Seventeen

I slept badly, every passing car or creaking wall startling me awake. At three in the morning, I came within two digits of calling home and telling my parents to take my brothers and get out of the house. The only thing that stopped me was knowing that they wouldn't do it. I lay on the bed, drifting in and out of unpleasant dreams, and watched the curtains turn light again with the approaching dawn. At no point in the night did I even move toward turning on my laptop.

Midian and Chogyi Jake had been pretty quiet after I told them about the fake Ex, but neither had given me any grief for being taken in, even briefly. We agreed that the three of us would use the word elephant someplace in the first sentence or two if we were ever communicating across the net, and Midian made a joke about policy being the surest evidence that something had already been fucked up.

The doorbell rang at eleven in the morning, and the sound knotted my guts. Midian, watching television with the captioning on and the sound off, rose from the couch. Chogyi Jake came in from the kitchen. The doorbell rang again.

"You want me to get my Luger?" Midian asked.

"You two get back out of sight," I said. Chogyi handed Midian a knife, nodded to me, and faded back into the kitchen. Midian stepped into the hallway where he couldn't be seen from the door. I put my hand on the knob, took a breath, let it out, and pulled the door open.

The courier had already given up, the little red station wagon pulling away from the curb. A gray cardboard box squatted on the red bricks. I picked it up, still half expecting it to be a trap. The report inside was eighty pages long, professionally bound, with nothing on it to indicate that it was meant for me or produced by my lawyer. Everything about it was plausibly deniable. I went to the dining room table and sat down. After a couple minutes, I told Midian I'd read him the good parts if he'd stop hovering over my shoulder.

Randolph Eustace Coin was born in Vienna in 1954, son of a grocer. His family moved to America in 1962, taking up residence in an ethnically homogenous enclave in New York City. He attended public school without any particular sign of excellence, though he was supposed to have been a pretty good clarinet player.

I looked up.

"How does Coin put a curse on you in seventeen eighty whatever it was if he's not born until the nineteen fifties?" I asked.

"He was in a different body at the time," Midian replied with a shrug. "It's not like your lawyer can track which flesh has who inside it."

"Ah," I said. "Right."

In late summer of 1972, Coin disappeared.

The Randolph Coin who emerged six years later was a different man. While seen socially with members of something called the Zen Theosophy, he'd never espoused any particular beliefs in public apart from a general support for public education and a concern about overpopulation. A footnote pointed out that while they come from similar teachings, the Zen Theosophists weren't directly associated with the Theosophical Society and accepted the teachings of Alice Bailey, which seemed to mean something to Midian, because he nodded when I said it.

Over the next two decades, Coin had appeared in the company of religious leaders, poets, cranks, and captains of industry and finance. A list of names was included, and I recognized about half. It was never clear how he made his money, though he was on the board of two political consultancies, an international aid foundation, and a scientific equipment supply company. As far as the world was concerned, Coin was one of those entrepreneurs whose lofty status made it hard to say what they really did. While he might have had some kooky friends, he himself was a man of no particular beliefs.

The report skipped a page.

The Invisible College was a fraternal society with its roots in the sixteenth century, when it was most closely associated with John Dee and the Rosicrucians. There had been some kind of violent schism within the College associated with World War II, but details were few and far between.

The membership role wasn't ever made public, but rumor put the group's size at between one hundred and six hundred people at any given time. It wasn't clear from the references to it whether it was a religious order, a scientific lobbying group, or an internationalist think tank. Other members had apparently included Aleister Crowley, Harry S. Truman, and Alan Turing.

"Turing?" Midian asked. "Go back. When was Coin born?"

"Nineteen fifty-four," I said.

"Yeah, but what day?"

I flipped back through the pages.

"June seventh," I said.

Midian chuckled. It was a low, wet sound.

"What?" I asked.

"Turing offed himself the same day," Midian said. "Probably just a coincidence. Keep going."

"There isn't much more in this section," I said.

"What's next?" Chogyi Jake asked.

I turned the page. The remainder of the report might as well have been printed on gold plate. It was perfect. Copies of Coin's movements for the last week, including his visits to the warehouse where we'd tried to kill him, his home address (which to judge from the footnotes was a very big secret), descriptions of his cars, photographs of his bodyguard. He was the big guy I'd seen with Coin at the warehouse that first time with Ex. The report ended with an estimated itinerary of his movements for the next week and a half and a footnote explaining that all predictions in the report needed to be considered approximate. The apologetic tone of the note made me wonder if they were used to an expectation of clairvoyance.

