No Quest For The Wicked

“Well, we know who has it and we know where it is, so we’re not on squares one or two. But the important part is that we don’t have it anymore!”

He must have gotten a better second wind than I did, because he managed to outline his plan while running and without panting. “The Knot doesn’t offer either of us any protection. Anyone could have eventually stolen it from us. But it does protect her. We’re the only ones who can take it from her. So, let her carry it for a while, just as long as we keep her away from the magical puritans and any power brokers who’d cause problems in its presence. Then when we get the box, we take the brooch back from her and immediately put it away for safekeeping.”

“Wow, you are brilliant, but if we want to keep her away from the puritans, we’re driving her in the wrong direction.”

He pulled his arm from around my shoulders. “Then get in front of her. Drive her into the city. I suspect it would go to her head if the park people worshipped her.”

“Oh, you have no idea.”

I sprinted in front of Mimi, blocking her approach to the park. We were a little too close for my comfort, considering I could still hear the scuffle inside the park. Pretty soon, they were sure to sense the proximity of the Eye and come looking for it. It might take them a while to figure out it had a new owner. They’d go after me before they discovered Mimi, and she might get away while I was defending myself.

I was lucky that Mimi had no desire to go into the park, after all. She headed toward the museum. All I had to do was hurry her along to get her past the danger zone. That wasn’t too difficult. Convinced that I was chasing her to get the brooch back, Mimi jogged in a mincing trot, hampered by her heels and her long, slim skirt. “Stop following me!” she snapped at me. “You can’t have the brooch back.”

“I’m not following you. I just happen to be heading uptown,” I said, trying not to grin from the sheer joy of irritating Mimi.

While I wrangled Mimi, I heard Owen behind me on his phone, saying, “Sam, we could use some air support out here.” Soon, there was a faint stirring of air above me.

It was just in time, because a spectacularly well-dressed crowd was coming down the sidewalk from the museum. The power-hungry gala patrons must have been drawn by the brooch, and we were about to be menaced by a mob in formal wear. It looked like what would happen if a riot broke out at the Oscars.

“Oh, look, my party came to find me!” Mimi said. “They love me so much.”

We couldn’t let that bunch get near the brooch or we’d have another melee. “Sam!” I shouted.

“I’ve got ’em, doll,” the gargoyle said. Then he called out, “Rocky! Rollo! You deal with the crowd.” To me he added, “Let’s get her away from here.”

There was a traffic light with a crosswalk nearby, and I dragged Mimi toward it. When the “walk” light came on, Sam dropped out of the sky and said, “Hey, sweetheart!”

Mimi gave a piercing, panicked shriek and ran out into the street. Owen and I followed her, Sam flying above. When we reached the opposite sidewalk, I turned back to see that the park gang had come out, and the museum party mob had nearly reached the intersection. We ducked around the nearest corner as the light changed and cars started moving past us again.

“Do you think they saw us?” I asked Owen.

“My guys set up a veil,” Sam said. “The gang from the museum may have caught a glimpse, but they didn’t see where you went, and that bunch of fanatics shouldn’t have seen anything.”

“They’ll sense the stone, though,” Owen said. “They’ll find us eventually.”

“But if they can’t see us, it might take them longer to find us,” I said, desperately hoping I was right. It was the only hope I had to hold on to.

I was surprised by how long Mimi was able to keep running, even in a tight dress and high heels. Then again, she never missed a spin class, so she probably had enviable stamina. I was running out of steam, and Owen, with his bad leg, trailed behind me. Only Sam kept an easy pace, staying just above her. Come to think of it, that probably had as much to do with her stamina as her time in the gym. If I didn’t know Sam, a gargoyle chasing me would give me plenty of incentive to run until I keeled over.

Fortunately, this part of town was relatively quiet at this time of night. It was mostly residential, with doctors’ offices on the ground floors of the swanky apartment buildings. The street was nearly deserted. If the people in the apartments above were affected by the proximity of the Eye and driven to come after it, then we’d be long past by the time they made it down in the elevator. Luckily, Mimi was too focused on running to remember to scream for help.