By: Anne Olsen and Michele Bumbarger
Chapter Fourteen
Megabyte looked around as he and Adam materialised. “Okay, where are we exactly? You led, I followed. Remember?”
“We’re outside Cordovan’s complex. Cordelia and I ‘borrowed’ the plans when Ami disappeared that night”
“Borrowed? Yeah right. I didn’t know you were into that sorta thing Adam.” Megabyte grinned. “I’m impressed.”
Adam chose to ignore that comment. “Well it figures that if Giselle is going to be anywhere it will be here,” he explained.
“Oh yeah. What with her being in league with Cordovan and all that. Makes sense I suppose.” Megabyte paused. “So any bright ideas of where to next?”
Adam shrugged. “There wasn’t exactly a sign saying this way to Giselle’s quarters on the map you know.”
Megabyte had kind of hoped there had been. After all with all the other weird stuff going down lately, why not detailed directions to the whereabouts of the bad guy? These days anything was possible he’d decided. He picked up on a stray thought coming from his friend and frowned.
“Adam? What’s the matter?”
“I think I’m picking up some really weird vibes coming from inside. Concentrate and tell me what you think.”
“Okay.” Megabyte closed his eyes and reached out with his mind. He was about to tell Adam to check that his imagination wasn’t working overtime when the sensation hit him. “Whoa,” he exclaimed. “That’s weird. You want to check it out?”
Adam nodded. “It’s probably a good place to start. I mean if Giselle is into magic, maybe that’s what we’re picking up on. Try and centre in on where the feeling is coming from and with any luck we’ll find what we’re looking for.”
“Right with you on that one, pal.” Megabyte watched his friend vanish, and followed him a second later. Hope we’re not walking into the lions’ den here was his last thought as he teleported.
******
“Whoa!” exclaimed the American as he took in his new surroundings. “This voodoo priestess stuff must pay well. The words loaded and rich spring to mind.” The room they were in was filled with what looked like very expensive furniture, the type his mom looked at in catalogues but would never buy. Deep red velvet drapes hung from the long narrow windows, hiding most of the interior of the room from those wanting to look in. Bet those paintings on the wall are worth a bit too, he noted. Who said a life of crime doesn’t pay? Yeah okay it wasn’t crime, but magic, but in this case he wasn’t sure there was much difference.
[Megabyte, come and look at this.] Adam was bending over a small table, on which half a dozen candles were burning slowly, their smoke permeating the room.
Megabyte followed his friend’s lead and switched to telepathy. No point putting a come and get me sign out for the bad guys. [Hey that’s some sort of altar isn’t it?] He noticed the look Adam gave him and continued. [I’ve watched ‘Night of the Zombies,’ okay. These voodoo types always have an altar. That’s where they work their magic and stuff.]
Adam still didn’t look convinced. His gaze shifted to the photo, which was the centrepoint of the candle arrangement. As the Australian realised what or rather whose image was on that photo, Megabyte felt the horror coming from his friend.
The redhead looked down to see what Adam was looking at and felt a cold hand crawl slowly up his spine. [That’s Ami,] he noted dully.
Adam nodded. [It looks as though what we saw in the mind-merge might have been right. I knew something or someone must be behind Ami’s weird behaviour.]
[Do you think Giselle’s worked some sort of spell on her?] Megabyte glanced around the rest of the room, trying to see if there were any clues anywhere to what was happening to Ami.
[Wouldn’t surprise me. From what we’ve seen the last few weeks, I’m beginning to think anything’s possible. I mean look what Giselle did to Ami last time, just before the soul bond…] Adam’s voice tailed off as he picked up a heavy leather bound book and started to leaf through it.
Megabyte wrinkled his nose. [Yeech those candles are starting to stink. What’s she trying to do here? Kill her victims’ sense of smell first? Hey Adam what’s in the book?]
Adam closed the book and gave it to Megabyte. [Have a look yourself. I get the feeling some of the answers we are looking for might be in here, but as it’s not in English it’s not going to do us much good.]
