Black Market (The Wizard Hall Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  “I’ll have someone check in on him just in case.” Cham glanced around the open area. “Practice space. Nice.” Returning back to her, he said, “I have a question for you.”

  “Sure, what is it?”

  “I saw case files in the pile of rubble. What’s up?”

  Annie leaned against the wall. “It was all going to be explained tonight. But seeing as that plan was squashed…” She smiled, but his returning smile was tentative, as if he thought she might not have told him had he not asked. Annie sometimes felt he still lacked trust in her, especially after how she lied to him last year. But Cham seemed cautiously optimistic when he took her hand.

  “I checked the Book of Shadows for the Fraternitatem,” she told him. “It was there, one word, buried in some doodles. Dad…” It hit her in quiet moments, how much she missed her father.

  Cham wiped away a tear that trickled down her cheek. “Jason met them on a case,” he finished for her. His fingers lingered on her cheek.

  “The stones set in the ring—they’re Chintamani Stones. About six months before he died Dad worked a case where these same stones were being sold in the market and the Fraternitatem warned him off of the case. It’s not exactly the same, but he met them. Even the Middle East Wizard Guard doesn’t have that much on them.”

  His face broke into a loose smile. “So, being the wizard guard that you are, you looked up the files.”

  “Yeah. I only found three of the four of the files, though.” She grimaced, thinking of the three that were now in tattered pieces, scorched and destroyed. She hoped the missing file was somewhere safe and held the information she sought.

  She leaned against the wall, which felt spongy. A potion might have made it so. The mildew in the basement tickled her nose. She thought she might sneeze and hoped to leave this dank basement soon.

  “Rathbone admitted to killing your dad. Do you think he was trading on these stones and somehow your dad got caught in that?”

  “Dad mentioned Rathbone in the Book of Shadows. Something about a liaison between the market and the Fraternitatem. I’m trying not to concentrate on that right now. Those files were to help me get a handle on the Fraternitatem. This group really has me concerned.”

  “Wait, you said three of four folders?”

  “I think dad might have taken the file out of Wizard Hall and hid it somewhere in the house. Ryan thought that might be a possibility.”

  She thought about what Cham said mentioned about her dad and Rathbone. Did Rathbone kill him because Dad was going to take him in, or did the Fraternitatem threaten to kill Rathbone if he didn’t kill Dad because Dad was bringing them down? It didn’t really matter which way it had happened; she knew in her heart the answer was in that missing file.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Cham asked.

  “Just thinking about Dad and the stones. Gotta get it out of my thought process. Unless it’s about this case, I can’t worry about it. We should get back.” She reached for his hand and led him the way they came, taking a right and a quick left.

  “So is there anything I can get you while you’re stuck here? I think they want to wait until the weather lets up to move you to Tartarus. Grounding all of us, I think,” he advised. They took another turn. The walls rearranged themselves so that they were walking through a rounded corridor.

  “Is anything salvageable from the cabinet? I’d like to continue reading the files. I didn’t get very far.”

  “I’ll pick them up in the morning. We’re having difficulty getting into the market. Merchants are twitchier than normal. Anything else I can get you?”

  “Yeah. In Dad’s notes, he mentioned meeting an archaeologist named Dr. Arden… Arden… Oh, I can’t remember. I think the jinx rattled my brain. Anyway, he met her in Morocco while investigating the stones. She mentioned the Chintamani Stones and the ring to him. If we can find her, she might know how to use it. We’re going to need that ring to turn the shapeshifters back to normal.” At least, I hope that’s how the ring works!

  Annie and the rest of the Wizard Guard had assumed the shapeshifters were somehow stuck in their animal forms and unable to leave the market. She was hoping that since the ring was originally created to control the shapeshifting djinn, it could also turn the trapped missing persons back.

  She sighed as the wall straightened out; they were heading back to ninety-degree corners.

  We should be back by now.

  They walked silently with the sounds of the basement reverberating and surrounding them. There was a leak in one of the pipes that hung above their heads; the water dripped in a rhythmic pattern, matching their footsteps.

