particular spell that it had never occurred to me that it might not work.
Massha and Guido were looking at each other with no small degree of concern.
'ymmm… maybe you forgot.'
'Try again.'
'That's right! This time remember to…'
'Hold it, you two,' I ordered in my most commanding tone. 'From your reactions, I perceive that the answer to my questions is 'yes.' That is, that the spell didn't work. Now just ease up a second and let me think. Okay?'
For a change they listened to me and lapsed into a respectful silence. I might have taken a moment to savor the triumph if I wasn't so worried about the problem.
The disguise spell was one of the first spells I had learned, and until now was one of my best and most reliable tools. If it wasn't working, something was seriously wrong. Now I knew that stepping through the door hadn't lessened my knowledge of that particular spell, so that meant that if something was haywire, it would have to be in the…
'Hey, Hot Stuff! Check the force lines!'
Apparently my apprentice and I had reached the conclusion simultaneously. A quick magical scan of the sky overhead and the surrounding terrain confirmed my worst fears. At first I thought there were no force lines at all. Then I realized that they were there, but so faint that it took nearly all of my reserve power just to detect them.
'What's all this about force lines?' Guido demanded.
Massha heaved an impatient sigh.
'If you're going to run with this crowd. Dark and Deadly, you'd best start learning a little about the magic biz… or at least the vocabulary. Force lines are invisible streams of energy that flow through the ground and the air. They're the source of power we tap into when we do our bibbity-bobbity-boo schtick. That means that in a land like this one, where the force lines are either non-existent or very weak…'
'… you can't do squat,' the bodyguard finished for her. 'Hey, Boss! If what she says is true, how come those two you just met could still do that bat-trick?'
'By being very, very good in the magic department. To do so much with so little means they don't miss a trick… pardon the pun… in tapping and using force lines. In short, they're a lot better than either Massha or me at the magic game.'
'That makes sense.' Massha nodded. 'In any dimension I've been in that had vampires, they were some of the strongest magic-slingers around. If this is what they have to train on, I can see why they run hog-wild when they hit a dimension where the force lines are both plentiful and powerful.'
I rubbed my forehead, trying desperately to think and to forestall the headache I felt coming on. Right on schedule, things were getting worse!
'I don't suppose you have anything in your jewelry collection that can handle disguises, do you?'
Despite our predicament, Massha gave a low laugh.
'Think about it. High Roller. If I had anything that could do disguises, would I walk around looking like this?'
'So we get to take on a world of hot-shot magic types with our own cover fire on low ammo,' Guido summarized.
'Okay. So it'll be a little tougher than I thought at first. Just remember my partner has been getting along pretty well these last few years without any powers at all.'
'Your partner is currently sitting in the hoosegow for murder,' Guido said pointedly. 'That's why we're here in the first place. Remember?'
'Besides,' I continued, ignoring his comment (that's another skill I've learned from Aahz), 'it's never been our intention 'to take on the whole world.' All we want to do is perform a quick hit and run. Grab Aahz and get back out with as little contact with the natives as possible. All this means is that we've got to be a little more careful. That's all.'
'What about running down the trio we started out to retrieve?'
I thought briefly about the blonde who had warned us of Aahz's predicament.
'That's part of being more careful,' I announced solemnly. 'If… I mean, when we get Aahz out of jail, we'll head for home and count ourselves as lucky. So we… pay off the Deveels. It's a… cheap price to… pay for…'
I realized the staff was looking at me a little askance. I also realized that my words had been gradually slowing to a painful broken delivery as I reached the part about paying off the Deveels.
I cleared my throat and tried again.
'Ummm, let's just say we'll reappraise the situation once we've reached Aahz. Okay?'
The troops still looked a little dubious, so I thought it would be best if I pushed on to the next subject.
'As to the opposition, let's pool our knowledge of vampires so we have an idea of what we're up against. Now, we know they can shape change into bats or dogs…'
'… or just into a cloud of mist,' Massha supplied.
'They drink blood,' Guido said grimly.
'They don't like bright light, or crosses…'
'… and they can be killed by a stake through their heart or…'
'They drink blood.'
'Enough with the drinking blood! Okay, Guido?'
I was starting to get more than a little annoyed with my bodyguard's endless pessimism. I mean, none of us was particularly pleased by the way things were going, but there was nothing to be gained by dwelling on the negatives.
'Sorry, Boss. I guess looking on the dark side of things gets to be a habit in my business.'
'Garlic!' Massha exclaimed suddenly.
'What's that?'
'I said 'garlic',' she repeated. 'Vampires don't like garlic!'
'That's right! How about it, Guido? Do you have any garlic along?'
The bodyguard actually looked embarrassed.
'Can't stand the stuff,' he admitted 'The other boys in the Mob used to razz me about it, but it makes me break out in a rash.'
Terrific. We probably had the only Mob member in existence who was allergic to garlic. Another brilliant idea shot to hell.
'Well,' I said, heaving a sigh, 'now we know what we're up against.'
'Ummm… say. Hot Stuff?' Massha said softly. 'All kidding aside. Aren't we a little overmatched on this one? I mean, Dark and Deadly here can hold up his end on the physical protection side, but I'm not sure my jewelry collection is going to be enough to cover us magically.'
'I appreciate the vote of confidence,' Guido smiled sadly, 'but I'm not sure my hardware is going to do us a lick of good against vampires. With the Boss out of action on the magic side…'
'Don't count me out so fast. My magic may not be at full power, but I can still pull off a trick or two if things really get rough.'
Massha frowned. 'But the force lines…'
'There's one little item I've omitted from your lessons so far, apprentice,' I said with a smug little grin. 'It hasn't really been necessary what with the energy so plentiful on Deva… as a matter of fact, I've kind of gotten out of the habit myself. Anyway, what it boils down to is that you don't always tap into a force line to work magic. You can store the energy internally like a battery so that it's there when you need it. While we've been talking, I've been charging up, so I can provide a bit of magical cover as needed. Now, I won't be able to do anything prolonged like a constant disguise spell, and what I've got I'll want to use carefully because it'll take a while to recharge after each use, but we won't be relying on your jewelry completely.'
I had expected a certain amount of excitement from the staff when they found out I wasn't totally helpless. Instead, they looked uncomfortable. They exchanged glances, then looked at the sky, then at the ground.
'Ummm… does this mean we're going on?' Guido said at last.
'That's right,' I said, lips tight. 'In fact, I probably would have gone on even if my powers were completely
