Playing with Fire

Cyrene shook her head, sniffing and wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand until I got up and got her a box of tissues. ‘‘He just said he was working for a dreadlord.’’

‘‘Dreadlord?’’ I frowned in thought. ‘‘That’s another name for a demon lord, isn’t it?’’

‘‘I don’t know. I think so.’’

‘‘It’s got to be Asmodeus,’’ I said, sliding that piece of the puzzle into place. ‘‘Magoth is always going on about how Asmodeus tries to beat him to all the good things. I bet you this blackmailer of yours works for Asmodeus, and he was sent to take the arcanum just like I was. Only he beat me to it. That doesn’t explain how he knew I was a doppelganger, though.’’

‘‘He said he saw you shadow walk.’’

‘‘Oh, great,’’ I said, my shoulders slumping. Only doppelgangers could shadow walk, and if this demon or whoever it was Asmodeus had hired to steal the arcanum saw me slipping out of the shadows, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to put two and two together. ‘‘I suppose he followed me back to the hotel?’’

‘‘Yes. That was the weekend I was in Chicago for the Wiccan festival. Evidently he saw us when we got together for dinner, and… well, you can guess the rest.’’

‘‘All too easily, yes.’’ My stomach was tight with anger.

Cyrene continued with obvious hesitation. ‘‘He said that he could use your services, and that if I didn’t get you to agree to do what he asked, he’d see to it that I went to mortal prison. Mayling, I don’t want to go to any prison, let alone a horrid mortal one!’’

I bit back the urge to tell her she should have thought of that before bombing the helicopters and ships, but I knew it wouldn’t do much good. Oh, it was true that Cyrene had stepped over the line-even naiads had to have limits-but it was my carelessness in being seen that escalated the situation from an annoyance to something potentially deadly.

‘‘Are you angry with me?’’ Cyrene asked a few minutes later in a soft little voice.

I clasped my arms around my knees, resting my chin on them. ‘‘No, I’m not angry. In a way, it’s kind of funny that I’m in so much demand. I wonder if the other doppelgangers get so many requests for their talents.’’

‘‘I don’t know. Could you ask them?’’ she said, seriously considering my question.

‘‘I haven’t ever talked to them, and I doubt if that’s a suitable reason to contact any of them,’’ I pointed out gently.

‘‘You don’t talk to them?’’

I shook my head.

‘‘I can’t believe you don’t ever talk to them. I’m always in contact with the other naiads.’’

I was well aware of the fact that the naiads, all forty-eight of them, had banded together in a sisterhood that resembled a sorority more than a collection of elemental spirits, but that was neither here nor there. ‘‘There are six doppelgangers in the world, Cy, and we’re spread out all over the place, so I’m afraid getting us together isn’t very likely. Back to the problem at hand-or one of them-what sort of a deadline did this blackmailer give you?’’

‘‘A week. That was three days ago.’’

‘‘Which gives us four days… hmm. I wonder if he knows about the connection to Mei Ling?’’

‘‘I don’t think so. He’d mention that if he did, wouldn’t he?’’ Her expression held a faint flush of hope.

I sighed again. ‘‘I suppose that’s one small blessing to be thankful for.’’

‘‘What are you going to do?’’ Cyrene asked, watching as I took out a small notebook and made a few notes about the blackmailer.

‘‘Nothing right now. I have to take care of this situation first, then we can decide what to do with your blackmailer. We have a little bit of time to figure out what we’ll do.’’

‘‘All right. I feel much better knowing you’re going to take care of things for me,’’ she said with a sincere smile.

‘‘Do you have the original letter he sent you?’’

She nodded. ‘‘It’s in my room.’’

‘‘If he doesn’t have any idea of who I really am, then I don’t think we have much to worry about. I’ll probably be able to fob him off one way or another. Bring me the letter, and I’ll take a look at it a little later. Right now we have to focus on the immediate task at hand. Did you call that holiday rental place for me?’’ I asked.

She perked up at the change of subject. Cyrene might be a trouble magnet, but she really did have a pure heart, and was quite happy at the thought of being of use to me. ‘‘Yes. They said the house is empty now, but people are expected in late tonight or tomorrow.’’

‘‘Hmm. We’ll have to go scout it out and see if the renters have arrived. Let’s hope not, because it’ll make life so much easier if we can use their gardens to get into Dr. Kostich’s.’’ I hoisted myself to my feet and rustled through my bag, pulling out what Cyrene called my cat burglar outfit-black pants, shoes, and shirt, topped with a leather bodice containing several inner pockets, and a small dagger that I wore at my ankle.

‘‘I still don’t see why you’re going to all this trouble when you could simply pop the quintessence thingie in the mail to Dr. Kostich,’’ Cyrene said as she plopped down on the bed.

I disappeared into the bathroom, one eye on the clock as I quickly changed clothes. ‘‘For one thing, I’d never mail something so valuable. You don’t seem to understand just how important quintessence is to alchemists-it’s the above and below.’’

‘‘Huh?’’

‘‘Everything. It’s everything to them, everything they strive for, everything they want to achieve, everything they want to know. It is the living thing that breathes life into all their processes. I didn’t actually think it existed until I saw it. Its importance demands that I replace it where I found it.’’

‘‘Pooh. I say let the mage go without it.’’

‘‘Cy, you don’t seem to understand-this isn’t just an ordinary mage. This is Dr. Kostich, the man who runs the entire L’au-dela. And let me tell you, there are a lot of other things I’d rather do than mess with the guy who leads the Otherworld.’’

‘‘He doesn’t rule naiads,’’ she said indignantly. ‘‘We’re elemental spirits!’’

‘‘And naiads are a part of the L’au-dela. Since Kostich heads up the committee that rules it, that means he has the power to affect even you.’’

‘‘Oh, how bad can he be? He’s a mage,’’ she said dismissively. ‘‘They’re all about arcane magic, and that doesn’t affect you or me.’’

I emerged from the bathroom, tucking my knife into its sheath before donning the leather bodice. ‘‘No, it doesn’t, but there’s something he can do that is very much a problem.’’

‘‘Oh? What?’’

‘‘He has thief takers after me now, Cy.’’

Her eyes opened wide.

I nodded at her look of horror. ‘‘Do you think the mysterious Mei Ling is going to remain so very mysterious with a couple of thief takers on her butt? They’ll track me down in less time than it takes you to get dressed unless I get Kostich to call them off.’’

‘‘I don’t quite see how you’re going to arrange that,’’ she said, frowning as I lay prone on the floor, reaching under the heavy oak dresser to find the small box I’d taped to its underside.

‘‘That’s the easy part. He’ll do anything to get the quintessence back, even calling off the thief takers. The hard part…’’ I got to my feet and tucked the precious invisible box away in my bodice. ‘‘The hard part is going to be getting to him. He’s sure to have tons of security after last night, and I can’t trust the quintessence to anyone but him. You know what you have to do?’’

‘‘I’m the distraction. I show up at the front door and attract everyone’s attention while you slip in the back via the garden connecting to the rental house next door. Then you find Dr. Kostich, give him back the thingie, and assumably have him call off the thief takers.’’ Her face was unhappy for a moment before a sunny smile broke through. ‘‘You need me, May. You really need my help.’’

I smiled back. ‘‘Kind of mind-boggling, isn’t it?’’

‘‘Unprecedented, but it won’t be the last time, you’ll see,’’ she promised, gathering up her things as I headed toward the door. ‘‘I’m taking a vow. This blackmail is the last time I will cause you any trouble. From here on out, things are going to change. I’ll be the best twin you ever had, see if I’m not!’’

It’s kind of scary how declarations of that sort come back to haunt you.