An appendix had copies of original documents, including notes from a doctor's visit last year. Coin had gastric reflux. Somehow that detail, with its sense of intimacy and vulnerability, reassured me the most. I felt like I was getting somewhere.

"Okay," I said. "So we know where he is. We have an idea where he's going to be. That's a start, right?"

"Would have been nice to have someone who knew a little more about riders digging into these assholes, but on the whole..." Midian said. "So, kid. What's your next move?"

HERE WERE the problems.

First, Coin knew we were out here, and that we wanted to kill him. The enemy was already on high alert. That was a bummer.

Second, the wards around the house were starting to fail. Chogyi Jake was doing his best, but even without his saying so, I could feel the air pressing in against the walls. Twice I'd half heard the sound of Coin's monstrous wings. And Chogyi was only wearing thinner. The longer we waited, the less hope we had.

Third, Coin had a lot of people-many of them with freaky supernatural powers-around to protect him. We'd managed to get around that last time by making our attack when everyone was tied up with the big nasty ritual. That part had worked, but the rest of the plan failed spectacularly.

Which brought me to the last issue: Coin had a bunch of freaky supernatural powers himself, and could probably only be killed with the two magic bullets that he'd already shrugged off once.

That last one looked like the worst, so I put off thinking about it and started at the beginning, looking for ways to misdirect the Invisible College. My first thoughts didn't go over all that well.

"Run away?" Midian said. "You're serious?"

"We can't do anything if he's got the whole city locked down," I said.

"You're remembering that the last time, it took maybe twenty minutes between when you broke the wards and the assassination squad showed up," Midian said.

"I've been out twice," I said. "The gun and the lawyer, remember? So far, nothing."

"Your protections don't apply to us," Chogyi Jake said.

"Ex went out."

"Ex has resources that may help him," Chogyi Jake said. "And...even then, we can't assume he's survived."

"Okay," I said. "So we don't run."

"We don't run," Chogyi Jake said. "You still can."

"So let's look at the second thing," I said. "Coin's minions."

"It would be a good idea to get rid of them," Midian agreed. "Either get Coin away from them or else spread 'em out thin enough that getting to the guy isn't like wading across the beach at Normandy."

"So how do we do that?" I asked.

Chogyi Jake's sudden laughter was rueful and warm.

"We run," he said. "When you're ready with whatever else there is to do, Midian and I draw off the Invisible College by stepping out of the house and heading directly away from wherever the real drama is taking place."

"Yeah, that's a good plan," Midian said, making it clear with his expression that he both agreed and thought we were doomed if that was our best strategy.

"But," I started, then let it trail away.

But I need you. But you'll get hurt. But I can't face him alone. There wasn't a way to finish that sentence that didn't seem weak. Yes, taking out Coin was up to me. No, it wasn't anyone else's job to make it easy. I'd tried the strategy where I relied on other people, and it had brought me here.

This was my job. I'd do it.

"Okay," I said. "So that's the start of a plan, right? You guys will draw off the Invisible College so I can get to Coin."

"Great," Midian said. "And then you can punch yourself in the face a few times to confuse him. Maybe break an arm. I mean, don't get me wrong, kid. I'll do what I have to do, but now you're down to a shitload of money, whatever cantrips we can teach you, and a couple of bullets. I'm not sure what that's going to get you. Odds-on bet is you still get your ass kicked."

"Let me think about it," I said.

I thought for two days and by Thursday came up with nothing. Every hour, the house pressed on me. We were hiding under our rock, and if I was in a little less trouble than Midian and Chogyi Jake, it was only a little. I didn't turn my laptop back on, not even to check e-mail or play solitaire.

I made one furtive trip to the grocery store, scuttling through the soup aisle with my qi pulled up to my eyes, looking for tattoos and danger so intently I had a hard time shopping. When I was home, I meditated with Chogyi Jake. I practiced some simple cantrips with Midian. Here was how to project your qi to intimidate people who didn't have any protection and why not to try it on people who did. Here was how to wrap yourself in qi as a protection. It felt more like a motivational speaker's affirmations than magic, but Chogyi and Midian assured me that there would be more advanced work that grew out of it. And even that wasn't enough to keep the close, hot summer air from bearing down on me.

