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  Morgan squeezed the trigger.

  Wyatt blinked to Morgan's position in the fraction of a second it took for the firing mechanism to engage—the kid truly was faster than a speeding bullet—and he knocked the rifle sideways, sending the rounds ripping into the ceiling.

  "Hey, those are the good guys!" Wyatt shouted. "Keep firing at the big, blue ugly things."

  Lucy sent a jet of flames at the remaining trolls, igniting their nasty, scaly hides. You would think being set on fire would have slowed them down. Instead they just started flailing around the room, shrieking in pain and outrage, swiping their claws in deadly arcs. Morgan's tidy, suburban house didn't stand a chance. The furniture and curtains were the first to burst into flames from the intense heat of the magic-created fire.

  "Guys," Wyatt yelled over the yowling trolls. "We need to leave, like now. When the fire hits that secret war room the house is toast."

  I couldn't agree more, but we couldn't leave until the trolls were all the way dead, not just mostly dead, because like Miracle Max said, "mostly dead is still slightly alive." And even slightly alive trolls could wreak havoc on this sleepy neighborhood. Elyse must have read my mind, because she rushed the two remaining trolls. Even though she was in her newly minted beast form it seemed a bit reckless, but I should have known better. Elyse pulled a flipping, Kung-Fu theater maneuver that sent her bouncing off one troll, its throat torn clean out, and straight into the other troll where she performed some insanely quick chops, jabs and swipes neatly disemboweling the last attacker, dropping it dead where it stood.

  "Damn," said Wyatt, impressed.

  Elyse and I shifted back to human form.

  "You're going to have teach me some of those moves," I said.

  "Um, guys . . . fire?" Maddie said, pointing at the back of the house that was now fully engulfed.

  "Would someone like to explain what the hell those things are?" asked Morgan, waving his gun around wildly. "And while you're at it, maybe explain the whole werewolf thing the two naked people just pulled off."

  "We'll explain everything," said Lucy. "But right now your house is kind of burning down and we need to get somewhere safe."

  I had been so focused on the trolls that I hadn't noticed the sirens until it was almost too late.

  "Um, I think I hear sirens?" asked Elyse.

  "Yep," I said. "It's either the fire department, Morgan's friends, or both. My money is on both."

  Lucy turned to Wyatt. "Can you get us to the theater?"

  "I got this," he said. "Everyone grab on and hold onto your butts."

  Maddie, Elyse and I clasped hands, and Maddie hooked a finger through one of Wyatt's belt loops.

  Lucy held a hand out for Morgan. "Please," she said.

  Morgan sighed, slung the rifle over his shoulder and took her hand. Lucy kept her eyes locked on Morgan, reaching her other hand out toward us. I grabbed it and Wyatt blinked us away.

  We were about twenty miles away from North Hollywood and our theater-safehouse-hideaway. With Wyatt's two hundred yard limit we would need to make several successive blinks before reaching our destination. In hindsight we probably should have warned Morgan. The poor guy started screaming after the first two blinks.

  During a super-blink, which is what Wyatt called multiple blinks that covered miles instead of feet or yards, the kid remained locked-in and focused. I once asked him how he always knew exactly where he was going to land when he blinked. He explained that Lucy had helped him develop a hyper-awareness of his surroundings, and when he traveled anywhere new he always paid attention to parks, large roofs, wide sidewalks—any clear spot really, where he could land safely after a blink.

  Wyatt's ability was also inexhaustible, which of course meant he travelled fast. With a distance of twenty miles to our destination it would take him over one hundred and seventy blinks, which he could cover in a matter of minutes. Even for those if us that had been through it before, it was a dizzying sensation—technically speaking, we weren't moving. However, only stopping in a particular spot for an instant before blinking again created one long blur of scenery.

  Morgan screamed the entire way.

  We finally came to an abrupt stop in the theater parking lot, and Morgan promptly dropped to his knees and vomited.

  "Oh man. Sorry, dude," said Wyatt.

  Lucy bent to help Morgan up, but he waved her away. He lurched to his feet, eyes wild, and turned slowly in a circle, taking in our new location which was clearly not his house or anywhere in Valencia. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. We gave him a moment—he'd earned it.

