Zombies Sold Separately

EIGHTEEN



Fifteen minutes after I left Rodán’s office, Angel met me at Sixtieth Street and Columbus Circle. The Mandarin Oriental, a fabulous five-star hotel, was where we hid our most precious paranorms. And we hid them in luxury.

What was inside my bag had such a strong feeling of wrongness that it made my head ache. I don’t know why it bothered me now. It was like something had been triggered in the stone when I returned to the city.

“Wow.” Angel put her hands on her hips and tipped her head back to look up at the hotel. “So this is where the Magi are kept.”

“The Magi-Keepers and Magi have the Presidential Suite on the fifty-third floor and the Oriental Suite on the fifty-second.” I wished I’d had time to change. In my jeans and sweater I felt underdressed, but I had to take the stone to the Magi as soon as possible. “Magi … Magi are extraordinarily special,” I said.

“I’m new to a lot of this.” Angel pushed her long corkscrew curls away from her face. She was dressed much the same as me except she wore black jeans and a short blue coat, and she wasn’t carrying any kind of bag or purse. “All of this Peacekeeper and Paranorm Council secrecy.”

“You do know that all Magi are females and they are Dopplers, like you are, right?” I asked. Angel was a squirrel Doppler with human pinup girl looks and body, and a mind like Einstein. We started toward the front entrance of the Mandarin. “But you also know that they can’t change into an animal form like all other Dopplers?”

“Yes. They’re very, very rare and born with a special birthmark that lets the midwife know that the baby is a Magi,” Angel said as we walked. “I have no idea what that birthmark might be and I don’t know much else about them.”

“Magi-Keepers are notified right away by the midwife when they see that mark,” I said as we neared the Mandarin entrance. “The babies are whisked away from the family before the world overwhelms them.”

“Overwhelms them?” Angel looked at me with curiosity. “How?”

“They literally would never survive the real world because their senses are so much more heightened than any other being we know of.” I spoke a little quieter as we came up to a bellman. “They’d be bombarded by the six senses and gradually go insane, beyond the help of even the Magi-Keepers.”

“That’s incredible.” Angel and I walked through the entrance of the Mandarin as the bellman held the door open for us.

“Magi need to live somewhere quiet where they can learn to use their senses and abilities,” I said. “Especially their sixth sense.”

The interior of the Mandarin was beautiful but neither Angel nor I paid much attention to it as we went toward the elevators.

“There’s real danger for those poor girls.” I pushed the UP button.

Angel looked at me as we waited for an elevator. “How’s that?”

“Magi can foresee the future,” I said. “Far, far into the future. They could tell you every winning lottery number you desire.” I lowered my voice even more as a couple with three children approached the elevator from behind us. “They can look into the past and even know where a ship sank hundreds of years ago that contains incredible treasures,” I said. “They can locate almost any object or person the asking individual wants them to.”

“I can see how that talent could be exploited big time.” Amazement was on Angel’s features.

“Right.” The bell dinged for an elevator stopping at the lobby level and I glanced to see that it was going up. “Against their will,” I continued, “the Magi can easily be put under control or the influence of other beings.”

“Their abilities would definitely be very dangerous in the wrong hands.” Angel and I stepped back and waited for people to exit the elevator.

“Yes.” I nodded. “Elections could be rigged, lotteries won, the finest gemstones and paintings stolen.”

We got into the elevator and stood to one side as the family of five came on behind us. I pressed the button for the fifty-third floor. One of the children, a boy with freckles and a devious gap-toothed grin, started pressing all of the buttons until his mother slapped his hand. He’d had time to press at least fifteen floors.

“Anything a person wanted,” I said, “they could have if they had control of a Magi.”

The man and woman who got into the elevator with us were arguing. I didn’t think we could be overheard considering how loud their conversation was and the chattering of their children. Still we kept our voices low.

Angel shook her head. “I don’t think there’s a power out there that can match a Magi’s.”

“I’m sure you’re right.” I looked up at the digital numbers flashing by as the elevator went up. “It wouldn’t take long to break a Magi, though,” I said. “To overwhelm them entirely.”

“How does that work?” Angel asked.

“Ask too much in too short an amount of time, and it’s like they short-circuit.”

Angel was a Harvard graduate and former NASA intern and could easily relate to technological examples.