  “I’ll have Bucky find her, and I’ll interview her, see what she knows. You’re off grid now?”

  “Yeah. Protection protocol. And I need someone to find Zola. I’ve been calling her for hours and she’s not answering,” Annie said. The thought of Zola still missing weighed heavily on her mind. No matter how much they spoke of other things, it was never far from her thoughts. Annie knew something was wrong.

  “When did you see her last?” Concern dripped in Cham’s question.

  “This morning. Something’s wrong. I keep pushing that feeling deep inside. But I know it.”

  “I’ll have Spencer go to your house and check on her and make sure she’s okay.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ll feel better once you’re at Tartarus.”

  “Me too. The headmaster insists we’re safe here. But I’ll leave in the morning. Less likely that anyone will be on the prison island during the day. Not with the risk of exposure so high.”

  With the last turn, they returned to the elf. Annie hated leaving Bitherby alone with the headmaster. Turtledove should have been handling school issues, not Wizard Guard problems.

  Bitherby was still whining as they walked up.

  “Yes, Bitherby, but you left the space in worse shape than you came to it. We can’t have that, now, can we?” the headmaster asked.

  “Everything okay?” Annie asked.

  “Miss Pearce, Mr. Chamsky.” Headmaster Turtledove nodded briefly. “I was just explaining to our elfin friend how we don’t leave our hosts worse off.”

  Annie motioned for the headmaster to join them They stopped on the farther side of the basement.

  “Since you and the other teachers were able to chase away the wizards from the black market, do you think we can move to a warmer part of the castle? Somewhere away from the students. It’s a little musty in here.”

  “Annie, I think we can accommodate you with that request. Whoever those men were, I will tell you, they weren’t well trained in the casting of spells and were easily chased away. We set up another protection spell further into the forest. It’s a bit stronger than we normally need, but the extra safety won’t harm anyone.” He grimaced. “I believe you have several guards patrolling the perimeter. I expect everyone here is safe and sound.” He turned to Cham. “Will you be staying, Robert?”

  “I’m not leaving her alone.” Cham crossed his arms. It was a conversation started when he had first arrived, with a call to Milo at Wizard Hall. Cham wouldn’t leave Annie, and Milo wanted someone else to protect her. Annie stayed out of it. In the end, it was decided that Cham would stay, and Gibbs would pick up in the morning.

  Knowing this, Annie couldn’t imagine that Gibbs would enjoy romping around the school, trapped with her and one thousand wizards in training.

  *

  True to his word, Headmaster Turtledove gave them free reign in an unused wing of the school in an overflow dorm used for when the student population swelled during a school year. Annie glanced at Cham, who had easily fallen asleep. His breath was slow and even. Under the circumstances, he was peaceful.

  Annie was not. Too exhausted to sleep and lacking work or the ability to leave, she headed to the dormitory lounge and switched on the television in hopes that it would help her fall asleep.

  Because they were in a wizard school, they lacked a
ccess to many cable stations. Annie settled on the Cable Witch Network and leaned back in the deep, comfortable sofa just in time to hear the broomstick racing scores. It was a busy week for all of the teams, including the Chicago Demons, her hometown team, the one that included her ex-boyfriend and the top racer in the country, Charlie Andrews. For him it had been a miserable season plagued with injuries, the last keeping him out of action for the next two weeks. As a fan, Annie wasn’t happy about it, though she wasn’t exactly sad either.

  Annie yawned when the report turned to the weather. Her eyes closed but fluttered back open during the Wizard Council news. Realizing she might have missed any reports on her John Doe, she switched stations, finding the Chicago news, curious if there was any nonmagical update on the case. Even though the body was switched, the files changed, and the magic removed, Annie guessed the police department was still investigating, and something was bound to come about. She just wanted to know.

  “Don’t you ever sleep?” Gibbs asked and joined her on the sofa.

