Frogs and Kisses (Enchanted, Inc. 8)

The first attack came from the spa. A white-coated technician came running out. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded.

“Liberation!” Trish shouted defiantly, pumping her fist in the air. The former frogs joined in the cry. The technician ran back toward the spa, presumably to call for help, but one of the frog people froze her with a burst of magic. I suspected it wouldn’t be too long before someone else noticed and came with reinforcements, but the more time we could buy, the better.

Now it was getting hard to find frogs, as most of them had been disenchanted. The only ones left seemed to be the real frogs, most of whom had hidden under lily pads after being kissed a few too many times.

But where was Owen? Was he back at the office, perfectly safe, and I just didn’t know because I’d been out of contact?

No, the coincidence was too unlikely. I couldn’t believe that Owen had gone missing and that Roger had at the same time taunted me about him. But hadn’t he also said something about

Owen not cooperating? That must have meant that he hadn’t turned Owen into a frog right away. He must have questioned him first, and if that was the case…

I felt sick at the thought that Owen might have been tortured. Even if he wasn’t currently a frog, he might still be a prisoner somewhere in this building—or the buildings all over the world it connected to. I wouldn’t have been at all surprised to learn that there was a real dungeon, in addition to the frog pond.

But I couldn’t give up on the frogs yet, not when they were still my best lead.

By this time, security forces were arriving to check out the massive frog rebellion. I let the former frogs handle it, since most of them appeared to be magical people. I felt magic flying all over the place, but I ignored it, as none of it would affect me.

I kicked off my shoes and stepped into the frog pond. It was only about knee-deep, even in the middle. “Owen, where are you?” I muttered as I waded, searching for any frogs that might still be left.

I heard a faint “ribbit” from the other side of the pond and waded in that direction. There was a waterfall that spilled into the pond from over a rock formation, with some greenery and flowers on the shore line.

All that greenery made it hard to find a frog that wasn’t coming to me. “Owen, are you here?” I called out, feeling a bit strange about talking to frogs, but then these were desperate times.

There was another faint “ribbit,” followed by a croak, and soon I spotted one lonely little frog on the shore that appeared to have been trapped with one foot caught in a grating. I wasn’t sure if it had been an accident or if this was something that had been done to him.

I bent over it, murmuring soothingly, “It’s okay, let me help.” I couldn’t seem to free the foot without hurting him, and I had a feeling it would hurt even worse if I broke the spell while his foot was still trapped.

“Philip!” I shouted across the pond, but he didn’t seem to hear me in the melee. “Okay, time for plan B,” I muttered. I tugged on the grating, lifting it to carry it and the frog with me. It was heavy, but I managed to balance it carefully on my hip. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you,” I told the frog, but it didn’t seem all that agitated. In fact, it seemed weak and tired. It must have been struggling to free itself all this time, and I wondered if it had been able to find food while it was trapped.

It was difficult to wade across the pond while carrying the grating, and it got harder when I came close to the bank where the former frogs were holding off the Collegium security people. I wasn’t worried about what any stray spells might do to me, but there was some risk in what they might do to the frog I both hoped and feared might be Owen. If it was Owen, he was hurt and weak. If it wasn’t, I didn’t know where he was.

When I was close enough that I thought he might be able to hear me, I tried calling for Philip again. He whirled and rushed to gallantly take the grate from me and help me out of the pond. “Thanks,” I said. “Can you do something to free this frog? I don’t think we want to turn him back into a human while he’s trapped like this.”

Philip waved his hand over the grating, and next thing I knew, I had a frog sitting in my hand. “Okay, let’s see if I can get you back to normal,” I murmured as I bent to kiss it.

The glowing that ensued told me that it had, indeed, been an enchanted frog. I held my breath, watching the nimbus around it grow and take human form, but my anticipation quickly turned into disappointment when I saw that the frog wasn’t Owen. I didn’t even recognize this man, but judging by his clothes, I got the impression that he’d been a frog for a long time. Apparently not all the enchanted frogs were set free in ponds. He held his left wrist gingerly, like he was in some pain, as he blinked at his surroundings.

Though I was disappointed, Philip’s face lit up. “Kenneth?” he said. “I don’t believe it!”

“Philip? What happened? Where are we?” the former frog said.

“That is a very long story, brother. But for the moment, we must defend ourselves.”

While it was lovely that Philip had apparently been reunited with his long-lost brother, I wanted to cry because it wasn’t Owen, but I didn’t have time for that. I had to find out what Roger had done with Owen, and doing that would require getting out of the atrium. At the moment, we were penned in. The Collegium security goons had all the exits surrounded, and while the former frogs were holding them off, it didn’t look like we could get past them. We were in a standoff.

Then, quite abruptly, the security guards turned and ran the other way, leaving only a token force. The MSI raid must have started. “Come on!” I shouted and charged at the lone guard left blocking the way to the elevators. He blinked in disbelief when he saw me coming, and then his expression turned to one of alarm when he saw the rest of the former frogs coming at him.

His shock gave one of the frogs the opening to stun him with a spell. As we congregated in front of the elevators, I passed the copies of the spell out to the frog people, saying, “Do this spell in about five minutes, and be ready to fight. It’ll take you to the head of this outfit.”

I gathered Philip, Kenneth—who wouldn’t be of much help in his condition but who wouldn’t leave Philip’s side—Sylvia, Trish, and a few who looked like good fighters into the next elevator that arrived and hoped they hadn’t gone into lockdown mode.

The elevator took us where I expected it would, and we ran toward Roger’s office. Fortunately, they hadn’t shut down the portals, presumably because they wanted to be able to get help to him rather than isolating him in London.

The scene in Roger’s office was rather chaotic when we arrived. He was hunkered behind his desk, popping up every so often to shoot a burst of magic at the intruders. A few security forces were ranged outside the office, but didn’t seem able to get in. I figured Merlin must have warded the room.

But the wards wouldn’t stop me. “Can you distract the security guys?” I asked my frog army.

A couple of the men looked at each other, nodded, and ran down the hall. Soon, explosions echoed from that direction, sounding like an invading force arriving. The security guards ran to deal with it, and I dropped to my hands and knees to crawl into the office.