“If the Magi are pressed beyond where they short-circuit, it can mean death to her because she can’t handle all of the data that would bombard her,” I said. “For a Magi that includes all six senses.” I thought about the cruel part of the gift. I wasn’t sure that what they had was a gift at all. “What would happen to them is beyond a norm’s version of a nervous breakdown.”

“That would be unbelievable in the real world.” Angel and I scrunched a little back as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened for other passengers. “Of course you and I don’t live in the real world, at least as far as norms are concerned.”

Two businessmen in tailored suits, both of whom were carrying briefcases, stepped through the sliding doors and crowded the elevator even more.

As I thought of how delicate the Magi are, I glanced at my own hands and turned them. Such physical strength that was a part of me had always been there. I thought about the power in my body and my ability to battle, to kill, and to save lives. The fact that I could live a normal life—for a half-Drow, half-human warrior slash Private Investigator.

“They’re like prisoners,” Angel said. “And the Magi-Keepers their jailers.”

“I like to think of the Magi-Keepers as their protectors.” The elevator stopped again and the family got off. Suddenly it was a lot quieter in the elevator. The two men stood side-by-side without speaking. “The Magi are completely unable to protect themselves,” I whispered.

“They can’t even be trained?” Angel’s forehead wrinkled as she frowned. “Have someone come in and teach them basic fighting skills?”

“The Magi are delicate and frail.” I glanced at the businessmen then back at Angel. “In no way are they fighters or ever could be.”

Angel looked thoughtful. “So they can’t even meet someone and raise a family.”

The elevator stopped again and the businessmen got off. It was just Angel and me now. “All Magi must remain chaste.” It was an old-fashioned word but seemed to suit the Magi. “If they have sexual relations, they’ll die.”

Angel shuddered. “None of that is any way to live.”

“I agree,” I said. “But it’s all they know.” I paused as I met her gaze. “Few know the details I am giving you. Rodán trusts you, Angel, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s a privilege to be told this information and to actually meet them.” Her expression was contemplative, serious. “I’m honored.”

“Rodán believes it is essential to visit the Magi in twos,” I said, “so that there is a witness who hears every detail. When he and the Great Guardian called you to be a Tracker, you took an oath of confidentiality.”

Angel nodded. “Of course.”

“According to Rodán, the Magi can immediately sense any plot against them.” I glanced at the flashing digital numbers. Almost there. “If someone attempts a plan to take them down or exploit them, there is a whole series of emergency steps that are taken and that threat would be immediately terminated.”

After several stops, thanks to the boy who had pushed several buttons, the elevator finally stopped at the fifty-third floor. We left the elevator to go to the door of the Presidential Suite and I hesitated a moment, then slid the card in. A soft chime accompanied us as I entered the room and Angel followed me. We let the door close quietly behind us.

The sophisticated interior had an Asian theme. Four cans of Pepsi, a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa, and four small green plates seemed out of place on the dark wood table in the center of three couches that were arranged in a U shape. Embroidered cream throw pillows were tossed on the green couches and the room had dark red, green, and cream accents. All of the rich wood furnishings were hand carved, the lighting soft. The Asian pieces of art and the huge chandelier over the dining room table gave the room a graceful, elegant appearance.

It wasn’t the furnishings or décor that captured my attention, though.

One of the most ethereal beings I had ever seen reclined on a couch. Looking at her was like studying Rodán’s painting of the fairy, but seeing it through a shroud of misty gold.

Brown hair highlighted in shades of autumn leaves, eyes that reminded me of polished Dryad wood and features that looked almost Elvin. She was petite and dainty, as fragile-looking as a tea rose. But a rose with no thorns.

“Hello, Nyx.” The girl, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen, had a sweet, lovely voice with an Irish lilt. The sound was what I’d truly call musical. She looked fascinated as she studied me. “You are quite pretty as a human. I would so like to see you after sunset as Drow. What I vision of you is very beautiful.”

Surprise made me speechless. For this girl to know things about me so quickly—had someone told her?

“I am Magi, and I visioned of you and of your coming to me, Nyx.” The Magi made my name sound like a word in a song, not as brief and hard as it could have been said. Like it had been said many times.

Lighting played on her airy purple robe as she adjusted herself to clasp her hands in her lap. “I only know what I have visioned of you,” she continued, “and what I see of you now. You have a good soul and a kind heart despite the path you have chosen.”

