Home > Well of Magic (Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill #4)(12)

Well of Magic (Rosie O'Grady's Paranormal Bar and Grill #4)(12)
Author: B.R. Kingsolver

“Yeah. I blew a lot of stuff up before I learned how to control it. I blew up my parents’ house. Took out most of the neighborhood. That’s when they shipped me off to…well, to where I was trained. I think the authorities classified it as a terrorist bombing.”

They shook their heads. I didn’t want to go into my personal history, so I said, “You didn’t finish your explanation.”

“Okay,” Bailey said, “let’s say I wanted to create an artifact that a mage could use to shoot fire. I would need a fire, preferably one created by a pyromancer, to draw the magic from and insert it into an object. A lightning rod and a storm could provide the power to insert electricity into an object, or an electrokinetic could supply the energy. You get what I mean? But where would I get the magic to create an artifact that influences a ley line? Especially something that disrupts the entire world’s magical energy? I’d need such an artifact to draw upon in order to create a related artifact that blocks or filters the disrupted ley energy. I can’t just imagine that kind of magic out of nothing.”

“I see. Have you ever heard of the Well of Magic, or an artifact called the Heart of the World?”

Frankie shook her head.

Bailey pursed his mouth and gave a slight nod. “It’s a myth. Supposedly, The Heart of the World lies at the bottom of the Well of Magic—the place where the ley lines originate.”

“The Fae don’t think it’s a myth. I was told the artifact—a ruby the size of a fist—is real, and that the Knights Magica have been searching for it for decades.” I pulled the pendant out from under my shirt and told them how it protected me from the ley line chaos.

“Where did they get that stone?” Bailey asked.

“I didn’t ask, but I assume they buried the bodies somewhere you’ll never find them. Every Knight’s sword I’ve seen has one set in the pommel.”

“That still doesn’t help us,” Frankie said.

“No, it really doesn’t,” Bailey said. “If someone is using the artifact to create these stones, then we would need it to do the same thing.” He was quiet for a couple of minutes, then said, “What you’re saying is that the Knights are using the Heart of the World to disrupt the ley lines, and these rubies are shielding their members from the effects. The big question is, why?”

“I would think that’s obvious,” I replied. “They plan to take over the world. The only thing that’s stopped them from doing it before this are other magic users. But if they can disrupt the ley lines so they’re the only ones who can use magic, that gives them the upper hand.”

“How many of these Knights are there?” Frankie asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think they’ve published a census on the internet.”

The last estimate I had seen recorded in The History of the Illuminati was almost twenty years old. At that time, Master Benedict thought the Knights had increased their numbers to thirty thousand. That was alarming, since the Illuminati only had about eight thousand members. But the Illuminati were more discriminating in their recruitment, taking only the strongest mages. The Order of Knights Magica accepted anyone with magic, including witches.

I thought about the death of the Prelate. The number of the Order’s members wasn’t that important if, as I suspected, they were planning to take control of the Universal Church. That would add millions of people to their power base. Since I had zero proof of that theory, I didn’t mention it.

I asked my visitors if they could leave me one of the swords, but Frankie said they needed them for evidence. I would have liked to take one of them to Gilles, who I thought might want to add a ruby-decorated sword to his collection. Bailey bundled up the swords and took them when they left.

Wistfully thinking I might invite Oriel to take a shower with me, I tried to call him again, but it went to voice mail. I didn’t leave another message since he hadn’t responded to the ones I left before.

I was toweling myself off when the phone rang. My heart jumped in my chest, and I skipped into the bedroom, trailing water in my wake.

“Hi, what’s up?” I answered, without even looking at who was calling.

“Erin?” Lizzy sounded frantic. “I’m at the university, in the library. I need help. Some guys in black uniforms tried to grab me, but I got away from them. They’re waiting for me outside.”

“Can you hold out for twenty minutes?”

“Yeah, but hurry. Erin, they have the building surrounded with some kind of force field.”

“I’ll be there.”

I threw on the remains of my Hunter’s uniform and grabbed my sword and my dagger. Pelting down the stairs, I jumped in my car and headed for the university. On the way, I called Jolene.

“Lizzy’s in trouble at the university library,” I said when she answered. “Says some guys tried to kidnap her.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Jolene said. I knew she would bring her brother, and possibly some of the cops.

