“Left.”
I obeyed, heading east toward Grand Central Station. The crowds thinned out some, which was a relief. But with less distraction from shoppers, I began sensing images from Rebecca’s mind. A huge eyed little blond girl, her hand held by an older black girl. Identical boy twins, maybe about eight. A dark skinned girl with straight, shining black hair, and a red-headed boy who looked Irish. All of them frightened and huddled together. I wasn’t sure if this was real time, as they were now, or as Rebecca saw them when they were taken.
I was passing the mouth of a narrow alley when something blasted me into the alley and against a wall. It was a black, sucking hole of vicious energy. The demon? So that’s what one was like!
As I fell, stunned, against the cold brick, the glowing light of Rebecca’s ghost came between me and the demon. Dear God, it was going to suck her away to whatever hell had produced it!
Instinctively I threw up my right hand so that I was connected with Rebecca’s energy. I felt the rush as my power joined to hers and she flared larger and brighter. Her fierceness was dazzling, and the demon retreated, then vanished like a popped bubble.
I sagged against the building that made one side of the alley and had just enough sense and power to produce a don’t-see spell. Any passersby on the street a few yards away would not be inclined to look in my direction.
What the hell had I gotten myself into? Rebecca was so dim I could barely see her. Weakly she asked, “Are you all right, Simon?”
She was like a delicate scarf of warm light wrapped around me. “I’m rattled but okay. I can hear you much more clearly now. Because we shared energy?”
“Yesss.” Her words were almost a sigh. “But most of my power…gone. If the demon returns, I won’t be able to stop it.”
Tired though I was, I had more strength than she did. “Let me send you some power.” I visualized magical energy channeling from me to her. I couldn’t spare a lot just now, but it was enough to brighten her glow. I asked, “Can you tell me what happened with the children?”
“A small specialty toy store near here. Antique and rare European toys, Expensive. Some magical. They have a Santa. I saw him possessed by demon. Led half a dozen children away and into tunnel below store.”
This just got better and better. “Does it connect with the subway system?”
“Not sure.” She flickered, like a candle about to burn out. “Move quickly! The Light is pulling at me harder and harder. Don’t know…how long I can stay here.”
“Rebecca, hold on!” I said sharply. “I need to know where those children are! Once you give me a location you can go with my blessing.”
“Do…my best.” Her attenuated energy was saturated with pain and determination. “Find my body…then can tell you how to find children.”
I speeded up, cutting between shoppers ruthlessly. Rebecca had fallen silent and I was following the barest thread of her energy. Dammit, don’t leave, Rebecca!
The thread led me into a side street. There were several small and surely very pricey shops. Oriental curios. Antique snuff boxes and smoking accessories. Toys. I halted in front of the window of the shop, which was on the corner of the side street and a narrow alley. “Devilish’s Delights” was carved on the wooden sign above the door, and the shop window was filled with the most extraordinary toys I’d ever seen.
Clockwork mechanisms that belonged in the Metropolitan Museum sat next to exquisitely crafted antique dolls. Sets of toy soldiers wearing ancient uniforms clustered around a rocking horse with an evil eye and a frayed tail. And yes, many of the toys had a glow of magic. No wonder this shop had attracted a demon. I couldn’t see anyone inside, and the door was locked when I tried the knob.
“Right. Down the alley.”
The wisp of energy led me to a shabby metal door. I guessed that it was right behind the toy store. Warily I tried the knob, and was relieved when it opened under my hand. My medical skill set doesn’t include picking locks.
I stepped into to a shabby little store room with a door opposite the one I’d used. “Devilish Delights” was painted on it in faded red letters. I put my hand on the knob, then yanked it back as a blast of magic scorched my fingertips. Not really scorched—when I looked at my hand, there was no physical damage. But that was one nasty piece of magic laid on that door.
The room was piled with boxes that radiated low grade magic. More toys, I guessed. A metal staircase wound downward from the far right corner. A dim globe of mage light clung to the wall above the steps. It must have been created by Rebecca before she headed down. Like her, the light was flickering out.
I touched the globe to brighten it, then hesitated. If I followed the trail down, would I end up like Rebecca? Quite apart from preferring to stay alive for several more decades, I wouldn’t be able to help those kids if I was dead.
But I needed to learn the location before Rebecca was gone. I did have a couple of magical defenses, so I mentally prepared in case one was needed and headed down and down and down.
The stairwell was old and neglected. Some kind of access portal from the old days when the subways were being built, maybe. As I moved beyond the range of the mage light above, I created another and carried it.
At the bottom, I found a crumpled female body lying on her side. Rebecca.
The faintest thread of light connected the ghost to her. I usually think of hunters as large and athletic, but she was petite and curvaceous. Her dark hair showed a glint of red in the mage light. She was dressed all in black like a junior ninja, her face a pale oval against her hoodie and her features slack with death. But in my mind I heard, “Hello…Simon. Here…just in time.”
“Hello, Rebecca.” I knelt beside her on the grungy concrete floor and laid a hand on her forehead in benediction. And caught my breath as I saw that the gossamer strand of vital energy was still connected to her solar plexus.
Scarcely believing, I turned my wrist so that the crystal watch face was directly in front of her mouth. The faintest of mists clouded the polished surface. “You’re actually still alive.”
“Close enough to dead that there’s no practical difference,” she thought with black humor. “Paralyzed. Can’t move…can barely breathe. As soon as I tell you how to find the children, I’ll let go. So…tired….”