I recognized at once that what she said wasn’t a slam or meant to be a condemnation. It was said as though she was simply recognizing what it meant to be a Night Tracker.

“And you are intelligent enough to know that you chose that dangerous path,” she said with a note of simple fact in her voice. “The path did not choose you.”

More surprise made me weak. I sat down on the couch opposite her and failed to come up with anything to say. My bag hit the floor with a thump when I set it down beside my feet. She had seen through what was in my heart, what I never expected anyone to know about me. It was something I hadn’t even admitted to myself.

The Magi tilted her head as she smiled at Angel. “You look like what you are named for, one of the Seraphim. May I see you as a squirrel?”

Angel sat beside me and smiled back at the Magi. “If you’d like me to, sure.”

“Yes, please, Angel.” The young Magi sat straighter in her seat. “I do not get to see Dopplers often and I, myself, have no animal form. I would so love to see you as such.”

Angel nodded and stood. Dopplers, Shifters, and Weres are gifted with little magic but the ability to shift, and to do so without taking their clothes off. The clothing melts away into the fur that covers their bodies and then returns as clothing when they shift back.

I’d watched Angel transform into a squirrel plenty of times, but it was different seeing her do it in a casual setting like we were in with the Magi. Angel was a little over five feet tall before she shifted to her squirrel form, shrinking like Alice did in Wonderland after downing some of the magic that was in the “drink me” bottle.

The blond squirrel paused before she scampered closer to the Magi but she kept about two feet in distance between them. Angel rested on her hind legs with her bushy tail curving over her head, raised her front paws in the air, and sniffed as if looking for food. Maybe she was hungry and caught the scent of nuts.

The young Magi clapped her hands together and gave a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Angel.”

Angel shifted back to her human form and took her seat again. “It was my pleasure,” she replied.

The Magi looked from Angel to me. “Would you like a drink and a snack?” She gestured to the Pepsi cans on the coffee table. “They are quite cold and the chips and salsa are very good.”

“Thank you.” I reached for a can and popped the tab. Angel did the same. “May I ask your name?” I asked so that I didn’t have to keep referring to her as the Magi.

“Of course.” She inclined her head in a naturally regal manner. “I am Kerri Waldo.”

“From your accent you’re obviously from Ireland,” Angel said. “And Kerri is an Irish name.” Angel tilted her head. “But Waldo is Germanic, like my last name which is Pfarr.”

Kerri smiled. “A year ago when I emigrated from Ireland, I was told I would have to take on a last name.”

“That’s right,” I said before I took a drink from the can. I decided not to have chips. “Magi don’t take the last name of their birth parents.”

“You are correct.” Kerri picked up her drink from the coffee table. “We usually do not have last names.” The young Magi sipped from the can. “When I reached New York City with Mrs. Andersen, I met a woman and her daughter Brooke.” Kerri said. “They were so very kind to me. I decided to take on their last name, which is Waldo.”

Kerri looked thoughtful. “Brooke, the daughter, was adorable. She must be ten and a half now. A year ago she wanted to make sure I knew she was nine and a half.”

“That’s enough, Kerri.” A woman spoke and I startled. I turned my head and saw a Doppler female whose voice and face were as harsh as the Magi was beautiful. I’d been so caught up in the loveliness of the Magi, and what she had to say, that I hadn’t even noticed the older woman enter the room. “These guests are here for business, not to listen to your stories.”

“Yes, Mrs. Andersen.” Kerri spoke to the woman in her soft, sweet voice and said it with a gentle smile.

The woman turned to look at Angel and me. “I am this ward’s Magi-Keeper.” Mrs. Andersen had the kind of face that I thought would always look hard to please. A sophisticated but tight face with sharp blue eyes and lips pursed in permanent reproach. She wore a simple yet elegant blue dress with plain heels and her pure white hair was drawn away from her face in a knot. “Kerri is one of three Magi in this suite. She knew of your coming before Rodán called.”

She said “Rodán” in such a sharp way that it was clear she disapproved of him. I wondered why.

Mrs. Andersen looked at me, ignoring Angel, her eyes narrowing. “You must be Nyx of the Drow,” she said to me, sounding almost as disapproving of me as she had of Rodán.

Her eyes then rested on Angel. “And the blond Doppler is Angel, who I expect to remain silent,” she said, and Angel and I glanced at each other. “Discuss your business with Kerri and be quick about it.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Calling the Magi-Keeper ma’am came out without me even thinking about it. Anything else would not have fit and wouldn’t have been considered acceptable, I was certain.