[It’s all Greek to me anyway,] joked Megabyte as he took the book out of Adam’s hands. [Sorry,] he apologised as he saw the look on his fellow Tomorrow Person’s face. Definitely not the time for bad jokes he reprimanded himself.
[Hey Megabyte did you hear that?] Adam looked up from the pile of books he was looking through and put his head to one side.
[Nope. Didn’t hear a thing.] Megabyte put the leather journal down and started looking through the drawers of the small cabinet next to the altar. [What do you think she’s doing with all these plants in here?]
Adam shot him a small grin. [Herbs, Megabyte, they’re herbs. She probably uses them for her incantations.]
[Yeah I knew that.] Megabyte opened the next drawer, wondering what else he was going to find.
[It certainly looks…] Adam’s mental voice stopped mid sentence as Megabyte felt an echo of what felt like an electric shock run though him.
He spun around, just in time to see Adam hit the floor. “Adam!” he exclaimed, forgetting about using telepathy.
Megabyte looked around the room frantically. They’d been discovered. His eyes met those of a woman standing by the door, raising her weapon. He looked at Adam lying prone on the floor and back towards the door. Have I got time to get to Adam? He dived towards his friend as she fired, hoping he’d be able to teleport them out.
He didn’t even get that far. Megabyte felt the shock arc through him and the darkness start to swallow him up before he had time to register the fact that he wasn’t going to make it. Guess Kevin had been right…
******
The corners of Giselle's mouth turned up into a smug, self-satisfied smile. Gazing down at the two still forms beside her feet, she couldn't help but notice how easy that had been. If she had been a superstitious person, and one without the powers of darkness standing firmly behind her, she might have thought that it was too easy. Giselle had anticipated that getting the two male teleporters would prove somewhat difficult; the girl, Ami, was to be the distraction to lure them in and hand them over to Wolfram and Hart. Never had she imagined that they would stumble right across her path and present themselves as an offering.
Further verification, if she needed it, that the dark powers were supportive in this, as they were in all her other endeavours.
Her only lament was that the boys were there already. It was sooner than she would have liked when she had only just managed to put things into motion with the girl. Giselle did not have the time to babysit the unconscious teleporters, things were happening, and she had to be there to see them through.
Timing. It was all about timing, and this timing was a bit on the bad side. There was however, nothing to be done for it.
Putting down the taser, Giselle crossed her bedroom suite. The door was closed quickly, her purse pulled into the room. From her purse she retrieved her cellular telephone and the vial and syringe that Lindsey McDonald had delivered into her hands earlier.
The telephone number she wanted was on auto dial. She was already filling the syringe with the amber fluid when the line picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Lindsey."
Her smile widened at the sharp intake of breath followed by the sudden silence on the other end of the telephone. Giselle so loved to keep others off-guard. She knelt beside the dark hair boy, affectionately brushing a strand of hair from his face. He was a handsome one, no wonder the girl kept company with him so often. Almost a shame to turn him over to her new 'partners' when she knew of such fun things she could do to him, wondering if it would be as simple to climb inside his head as it was with the girl.
"Giselle. Why are you calling me?" The lawyer's voice was hurried and rushed. Giselle could almost see him hurrying into an elevator, or a stairwell or closing his office door after repeatedly checking the hall.
Grabbing the boy's wrist, Giselle easily extended his arm and found his vein. She lamented the absence of a tourniqet, but it couldn't be helped. He stirred slightly in his unconscious state as the liquid in the syringe entered his bloodstream. "I'm calling you, Lindsey, because there's been a new development. That package your bosses wants so badly. I already have it. You can come pick it up whenever you like."
"You have it? Giselle what in the hell -"
"I never look a gift horse in the mouth." With another morbid pat of affection to the brunette's head, Giselle turned her attention to the redhead. "It landed at my feet. Quite literally."
"I'll meet you. Where?"
"Come by the compound. I'll leave instructions. I have other places to be." Disconnecting the telephone, Giselle refilled the syringe. "I was hoping you boys would get to witness the fireworks. Oh well, can't be helped. But I'm sure, you'll have just as much fun with my good friends at Wolfram and Hart."
******
Entangled
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