  Morgan opened his eyes and said, "Okay, I'm impressed.” He dipped his head in Wyatt’s direction. "But let's not do that again, anytime soon."

  Wyatt grinned. "You get used to it."

  "I'll take your word for it," said Morgan, and turned to Lucy. "Is this the old UA theater?"

  Lucy nodded. "It's one of the few things I could remember from back then—well, until recently that is. We should get out of the open and go inside."

  In the lobby Morgan gave a low whistle and turned slowly, a big boyish grin on his face.

  "It may not look like much now, but this was the place to be on a Saturday night back in the eighties," said Morgan. "Right here," he added, stepping onto a faded corner of carpet. "This spot, this is where the Ms. Pacman machine stood. I killed at that game. And over there," Morgan pointed to a spot by the old, battered candy counter, "That's where I had my first kiss."

  "Ooohh, was it with Lucy?" asked Maddie.

  Morgan grunted and his grin disappeared. Maddie's question seemed to pull him out of his childhood memories.

  "No, at least I don't think so. According to what's up here, I didn't even know Lucy in high school," said Morgan, pointing to his head.

  "You're partly right," said Lucy. "It wasn't me you kissed at the candy counter, it was Nancy Cramer. But I was the one who told you she liked you, and that you should make your move. I was standing right here by Ms. Pacman watching the show."

  Morgan nodded. "Nancy Cramer I definitely remember, she had great lips. And I vaguely recollect a girl named Lucy in the fifth grade." He turned to face the short mage. "Was that you?"

  Lucy nodded. "Yeah, that was me."

  "And you say we were friends and stayed friends?"

  "Best friends.”

  Morgan and Lucy stared at each other, her eyes beaming with affection, his muddled with confusion.

  "What'd you say, Morgan?" I asked. "Are you willing to try and remember?"

  "By letting you guys poke around in my head?" Morgan still sounded skeptical. He finally let out a big sigh. "I guess if you were going to kill me, you would have let the big blue monster-dogs eat me."

  "Trolls," said Wyatt.

  "What?"

  "Those things were trolls."

  Morgan chuckled. "Of course they were." He clapped his hands together. "Okay, let's do it. Should I lie down or something?"

  "We have one of the theaters set up with couches. It's not the Ritz, but it's more comfortable than the floor.” Lucy turned to lead the way.

  Elyse and I pulled on some of the clothes I kept stored here at the theater. Shifting related clothing issues had become a ridiculously large part of my life. Lucy had Morgan lay on the largest couch. With his feet out in front of him, and his back propped against one of the arms, Lucy had access to his head, and space to move around in.

  "Close your eyes and try to relax.” Lucy said. "It's important that you don't fight me."

  "Wait. Will I be able to feel you? Is this going to hurt?" Morgan said, worried.

  "It shouldn't hurt, but you may feel a slight pressure, kind of how your mouth feels after the dentist shoots you up with Novocain."

  Morgan didn't look convinced. Wyatt gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Maddie and Elyse smiled reassuringly, and I kept my face neutral knowing that, Lucy's assurances to the contrary, there was a very good chance it was going to hurt. Magic
was cool, but it could be a real bitch.

  Lucy placed her fingertips on the sides of Morgan's head. She closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. I switched on my sight to watch in the magic spectrum. Lucy's aura was powering up, the energy starting to pulse. She slowly focused the energy down her arms, through her hands and into her fingers.

  Here we go.

  The witch may very well kill him.

  Well, hello there. Where have you—wait, you think this might kill Morgan? I tensed, ready to pull Lucy away if I had to.

  All magic has the ability to kill.

  I relaxed a little.

  Well, yeah, magic is dangerous, but it's the intention of the user that keeps it in check.

  One simple spell and you now consider yourself an expert?

  No, not an expert, but I'm starting to understand that if you know it, then I know it. Correct?

  The boy begins to see—finally.

  Hey, you could have helped the process along by being a lot more forthcoming with the knowledge—

  A yelp of pain from Morgan broke up my internal dialogue. The dude looked horrible. Sweat poured from him and his eyes were twitching under their lids like a couple of bouncing Ping-Pong balls.

