Sorceress, Interrupted - By A. J. Menden Page 0,27

going to have to remove him from our headquarters, however; we’re not equipped to handle him in case he goes on a rampage again. There are several psychiatric hospitals in the city that cater to the magic-using set, and—”

“My brothers and I will take care of him,” Joseph snapped, but I could hear the break in his voice. “As soon as I can get hold of them, that is.”

“You can use any of our communication—”

“I just need a quiet room so I can use a telepathic spell to contact them,” Joseph said. “Can you stay with Donald?”

“Of course,” Wesley said. “I will stay right here.”

We were quiet as Joseph left the room. When the door closed Cyrus said, “So, what’s our best hope? If we’re there when an attack like this happens, we might be able to follow the spell back to whoever’s cast it.”

I said, “Don’t overcomplicate things. Why do you think we won’t see the caster directly? If we’re there, we can see the magic-user, walk over and tell him to stop—then hit him repeatedly until he does.”

“They’re probably doing this remotely, Fantazia.”

I shook my head. “This strikes me as a precision kind of spell, and you can’t cast those by sitting in your evil lair and laughing manically to yourself. Precision requires presence.”

“Well, it requires someone to be present,” Wesley spoke up. “This is a difficult spell for one person to cast. We also have to consider that this could be a group of sorcerers working together.”

“You see Dragon cultists around every corner,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

“I didn’t say that, but it’s possible,” Wesley conceded.

“Donald did say something about lizards in his brain,” Cyrus pointed out. “And what are dragons but big lizards?”

“Those were also the ramblings of a very deranged man,” I said. “Besides, the Cult of the Dragon aren’t actual dragons.” I addressed my father. “Edgar didn’t say anything about lizards, did he?”

Wesley shook his head no, but he still looked thoughtful. That’s all I needed, him getting even more obsessive about the Dragon’s cult.

“Then it could just be a strange coincidence,” I said directly to him.

“We can’t rule them out either,” Cyrus said.

“If someone’s casting this spell to get power from others, they’re not going to all pitch in to help each other,” I said. “If you’re that power hungry, you’re not going to help someone else get more, are you?”

“You might if you’re part of a team—not that you’d know much about that. Or you might if you plan on using the extra power you get to try to take theirs later,” Cyrus suggested.

I shook my head and glared at him. “This conversation is making my head hurt.”

Joseph burst back into the room. “Donald and I weren’t the only ones attacked. Nathaniel and Daniel were, too. Nathaniel was like me and barely made it out, but Daniel’s in a coma. They’re holed up in our house in the mountains. None of us have heard from Johnny.” Joseph looked like he was slipping into shock. He turned his attention to the Reincarnist, looking like a little lost child. “What’s happening?”

My father clapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t know, but we will find out. I promise. And I will help in any way I can.”

He motioned Cyrus and me to follow him outside. “I want you two to start investigating this,” he said in a low voice. “If the Brothers of Power are all being targeted with this kind of spell, it’s serious. If I wasn’t sure before, I am now.”

“Why us?” Cyrus asked.

“The other members of the team aren’t equipped to deal with it. They don’t know much about the magic world or”—he met my eyes—“have your connections.”

Cyrus laughed. “So a former criminal and the dark mistress of blackmail are the last line of defense.”

Wesley actually smiled. “Who better? As I said, you both have better connections than I do at this point. Since Emily . . .”

“You think they’ll spill their guts to us just because we’re not good, clean family folk?” I asked. “You obviously haven’t been hanging out at my bar. What gets information is cash or power. Everybody wants something. Or they need to be threatened and intimidated.”

Wesley shrugged. “So threaten and intimidate.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t help feeling insulted. He didn’t think much of me except as someone whose soul wouldn’t blacken further with someone’s blood on her hands. “I see. Send us in. The black-ops team gets to do the wet work. All