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“I’m telling you in part because I’ve been where you are, seeing things that don’t make sense and questioning my grasp on reality. I know how it feels to learn the truth. And in part because there are people in the magical world who are tired of hiding—for the reasons that we need to keep magic a secret. They want to use it to profit, maybe to control people. Who knows, maybe to take over the world. Since they’re trying to work through you, our best chance of stopping it is to work with you. Really, I shouldn’t be telling you anything. I could get into serious trouble if anyone I work with found out that I’d clued you in. But I think you could really help me.”
“Help how?”
“They’re planning something big, the ultimate revelation about magic in a place and situation where it can’t be denied. I suspect they’ll make sure you’re there, so I need you to let me know when you get a tip or a news release that seems at all fishy. And I need you not to do that story.”
“Do you know what being the one to break the news that magic is real could do for my career?”
“If you just happen to be there when something happens? Probably not much. It wouldn’t reflect on you, and I suspect there would be a lot of people doubting you. Even if you investigated it and found evidence, you might not be believed. You’d be accused of faking it. You’d also have a hard time being sure you were proving it because, as I said, the magic used to hide magic doesn’t work on you. Most people don’t see what you see. What you might think you’re exposing could be invisible to the rest of the world.”
She shook her head. “This is nuts.”
“Is it? Or does it make things make so much more sense now?”
“So, the gargoyles that seem to move, that’s magic?”
“A lot of them are my friends. They tend to work as security guards. Nice guys, though not all of them are very bright.”
“What’s your role in all this?”
“I work for a magical company. I guess you could call it the producer of software for the magical world. They come out with all the spells magical people need to use their power. And since they’re the major player in the magical world, they have a lot to do with policing the use of magic. There is a magical government, of sorts, that runs things otherwise, but we handle a lot of it. What you and I are is very rare, and magical people need our help. If you’ve got magical powers, magic works on you, so other magical people can use illusion to hide things from you. We see what’s really there, no matter what. We can’t be fooled.”
“This is a lot to think about.”
“I know. But once you come to terms with it, it feels pretty good. You can’t tell anyone—not that they’ll believe you. I put a lot on the line to clue you in.”
“I’m not promising anything. What are you gonna do if I tell?”
“There’s not much I can do to you, not directly. But we do have ways of undermining your credibility. I wouldn’t suggest trying to go public with this. It’s not a threat. It’s just what we have to do.
They’ve been covering magic up for more than a thousand years. They’re pretty good at it by now.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding. “What do you need from me?”
“Like I said, let me know what’s going on if you hear anything, and don’t do the story. I don’t suppose you’ve had any news releases about this weekend from the usual anonymous source?”
“Actually, I’d just got one before I left today.”
“And?”
“It was even more vague than normal, something about how the big demonstration would be Saturday, and the world would see what’s going on.”
My pulse quickened, and I had to resist the urge to grab her arm in my excitement. “Did it say when or where on Saturday?”
“No, just that details would be coming later. I don’t work this Saturday, though.”
“Is there a way you could still get any information that comes in on Saturday?”
“I can check with the assignment editor.”
“Please do that.” I wrote my cell number on the back of my business card—one of the ones for general use that doesn’t mention magic. “This is very important. And when it’s all over, maybe I can get you a little more clued in about magic.”
Only when we’d parted ways did I realize she hadn’t actually promised anything about not doing the story. I just had to trust her and hope that I could stop whatever public demonstration of magic there was going to be before it became news.
18
I hurried back to my place and miraculously caught all my roommates at home. “It looks like the big ‘magic is real’ demonstration is set for Saturday,” I told them as soon as I was through the front door. They all looked up at me, baffled. “The thing the bad guys are up to, the ones who want to expose magic,” I explained.
“Where? What are they doing?” Nita asked, sitting up straighter from her spot on the sofa, her eyes flashing with excitement.