  I looked at Elyse, Maddie and Wyatt, and the concern on their faces mirrored my feelings. Lucy’s eyes were scrunched up tight, her jaw clenched, and her fingers were digging deeper into poor Morgan's skull by the second.

  "Hey, Lucy," I said. "Ease up."

  She either couldn't hear me or was choosing to ignore me. It didn't really matter which, she needed to stop what she was doing. I didn't want to cause any permanent damage to Morgan, but I needed to short-circuit the magic flowing out of Lucy. Watching closely in the magic spectrum, I reached out my hands and closed them around Lucy's wrist. The magic pouring into Morgan's head cut off instantly, but the energy, needing someplace to go, blew back onto Lucy's aura. She was flung backward and Elyse, utilizing full shifter speed, was able to catch her before she hit the ground.

  "Whoa," said Wyatt.

  Maddie rushed to Morgan's side, laying her hands gently on his chest. I could see the healing energy wash over him and his body relax.

  "What the hell?" Lucy shouted at me.

  "You were hurting him, bad," I said.

  "And you think jerking the magic out of him was the answer?"

  "I tried to get your attention, but you were in deep."

  "Lucy," said Wyatt calmly. "Orson's right, whatever you were doing wasn't working. It was like the opposite of working."

  Lucy knelt down next to Morgan, who still hadn't opened his eyes. I was starting to think he had passed out.

  "The memory cap is too strong, I've never experienced anything like it," said Lucy. "It was like someone booby-trapped it."

  "You mean like if you jostled it too hard it would go boom?" said Wyatt.

  "Yeah."

  "That was nothing like the dentist," Morgan mumbled.

  Lucy leaned forward and placed a hand on his forehead. "I'm so sorry, the magic used to modify your memories is much stronger than I imagined. Are you okay?"

  Morgan cracked open an eye. "I've been better, but I'll live. So, it's a no-go on the memories then?"

  "I think so," said Lucy.

  The sadness in Lucy's voice shocked me. She was one of the toughest people I knew, never letting her emotions get the better of her. It wasn't until that moment I realized that although Lucy wanted any help Morgan could provide in hunting down Marcus, what she really wanted even more was her friend back. Morgan was the one person she had a shared history with—he had known and loved her family. He also knew all the important stuff from her past, all those crazy things that happen to us in our teen years that help shape us into the adults we become.

  "I might have an idea," said Maddie. "Lucy, you say there's an equivalent of a bomb inside his brain?"

  Lucy nodded.

  "Well, what if I pour my magic into him, healing whatever damage might be done, as you're removing the memory cap?"

  "Uh, you want to do what now?" said Morgan, trying to sit up but slipping back onto the couch in a heap. "Okay, remind me not to try that again. But back to the crazy idea of the two of you doing your . . . magic thingy to me at the same time. I'm going to have to vote a hard no on that one."

  Lucy was smiling. "Maddie's magic is completely different from mine. I'm offense, she's defense. With her help, I think it will work. Morgan, we have to try."

  Morgan looked from Lucy to Maddie and back again. "You promise no pain this time?"

  "Absolutely," Lucy and Maddie said in unison.

  "I want what was taken from me," said Morgan. "Hey Red," he called out to Wyatt. "Is there anything to drink around here? I'll even settle for water."

  "You got it," said Wyatt, pulling a chilled bottle of water from the mini-fridge and handing it over.

  Morgan took a long swallow, settled back down on the couch and said, "Alright, abracadabra me."

  This time the magic spectrum lit up like the Disneyland Electric Light Parade. Between Maddie's healing and Lucy's memory-fixer whammy, the energy swirling around Morgan was a raging torrent. This time there was no sweating, or jaw clenching, or whimpers of pain. Morgan looked like he was napping.

  The magic flared almost bright as the noonday sun and then it was over. Lucy and Maddie sat back to give Morgan some space. Lucy anxiously chewed her bottom lip, waiting for Morgan to do or say something.

  Morgan's eyelids fluttered, and then opened slowly. He sat up, wiggled his fingers, swiveled his head and flexed his feet. "Everything seems to be in working order." His gaze slid to Lucy and he smiled. "Hey Lucy, do you still think George Michael is one of the sexiest men ever?"

