Part 8 (1/2)

”Anything here?” Ramirez asked.

Aunt Julie shook her head. ”For now the U.S. is quiet. No chatter. I'm not sure we'll stay that way, but until we hear otherwise, we're needed more elsewhere. We'll leave protection of the home front to the National Guard.”

”I can find out if the U.S. will be attacked again soon,” Mamie told her. Her eyes were full of a cold malice, and seeing her this fearsome always unsettled me. Like outside on the Mall, she seemed other. Not Mamie, but something more, something untouchable and almost terrible. ”Ann will tell us.”

”You're sure?” The general asked.

He hadn't seen Mamie's interrogation, so you couldn't fault him for doubting. Uncle Mike answered for her. ”She's sure. In this area, Mamie knows far more than we will.”

”True story,” I said. ”But what about China? We need to find the shaman there, and we're still short two prime monsters. When are we going to search for them? We need answers, so we can kill off the Shadow Man and shut down the portal before more monsters find their way here. We can't forget that, even if we're in triage mode.”

”I think the primes will find us,” Jorge said quietly. ”But that's a good point about the shaman. Any word from Officer Archer?”

At his name, my entire family tensed up. Mike looked peevish again, Mom sighed, Mamie twirled a braid and Brent's hopeful expression made me feel really bad. He'd kill for the chance to roam around China with our old man, but that wasn't in the cards. Dad had gone over there to find the shaman while the rest of us were cooped up in D.C. thanks to Congress. I hadn't heard from him since, which both annoyed and worried me. It wasn't the first time he'd gone to ground, but after his visit home earlier this year, I'd hoped he would at least check in from time to time.

But, no. When Erik Archer was on the hunt, there wasn't much that could distract him. And people wondered where I got that trait.

”We haven't heard much from him,” Uncle Mike said. ”With the investigation going on, we agreed that he'd stay quiet in case someone was spying on our communications.”

Okay, maybe I should forgive Dad for not calling. ”But now that we're official, someone should go over there to help him, right?”

”And we will soon. But with this much activity, we need to hit the worst spots first,” Julie continued, looking pointedly at Will and me. ”We can't double up on wielders. We'd lose too much ground.”

They were splitting us up. As much as I hated the idea, it had to be done. ”Where are we going?”

”We'd like to send Cruessan to Taipei,” the general said. ”We've gathered some intel from China, but now that Parker's gone, we need a new man on the ground there, so after he takes care of Taiwan's problem, Cruessan can fly to Beijing and meet up with Officer Archer.”

I tried not to be jealous that Will was going instead of me. With the way my luck ran, I'd end up working with Dad soon enough. ”When you get over there, try to keep my old man out of trouble. Last time I was a.s.signed to him, he rushed a witch, armed only with a brick.”

”Sounds awesome,” Will said and he seemed to mean it.

”General, sir, I a.s.sume I'll be C.O. of this G.o.dforsaken adventure?” Johnson asked. ”Because Cruessan and Officer Archer together could be a lunatic partners.h.i.+p.”

”Hey,” Will said. ”I'll behave.”

”I have one word for that,” Uncle Mike said. ”Axe.”

I coughed to hide a laugh and Will shook his head in disgust. ”Don't know why everyone keeps bringing that up. It worked and the captain here borrowed the same technique not too long ago.”

”If I might interrupt,” Ramirez said, sounding tired of the jawing. ”Where am I headed?”

”Vancouver, and you'll be on call for the U.S. if the need arises. Jorge, if you're okay, how about you take Budapest?” When he nodded, Julie said, ”Okay, then I'll take Aberdeen and Matt can go to Marrakech.”

I was going to Morocco? Sweet! ”Finally! I've always wanted to go someplace cool. I drew the lucky card on that one.”

”Don't be so sure about that,” she said, smirking. ”That one's snakes, at least according to the report.”

I banged my head on the table three or four times. ”Dang it.”

”Oh, come on,” Will said. ”You get all the fun jobs.”

”Yeah, I wouldn't razz him too hard, Cruessan.” Uncle Mike flashed a sudden grin. ”The monsters in Taipei look like something out of a Guillermo Del Torro flick.”

I could see the gears turning in Will's head. He didn't know who Guillermo Del Torro was. ”He directed h.e.l.lboy and some other fever-dream creature features. What I think the colonel is saying is that your monsters can't even be cla.s.sified.”

He turned a pale shade of green. ”Great.”

”When do we leave?” I asked.

”Tomorrow afternoon,” Uncle Mike said. ”It takes a little time to set everything up with the local authorities. But we want everyone on the ground in two days.”

The logistical discussion went on for another half-hour, and Mamie grew really antsy by the end. She stared pointedly at the clock at the back of the room, before heaving a sigh.

”Daisy, by your reaction to all this, I a.s.sume you're ready to pay Ann a visit?” Uncle Mike asked.

”Too late,” Mamie murmured. ”If we'd gone first thing this morning, it might've worked, but now we'll have to wait.”

The general frowned at her. ”It's barely noon. We have plenty of time.”

All my sister did was sigh again.

Then Aunt Julie's phone rang. ”Captain Tannen. Go ahead.”

We all sat quiet as her eyes widened and darted in Mamie's direction. ”Really ... one-oh-four?... Do they know why?... Okay, we'll try tomorrow. Thank you.” Still staring a Mamie, she said, ”Ann became very ill this morning. The doctor is certain she didn't ingest something and she definitely isn't faking it. Nosebleeds, high fever, delirium. They don't even know if she's contagious.”

”She's not,” Jorge said. ”She's going through post-conjuring withdrawal.” When n.o.body seemed to get it, he shook his head. ”I've been through the same thing. When I bonded the spirits to the knives, I was ill for three days.”

”After Tink singed off your eyebrows?” I asked. She had come to ground with a huge jolt of power, knocking Jorge right off his feet-and unconscious.

One of my finer moments, she said, almost fondly. He forgave me later.

”Yes,” Jorge answered. ”But you feel the aftereffects too-all the wielders do. Headaches, nausea, dizzy spells, fainting-you cannot touch the divine without suffering the consequences.”

The divine. That was the first time he'd put it quite that way. Thinking of Tink as divine, rather than cosmic, was pretty unsettling.

”Jorge's eyebrows aside, can someone explain what's wrong with our witch?” General Richardson boomed.

Mamie stood, birdlike and fragile. She went to him and patted his arm, which made the general jump in surprise. ”The short version is that Ann was definitely the ringleader on the attack yesterday, based on how sick she is right now. It took a lot of power to raise that kind of havoc, and she's paying for it. She'll be well enough to question tomorrow morning.”

”Different question,” Brent said, staring at Mamie like she'd turned into a swan. ”How did you know the witch was sick before the phone call?”

She shrugged, like seeing across s.p.a.ce and time to gauge the health of another human being wasn't simply awesome.