“The building is never empty,” Bernie said. “That’s problem one.”
“And if they’ve protected the system with magic,” she said, thinking this through with a frown, “then none of you could destroy it without first showing up on it.”
She didn’t add “butIcould.” Not yet. The idea made her heart beat faster, though. Adventure. Adventure for a noble cause.
Bernie nodded at what she hadn’t left unspoken. “We found a bit of a workaround, but even so, we can’t sneak in and give it a try while the most dangerous wizards are there in the house. Requires a misdirection strategy. Risky, of course.”
Willi waved a hand, as if to suggest that Bernie overstated the hazard. “Two of us charge up to draw away the dangerous ones. We lead them on a—what sort of chase did you say?” He glanced at Bernie. “Bird?”
“Wild goose,” Bernie said. “Teleporting around the world, timing the jumps so we’re always one location ahead of them. Meanwhile, the third man takes out the protections around the tracking system by alternating low-level magic with more powerful bursts too short to set off its alarms.”
“And as I’m the only one of us who can manage that,” Hartgrave said, arms crossed, “it casts them as the bait.”
Bernie rolled his eyes. “It took us ten months just to get him to consider the idea.”
Hartgrave leaned toward her. “I’m not being unreasonable. The system’s so well fortified, those two would have to keep up the wild-goose chase for more than an hour. Which certain people,” he added, looking pointedly at Bernie, “demonstrably cannot do.”
“And now what?” Willi’s glare, aimed at Hartgrave, seemed like a rebuke. “You believe it will be better now they know you are not dead?”
Before Hartgrave could answer, Willi turned and caught one of her hands in both of his. It stung—calm, she wasn’t—but he gave no sign of noticing.
“Dr. Daggett, you have the power to help. You could go with Alexander—you could get through the protections much faster. Please, please, will you help?”
She took a deep, life-changing breath.
“No,” Hartgrave snapped, eyes blazing. “She’s not tagging along like it’s an effing field trip! It’s bad enough you two seem determined to put yourselves in deadly peril, but I draw the line at enlisting a girl who has no idea what she’s getting herself into!”
Emily took another deep breath, the last one having run out.
“Hartgrave,” she said, “I’m twenty-six years old, and you can’t order me around.”
The tips of his ears flushed red.
“Willi,” she said, “I give you my word that I will help.”
Willi made a sound suspiciously close to a sob. Hartgrave sprang from his chair and said, “You can’t do this without me, and I refuse to go along with it.”
“Alexander.” Willi’s voice was sharp. Grim. “I owe you my life. But that does not mean you are not also owing me something.”
All the excess color in Hartgrave’s face drained away.
“Wemuststop them,” she put in. “You know that.”
He sat down, saying nothing. As good as a yes.
Willi’s expression shifted to something that couldn’t exactly be called happiness, but certainly had a great deal in common with satisfaction.
“It will be fine,” he said to Hartgrave. “You will see.”
“Well,” Bernie said, his upbeat tone sounding a shade forced, “welcome to our federation of freedom fighters, Em. Great to have you. I’d love to stay and chat, but I really ought to be getting home. Unless you still want to practice tonight?”
This last was aimed at Hartgrave. He shook his head.
“Until tomorrow, then,” Willi said, rising. “Sleep well.”
“Wait.” She fumbled in her purse. “I need to pay you.”
Willi put up his hands as if to ward off such an eventuality.“Never.”
