Earl nodded. “Now that I think about it, there are a lot of our people here. This must be where everyone goes when they disappear.” He grinned suddenly. “As prisons go, this one doesn’t suck. It was almost like being on vacation. I was getting paid to talk about science fiction and fantasy books. But how do we get out of here?”
“That’s the part we’re working on,” I said.
“What we’re trying to do for now is get everyone snapped out of the spell,” Owen added.
“Without tipping off the guards,” I put in.
“The guards?”
“It’s probably a safe bet that anyone you run into here that you don’t know from MSI or from your elf underground is working for Sylvester to keep us here and docile,” I explained. “You may also see people who actually look like elves. They wear gray suits and seem to be in charge, but you don’t see them at all when you’re under the spell. Try to ignore them. We don’t want them to know that we’ve broken the spell, so it’s very important that you act as normally as possible.”
Earl’s eyes widened with worry. “Oh, yeah, there’s no telling what Sylvester would do to us if he knew we were on to him.”
“It looks like a strong memory from the real world works to break the spell,” Owen said. “If you run into someone you know, try to get them alone and then start talking about something that will trigger them, then explain all this.”
“That ‘alone’ thing is very important,” I added. “You don’t want someone snapping out of it and reacting visibly when one of Sylvester’s people might be looking. If one person tips them off, we might all be in danger. And don’t do too many in a row. If you spend the day meeting up with all the people you knew back home, it might look obvious. Work gradually, and try to make the situations look as natural as possible.”
“Also, we’re trying to keep this in cells, so if one group is discovered it might not lead to everyone, so once you revive someone, that person shouldn’t tell you who else he’s reviving,” Owen said.
“Okay, got it,” Earl said, nodding. And then his eyes narrowed. “Hey, wait a second, if we’ve been under a spell, how did you two end up here? I thought you were magically immune.”
Owen blushed slightly. “Remember when the brooch was destroyed and we got caught in the backlash? It seems to have rebooted me, and it gave Katie a dose of magic.”
“I’m only a temporary and not very good wizard,” I said.
“You were good, you had a real knack,” Owen argued. “You just have a shortage of power to draw upon.”
“Oh, okay,” Earl said, taking it in stride. “Am I supposed to keep that a secret?”
“I think they already know,” Owen said dryly.
When he’d gone back to the sales floor, I said to Owen, “Between Mac, Perdita, and Earl, I think we’ve found that there’s a way to snap people out of it without kissing them.”
His lips twitched with a slight smile even though his eyes looked troubled. “I don’t think that would work for everyone, only the people who’d remember kissing you.”
“Which would narrow it down significantly, to just you,” I said. “Which is fine by me. And now it’s time to get back to my pretend job.”
Except I didn’t go up to the coffee shop. Owen might not have been willing to go against Mac’s bad plan, but I wasn’t bound by the same constraints. I headed to the science fiction section to talk to Earl. He jumped in surprise when I came up behind him. “Katie, what is it?” he asked, then added in a softer voice, “Is this bookstore business or, you know, other business?”
“Other business.” I glanced around to make sure no one else was in earshot—especially not Owen—then said softly, “I need to talk to you about something that Owen can’t say to you.” My heart was racing, and I felt more nervous about being caught by Owen than by the guards, but I forced myself to forge onward. “You know the wizards are going to be suspicious about him having his powers back, and the Council enforcers who’ve been following him got zapped here, too. He’s working with them in a show of good faith, and he’s letting them take the lead. The instructions he gave you are from the Council guys and part of a plan that Owen doesn’t agree with.”
Earl stiffened. “The wizards are taking the lead on an elven matter in elven lands?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how I figured your people would react. I think that’s what Owen expects, too, but he’s in a difficult position. If he goes against them, they’ll think he’s a dangerous rebel.”