  Elyse, Maddie and I all stared at each other, perplexed at Morgan's comment.

  Lucy, however, let out a whoop and with tears streaming from her eyes dove onto Morgan, pulling him into rib-creaking hug.

  "I don't get it," said Wyatt. "Who's George Michael?"

  Chapter Nine

  Lucy's elation was short-lived. Morgan began to twitch and jerk, his nervous system looking like it was going haywire. Maddie hit him with some heals, but they had no effect.

  "Orson, grab onto him, he's going to hurt himself," Lucy sobbed.

  I moved in quickly, pulling Morgan onto my lap, wrapping my arms around him in a reverse hug, trying to immobilize him. I realized that my ability to constrain Morgan's thrashing would have been impossible without my shifter strength. My assessment of his muscular, athletic build earlier in the evening had been spot-on, the guy was strong.

  And just as quickly as the convulsions started, they stopped. Morgan went limp in my arms.

  "Morgan, dude, are you alright?" I asked.

  I felt his body start to shudder again and I prepared for more violent spasms, but they never came because Morgan wasn't freaking out again, he was crying. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting, but this was a surprise.

  "Lucy," he cried out.

  "I'm here, I'm here," she said, taking his hands in hers.

  "Lucy, your family . . . he killed your family. I'm so sorry."

  I pulled my arms away and Morgan sank to the floor, sobbing on Lucy's shoulder.

  Lucy took his face in her hands, looking him in the eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You tried to warn me that night at the Hollywood house and I didn't listen. If anyone is to blame, it's me."

  "I tried to stop them, but they . . . all of them could do magic. I tried, I really did."

  "Morgan, I don't understand? Who could do magic?" Lucy asked, a different tremor suddenly in her voice.

  "Marcus and his coven."

  "You were there? At the Bel Air house?"

  "Yeah. I followed you, even after you told me to leave, I was just so worried."

  "You saw what they did to my parents?" Lucy asked.

  Morgan nodded.

  "That explains the nightmares," Wyatt whispered to me.

  I shushed him.


  "Morgan, did you see Jason . . . did they . . . was he killed too?"

  Morgan shook his head. "I'm not sure, it's all coming back, but it's all jumbled up. I remember Jason being there . . . I just can't remember if . . . uh-oh."

  Morgan swayed momentarily and then keeled over face-first onto the floor.

  "Maddie," Lucy yelled.

  Maddie crouched down and placed her hands on Morgan. "I think he just fainted. All of it coming back so quickly, it must be like a tidal wave hitting his brain. He should come around in a minute."

  "Lucy, you don't remember Morgan being there that night?" asked Elyse.

  Lucy shook her head. "I just remember blood and lots of powerful magic being tossed around. If he was there, I have no idea how he survived."

  "That's an easy one," said Wyatt. "He had the baddest-assed battle-mage I've ever met to protect him. Even if she didn't know it at the time."

  Lucy smiled at Wyatt and the kid grinned right back at her.

  Morgan's eyes popped open and he sat up. "I promise that passing out isn't a normal thing for me," he said, his embarrassment obvious.

  Wyatt snorted. "Dude, you just had more magic shot through your body than most people get in a lifetime, you're doing awesome."

  Morgan gave the kid a nod, before trying to stand.

  "Hey," said Maddie. "Take it easy, there's no rush."

  "I think better on my feet," said Morgan, using the couch as leverage. He made it to his feet and swayed for a moment, but he remained upright.

  Morgan held out his arms toward Lucy and she moved into his embrace. He pulled her in tight and the two of them stood there, eyes closed, clinging to one another as if afraid that the other might disappear again. They hadn't seen each other or spoken in decades, but the hug worked its own kind of magic and all the years apart melted away with each passing second. It was a very personal and intimate moment, and I was starting to feel like a pervy voyeur. I glanced at the girls and Wyatt. Elyse gave a slight shrug, Maddie and Wyatt both wiped at their eyes—the kid liked to talk tough but he was a big softy. I was about to gesture to the other three that we should give the two old friends some privacy, when Morgan loosened his hold and took a step backward.