The Wizard Returns: Book Three of the Wizard Born Series (48 page)

Her face beamed and she clapped her hands as she answered, “Oh yes! We spent more than that on my clunker last month just trying to keep it running.”

The last reservations Jamie had about parting with the Buick evaporated when he saw how happy Melanie was.

“I’m glad that’s settled,” Evelyn said. “We need to go to bed soon. Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”

* * *

On Sunday morning, Rachel stood anxiously in her family room with the other parents, waiting for their kids to come home.

“What’s taking so long?” Lisa turned and glanced at the computer against the wall, but the monitor was blank. “Darn, I forgot they packed up the laptop. We can’t see them.”

Just then, a glowing line appeared in midair, fashioning into the shape of a doorway. When it was completed, it swung open and Jamie stepped through, carrying his suitcase.

“There you are!” Rachel put her arms around him, and he hugged her awkwardly with his free arm.

“Mom, we’re in the way.”

They stepped aside and Bryce and Melanie followed, carrying their own luggage.

Fred came next and submitted to her mother and father’s greeting, and Rollie came last. He dropped his suitcase on the floor and gave his mother a warm embrace. “Mom, you skipping church?”

“I went early.”

“With Dad?” She shook her head and Rollie’s mouth pressed tight, but only for a moment. “We could use some help, you know.”

Carl and Larry started to walk into the doorway, but had to wait when a scrawny brown-haired boy came cautiously through, eyes wide, carrying some pillows.

“You must be Aiven!” Lisa said, and he was immediately swarmed by the mothers. Aiven endured it briefly before glancing around desperately for help.

“Don’t smother him,” Jamie said, “We’ll have time for that in a few minutes. Let’s move our stuff, first.”

Rachel followed Carl and Larry through the doorway into the main room of the stone house, where she found Evelyn talking to Mrs. Tully and Brinna. “Rachel,” Evelyn said, “I was just telling them how much we’re going to miss them.”

“I feel the same way,” Rachel said. “It seems like I know you so well, even though I’ve really only gotten to see you through the laptop’s camera.”

“I think they’re ready to be rid of us so they can get things back to normal.”

“’Twon’t be the same, Mrs. Wallace,” Mrs. Tully said. “I fear it shall be too quiet now.”

“But you’ve got Aiven to keep you company,” Rachel said.

“To cause me grief and aggravation, you should say,” Mrs. Tully grumbled, but she didn’t sound like she meant it. “Where is he?”

“He’s in my house,” Rachel said.

Carl walked past them carrying an ice chest. “Rachel, there’s still plenty of stuff.”

Rachel excused herself, picked up a cardboard box, and joined the parade filing in and out of the doorway, lugging boxes and suitcases like a stream of ants, until finally, the stone house was empty of the kids’ belongings, and Rachel’s family room was cluttered with stuff.

“Is that it?” Jamie surveyed the chaos in his house. Aiven stood nearby, and his lip began to tremble. He threw his arms around Jamie’s waist and buried his face in Jamie’s side, then his shoulders began to shake while Jamie patted him on the back. “What’s the matter, Aiven?”

“You’re going away!” he sobbed.

“It’s not like it’s forever. You’ll see me real soon...all of us.”

“Right, dude,” Rollie said. “You can’t get rid of us that easy. Somebody’s gotta teach you how to catch, right?”

“Jamie, why don’t you give him a book?” Evelyn said.

“Good idea. You want to borrow one of my Walter the Littlest Wizard books?”

Aiven sniffed and nodded.

“Come on.” Jamie grabbed him by the arm. “They’re upstairs.”

Rachel scanned the room for Mrs. Tully’s daughter. “Has anyone seen Brinna?”

“She’s in the other house,” Bryce said.

Rachel found her in the main room near the fireplace, arms crossed, hands gripping her elbows, staring out of the front windows. “Brinna, I’ve been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you before Jamie closes the doorway.” Brinna turned briefly when Rachel neared. The young woman’s eyes were glistening and her expression was bleak.

“What’s the matter?”

Brinna faced the window again and took a halting breath through her nose. “I feel like a fool.”

“Why?”

She seemed hesitant to answer, and continued to stare at nothing.

“If it’s personal, I’ll understand.”

