Part 35 (2/2)
He managed to hold back a b.i.t.c.hy Glad you approve, long enough for Leah to continue talking.
”Ryne Cyratane,” she repeated, ”is not big on personal effort. It would be more like him to wait and use whatever was going to get through at the end regardless. This is bigger than we thought. He's really motivated.”
”Why?”
”How the h.e.l.l should I know?”
”Okay.” Good to know the time frame had been shortened-a half season of Convergence instead of the full twenty-two episodes-but from where Tony stood, that didn't make a lot of difference. He flattened against the soundstage's outer wall to give them room to get past. ”Can one of you get the sound-stage d...”
The soundstage door opened.
”... never mind.”
”h.e.l.lo, pretty lady!” Framed in the doorway, Mason smiled unctuously down at Leah. ”If you're here to watch me tape, we're done for the day, but I'd be happy to make the trip worth your while and sign a few photos. I have some in my dressing room...”
”She's not a fan, Mason,” Tony interrupted before Leah took him up on it. Not the signed photos but the other non-verbalized offer. ”She's a stuntwoman here to talk to Peter about the last episode.” ”Ah.” Red-gold brows drew in as he visibly retreated back out of s.e.xual hara.s.sment territory. Fans wanted his attention.
Coworkers weren't fans. ”Am I throwing you off the windmill?”
”Very likely.”
Gray eyes gleamed. ”I'm sure I'll enjoy having you in my arms.”
Ryne Cyratane flickered as she smiled up at Mason. ”You have no idea.”
”Leah! The stunt!”
”What st... oh. Right.” She reluctantly dialed it back and the Demonlord disappeared. ”It was nice meeting you, Mr. Reed.”
Dimples flashed. ”My mother loved you in StreetCred!”
Tony winced as Mason deflated. This was the first he'd ever seen Leah turn off a guy's interest as fast as she turned it on. Nothing like a reminder you used to be a network cop and now you're a syndicated vampire, he mused as Mason stepped into the hall and squeezed past his costar. With the soundstage open before him, he could move a little faster.
Too fast to catch just what Mason muttered to Lee that Lee denied so vehemently. Given the salacious tone to the muttering, and the source, it wasn't hard to fill in the blanks.
”I hear stuntwomen are very athletic and flexible.” Wink. Wink. Nudge. Nudge.
”I would never take advantage of a coworker, you cad!”
Great. His brain seemed to be lifting dialogue from Henry's books.
”What's the spell?” Leah demanded, catching up.
Tony listened to be sure Lee's footsteps were following behind them. ”I'm going to search for the power signatures of the weak spots. The spell should tell us not only where they are but how close they are to opening, so we'll know which ones to close first.
It's possible...” Not very likely, he admitted silently to himself, but possible. ”... that it'll also map out where the next few weak spots are going to be.”
”Predictive magic? Wow. You worked that out yourself?”
”Thanks for sounding so surprised.”
”No.” Hand against her heart. ”I'm impressed. You're taking charge.”
Hey, he was a hero. ”Yeah, I am.”
As they crossed to the chaise, Sorge left Jack's side with a wave and instructions to have a good weekend.
”What were you two talking about?” Leah demanded as Tony carefully laid the map on the floor.
Jack snorted. ”I have no idea.”
Somehow, staring down at the map lying flat made Tony intensely aware of how thin most people's versions of reality were. Most people believed that this was all there was. He kind of missed believing that. Dropping to his knees, he bent carefully and began to breathe on the paper.
Leah broke off explaining demonic acid rain to Jack to ask him what he was doing.
”The instructions say that the map must know the wizard. This was the least gross option.” He finished up by panting at Richmond and stood. ”Jack, could you...” His open laptop appeared at the edge of his peripheral vision. ”Thanks. Now everyone step back. I need to circle the map three times.”
”Shouldn't you be naked? What?” Leah protested as he turned. ”So nothing would happen; I still like to look.”
Jack waved a hand. ”Pa.s.s on the naked: public indecency. I'd be forced to use the cuffs.”
”Don't worry about the naked,” Tony snorted. ”I'll just be reading some words out loud while I walk. Long, complicated words so, once I start, no interruptions.”
”You don't go through this when you call things to you,” Lee reminded him. ”You just reach for things and they're there.”
He'd reached for Lee once.
”That's a good point.” Jack nodded an acknowledgment at the actor. ”What makes this different?”
”Do you play an instrument?” Tony asked him, grateful for the redirect.
”Yeah.”
”What?”
The RCMP Constable glanced over at Leah and Lee and dragged a hand back through his hair, fingering it up into pale spikes.
”Accordion.”
Much mutual blinkage.
”Okay,” Tony said quickly before Leah found her voice. ”You know how, when you were learning, you had to think about everything you were doing-right hand, left hand, bellows, melody, words, rhythm, and mostly, you had to wonder why you didn't learn a cool instrument? And then, after a s.h.i.+tload of practice, a song clicks and you could just play without thinking about the bits?
Come to Me is like that. It clicked. Other spells, I'm still figuring out as I go.”
Since that was as good a cue as any, he started his first circle. The words were not only long and complicated, but there were a s.h.i.+tload of them and he barely managed to get them all in. Third circle complete and the last few words crammed in tongue twister fast, he knelt by the edge of the map, breathed on his fingertips, and pressed them down on the edge of the ironed paper.
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