  Annie sighed. She hated being guarded. “Too keyed up. Checking on Benaiah updates. Just in case. Why are you here? I wasn’t expecting you until morning.”

  Gibbs grumbled and crossed his arms. They sat in silence, watching the news drone on. It was mostly the same information she just heard on the wizard news. She sighed, dropped the remote in her lap, and rested her head against the sofa, no longer watching. Her eyes roamed the room, which was similar to her own former dorm lounge with a large fireplace and comfortable furniture, though the color scheme in this room was darker and heavier, than the dorm she lived in. The furniture, artwork, and rugs were mostly the same and probably all purchased at the same time.

  Nearly asleep, she could barely process what she was seeing through half-closed eye as the reporter finally reviewed the updates on the John Doe case. Annie’s eyes popped open, and she finally saw it: The portal was so clear in the shot as if it had grown stronger, or maybe the camera was just that good. Annie sat up and moved to the television for a closer view.

  “Girl, what do you see?”

  “The portal.” She pointed.

  Gibbs joined her. “Damn,” he said. “Who’s that?”

  He referred to the hiker, someone out after eleven p.m., walking through the forest preserve that was otherwise closed at this late hour. The sweatshirt and oversized pants did little to keep the hiker inconspicuous as he or she examined the portal. All of Chicagoland could see her.

  “It’s a woman, I think,” Annie said out loud, based on the hiker’s size and the fact she had hips. Her stomach lurched.

  As the journalist continued with her report, the woman in the distance examined the air, sticking her hand inside. Again, the wind gusted and swirled around the clearing. The reporter shivered as the wind blew into the shot.

  I know the hiker is Rebekah.

  That uneasy feeling settled in Annie’s temples where a migraine typically formed. Though she wasn’t surprised, her mouth popped open when the woman turned toward the camera; it was indeed Rebekah Stoner.

  “What the hell is she doing?” Annie said, incredulous. “People in the Chicagoland area know who she is. She’s been doing morning reports for the last year. Is she bat shit crazy?”

  “Told you, you shoulda called Lightner.”

  It was no longer a problem for another day.

  Chapter 19

  Graham Lightner arrived with Allen Crosby, Sky Starling, and Bucky Hart to Rebekah Stoner’s condominium. It was after three in the morning when she left for the television studio to prepare her first report of the morning. The wizard guards watched the reporter as she bounded from her home and entered her silver car. After the tires peeled away from her parking spot, they waited ten minutes before heading up to her apartment.

  They easily unlocked the door and slipped inside the main room, making themselves comfortable as they searched for anything pertaining to Annie, Jack, and magic.

  “Bucky, all things computers and AV equipment,” Graham ordered. “Allen, handle the living area. Sky, the kitchen. Like always, low, minimal light. I want anything that looks like magic, even if it seems innocuous—anything, even if it seems like something a nonmagical would own.”

  The lights remained off so as to not draw attention. Their only light, the low dim glow from their crystals, was strong enough to search and low enough for the outside world not to see.

  With the jobs assigned, the group broke and spread throughout a comfortable, country-casual décor with heavy pine furniture and floral fabric everywhere. Allen began his search under the soft seats, inside pillows, and under slipcovers, before overturning the pine coffee table and feeling for hidden items. He moved to the wide assortment of books that took up the shelves lining the back wall.

  As Allen examined the main living space, Bucky eagerly opened Rebekah’s laptop to scrutinize the files. He ignored the sounds of searching as he clicked on the first window. As he reviewed the reporter’s files, his eyes grew wide with surprise. A whistle escaped his lips, but that wasn’t enough to pull the attention of the others from what they were working on. The hundreds of websites and files surprised even Bucky Hart, who had hacked and broken into more computers than he could even remember.

  Cabinets squeaked open, boxes were shaken, and cardboard opened as Sky, off in the kitchen, began a thorough search of the cabinets and drawers. She left nothing unopened.

