Much Ado About Magic

“Yeah, but I just bought a stack of candles, some body glitter, and some bath herbs for lovers. That makes it sound like we’re at least trying something new.”



“Maybe we’re saving them for tonight, after dinner, for round two after the fireman follies of the afternoon.”



Ethan’s cell phone rang as we pulled up at a pizza place. He answered, listened, then said, “Yeah, we can do that, but I think I have one in the trunk.” After he hung up, he said, “That was Owen. He needs a transistor radio. I may have one for emergencies.”



I followed as he got out of the car and went to check the trunk. “What emergencies could possibly require a transistor radio? You’ve got a radio in your car.”



“What if my car breaks down and the radio won’t come on? How will I know the weather forecast?” He dug in a latched plastic box in the trunk. “Aha! I knew I had one,” he said, coming up with a small radio. He flicked it on and got a news program. “And the batteries are still good.” I could only shake my head. I was all for preparation and liked to be ready for any situation, but Ethan took it to extremes.



We got back to the room with pizzas and drinks to find even more piles of diagrams. Ethan tossed the radio to Owen, then I took it away from him and put a slice of pizza in his hand instead. “Eat something first, then work,” I instructed. “You still look awful.”



After Owen ate enough for me to be willing to let him have the radio, I left him to the work while I lay on the bed and watched a movie on TV. Owen kept sending Ethan out to the car for supplies, and I worried about what the motel manager would think when he went out to get duct tape and a tool kit. It didn’t help that Ethan reported with glee how much time she spent staring out the side window of the office.



Sometime during the evening, I must have fallen asleep. I woke groggy and disoriented from not having the slightest idea how long I’d slept or what time it was. There was light coming from around the edges of the curtains, but I couldn’t tell if it was daylight or the parking lot lights. Merlin sat snoring in an armchair and Ethan was curled up on the other side of the bed. Owen was nowhere to be seen.



I jumped and bit back a shriek when the door opened, but relaxed when I saw that it was Owen. He looked tired but a million times better than he had the day before. He’d shaved and his hair was damp, as if from a shower, and he carried a doughnut box and a cardboard holder full of coffee cups. He set the doughnuts and the coffee on the table, and I eased my way off the bed, trying not to disturb Ethan.



Owen took one of the cups out of the holder and handed it to me, took another for himself, then gestured toward the box. We each took a doughnut and went outside, where there were lawn chairs on the walkway outside the rooms. “I suspect they’d rather sleep, and I can reheat the coffee later,” he said once we were outside and sitting on the chairs.



“Didn’t you need some rest?” I asked. Out in the morning light, the dark circles under his eyes were painfully visible.



“I got a few hours of sleep.”



“But not enough. So, what’s the plan?”



“I’ve rigged up a device that should cancel out the spell being transmitted. You, Gemma, and Marcia will need to get it into the Empire State Building. The device should help you locate the transmitter, and then all you’ll have to do is set it up. I can talk you through it by phone, but I can’t go near the city until you’ve got it working.”



“Are you sure the cell phone will work up there?”



“Marcia’s will. I made a few enhancements to it.”



“Why were you souping up my roommate’s phone?”



“Rod wanted to be sure he could reach her anywhere. It only works between magically enhanced phones, though, so if anyone else calls her when she’s in a dead spot, she’s out of luck. If you had a cell phone, I’d do the same for you.”



“Okay, since you’ve thought through the communications logistics, it should be a piece of cake,” I said, even though it sounded like anything but that. “How will I get back to the city?”



“You can get a train to Manhattan from a station not too far from here. We’ll drop you off, then stay here until the job is done and Ethan can drive us back.”



I couldn’t help but smile. “That motel manager is really going to be curious if the bride disappears during the honeymoon and the honeymoon suite is occupied by three men.” Speaking of which, the motel manager went out of the office to sweep the sidewalk, then did a double take to see me sitting outside with a shorter, darker-haired man after I’d checked in with a tall man with sandy-brown hair. I gave her a cheerful wave, and she blinked and shook her head.