Brinna glanced at the floor before looking at Rachel. “Because I...I’ve allowed myself to fall for a man that I have no chance of ever being with.” She sniffed twice, and closed her eyes for a moment. “I knew it all along, too. That’s why I am a fool.”

“Don’t say that! If you and John Paul want to be together, then we’ll find a way. That’s a minor problem compared to some of the other ones we’ve had to deal with.”

Brinna didn’t answer. Rachel put her arm around Brinna’s shoulders and nodded. “Let us take care of the demon first, then we’ll take care of you. I promise.”

“Will you?”

“Certainly. Trust me. You’ll see.”

Chapter 38

Jamie found an ideal place to trap the demon, on a deserted stretch of the Appalachian Trail, and he quickly made a doorway back to his house so Fred and Rollie could join him there. Rachel and Carl stayed behind, Rachel pacing the floor with a fingernail between her teeth, and Carl standing stiffly with arms crossed.

Jamie and his friends hurried through the portal from Jamie’s family room, and Rollie said, “Your dad was mad at you, Jamie. Fred had to
really
lay on the charm to cool him off while we waited for you come back to get us.”

“I knew he would be,” Jamie said, closing the doorway behind them, “but I couldn’t keep him safe if he came with us. I should’ve brought him with me to scout this place out. That would’ve made him feel better.”

Fred surveyed the wooded scene. She carried a coiled rope in one hand and Carl’s Nikon binoculars hung from her neck. “So this is it?”

“I thought this was a good spot,” Jamie said. They stood on a dirt path that ran adjacent to a ravine. “It’s got an unobstructed view of the trail for a good long way, maybe three hundred yards, so we can see the demon coming.” He pointed toward a far ridge. “I spotted him about two miles that way, eating a deer or something.”

Jamie pressed his mouth tight and turned to Rollie. “It’s not too late to change your mind. You don’t have to do this, you know.”

“Yeah, I do.” Rollie gave his head a cocky shake. “I’m the man for the job.”

“Sure I can’t talk you out of it?”

Rollie shook his head again.

Jamie locked eyes with Rollie for several seconds, neither of them blinking, Rollie not backing down. Jamie was the first to look away. “All right,” Jamie said with a sigh. “When you find the demon, try to make him really mad so he won’t think to use his power.”

“You never told us what powers he has,” Rollie said.

“I’m not sure what they are. I think they’re different from mine, but I’m not sure in what way. But I know for certain that he’s immune to my magic, and Fred’s too, and that’s why we can’t fight him.” Jamie inhaled slowly. “That’s why we have to lure him straight into the doorway. We only get one shot. If we screw this up, the demon will never fall for this trick again.”

“If we screw this up,” Rollie said, “we’ll probably be dead.”

Jamie winced and cleared his throat. “Right.”

Fred looked back and forth from Jamie to Rollie. “Can either of you think of
anything
else we should know before we start? It’s not like a basketball game, where we can call timeout if things aren’t going according to plan.”

Rollie shrugged, and Jamie said, “Rollie, if the demon doesn’t go through the doorway for some reason, then you should keep running down the trail as fast as and as far as you can. I’ll fetch Fred out of the tree and catch up to you, and then I’ll make a doorway back to my house. Just make sure you put plenty of distance between you and the demon.”

“Rollie?” Fred said, “are you absolutely sure you can outrun the demon? I mean, do you —”

“Yes! For the twenty-seventh time. Unless he can run a hundred and twenty miles an hour. Do you think he can go that fast, Jamie?”

“No. Just don’t trip over a root or something.”

“Don’t worry. I’m agile as a cat.” Rollie’s flashed a confident grin, but Jamie knew it was forced.

None of us are too sure about this right now
.

They all looked at each other silently for a long moment, until Fred drew a deep breath and said, “I think we should do the chant to give us extra mojo.”

Jamie held his hand out and the others laid theirs on top of it.

“
We’re the Crew
,

We can’t be beat
,

Everybody smell our feet!
”

Their hands glowed brightly and Jamie felt the familiar tingle, only it was stronger, it seemed, flowing all the way up his arm and into his chest, filling him with warmth before fading away.

Fred nodded. “That demon doesn’t stand a chance, now.” She tilted her head back and looked almost straight up. “Is that the tree I’m gonna be in?”

