“I know this qualifies as an adventure,” Ben said as they got dressed for the night’s work. “But I’m officially ready for some time off when no one is trying to kill us.”
“Right there with you,” Erik agreed. “Don’t forget, we still have to get through the autumn festival.”
Ben groaned. “Signing up to volunteer seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Erik chuckled. “Susan really didn’t leave us a lot of choice about playing a role. It was just about which role we wanted to play.”
Susan took her community responsibilities seriously, something that Erik usually found endearing. She was a committed booster for anything that helped showcase Cape May or contributed to a better quality of living.
Since the Awesome Autumn Festival raised money for the local library, museums, preservation work, and other causes, Erik didn’t begrudge being drafted into service and knew that under normal circumstances, Ben didn’t mind, either. Before they left for their rendezvous with Sorren and the others, Erik got the haunted stained-glass panel out of the safe and put it inthe back of the SUV. He left it in the spell-dampening box with the protective blanket, but still felt uncomfortable.
“I’ll be glad to be rid of that thing,” Ben said, putting Erik’s thoughts into words. “I know it was all locked up with magic, but I felt like it was still watching us.”
Erik had wrestled with that same feeling despite knowing the wards on the safe were strong. He was just as happy to hand it off to Sorren along with the Tiffany dome.
Although they had just driven to Weston Hall earlier in the day, by night the road looked very different. Erik was grateful that the area around the abandoned hotel was sparsely developed, since hiding a truck large enough to remove the crates of window panels would be difficult even with magic.
A security light by the road did not reach all the way to the back of Weston Hall or the warehouse. None of the hotel’s lights were lit. Erik suspected that their friends might not need the illumination, but he and Ben definitely did, and they both wore night-vision goggles.
To his relief, the truck was already in place when they arrived. While it certainly wasn’t invisible, Erik realized that his gaze just seemed to slide away, and the vehicle didn’t stick in his memory, something he attributed to Rowan’s magic.
“Erik, Ben, happy to see you both in good health,” Sorren greeted them. “I’m sure you remember Rowan and Donnelly.”
Erik and Ben nodded, knowing that many people with magic preferred not to shake hands.
“We got ghostly confirmation that what we want is inside, but it’s going to be heavy and hard to move,” Erik told them.“And Ben and I will need light to keep from falling over ourselves.”
“We’ve got you covered.” Rowan murmured a spell, opening one of the big overhead doors and casting a glow inside. The truck had been backed up to the dock, ready to load.
“We brought a very trustworthy crew to load the crates,” she told them. “The truck and the crew are protected by magic.”
“Donnelly and I will go in first, with Erik and Ben behind us, and Rowan covering our backs,” Sorren said. “We’re harder to kill.”
Since Sorren was already technically undead, Erik guessed that was vampire humor.
The warehouse held a hodgepodge of equipment. Mildewed cardboard boxes stacked against the back wall had disintegrated, spilling their contents onto the bare floor. Rusted folding chairs and banquet tables were piled in another area. From what Erik could make out, the long-forgotten items were what he would expect from a hotel and conference center, with the exception of the crates from the auction.
The witch light illuminated the area well enough to see where they were going but was unlikely to attract attention outside. The crates from the Commodore Wilson were clustered near the door, delivered and forgotten. They were all large and looked heavy. Erik tried to remember what other architectural pieces Bartolo had bought from the liquidation sale.
“Over there.” Erik pointed toward the tall, long boxes.
Donnelly approached the crates with caution, and Erik guessed that the necromancer was scanning for hostile magic.
“There’s definitelysomethinggoing on with the dome.” Donnelly paused for a moment. “A redirection spell and perhaps something hiding it. Rowan, if you wouldn’t mind?”
They waited while Rowan looked over the crates and chanted a spell that Erik couldn’t quite catch. “Done. It was alreadyweakening, but you should be able to sense it now. Though that means anyone else looking for it can as well. The sooner we get it within the wards on the truck, the better.” Rowan stepped back, and Donnelly resumed his inspection.
“I suspect the dome’s magic has been weakened by so long without light or people around, so it may be dormant, for now. The photos were beautiful, but there’s a darkness about the pieces.” Donnelly frowned. “Subtle, but definitely real. If it’s still discernible after all this time, I’d hate to think what it was like installed where it got sunlight and exposure to people. It definitely needs to go somewhere that can keep it, and everyone else, safe.”
“I have the haunted window in a box in our SUV,” Erik reminded them. “I’ll hand it off when we’re ready to go.”
Donnelly’s head came up as if alerted to something only he could hear. Erik sensed that the ghosts of Weston Hall had taken notice of them.
“We mean you no harm,” Donnelly spoke into the darkness. “I’m sure having this stored here over the years was uncomfortable. We’ll take it away, and I’ll be glad to send anyone on who wants to go.”
Erik hadn’t thought about how the dome’s negative vibes might have affected the old hotel’s resident ghosts, but he could imagine it as a constant irritant. They were lucky it hadn’t turned the spirits angry and dangerous.
“How are we doing out there, Rowan?” Sorren looked toward the entranceway where Rowan had returned.
