I glanced over to Ethan and Philip and saw that Sylvia and Mr. Bones were there, with Marcia. Marcia was blindfolded, much to my relief. I didn’t want her seeing any of this. I couldn’t begin to imagine the cover story I’d have to concoct.
“You see,” Owen continued, “we just needed you as our prisoner. You’re what we plan to exchange for Marcia.” He signaled Rod, who made a waving motion with one hand. I assumed that meant Idris could then see the other side of the chamber.
“What if I don’t want to stay and be your prisoner?”
“I wouldn’t suggest you try running.”
“What are you going to do, stop me?”
“No. They are.” Owen snapped his fingers, and dragons appeared, blocking every exit. One of the dragons obliged us by shooting a mighty burst of flame at Idris.
Idris tried to act unimpressed, but there was fear in his eyes that he couldn’t quite mask and he jumped as the flame got too close for comfort. “Illusion, right?” he said with a snort.
“If you’d like to test it, be my guest. Your friends are free to leave, however.”
They didn’t need much encouraging. Owen raised a hand, holding the dragons back, while the geek brigade took off, leaving Idris alone. He went pale, and his hands trembled, but he seemed to be trying to look brave, for which I had to give him the tiniest bit of respect. “So, you’re trading me, huh?” he said. “I guess after I go over there, you’ll let Ari go?”
“Whatever gave you that impression?” Merlin asked, his voice like ice. “You have no choice in the matter. You are our prisoner, and Ariel was our prisoner before she was illegally freed. We will merely be returning her to custody once we’ve removed her from Miss Chandler’s head. Now, shall we make the exchange?”
He nodded at Rod, who did something complicated with his fingers. “Miss Meredith, I presume?” Merlin said.
She whirled to face him. “You!” she shouted, as if she’d just met her old nemesis.
“Yes, I am here, and I request that you release the young lady there. She has no part in this.”
“Why should I do that?”
“Because I have two of your people in my custody, and I’m sure they could be persuaded to give us some interesting information on your operation.”
Rod did something else with his fingers, and then Sylvia went white. “How did you get yourself involved in this?” she hissed at Idris. “You were told to refrain from contact.”
For a split second he looked like a schoolboy being scolded, but then his posture relaxed and he said, “Don’t worry, though, I’ve got it under control.” He turned his head toward Owen. “You’re not the only one who has a threat to make. I happen to have people placed all over the city. One word from me, and the illusions I have covering all of my ads are gone. The whole city will learn the truth about magic all at once. How do you like that?”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The rest of them turned to look at me. “You have got to be kidding. Those ads won’t convince anyone of anything. People will think it’s a prank or publicity stunt, if they even see the ads. They once put a seventy-foot robot in Times Square to promote a movie, and not only did no one notice the robot, nobody saw the movie.” I wasn’t sure if the words were mine or Ari’s. The tone was meaner than I’d like to think I ever sounded, but I agreed with the content.
I thought I saw a hint of worry cross his face, but then he put his usual sneer back on and said, “And my people are ready to demonstrate the magic to anyone who’s there to see it. They’ll act if they don’t hear from me.”
“You idiot!” Sylvia screeched. “You’ll ruin everything if you reveal it all right now. We’re not ready.”
That deflated Idris. His shoulders slumping, he said, “Oh. Well. Never mind.”
Owen and Merlin exchanged a worried look, then Sam nodded at them and took off, flying past the dragon in one of the doorways. The dragon made as though to try to play with Sam, but Owen called it back to attention.
“Very well, then,” Sylvia said. “You can have the girl. But this isn’t over.” She addressed Philip. “You can’t imagine I’ll give up easily.”
“I’ve waited a hundred years. I can be patient, but I will have what’s mine,” he said.
Sylvia nodded at Mr. Bones, who shoved Marcia forward. Rod moved to steady her. “What’s going on?” she asked in a voice more frantic than anything I’d ever heard from her.
“It’s okay, you’re safe,” Rod said. He removed her blindfold and started moving her toward the exit, Rocky and Rollo flanking them. I hoped for Marcia’s sake that he was using illusion to hide the rest of the madness from her.
But before they were clear of the room, Sylvia launched a magical attack at Philip. All the good guys rushed in to help. Owen managed to deflect most of whatever she’d sent toward Philip, but Philip still froze, then slumped to the floor. Ethan put himself between her and Philip’s motionless form. “He’s alive, but out cold,” he reported.
A scream rang out, echoing painfully in the chamber. I spun to see Marcia looking horrified. Rod must have dropped his illusions when he went to help Philip. “Marcia, it’s okay, I’ll explain later,” I said, then I told Rod, “Get her away from here.”
“I’m not leaving until I get some answers. Katie, what the hell is going on here?”
I knew her well enough to know that she’d dig in her heels and refuse to go until she was satisfied. “Okay, short version: Magic is real, the guys are all wizards. I’m not, but I work for a magical company. Those are the bad guys. We’ll do the Q and A later. Now, Rod, get her out of here.”