  “Where would you hide files you want nobody to know you had?” Graham asked himself as he walked into the very feminine bedroom covered in pink and featuring a four-poster bed complete with ruffled bed skirt against the middle of the back wall. Knowing humans weren’t original in their hiding spots, Graham dropped to his knees, expecting to find simple storage containers under the bed. After finding only dust balls, he slid farther underneath and released the heating vent cover. Flashing the light inside, he realized Rebekah wasn’t as stupid as he hoped.

  Graham opened the first of several dresser drawers, feeling under Rebekah’s clothing and personal objects. Finding nothing of consequence—no potions, herbs, or USB drives—he moved to the bedside table, again finding nothing but some pens and notepads. He pocketed those for further investigation before moving to the bathroom sink, medicine cabinet, and dirty clothes hamper, all of which contained nothing out of the ordinary or odd.

  Back inside the bedroom, he started on the small closet filled with clothes, packed so tightly inside that it took some time to run his fingers through the items, searching for anything that didn’t belong to the nonmagical world. Quickly, he ran a crystal over the clothing. After coming up empty once again, he closed the door.

  The last item was a large armoire that stood at seven feet. The ornate case was decorated with colorful purple and red flowers, and it took up much of the walking space in the room. Graham yanked on the fake, crystal-inspired plastic handles and quickly thumbed through the piles of clothing. He felt behind the television and patted down the sides. There were no pockets or hiding spots along the sides; the shelves and boxes stored on them contained nothing useful. The bottom was covered with shoes, heels in every color and a row of flats. He stepped back, resting against the bed.

  It has to be here.

  Graham stared at the armoire.

  The floor!

  There was something about the bottom of the armoire. It seemed… off. The proportions were wrong.

  He tapped on the floor. A gentle, hollow sound bounced back to him.

  After removing twenty pair of shoes, he patted down the bottom, searching for a latch. Pulling up on a small piece of ribbon, Graham discovered folders, boxes, flash drives, and a phone inside.

  With a swipe of his palm across the screen, he turned the phone on and scrolled through the call log. Arnold Schwartz was the only call Rebekah had made from this phone. Graham checked the photo gallery and saw pictures of Annie with Cham, Gibbs, Spencer, and Jack Ramsey. He swiped through the seemingly endless pictures: the team in a parking garage
, Annie and Jack in Millennium Park, Annie and Cham outside an apartment building as she carried a book. The newest pictures were of Annie at the John Doe crime scene with Gibbs, searching the ground—and a picture of the portal location hanging between two evergreen trees.

  Seeing something in the picture, Graham increased the size. He knew Rebekah had sensed the portal; he knew why when he noticed the haziness of the entrance hanging there. He dropped the phone inside a paper bag.

  The folders included blown up pictures from the phone and notes on the crime scene as well as notes from a meeting between Jack and Annie at the park.

  I ran after Anne Pearce. I followed her to an alley with locked doors and no exit. She was missing. Disappeared in thin air. There’s something so weird about this woman. Her relationship to Special Agent Jack Ramsey, her reason for being at the double homicide. Why is she so special to be investigating the murder of Princess Amelie?

  So why did she disappear? Where did she go?

  Teleportation?

  Whoa, Graham thought as he placed the folder inside the bag along with the flash drives she stored in the box. When he had confiscated all that was there, he replaced the floor and shoes and headed to the living room.

  Bucky continued to delete files and folders in Rebekah’s computer, wiping away her search history and her magical bookmarks.

  “This girl really found the stuff,” Bucky said, wiping another folder.

  “Yeah. I found pictures and notes. What did you find?” Graham’s jaw dropped as he viewed the website links stored in the computer that Bucky quickly pulled up. “Are these real sites? Real magic or nonmagical magic?”

  “A mix. I’m a little concerned Rebekah found so much.” Bucky said, his fingers clacking against the keyboard.

  “I wish Annie had said something sooner. I found Rebekah’s burner phone, folders with notes about teleportation, pictures, and some flash drives for you to look at.” He dropped the paper bag on the desk beside Bucky.