create-your-own sites and even she wouldn’t deny how minimal the store’s site was. But on the other hand it seemed rude to argue with James when he was doing her a favor. “Once it is fixed is there any way to access the missing stuff? The video from when the cameras weren’t being received?”

“Sorry, no,” he said, as Jason wandered over to check on their progress. “If it was a newer system then we could because the camera itself would have some memory, but these older models don’t record they only send, so without the computer saving the feed it’s lost for good.”

“Well, damn,” Allie sighed, “It was worth asking anyway.”

“On the bright side…” he clicked a few more keys and then sat back triumphantly “…you’re all set now. Oh, I changed your passwords too. The new ones are written down here. I hope you don’t mind but they’d never been changed, it looks like since the system was installed, and that’s a cardinal sin in pc security.”

“Wow, you’re done already? That was only like five minutes. Oh, and no I don’t mind about the password. I’ll keep the new ones written somewhere safe.”

He gave her a pained look. “Just don’t write it down anywhere obvious or tell anyone else where it’s written.”

She repressed a smile, “Got it. Now how much do I owe you?”

James paused, looking around the store, “About that. I was wondering if you’d consider a store credit? I could use that more than the cash if it works for you.”

“Really? I mean sure,” Allie said, hardly believing her luck. “I can do a store credit. Just let me know how much.”

James smiled, standing up and stretching, “Perfect! And if this works out well for you and you like my work I’d be interested in doing more down the road for you. This kind of stuff is easy enough for me, and you really should consider updating your whole system. When you’re ready I can price out the equipment and get you a good deal on everything.”

“Oh,” Allie said, caught off guard, “well, sure, I mean down the road. I can’t afford any upgrading right now, but later…and I’ll definitely call you.”

“Great, here’s my business card,” he said handing her a pristine white card with simple black lettering. “I wrote my cell number and home number on the back – don’t share those around but if you have a huge issue come up with your system call.”

“Okay,” Allie said taking the card and sliding it into the small box she kept important paperwork in. “Are you sure though? I don’t want to put you out.”

“I’m positive,” James said smiling reassuringly. “My girlfriend is a witch and I have the hardest time finding gifts for her. This shop is going to be a huge help – I’ll be back before you know it with a list of stuff she’s been looking for to put a dent in that store credit. And the more I help you the more cool stuff I can get her.”

Jason laughed, “And here I thought you were being altruistic.”

James laughed with him, “Altruism is for idealists. I’m being practical.”

“Funny how you manage to make ‘practical’ and getting laid go hand in hand,” Jason snickered. James laughed and then stopped shooting a guilty look at Allie.

“Don’t worry,” Jason said, still smirking at his friend, “Allie’s cool.”

“Oh yeah, I’m cool,” Allie said, rolling her eyes at the idea. “And for the record I am totally in favor of using books to help win a girl’s love and get laid. Books are way more romantic than stupid heart shaped candy and jewelry.”

James relaxed, slapping Allie on the back in a friendly fashion, “I should have known that anyone Jason said was good people would be great. I love that – books are more romantic than jewelry. Your boyfriend must either think that’s awesome or a huge challenge.”

Allie looked at Jason wondering what he’d told his friend exactly, “What makes you think I have a boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever, there’s no way someone like you is single.”

“Someone like me?” Allie tilted her head to the side but both men missed the elven body language indicating interest, misinterpreting it for annoyance.

“Oh he meant it in a good way,” Jason hurried to reassure her, earning a puzzled look from Allie.

“Yeah, I know, I was just curious what he meant. Is there something about me that screams ‘relationship’?”

James gave her an appraising look. “It’s hard to put into words. I just can’t imagine a girl like you, pretty, funny, friendly, not being with somebody. Unless you have some weird secret love of collecting cheese or keeping all your toenail clippings or something.”

Jason covered his face with both hands, miming horror, but Allie giggled. “Well I do really like cheese, but not enough to collect it. And you’re right I am seeing someone. I just didn’t realize I sent out some kind of vibe about it.”

“Now you know,” James said, with mock seriousness. “And now that your system’s fixed and everything’s all set I’m going to have to run. I promised Kate I’d meet her at the theater to see that new monster movie.”

“The one about the ravens? I heard that’s supposed to be gory,” Jason said, with interest. Allie always forgot that Jason was a huge horror movie fan, probably because she hated that genre herself.

“That’s the one. Hey you want to come with? Kate would love seeing you again and you can fill us in all the really gross parts, while we cover our eyes,” James said.

Jason hesitated, looking at Allie, “I don’t know…”

“Go ahead, Jase, have some fun. The cameras are fixed, so I’m fine here,” Allie said, meaning it. “Oh, but can you be back here by 5:30 so I can drive you home?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll give him a lift,” James said, waving off her concern. Then to Jason, “Maybe we can talk Kate into heading out to Berville for dinner.”

That obviously meant something particular to Jason, who immediately relented, “I might be up for some post-movie shenanigans.”

“Excellent,” James quickly packed up the bags he’d brought, most of which he’d never even opened. “Let’s get going before we miss the previews. It was nice meeting you Allie.”

“Nice meeting you too James. Thanks for everything.”

“You’re welcome, and don’t worry, I’ll be back to spend that credit before you know it.”

Allie waved slightly as James shouldered his bags and headed out, Jason trailing behind, “Bye Jase, see you at home later.”

“Yeah, see you later Allie. Stay out of trouble.”

She stuck her tongue out at him but he had already left. Shaking her head she sat down and quickly looked over the restored camera views on the computer screen, trying to remind herself to check them more often from now on. She found the slip of paper that James had written the new passwords on and her lips twitched to see his choices. She probably wouldn’t have picked ‘bookbabe69’ or ‘magic*mayhem’ but she had to admit even she would remember those. Nonetheless she taped the paper up by the cashbox where no one else would easily be able to see it but where she couldn’t misplace it.

She’d just started going through the pile of catalogs under the counter, sorting out what was worth keeping from what was far out-of-date when the bells over the door rang again. Glancing up Allie saw one of her regulars, Ginny, walking in and making a bee line for the section on protective magic. Allie didn’t bother with a greeting, Ginny was obviously on a mission today. A moment later one of the people who had called in a phone order came in, heading straight up to the counter and Allie was distracted retrieving his books.

As she was finishing ringing the phone order up Ginny got in line, several books in her arms. Allie felt her spirits lifting even more; today was going very well. The cameras were fixed, Liz and Candice had come for a visit, and now after a slow start she was moving enough inventory to finish the day out well.

The first customer left with his purchases and Ginny moved up, “Hi Allie.”