“Oh, so you’re the ruthless kind of leader.”
“You’d better believe it.”
*
When I got to work the next morning, he was chatting with Mac and McClusky in the park, so I knew I’d done the right thing, even if I felt lousy about it. If Mac knew about the army, he’d insist on carrying out his prison uprising plan, and I agreed with the elves that it would be disastrous.
I found Earl in his section and quickly told him what I’d learned from Dan. “How did your end of the operation go?”
“We’ll attempt to infiltrate them tonight. If our person can get through the portal, he can pass the message on. This does make things pretty dire, doesn’t it?”
“An enemy army usually isn’t a good thing. We need to act quickly, before Sylvester can pull off whatever he has planned.” Though it pained me to do so, I added, “And Owen doesn’t know about the army, so don’t say anything. I’d rather Mac not find out.”
Earl winced and nodded. “I don’t envy Owen.”
“Yeah. I just wish I could find a way to make him look like a self-sacrificing hero—without any actual sacrifice, of course—so we could put an end to all this. It’s just ridiculous.”
Earl looked uncharacteristically somber when he said, “I’m afraid we might all get a chance to sacrifice before this is over.”
*
I got to the store early the next morning because I couldn’t wait to learn what the elves had discovered. It had taken all my self-control the night before not to return to the building across from the gateway park and spy on the operation. Instead, I’d dragged Owen to a movie—Casablanca, since they only ever screened classics in romantic movies and it was Owen’s favorite—and then tried not to let on that I knew anything was happening so he wouldn’t have anything he felt obligated to tell Mac.
Owen was with Mac in the park, although I couldn’t think of what he might have to share with the Council guys, since I’d been keeping him out of the loop. I waved a greeting and then went into the store. Earl wasn’t around when I went through his section, so I went upstairs to the coffee shop.
Florence was already there, and she seemed unusually jittery. “Don’t tell me you’ve gone back on caffeine,” I joked.
She didn’t seem to find it funny. “Don’t you have a meeting with the boss?” she snapped.
“We do meet most mornings. Has that been a problem for you? I know we get busy up here, but that’s when I can catch him.”
“You should probably get back downstairs and talk with him.”
“He’s not in yet. He’s still talking to some friends across the street.” I gestured toward the windows that faced the park.
She followed my gesture with her eyes, and then she took what appeared to be an involuntary step forward. I turned to look and saw that gray guys were massing in the park and heading for the store. “You’re right, I probably ought to go meet with him,” I managed to choke out before fleeing down the stairs.
I saw Earl first. “Hey, I was just going to talk to you,” he said.
I grabbed his arm. “Not now. I think something’s up. Did anything happen last night?”
Suddenly alarmed, he asked, “Why?”
I didn’t have to answer, since there were now gray guys in the store. Without a word, we both ducked behind the nearest bookshelf. Instead of lurking, the gray guys were approaching people and facing them directly for a few seconds before moving on. “They’re not just watching,” Earl said. “It looks like they’re enchanting everyone. We have to go, now.” Without waiting for me to respond, he took off toward the back stockroom. I ran after him.
He magically unlocked the stock room, and when we were both inside, I locked the door from the inside and he added a magical ward. “Owen’s out there,” I said softly when that realization struck me, but I suspected it was already too late for him. I knew how to revive him, though. All we had to do was wait it out, then when the gray guys were gone, we could find Owen and set everything right.
That was, if he hadn’t already done it himself. We were all carrying memories with us, so he was sure to find one of those pieces of paper he had stashed. He’d probably be worried and looking for me before I got to him.
“What happened last night?” I asked Earl.
“Our spy reported back and didn’t seem to be discovered. Like you thought, it was a shift change. He didn’t get anywhere near a portal.”