At night, I lay in the darkness wondering where Ex was, whether he'd found someplace safe or gotten killed. I thought about Aubrey and my family and my former friends back at ASU.

I had to take Coin out. Ex couldn't help me. Eric couldn't help me. Midian and Chogyi Jake could only draw off as many of the Invisible College's wizards as would fall for their distraction. I could sneak into his mansion, except that I was pretty sure I couldn't. I could stand on the street and call him out, except he'd beat me. I could lure him into an ambush, except that as long as he had a few minions left to send in his place, he wouldn't come for the free cheese in any trap I could think of. The sheets knotted themselves around me as I shifted. The pillows grew hot and uncomfortable, each new configuration bringing only a few minutes' relief.

I crawled out of bed Friday morning to a blasting dawn. Light pressed in at the blinds like water spilling into a submarine. I sat on the edge of the mattress feeling sticky with old sweat, bored, frightened, and bored with being frightened. My stitches itched, but the wound in my side was mostly closed up, deep pink flesh fusing back into some semblance of normalcy. My knee was a mottled green and yellow, my body struggling to clean out the old blood, but it didn't hurt to move it anymore. I pulled on a bathrobe, put my hair back in a bun held in place by a couple pencils, and went out to the main room. Midian stood before the back window, looking out at the slowly browning grass of the yard.

"I can't do it," I said.

"Yeah, I know," he said, not looking back. "If the two of us weren't fucked six ways to Sunday, there'd be a chance. Taking someone out like this is at least a three-man job. Probably more."

"Maybe we could find some way to hide you guys? A ritual cleansing or something?"

"Then you've got no way to draw off the minions, and we're still screwed."

"Yeah," I said. "Where's Chow Yun Fat when you need him."

"Who?"

"Chow Yun Fat. You know. Hong Kong action film star. He was in The Replacement Killers and The Corruptor. And Hard-Boiled. That's the one where he had the gunfight while holding a baby. It was thoroughly over the top, but it was great."

"I thought you led a sheltered life. How'd you get into gun opera?"

"College," I said. "I had a boyfriend. Cary. He was into it, so I was too."

"Huh. Fair enough. So how does the baby figure in?"

"There's this cop and he's..."

Something in the back of my head fell in place with a click I could almost feel.

"And?" Midian said.

"Hang on a minute."

I went back to my room for the cell phone, my head suddenly feeling like champagne. I felt too nervous to go at it straight so I started by calling the hospital to check up on Aubrey. There was no change, and I was both relieved that he was all right and worried that he was still incapacitated. Then I called my lawyer and left a message with her receptionist, asking for any updated information about Coin's schedule in the next week or two. It was only after that that I went back through the list of incoming calls and found the number that Midian had reminded me of.

The voice-mail message was short, and Candace Dorn's voice was pleasant. I waited for the beep.

"Candace. Hey, this is Jayn¨¦ Heller? Look, I'm in a little trouble. I may be in pretty big trouble. I need to ask Aaron for a favor. Could you have him give me a call? Thanks."

I dropped the connection with a sense of excitement that bordered on dread. I had money, and a few cantrips, and two magical bullets.

And a cop. I had at least one cop. Maybe more, if he had friends he trusted.

And I wasn't finished yet.

I knew what I needed to do. The idea of calling Candace had opened up a whole new set of options, and no matter how much I hated them, I couldn't afford to leave any unexplored. It was to keep my friends alive. When I put it that way, my feelings didn't matter all that much.

It took me twenty minutes to find the number. I probably could have done it with two Google searches, but I still didn't want to boot up the computer. Eventually I got through directory assistance the old way, a computer with a vague East Coast accent patching me through. I listened to the ringing, my heart beating fast. I was hoping for more voice mail. It didn't work out.

"Hello?" a woman's voice said.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I swallowed down the knot in my throat.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" she said, preparing to hang up.

"Hi," I said. "You don't know me. My name's Jayn¨¦. Jayn¨¦ Heller. Eric Heller was my uncle. He died. Someone killed him, and...um...anyway. I need help. I need your help."

She didn't say anything.

"Aubrey's in trouble," I said. "He could die."

There was a moment's silence. I could hear her breathing. When she spoke again, her voice was grim.

"Where is he?"

"Denver," I said. "He's in the hospital."

"I'll be there tonight," his wife said.