She turned to face him. “A what?”
“If I want to talk to them, I press my palm to a wall. Any wall. The music fades and sooner or later someone answers. That’s how they invite me to lunch or whatever—through their magic intercom.”
Cullen would kill to study whatever spells were laid on those walls. Unfortunately for both of them, she was the one that had been grabbed, not him. But she and Sean weren’t the only ones who’d been taken prisoner. “Are those three the only people you’ve seen since you were snatched? Alycithin and the two elves?”
“That’s all.”
“Someone else was kidnapped. At least one other person.” Adam King and maybe Rule. Maybe more.
“Maybe the others did that.”
“Others?” she said sharply.
“Alycithin is in some kind of competition with another of the sidhe, or maybe a group of them. I don’t know what they’re all after, but apparently Robert has agreed to do something for the other group, and Alycithin wants him to do it for her instead.” He shook his head. “It was a shock to find out he was alive.”
“This other group takes hostages, too?”
He spread his hands. “I’m guessing about that, but hostage-taking is how her people do business. It’s SOP, like a contract would be here. Alycithin wanted to use me as a bargaining chip with Robert. She didn’t expect him to laugh at the idea. Robert and I,” he added wryly, “are not close. I got the impression she thinks you’ll make a better bargaining chip.”
If he was telling the truth and Friar wasn’t here…if the halfling woman intended to sell Lily to Friar…then she had time. She didn’t know how much, but some. She really wanted to believe Robert Friar’s brother was as sincere as he seemed, and that was about as bizarre as the shiny silver window. “You’ve learned a lot in the short time you’ve been here.”
“We dine together and chat. It’s all very civilized. I know,” he said ruefully, maybe reacting to her expression. “It’s strange. They’re strange. You’re taking all this very calmly.”
“You seem pretty calm yourself.”
“I wasn’t when I first woke up. Freaked out all over the place. I’ve had time to accept what I can’t change. It helps that she promised that her people don’t dispose of mistakes.”
“You believe her?”
“Oddly enough, I do.”
Not so odd. A smart kidnapper wanted his or her hostage calm, convinced he would live if he obeyed. It sounded like Alycithin was a smart kidnapper. Persuasive, too. “You said you dine with them. In here?”
“No, if I accept their invitation I’m escorted into the other room. If I don’t behave, they freeze me.”
“Freeze you?”
“I can’t move.” His jaw clenched tight enough to make a muscle jump. “I hate it. My body stops being mine. I…but they can’t do that to you.”
“No.” It sounded like a spell Rethna had used. The sidhe lord had pointed a finger, and zap! His target couldn’t move. His flunkies hadn’t seemed able to that. Other really nasty things, but not the freezing. “You said ‘they.’ Do they all have the ability to freeze you?”
“I…assumed so, but it was the orange-haired elf who froze me. Does it matter?”
“It might. Elves all have some body magic and some illusion magic, but they specialize in one or the other. One who’s aces at body magic won’t be that strong at illusion, and vice versa. That freeze spell—I think it’s something only a body magic expert can do. What does the other room look like?”
“It’s maybe twenty-five feet by fifteen. Chairs and a couch at one end, dining table at the other. Two doors on the wall opposite this bedroom, but I don’t know what’s beyond them. The kitchen’s on this side. I think this is an apartment or a condo—something about the layout makes it seem like one.”
“You haven’t seen outside?”
“The windows are weird in there, too.”
Lily looked around the room again. Nothing jumped out at her as a potential weapon. Nothing suggested a means of escape. She might as well deal with what her bladder insisted was a pressing situation. “I need to use the restroom.”
“Sure. The shower works, there’s shampoo, and you’ve got your own toothbrush. I told them humans did not share some things, so they brought another one. There’s a closet off the bathroom. No hangers we might use to poke their eyes out, but there’s a closet, and they brought some changes of clothes for you.”
“Considerate kidnappers.”
“All part of their code. From what Alycithin said, I think it’s like the Geneva Conventions. We have to be fed, clothed, and housed decently. I gather there are a lot of rules about that.”
“The Geneva Conventions outlaw the beating or torture of prisoners.”
“They’re not allowed to do that. They can freeze me or take my boots, but they can’t hit me unless I attack one of them.”
Had Jasper lied about Adam being hurt? About him being taken in the first place? Or was the “other group” not following their version of the Geneva Conventions?
Friar, of course, wouldn’t follow any codes that didn’t suit him. Lily nodded thoughtfully and headed for the bathroom.
The bathroom door locked. It was the push-button kind, easy enough to jimmy or bust, but it locked. That was a surprise. Mozart was playing in there, too. Otherwise it was as ordinary as the bedroom, if lacking the sort of detritus that accumulates in a lived-in space. On the narrow strip of counter next to the sink she found a small stack of washcloths, Ivory soap, and Colgate toothpaste. Two toothbrushes, one slightly damp from recent use, the other still in its plastic wrapper. Ordinary towels were draped on a towel bar. Suave shampoo in the tub enclosure. The closet was a small walk-in and empty except for two small, neat stacks of clothes—Sean’s things on the left and hers on the right. They’d provided her two pairs of jeans, two pairs of panties, two T-shirts, and two bras, all in her size, which was creepy. No shoes or socks.
She emptied her bladder, splashed water on her face—her headache was easing off some—and turned on the shower. She did not strip and get in, though. She stood next to it and said very quietly, “Drummond.”
THIRTY-FIVE
AT the very tag end of December, the sun didn’t make it over the horizon until after seven. Rule stood at the window looking out at a city still wrapped in predawn twilight. That was plenty of light for his eyes, but there was nothing worth seeing.
He wanted coffee. He’d started to make some, but thoughts of Lily crashed down, and he’d left the little kitchenette to stare out the window. He hadn’t thrown anything, though he’d wanted to do that, too. It would worry his men and wake up Jasper, who was asleep on the couch that had been intended for Cullen. He wouldn’t be using it. He was in a helicopter.
“Why,” Grandmother had announced, “is your sorcerer down here? He should be overhead, looking for the magic these bad elves are using.”
Rule had explained that Cullen had been charging the charms they might need.
Madame Yu had raised her eyebrows. “Are they charged now?”
“Yes,” Cullen snapped, “but they aren’t enough. We’re going up against magical heavy hitters. We need—”
“More than you will have. You have power and some skill in using it. You do not have the decades or centuries of training and knowledge these elves have. You will not make up that lack in the next few hours. Instead you will search for evidence of their magic.”
“Do you have any idea how much magic there is in a city this size?” Cullen had demanded. “There’s two major nodes here and two minor ones, and all the ley lines pouring out from them. Plus there’s the randomized magic pouring in from the ocean, the power puddles that collect everywhere—”