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“Nothing but the best for Her Highness.”
A gift from Tiffany’s looked like proof that this was our guy, and now I knew where he was. “Well, I guess we’ll have to call on Mr. Martin later,” I said. “Thank you for your help.”
“Would you care to leave a message?”
“No, I suspect he’ll know what we needed.”
Once we were on the elevator, Rod gave me an appreciative nod. “Nice work there, and without even using magic.”
I gave what I hoped looked like a modest shrug. “I recognized the look in that woman’s eyes when she said the word ‘fiancée.’ It’s the way our receptionist always looked when she talked about our boss.” I gave an involuntary shiver. “Just looking at her gave me Mimi flashbacks.”
“We still don’t know if this is our man,” Owen said.
“This one did buy a gift at Tiffany’s,” Rod pointed out.
“That would explain why the seers aren’t getting the sense of power from him,” I added. “If he bought it as a gift, he may be keeping it in the protective box. And that means we need to hurry uptown and snag it before he can give her the gift. I don’t think we want a woman who can put that look in a receptionist’s eyes to have this kind of power.”
Sam was waiting for us outside. “We gotta get uptown, right away.”
“We’re way ahead of you, Sam,” Rod said. “That’s where we’re heading.”
“Yeah, but the elves are already on their way. My guys say they’re movin’ in on Fifty-first Street. Looks like they found it.”
Chapter Three
I’d thought we had a head start because we knew the purchaser’s name, but apparently the elves could detect the Knot as soon as it came out of the protective box. “Uh oh,” I said as I hurried to keep up with the guys, who were hurrying to keep up with a flying gargoyle. “If the elves’ seers found the Knot, then that probably means Mr. Martin has already given it to his fiancée. And that means we’ll get to deal with the scary dragon lady who now has extra evil power.”
“We’ll let Rod deal with her while we go after the Eye,” Owen said.
“Wouldn’t this be faster in a car?” I asked as we ducked down an alley to cut between two streets. “Or at least the subway?”
“We’re doin’ ya one better, doll,” Sam said. “By the time we get back to the office, there’ll be a carpet waitin’ for you guys.”
A flying carpet might have been fast, but it wasn’t my favorite way to travel. When I flew, I preferred to have something solid like an airplane around me. Flying carpets were severely lacking in safety features like seatbelts. I was surprised, though, when Owen came to a complete halt and dug in his heels stubbornly. “No. Uh uh. No way on earth.”
Rod stopped and turned around. “What?”
“I know how you drive, and I’m not getting on one of those things when you’re in control.”
“You’re welcome to drive if you can find a way to do it without magic,” Rod snarled defensively.
“It won’t do us much good if we don’t get there alive,” Owen shot back.
Owen’s anxiety was unsettling. I didn’t want to do something that scared him this much. He didn’t scare easily.
“I’ll be careful,” Rod said. “Yeah, I may have had a few mishaps, but I’ve grown up since then.”
“Since last year?”
Sam flew back to us. “Boys!” he shouted. “We’ve got a quest to finish. And neither of you’s drivin’. I got one of my people on the job.”
That didn’t make me feel much better. I’d seen the way gargoyles drove cars. I could imagine how they’d handle something that flew. Fortunately, the driver waiting for us wasn’t a gargoyle. He was a small, pixie-like creature whose face was mostly obscured by a pair of plastic goggles. He’d tied two bits of the carpet’s fringe around his body in a makeshift seatbelt, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad sign. It might have meant he was safety-conscious, but it could also have meant that he was planning for a wild ride.
Owen helped me onto the hovering carpet, then sat beside me with one arm securely around my waist. I held on to the carpet pile with both hands as Rod climbed up behind the driver. Then the carpet took to the sky and I clamped my lips together so I wouldn’t scream.
The driver proved to be very professional. He didn’t show off or take unnecessary risks, unless you consider going ridiculously fast to be an unnecessary risk. Buildings sped by in a blur, making it difficult to tell where we were. It was probably the quickest trip uptown I’d ever taken, and we slowed to a stop within minutes. I slid gratefully off the carpet and was surprised to hear Owen’s deep sigh of relief when his feet touched solid ground. That made me feel like less of a wimp for wanting to kneel and kiss the sidewalk.
Sam had flown ahead and was meeting with a cluster of gargoyles on a nearby railing. “Bad news, gang,” he said as we approached. “The elves are already here.”
