“Well, it’s a portal and it leads somewhere, but not like the portals that PortalWatch keeps an eye on.And there’s no way of knowing where it leads, unless someone wants to volunteer to dive through it.Even then, we can’t trigger it until we know more about how it works.Greg might as well have fallen off the earth,” she said.“The energy gives me the creeps, though.”
“So what do we do next?”Carson asked.
“There’s not much we can do right now.But I want to monitor it, and we need to somehow infiltrate Give A Hand Up and find out what they’re up to.It’s probably going to take a while, and I want to go in cautiously on this.The last thing we want is to attract their attention.”I frowned, staring at my notes.“This is going to take longer than a few days.”
“What are you going to tell Benny?”Dante asked.
“We have to tell him something to make him stop asking around.I don’t want him making a target of himself.And one thing Benny can do, is attract attention.”I tapped my stylus on the table.“I’m open to suggestions, people.”
“Are we sure Greg is gone?That he really was abducted?”Carson asked.
“Not one hundred percent, but my intuition is telling me yes—that Winston was right in that he saw Greg vanish.And given all the homeless people that seem to have vanished over the years, I’m sorry to say that I think Greg is just one among the many.By the way?—”
“Got your numbers for you, boss.You wanted to know how many people were abducted?”Sophia asked.“I pulled together all the numbers I could find.The reports from all those incarnations of the organization comes to at minimum, two hundred and seventy-five.”
The number seemed both ridiculously high, and yet—and yet—something told me that there were more, never reported as missing.
“Okay, that means we have to do something.We can’t just let this go on happening.Now, what do we tell Benny?”I asked.
“I know it’s cruel, but there’s a good chance we’d be telling him the truth if we tell him that Greg is dead.We can tell him we’re on the trail and we need him to keep quiet so he doesn’t interfere with the investigation.”
“Good idea,” I said, after thinking it over.Benny would be heartbroken, but after Winston’s story, he probably thought Greg was dead already.And he might be scared enough to actually keep his mouth shut.“I’ll lean heavy on the possible alien theory and how he doesn’t want to become a target.”
“That might work,” Carson said.“Benny’s sense of self-preservation’s pretty good.”
“All right, we have a plan,” I said.“I just wish we could wrap this up right now.”
“Sometimes, you have to be patient.And in a few cases, you never do find out what’s going on,” Dante said.“I know you take it to heart when we can’t immediately solve a case, but you have to just play the long game with something like this.The cops aren’t going to be any help.I think we need to reach out to the other Supe groups.If we take them out to the portal area, they might be able to give us some insight.”
“Good thought.Sophia, can you make a list of groups we might approach?”
“Will do,” she said, jotting it down.
“Now, Konstantine’s house.Penn, Orik and I will go with you.Is there anything you need?And what will this spell do?”
She leaned forward, her elbows on the table.“The Romalies were so powerful that there aren’t many hex-breakers for their curses, or for cursesbasedon their magic.But I found something that promises to do the trick.Now, it won’t eliminate the ghosts, but it should give us a chance to exorcise the place.If it actually works.”
“What are the possibilities if it doesn’t?”Orik asked.
“It could stir them up even more.It could strengthen the curse.The hard part,” Penn said, “is that the Romalies were known for never breaking their curses.Once they made up their minds, that was it.You screw them over—or theythinkyou screw them over—and you’re doomed.”
“Hasn’t there been any research done on their magic?”Sophia asked.
“Not as much as you’d think.The spells they used were so dangerous that researchers have been loathe to dive into the study.I found an old tome written by a witch named Cassy Earthborn, and I’m basing my hex-breaker spell off one she created.It broke a couple of the Romalie spells…but she wasn’t able to conclusively prove her theories.”
“Why?”I asked.
Penn met my gaze.“Because she died in the process.She was trying to find a counter to a complicated death spell, and her spell backfired.Her coven gathered her research together and put out the book in her name.This was back in 1930.”
“No, then.Absolutely not—you will not do this,” I said.
“Yes, I will.Because the one curse did find a counter for, is called thesovereign deathspell, and it’s very much like the death wish spell.I think maybe the counterspell will work for both.So, that’s what I’m going to try.”Penn arched her eyebrows.“I’m actually getting fascinated in the Romalies’ magic the more I look into it.They may have played in the dark a lot, but they also had powerful spells that could help others.”
Dante cleared his throat.“Be cautious just how far you dive into that world.”
I didn’t want to quash her enthusiasm, but Dante was right.“They were too powerful and, if there were any witches to counter them, they weren’t strong enough.Top of the food chain magic can corrupt, just like any form of power.”
“I know,” Penn said.“I’ll be careful, but never forget—I’m pledged to Hecate.She won’t let me do anything I shouldn’t.”
