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“Then where?” I tried to think of a location for a secret meeting that wasn’t public and that wasn’t our office. “My place?” I suggested. “It’s warded, and lots of p
eople enter through the building’s front door, so it won’t be too obvious.”
“Yes, that will work.”
I gave her the address and added, “How about at seven?” By then, Nita, my one roommate who wasn’t in on the magical secret, would have left for work on the night shift at a hotel registration desk, so it would be safe to talk freely. I just hoped the place wasn’t too messy for unexpected company.
“Make sure you aren’t followed,” she said.
“I live there,” I pointed out. “They wouldn’t have to follow me to know that’s where I’ll end up.”
She got off the subway a stop before I did. I had a few errands to run before I went home, so I called Owen as soon as I was out of the station to let him know about the arrangements. Next, I called home to see if anyone was there and gave my roommate Gemma, who answered the phone, a heads-up that company was on the way. Then I picked up some dry cleaning and got a box of cookies for refreshments, since I wouldn’t have time to bake.
When I got up the stairs to my floor, Sylvia was standing in the hallway. She must have gone straight there. “It’s about time,” she snapped.
“We still have forty-five minutes,” I said as I unlocked the door.
Gemma greeted us when we entered. Her boyfriend, Philip, was also there. Gemma must have rushed to get ready after my warning, because there was no laundry lying about, and there were only a few dirty dishes in the sink, so the apartment was reasonably presentable for company. “Please, have a seat,” Gemma said to Sylvia, gesturing toward the sofa. “Can I get you anything?”
“A stiff drink would be good.” Then Sylvia shook her head. “No, probably better not. I need to keep my wits.”
Philip stood on the opposite side of the room from Sylvia, his arms crossed over his chest and his normally pleasant face set into a fierce glare. Sylvia sat in the chair nearest the window, constantly glancing over her shoulder and then back to the front door, as though worried that at any moment someone would come bursting in.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when the intercom from the front door sounded. It was Owen, and I buzzed him in. Her paranoia made me think of something. “How’s the boss going to get in?” I asked Owen when he entered. “You and Philip are here all the time, but it’s going to look weird if the boss comes to my apartment. That is, if anyone is watching.”
“I think that’s under control,” Owen said, grinning. I followed his gaze to see a flying carpet hovering outside the window, Merlin seated cross-legged on it as if he were sitting comfortably on his living room floor.
I went to open the window, and after pausing to give the tiny driver instructions, Merlin swiveled on the carpet and slid off, stepping through the window into the room. The carpet zipped away. He took off his overcoat, and Gemma hurried to take it from him.
“Good, we’re all here,” Sylvia said. She drained the glass of water Gemma had given her like it was the stiff drink she’d asked for, gripped her knees, and braced herself before speaking. “And believe me, you need to hear this. You’re sure you’ll get me to safety?”
Merlin nodded. “You have my word that we will do what we can to keep you safe. What do you have to tell us?”
She took a long, slow, deep breath and let it out in a big whoosh. “Well, to start with, Ivor Ramsay was Collegium. Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Incorporated, was pretty much a Collegium outfit for the longest time, and we still have a lot of people there. His idea to bring you back so he could defeat you and solidify his power was his own, and it didn’t sit well with the higher-ups. That’s why I’m in trouble, since I backed him, but I didn’t know it wasn’t sanctioned.”
“I don’t suppose you could provide me with a list of suspect staff,” Merlin said.
“I never had that kind of information, just that we had people there.”
Philip, who’d been silently scowling at Sylvia all that time, crossed the room to stand in front of her and glare down at her. “There’s got to be more than that. Otherwise, I don’t see why we shouldn’t just let them have you.”
“Boy, you hold a grudge, don’t you?”
“If you’d spent a century eating flies, you might bear some resentment.”
“Well, no, that’s not all. MSI is a big part of their plans. Without the company, they’re not the major player in the magical world. With you in charge, they don’t have MSI in their pocket. You need to be on the lookout.”
“For what?” I asked as I tried to remember every mafia movie I’d ever seen. “Are they going to drive us out of business? Burn us down? Scare our employees out of working? If they want to replace the boss, they have to have someone else to take his place, so do they have someone already working there, ready to move up? I can’t see how they’d be able to come from outside and take over without us noticing.”
“This isn’t some mobster movie,” she said with a scathing tone, and I couldn’t help but wince guiltily. “But I don’t know exactly what they have planned. They may not have planned anything yet. I do know that the heads are meeting, a lot. This is bigger than any of you realize, and you’ve foiled some schemes that have been decades in the making. They won’t want to lose again. Now, is that worth my safety?”
I wasn’t so sure that a bunch of vague warnings was enough, but Merlin nodded. “Yes, we will keep you safe. If you leave with me, I can take you to a secure location now.”
Sylvia stood. “I’ll leave with you because your carpet lets me get out of here without any followers noticing me, but I’m going to wait before I disappear. If I lie low and play it cool, they’ll be less suspicious that I’ve been up to anything, and I can keep my job longer. I need a little time to move money into secret accounts to set up my new life, since I doubt you’ll be willing to fund me at the level I’d like. You can drop me off somewhere.”
“If you insist.” Merlin got out his cell phone and pushed a button. A moment later, the carpet flew up to the window and hovered. Philip and Owen helped Sylvia and Merlin out, and the carpet flew away.
I sank onto the couch Merlin had vacated. “What do we do about this? These warnings are too vague to really act on.”