“May I see it?” Kerri glanced at the bag resting at my feet. “The stone that you carry.”

I hesitated. It felt wrong to have this lovely creature of the light touch the thing which resonated with such darkness.

“Set it on the coffee table.” The Magi tucked her feet beside her on the couch and her purple robes covered her toes. “I do not intend to touch it.”

I nodded, relieved in that respect, but dreading having to get it out myself. I grabbed my bag off the floor and unzipped the pouch where I had put the stone when I left the park. My hand shook a little as I wrapped my fingers around the object.

As soon as the stone was in my grasp the bag fell to the floor and bright flashes came from the flat side of the stone. At least it felt like flashes. Within that TV-like surface, I saw New York City, then a world of incredible beauty, and a man. A male with a featureless face and colorless skin, as if the stone couldn’t decide what either should be.

At the same time I was seeing the flashes, electrical energy charged up and down my arm. My teeth clinked together. My head pounded. Prickles ran along my scalp.

“Set it on the coffee table,” came Kerri’s calm but firm voice. “Now, Nyx.” When I hesitated she said in a much firmer tone, “Do it now.”

Angel grasped my arm as if to help me move closer to the table. She jerked her hand back at once and gave a soft sound of surprise and maybe even pain.

“I can do it.” I closed my eyes to block the images and leaned forward so that I could set it on the clean surface of the coffee table. I yanked my hand back and opened my eyes.

I had set the stone down with the flat side facing Kerri. She was looking at it and she appeared paler, but her features were placid, not telling me what she was thinking. The Magi stared at the stone for so long without talking that I worried that somehow she had become enthralled by the stone’s magic.

Kerri raised her head and looked at me with her beautiful brown eyes. “It is as I had visioned.” She had such a mysterious look and air to her that I couldn’t tell if she’d been affected or not by the power contained within the thing on the coffee table. “What you have brought back with you from Otherworld is a keystone.” And then more softly. “A keystone to yet another Otherworld, one called Doran.”

“Doran?” I cocked my head as I mentally ran through all of the Otherworlds that I grew up knowing. “I’ve never heard of it.” There were a lot more Otherworlds than any of us were aware of, I was certain. Except for the Great Guardian, who seemed to know everything.

The Magi closed her eyes for a long time. I heard Angel’s soft breathing and the scrubbing sound of Mrs. Andersen’s skirt rubbing against her chair as she shifted her position. The room’s scent of chai was strong enough that I could identify each warm spice—cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger.

When the Magi opened her eyes, she focused her pretty brown gaze on me. “Doran is not the concern. The leader of that world is.”

I stared at her, knowing that she had more to say.

“You must seek out a Sorcerer here named Desmond. He will not be easy to convince to speak with you and he will be angry at having been found,” Kerri said. “It is a task you are well up to, Nyx of the Drow.”

Something dark passed across the Magi’s features, a darkness that did not belong with such ethereal beauty and mystery. It came in a flash, then was gone.

“You must take Olivia DeSantos with you when you go to the Sorcerer,” Kerri said more quietly. I would have wondered how she knew about Olivia, but she was a Magi after all. “I cannot see why taking your partner is important, but it is. Do not visit the Sorcerer Desmond until she can be with you.”

“Olivia wouldn’t have it any other way, I’m sure.” I was surprised I finally found my voice as I imagined me trying to keep Olivia from going. The reaction I pictured wasn’t pretty.

“I see both darkness and light.” Kerri showed no emotion as she continued. “The knowledge of what will transpire is being withheld from me. That is because what you will do when you are with the Sorcerer will determine what happens in the future. The future is not set.”

“Is the future normally set?” I asked.

“If knowledge and free will are not a part of the equation, then at times yes,” she said. “You have both knowledge and free will, so no, I believe that your future is not set. I can see light and darkness. You must make the right choices to see which you will live in.”

I grasped the drink can in my hands more firmly. “I don’t understand.”

The Magi smiled. “There are times when I can see the future clearly. At some times I see two outcomes. This is one of those times. Two great powers will be in opposition, vying for very different outcomes. Which power prevails is dependent in part on what you can do.”

