nice place you could start over, a whole city where you can rule to your heart’s content.”
“You wouldn’t!” Sylvester snarled.
“Why not? You did,” Earl said.
“Quick, pick your favorite fantasy, and maybe they can give it to you,” I said. “But I don’t recommend the romantic comedy one.”
“There is a bookstore that needs someone to run it,” Owen put in. “Do you like books?”
“Oh, no, he’s not getting away that easily,” Mac said. “He has to answer for multiple counts of kidnapping.”
“This isn’t Council jurisdiction,” Merlin said mildly. “This is an elf matter. We wizards are merely lending our support.”
“The leaders of the elven lands should decide his fate,” Brad said. “More elves were taken from their realm than wizards were taken from this world.”
“I will accept the authority of the Council,” Sylvester shouted. I wasn’t so sure he was making the right choice, but I figured it was his funeral. Just so long as he couldn’t interfere in my life again, I’d be happy.
Mac and his partner looked awfully pleased with themselves as they stepped forward to take Sylvester into custody. When they reached him, he suddenly grabbed their wrists, and their faces went strangely blank, as though they’d forgotten who they were. Then they went blanker than that, like they were losing consciousness. He wasn’t just giving them the same identity-erasing whammy he’d given us. He was killing them, and they were too dazed to do anything about it. Owen shouted a warning. When they didn’t respond, he jumped forward to break Sylvester’s grasp on them. But when he touched Sylvester, the Elf Lord’s touch had the same effect on him as it had on them, and he fell to his knees. Mac and McClusky staggered, still too stunned to help, so I ran over and brought the point of my elbow down hard on Sylvester’s wrist, forcing him to release Owen.
As the others teamed up to stop the Elf Lord, I leaned over Owen. He was conscious and breathing, but he seemed a little unsteady. “Do I need to remind you who you are?” I asked him without taking my eyes off the Elf Lord.
“I’m good,” he said, pushing himself back to his feet.
Mac and McClusky, now recovered, came over to Owen. “Thanks, man,” McClusky said, extending his hand to Owen. Owen looked at it skeptically for a moment before shaking it. Mac clapped him on the shoulder and gave him an approving nod.
“So, you’ll be giving a good report to the Council, right?” I prompted. “After all, he may have just saved your lives, at risk to himself.”
“I think we can put in a good word,” Mac said. He glanced at McClusky, who gave a reluctant nod.
By this time, more elves had come up the stairs and joined us on the roof. Brad went over to one of them, and they had a brief conversation, then Brad returned to Merlin. “They’ll take him through the portal and lock him in the containment area,” Brad reported. “That should keep him from being a problem here. A few of the elves want to stay, at least for a while, but the rest will return home, and they’ll find and return any remaining prisoners there.”
“That does appear to be the best solution,” Merlin said. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Brad shot me a smile. “Actually, it was Katie who saved us all. She was our resistance leader.”
Merlin turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “You neglected to mention that in your report.”
“I skipped the trivial details,” I said with a shrug.
“Now that her immunity’s back, maybe she should talk to Sam,” Owen suggested. “He could probably use her in Security. She has a knack for covert operations.”
“Is that something that interests you, Miss Chandler?” Merlin asked.
“Yeah, I think it does,” I said. “Just as long as I don’t have to make coffee anymore.” Merlin looked completely blank, since that was another of the trivial details I’d omitted, but Owen and I laughed.
We returned downstairs, where the elves who wanted to return to their realm were already going through the portal. Two of them took Sylvester through between them, using something that looked like the elvish version of the wizards’ silver chains as restraints. Every so often, a few people came through from the other side, blinking and looking a little confused.
When I went back to the stereo to retrieve Jake’s iPod, I was surprised to find my purse and Owen’s coat in a pile under the stereo table. It looked like