My new car flew onto the freeway and over the bridge. I used a burst of ley energy to push a slower car to the side so I could pass it on the off-ramp, and ran two red lights when I got near the university. Not caring whether I got a ticket, I parked in a handicap spot behind the library, leaped out of the car, and shrugged into the sword harness.

Five Knights stood outside, covering the two entrances at the back of the library. Circling around the building, I saw more Knights watching all the other doors. I found Professor Nicolo Bonato at the bottom of the steps in front of the library’s main entrance.

My phone rang.

“Erin,” Jolene said when I answered, “Josh and I are right behind you, across the street from the library. Cindy and Lieutenant Bailey are watching from the other side.”

I turned and saw Jolene peeking out from the corner of the building across the street. She waved at me.

“Okay. What are we doing?”

“Waiting for you.”

Great. I didn’t have a plan. “Have you spoken with Lizzy?”

“Yeah. She’s in the women’s restroom nearest the main entrance. We’ve been watching for about five minutes, and whatever ward or barrier they have in place, people can leave, but the doors aren’t opening for anyone who tries to get in.”

“Pretty brazen, doing this in broad daylight,” I said.

“Yeah, but no one seems to even notice them.”

“Does Lizzy have any idea what they want?”

“She said one of them referred to her as a demon,” Jolene said,

“That’s the same thing one of them called Shawna.”

“So, those are Knights Magica?” Josh asked. I assumed Jolene had me on speaker.

“Yep, and that guy in the black suit is a professor here. He stopped by Rosie’s after the run-in Shawna and I had with those Knights to warn me that I should be careful who I associate with.” I took a deep breath. “Well, maybe I should go talk with him.”

As I started toward the library, the ley lines heaved and shattered. I felt it happen but wasn’t affected. Neither were the Knights and Bonato. I looked back and saw Josh sag against the building, but Jolene didn’t seem to notice.

“Signore Bonato,” I called, speaking my poor Italian, “what an unexpected surprise.”

He whirled about, looking for who was speaking. His gaze fixed on me.

I strolled up to him and said in Italian, “I’m going to fetch a friend of mine from inside the building. I would hate to see anyone get hurt, but I’m not going to tolerate anyone who tries to stop me. Do we understand each other?”

Bonato smirked at me. “Signorina McLane, how lovely to see you again,” he replied in the same language, strongly accented compared to the standard Italian I had learned. “I’m not sure what you mean. I’m simply enjoying this lovely afternoon while I wait for some friends.”

“For their sakes, I hope they’re late,” I said as I started up the steps.

I didn’t see the magical missile that hit the right side of my personal shield. I grinned at Bonato and stabbed him in the side with the dagger I had concealed in a fold of my coat. It penetrated his shield and caught him under the ribcage. He grunted, and his eyes widened as he stumbled backward away from me. I didn’t pursue him, or waste any time worrying about the other Knights, but broke into a run up the steps.

I hit the barrier Jolene had told me about and drew my sword. An overhead stroke pierced the barrier, and I followed my blade through. That told me it wasn’t a ward but some kind of a temporary obstruction. A fireball hit my shield as the barrier closed behind me, but I didn’t slow down.

Pulling open the large door, I slipped through into the library. A women’s restroom was just off the lobby to my right.

“Lizzy?” I called when I opened the restroom’s door.

“Yeah.” Her voice was weak, but I traced it to one of the stalls. The door was locked, so I sent power to my hand and yanked the door open with a screech of bending metal. Lizzy was inside, slumped on the seat. The ley line disruption had obviously hit her hard.

“Why don’t you have one of the rubies?” I asked her.

“I gave it to Oriel to set,” she mumbled. “Supposed to pick it up tonight.”

So, I wasn’t the only person guilty of bad timing. “We’re going to get you out of here,” I said, bending down and picking her up onto my shoulder.

When I worked with the police on an operation the previous autumn, I had seen some maintenance maps of the university. One of the things not generally known was that a network of maintenance tunnels connected many of the main buildings.

I carried Lizzy down the stairs to the basement and followed a hallway until we came to a door marked, “Authorized Personnel Only.” Grabbing the knob, I subjected the door to the same rude treatment I had given the stall door in the restroom.

Beyond was another hallway, all concrete with pipes, conduits, and wiring bundles running along the walls and ceiling. The door at the end wasn’t locked on our side, and I pushed through it into the basement of another building. Twenty feet away, a set of stairs led upward.

   
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