For a moment I didn’t say anything. I was the one who could impact the future in this situation because I had knowledge and free will according to the Magi. I had never thought a future to be set to begin with. I had always believed we each made choices which would affect the outcome. Always.

“How do I find the Sorcerer?” I asked.

“He is an artist.” Kerri met my gaze. “Like your brother.”

Shock jolted me. “How do you know about my brother?” I realized it was a dumb question once I said it.

“Look for Desmond where many workers of the arts reside,” Kerri said. “His art is displayed in a small gallery.” She tilted her head as if listening to something. “You will find him in the sun.”

“I will find him where?” I asked, puzzled.

“Simply do as I instructed,” Kerri said.

I didn’t understand why she didn’t just come out and say it, then remembered that Magi are not all-knowing even though it might seem like it.

“What do I do once I find the Sorcerer?” I asked. “How do I convince him to help?”

The Magi gave a slight nod toward the stone on the coffee table. “Show him the keystone.”

I looked at the stone. I could only see the backside of it, and right now I was grateful for that.

“Handle the stone as little as possible.” The Magi glanced at it before returning her gaze to me. “Every time you touch the stone it becomes a beacon and will draw the enemy.”

Heat burned beneath the skin along my arms. What had I done by bringing the stone to this Earth Otherworld? It had seemed so benign. But now … what was it? What was happening?

Kerri drew two silky white handkerchiefs from a pocket in her robe. She set the handkerchiefs on the coffee table. “Wrap the keystone in one of these. The material is warded. It will protect you when you must hold it. Take the other. You will need it.”

“Thank you.” I leaned forward and picked up the cloud-soft handkerchiefs. I put one in my bag and laid the other across the stone. Making sure to not let the stone brush my fingers, I wrapped it in the cloth before tucking the stone back into the zippered pocket of my bag.

I’d stuff it someplace safe in my apartment—

“Keep the stone with you at all times,” the Magi said, negating my thought. “You must protect it.”

“Okay,” I said, even though I abhorred the idea of keeping it with me.

“Show it only to those you trust and only as absolutely necessary to accomplish what you need to do.” Kerri seemed to grow suddenly weary before my eyes. “I suggest you not even show it to your partner unless you have to.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Not even Olivia?” Kerri seemed not to hear.

“You must do whatever the Sorcerer Desmond asks of you,” Kerri said, her voice a monotone now. “It is vital.”

“What—” I started to say but stopped when she continued talking.

“Zombies you can eliminate, but do not kill the Sentients or the Hosts.” The Magi’s eyelids drooped and her features slackened a little. “Friends will die.”

“What do you mean ‘Friends will die’?” My stomach grew queasy at the thought of any of my friends dying. “What are Sentients? And Hosts?”

“Do not let a stone-bearing Sentient touch you with his hands,” Kerri whispered. “Lock … away.”

“That is enough.” Mrs. Andersen’s voice cut across my desire to ask the Magi more questions. Many more questions. “Kerri must rest now.”

“The New Year will bring destruction and ruin if they are not stopped.” The Magi’s voice rose, but she sounded sleepy and almost as if she wasn’t actually there, with us. More like a Seraphim ready to fade and vanish. “Stop them…”

I jumped to my feet. “What—”

“I said that’s enough.” Mrs. Andersen stood beside the Magi’s couch now and grasped her hands to help her stand. “Quiet your mind, Kerri.”

The Magi turned her head to face Angel. “I am sorry. So very sorry.” Kerri said it simply, as if she was offering up her sorrow for something that had happened or would be happening in Angel’s life.

Angel’s eyes widened and she opened her mouth to speak, but the Magi walked away, allowing Mrs. Andersen to lead her.

Then Kerri drew the Magi-Keeper to a halt and turned just enough to see me and Angel. The Magi looked deathly pale now. “A storm is brewing,” she said. “You must stop it, Nyx of the Dark Elves and Night Trackers. Only you can do it.”

I wanted to run after Kerri and ask more questions. But Mrs. Andersen took Kerri’s arm and led her through the archway before disappearing down a dark hall.

“By all of the worlds and Sorcerers, what did she mean?” Angel looked both concerned and puzzled. “She spoke in bits and pieces and none of it sounded good at all.”

“No, it didn’t.” I slung the pack onto my shoulder as I did my best to ignore the creepy feeling I got just from the stone being in my bag. “For now what we need to worry about is finding a Sorcerer in SoHo.”