chapter FORTY-NINE
Vittorio and I spent the next day poring over stories about the Fountain of Youth. We studied the map, but couldn’t figure out how the spell was hidden in it or what it might mean.
“It is possible that only the original will show the spell. Because we are working with a copy, it may not show up.”
“Or maybe I just can’t translate it like Samuel hopes.”
“That is possible. I think he is grasping at straws. Your power is very strong, but there is no reason for him to believe you are the one strega this century to have that particular power.”
“Do you think Clavius knows what Samuel is doing?” I asked while we ate room service for dinner.
“I do not know. It is very possible he does not, he has been so grief-stricken. That may be why Samuel’s plans are just now ramping up. Courtney’s appearance may have kicked it off as well.”
“They were using each other,” I said.
Kevin and Vittorio raised eyebrows as if on queue.
“When she ran away from home and Miriam started bringing her around, Samuel would have seen her as an easy opportunity to get the map Ms. Carmen wouldn’t sell to him. He would have thought a young girl like her would be flattered by an older man’s attention, so he flirted with her and started dating her as a way to get to the map.
“What he didn’t know was Courtney was using him as a way into the coven. She would have done anything he asked if she thought he would convince Clavius to let her join.”
“How do you know this?” Vittorio asked.
“The second time I talked to her at The Chapel, I could tell by the way she looked at Samuel that she didn’t love him. She didn’t outright admit it, but she didn’t deny it, either.” I paused. “I’m going to try calling her again.”
This time, she answered. “Courtney, it’s Elena. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I guess so, but something weird happened to me and I don’t know who I can talk to.”
“You can talk to me if you want to,” I said.
“Can I meet you somewhere?” She sounded nothing like the confident girl she was at The Chapel.
I muted my phone and asked Vittorio, who agreed. After setting up a time and place, I hung up.
Vittorio arranged for a cab to pick us up in the hotel parking garage and to drop us off a few blocks away from the coffee shop where we were meeting Courtney.
“Isn’t this a bit of overkill?” I asked. “Nobody knows where we are, right? They would have come for us by now if they did.”
“You are probably right, but I can not be too careful with your safety, mio amore.”
“Or your own,” I said.
Courtney sat in the back of the coffee shop, staring blankly down at the empty table. She wore no makeup, and I got a hint of the girl next door from the photo her mother had given me. I ordered drinks for all of us, hoping plain coffee would be alright for Courtney. “What happened, Courtney?”
“You’ll probably think I’m crazy,” she said, blowing on the coffee.
“I doubt that. Please, you can trust me,” I said while looking her straight in the eye.
“I don’t know. It’s just…” she paused, and I waited. “Well, Samuel convinced me to borrow my mom’s map. I know how much that thing means to her, so I made him promise he’d just make a copy then give it back. All he gave me was a blank piece of paper, though, as if he thought I was dumb enough not to check it before I left.”
“Did you say anything to him?”
“Of course. He made a big show of checking the poster tube it was in, then said he’d brought the wrong one home from his office. It seemed strange to me.”
I raised an eyebrow at Vittorio.
Ask if anyone was with Samuel when he returned the map, he said in my head, so I did.
“Yeah, some guy. I’ve seen him a few times. I think his name is Neal.” She took a sip of coffee.
She will have to stay someplace else until we know what Samuel is up to. If what I suspect is true, she isn’t safe. Perhaps I could get her a room at our hotel.
How on earth was I supposed to tell her that without freaking her out? Well, let’s explain all this to her before scaring the crap out of her, okay?
“I’m going to tell you something that may sound unbelievable, but please try to keep an open mind,” I said. “There are people in the world who have a power. You might call it magic, but we prefer to simply call it power. Everyone with power has different abilities. One of the abilities some people have is to cause people to see things in another manner from reality. It’s called glamour. You seem to be able to see through it.”
“I don’t understand,” Courtney said, hands shaking around her coffee cup.
“It seems as if you are blessed with power, Courtney,” Vittorio said.
She sank down into her chair and said nothing for a full minute.
“Courtney, are you alright?” I asked.
“I don’t know. This is all so strange,” she said.
“I understand, Courtney. I just discovered my power about a month ago, and it was quite a shock. My discovery was a bit more blatant than yours.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was a very personal experience. I’ll tell you about it some other time, perhaps, but not right now.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Courtney, look, I don’t want to scare you, but Samuel’s mixed up in some bad stuff right now. Just to be safe, I don’t think you should stay at home for a few days.”
“Is he going to hurt me? I didn’t even get the map back from him.” She sat up straight again, hands still shaking slightly.
“I won’t lie to you; I don’t know. I want you to be careful. We’re actually doing the same thing right now. You can stay at the same hotel with us.”
“But I can’t afford it, and my mom’s out of town, and I wouldn’t want to ask her for money anyway.”
“I will pay for your room,” Vittorio said.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Please, it is nothing. I am well able to afford it, and would prefer to see you safe, even if we are being overly cautious.”
Courtney searched my face, as if asking me what she should do.
I nodded, hoping she’d agree.
“Well, if you’re sure.”
“Yes, it is no problem,” Vittorio said. He did relax a little and let Courtney drive us back to the hotel so she would not have to leave her car parked on the street.