“Yep,” Jamie said. “From up there, you can see all the way to the next ridge, so you can let me know when the demon’s coming.”

“Okay. Let’s get this over with.” She held out her hand for Jamie, and when he took it, they floated from the ground. They rose higher, until they were near the top of the tall pine tree. He guided her to a sturdy branch and settled her onto it carefully.

“Whoa,” Fred said, her eyes wide. “This is
high
.”

“Gotta be able to see Rollie and the demon from way off.” Jamie looped the rope around her waist and tied the other end firmly to the trunk. “There. You should be safe. I’ll use my magic hearing so you don’t have to shout. And don’t make any noise at all when the demon gets near, okay? Don’t draw any attention to yourself. That’s why I told you not to wear any perfume or deodorant, so it’ll make it harder for him to smell you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be quiet as a mouse once he shows up.” Jamie started to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “Kiss for good luck?” He gave her a quick smack on the lips and looked deeply into her green eyes, a dozen things suddenly running through his mind that he wanted to tell her, but he only said that he loved her, and floated down to the ground near Rollie.

“Want me to fly you closer to the demon?” Jamie said.

Rollie shook his head. “You need to stay here and protect Fred. I’ll run there.” He started jogging up the path, and Jamie felt a sinking feeling growing in his stomach, and as he watched Rollie go, it began twisting into a knot.

Jamie called after him, “Remember, don’t run through the doorway. The poisonous gasses on the other side will burn your lungs out.” Rollie waved over his shoulder without looking back.

Boy, this could be a big mistake
, but Jamie knew of no other way to get rid of the demon. Rollie was going to risk his life to lure the beast toward Jamie, and then Jamie would make a portal to an uninhabited world where he hoped to trap the awful creature. That was the only plan they had. It seemed like a weak one, all of a sudden.

Rollie seemed to grow smaller as he trotted away, and the tension in Jamie’s gut grew stronger. Rollie crested the rise and began disappearing over the other side, his head the last to vanish.
What if that’s the last time I ever see him?
Jamie felt a lump form in his throat and tried to swallow.
My best friend
.
He could die a horrible death, and it would be my fault. He wouldn’t be doing this if we’d never met
.

“Fred?”

She only sniffed in response. Jamie looked up to see her wipe her eyes with the back of her hand.

He’s her best friend, too
.

Jamie outlined an extra-large glowing doorway that straddled the path, then pushed it open and stepped back quickly. The world beyond was obscured by thick, swirling vapors, gray and green, but they weren’t flowing outward.
Melanie was right. The higher atmospheric pressure here is keeping them backed up
.

Jamie walked a few yards away and raised his invisibility shield, then waited, holding his breath and biting his lip. Jamie had a clear view of the path from where he stood, and he stared at it intently.

“I hate this,” he said quietly, almost to himself, and dug his fingernails into his palms so hard that they hurt. “Fred, what’s Rollie doing?”

“Still jogging down the trail.”

“Any sign of the demon?”

“Not yet.”

Jamie squeezed his mouth tight, eyes still focused on the rise where Rollie should soon reappear, followed by the demon.

“Jamie, it’s weird hearing your voice and not being able to see you. Your invisibility shield works really well.”

“It better. If the demon sees me, he might forget about Rollie and come after me. Or he might not go through the doorway at all.”

They grew silent and turned their attention back to the trail, but after a few moments Jamie said, “What’s Rollie doing?”

Fred put the binoculars to her face. “Still jogging. I’ll let you know when something happens.”

“I wish something would happen soon. I’m a nervous wreck.”

“You sound like it. Were you this nervous when Renn showed up at your house and tried to kill you?”

“No.” He paused while he considered it. “Come to think of it, I was pretty calm. I guess all my memories of Eddan’s battle experiences must’ve made the difference.”

“But Eddan didn’t have any experience fighting demons, did he?”

“No. Nobody ever has.”

“Except the wizard from that journal, and he died.”

“Don’t remind me.”

They settled back into watchful silence, but it didn’t last long. “How about now?”

“For gosh sakes, Jamie, you sound like a little kid.” She raised the binoculars again and peered off in the distance. “He’s still jogging...no...wait. He’s slowing down. Now he’s stopping.”

“Stopping? Why?”

“How should I know? Ummm...he’s looking off to his left....now he’s walking that way...he’s left the trail.”