The two of them stepped outside. As soon as the door was firmly shut, Kurt asked, “What did you want to talk about?”
“Claudia’s gone.”
Kurt’s eyes rounded. “Again? But Ruxandra’s been with me all evening.”
“I know. She left a note saying she had to go somewhere to think, but anyone could have made her write that. I called Sadie, Chris, and Angie to see if Claudia had mentioned her absence to any of them, and they all said no.”
“That’s not like her, is it?”
“No. She’s always taken her managerial responsibilities seriously. I can’t imagine she’d leave us in the lurch.”
“So, what are you thinking?”
“I’d like to use some of your truth spell on Ruxandra to see if she hired anyone to harm Claudia and didn’t call him off. I know you’d believe her, but—”
Kurt held up his hand. “I understand. It’s a distinct possibility. I was hoping to use the truth spell on her anyway. I need to know she’s not pretending to be into me, just to make you jealous.”
“Another distinct possibility. Although she seems different. It looks like you might be a good influence on her.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.”
“I’m not. I mean…”
Kurt laughed. “I know what you meant. Let’s get this spell started. I think we have to begin with the researcher.”
“That’s fine, but when it’s Ruxandra’s turn, how will you get her to cooperate?”
“Well, I can start by asking. I brought it up briefly and she said she’d consider it. If she has nothing to hide, she should agree.”
Anthony rolled his eyes. “Good luck with that. Is there a plan B?”
“No.”
“Okay, then. She’ll either cooperate or pitch a fit. I can’t wait to find out which.”
This time it was Kurt who rolled his eyes. “Let’s get back in there. The longer we stay out here, the worse it looks.”
“Fine.”
Kurt took the censor and copal out of his bag and set them on a nearby desk. He knew the aroma of copal would encourage liars to expose the truth. It had the added benefit of affecting Ruxandra without her knowing it. However, it was subtle.
“Ruxie, honey. Can you continue to hold him for me?”
“Of course,” she said.
He’d worded his request so she’d have to say “yes.” Even so, she could have let go of the researcher and bolted if she were afraid of being affected.
The commanding spell Kurt would have to use on the researcher left no choice. The liar would reveal the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. He always wondered why it wasn’t used in courts of law. Oh, yeah, because most people were skeptical of magic, if not downright disbelievers. Once he’d done his thing, though, no one in this room would doubt it worked.
He set the copal on a charcoal disk, placed them in the censor, and lit it with a match. Soon, the coal caught and the copal smoke began to fill the room. Meanwhile, Kurt took the purple candle from the brown paper bag and dressed it with Command and Compel Oil, a concoction he’d made himself.
Kurt faced the researcher. “What’s your real name?”
Sweat broke out on the man’s forehead and he bit his lower lip, presumably to keep from spilling the information.
Kurt took some of the oil and rubbed it into his own palm. “I said, tell me your name.”
“George.”
“Good. Is George your first or last name?”
The guy hesitated again. Kurt cupped the smoke in his hand and directed it to the man’s nostrils.
“It’s my first name,” he said.
“Now we’re getting somewhere. What’s your last name, George?”
“Robbins.”
“That’s appropriate since he’s been robbing our kind of their freedom,” Ruxandra said.
Good. She isn’t afraid to talk.
“Sit tight. I’ll just be a minute.” Kurt tore a chunk out of the paper bag and wrote the guy’s name on it seven times. Then he wrote his own name over the other ones. He placed the candle over the paper and lit it.
As it burned, he closed his eyes and chanted. “Darksome night and shining moon, harken to the wizard’s rune. East, then south. West, then north, Hear! Come! I call thee forth!
“By all the power of land and sea, be obedient to me. By all the might of moon and sun, As I do will, it shall be done.”
When he opened his eyes, he focused his gaze on Dr. Odd and demanded, “George Robbins, I command and compel you. Tell me the truth!”
The candle flame grew to five or six inches. The widening eyes around the room said everyone knew magic was afoot.
George trembled. “What do you want to know?” he asked in a small voice.
Nick stepped in front of Kurt and asked, “Mind if I take over?”
Because Nick was a PI and former cop, he probably had some good interrogation techniques.
“Be my guest,” Kurt said.
Nick got up into the guy’s face and asked, “What’s the code to open the big, glass cell?”
“I don’t know. Only the day and evening guys know.”
“How many guys are there?”
“Five.”
“What kind of research is going on here?”
George squirmed but answered, “We’re trying to discover as many different types of paranormals as possible, catalog them, and see what their special abilities are, if any. Those who demonstrate superior strength, senses, speed, and the like will be examined more thoroughly.”
“How did you discover paranormals exist?” Nick asked.
“A little over six months ago, one of the guys found a merman in the river in front of our university. We captured him in a net and held him in one of the basement rooms. He tried to bargain for his release by telling us about the other paranormals he knew of in the area. When we verified his information, we rented this facility and went after funding to build more sophisticated cages, buy equipment, and hire trained researchers.”
“But you didn’t let him go? Did he give you misleading information?”
“No. Everything he told us was true.”
Nick swore under his breath. “And we let him walk,” he said to Anthony. “Never mind. Freeing the captives and damage control are what we need to do now. Justice can wait.”
Anthony stepped forward. “Do you mind if I ask him a few questions?”
“You probably should. I’m too angry to think straight.”
Nick seemed to know all the big men in the cage. Kurt only knew Tory. The woman and boy huddled together in the corner didn’t seem familiar to anyone, but Anthony’s heart went out to them. If the woman knew the full moon was tomorrow night, she had good reason to be afraid.
Anthony leaned down and stared the man in the eye. When he blinked, Anthony’s mouth thinned. Then he straightened and folded his arms. “Why can’t you be mesmerized?”
“I don’t know,” George said. “Maybe it has to do with the blood they transfused into me.”
Anthony’s brows shot up. “Whose blood did they give you?”
“I don’t know. It’s a blind study. The results might be skewed if I knew.”
“Fuck,” Anthony muttered.
Kurt decided it was his turn. “So, they shot you full of paranormal blood and left you here alone? That doesn’t seem right.”
“That’s not quite true,” George said. “See that rabbit over there?”
The three paranormal interrogators glanced at the cage holding a white rabbit. There didn’t seem to be anything abnormal about it except the cage was larger than the usual size for a rabbit.
“Yeah,” Kurt said. “What about it?”
“That’s my coworker, Kim Lee.”
Claudia tossed and turned. And not because she was sleeping in an unfamiliar bed at Gaye’s sister’s house in Brookline. The small family had been more than kind and welcoming to her. More importantly, they didn’t pry or ask why she needed a place to stay. It was the best situation she could imagine at a time like this, but everything within her screamed she shouldn’t be here.