The Adventures of Emily Tual Book One
Chapter Nineteen

Outside the secret meeting place, Bastet was waiting. She wasn’t alone. There were quite a few cats around her. She had summoned them shortly after getting a text message from Agent Simmons. Apparently the man with the German accent was hunting her down and she had a feeling that Agent Simmons and his few agents were planning to betray her. Agent Simmons, as tough as he liked to pretend to be, was really a coward whose allegiance was with whoever he felt like he would benefit from. He had only gone to her to get revenge on the Man with the German Accent like she wanted as well but there was no telling what he would do after the Chosen One was dead.

She saw a black sedan pull up to the warehouse. She looked at her cats and hissed. The cats quickly scurried into hiding places. She didn’t want Agent Simmons to know about the army she had gathered in case he did betray her. The driver’s door opened and Agent Simmons got out. “You got my text message?” He asked her.

Bastet nodded. “How long do you think we have before his Black Hands show up?” She asked.

Agent Simmons shook his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t tell him where the safe house was but it won’t be long until he finds our location. I bet he’s using a scrying spell right now to try to find us.”

Bastet looked at the warehouse. “Are you sure he won’t be able to scry us here?” She asked.

Agent Simmons nodded. “My master said that it’s warded against that kind of magic.” He told her.

Bastet looked at him curiously. “Your master?” She asked. She had a feeling that he wasn’t referring to the Man with the German Accent or the Darkness. So who did Agent Simmons work for? Was it this “master” that ordered him to work with her? What else did his master want him to do?

Agent Simmons smiled and looked at her. “Yes. You really think that that German idiot is the only powerful one in the Black Hands?” He laughed and looked at his sedan. “My master is quite powerful.” He said. “Maybe one of these days you’ll get the chance to meet him.”

Bastet doubted that but she didn’t say anything. If everything went the way she planned it, Agent Simmons and his men would be dead if they tried to betray her and she would appear somewhere else with documents that said she had been elsewhere the whole time. She still planned to be somewhere else in the country by the time the man with the German accent found the dead child just so she could stay alive. If Agent Simmons and his men didn’t betray her, they’d be at a stalemate because they could both prove that each other had been there when the Chosen One had been killed with a simple memory spell.

The shotgun door and the back doors opened to the sedan. Three Black Hands came out. One of them reached back into the car and pulled Emily’s unconscious body out. He slung her over his shoulder and carried her over. Bastet looked at Agent Simmons. “I thought you were bringing her here alive?” She asked.

Agent Simmons nodded. “She is.” He answered. “She’s just unconscious.” He turned to Bastet. “Don’t tell me that the Black Hand who had tried to have her killed twice now would be growing a conscious.” He said.

Bastet hissed. “Never! I want the Chosen One dead so I can get revenge on him!”

Agent Simmons smiled wickedly. “Excellent.” He said. “Now let’s get to work. We don’t have much time before one of his Black Hands just so happens to stumble upon this place by dumb luck.” He led them into the warehouse. The minute he closed the door, symbols appeared all over the building.

At the hospital, James groaned as he woke up. He looked around. He was strapped into a hospital bed. His eyes widened as he remembered what had happened. He quickly removed the straps and got out of the bed. He ran to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. He looked through the window in the door. He couldn’t see anyone in the hallway. It sounded like there was a commotion though in the distance. He had a feeling that he knew why too. No doubt Emily’s disappearance had gotten a lot of attention, especially since she had been kidnapped just a few days before this one.

James closed his eyes and focused on Gabriel and Jasper. They needed to be alerted to the situation. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious but it didn’t matter. Especially if those men in black suits had used magic to whisk her away quickly. He couldn’t get their attention. When he tried to reach them, he hit what felt like a force field around him. He opened his eyes. Of course those Black Hands would have put him in a magical trap. He looked around the room to see if there was something he could use to break out. Not seeing anything that could do the job and move; he started hitting the door’s window. If he could just break it, he could unlock the door and hopefully be able to use his magic.

Down in the waiting room, the police were interviewing everyone. The nurse who had been behind the receptionist desk was being interviewed in a backroom by a few different officers. The last Rachel had seen of her, she wasn’t exactly being cooperative. She kept insisting that she couldn’t say anything because of the F.B.I. agents saying that their superiors in D.C. had told her to keep their mission a secret and that it had to do with the kidnappers who had taken Emily. She said that she couldn’t give the names or it would put Emily in danger and she didn’t know where they were taking her.

Rachel looked at her dad and her aunt. Aunt Anne had shown up a few minutes ago and was talking to Mr. Tual. Mr. Tual was trying very hard to keep calm but Rachel could hear his voice and he was clearly angry about what was going on. The police were all around the place and Rachel knew there were more police in the hospital on other floors and in the parking garage. Rachel seriously doubted that the agents had parked in the garage or were even there still. She had no idea where they were. She had seen a few police officers outside by the police cars looking at a map of Ohio. It sounded like they had made a large circle around the hospital that, it was hard for her to understand this part, measured the distance they would be by now and it kept growing.

Elizabeth and Delaney joined her. “Any updates from the officers outside?” Delaney asked Rachel.

Rachel shook her head. “Just that the circle that shows how far they could be is getting bigger but they don’t know where the agents have taken her. It sounds like they’re talking to other police stations in the possible areas but that still leaves a lot up to chance.” Rachel looked down. “Any word from the officers talking to that nurse?” She asked.

Elizabeth sat next to her. “The police aren’t letting anyone near that room.” She told her little cousin. “You would think the old going to the vending machine to eavesdrop would work.” She gave Rachel a soda can. “All it did for us was get us a few drinks and snacks.”

Rachel shrugged. “You tried at least.” She looked at the police outside by the cars. “Where do you think this safe house is that that nurse kept talking about?” She asked.

Delaney thought about it. “I don’t know but it could be anywhere.” She looked at the hood of the one police car. The officers were around it. She had a feeling that the map was there.

“Agent Simmons is obviously the agent with Emily.” Elizabeth said. “It has to be why he and the other agents aren’t here.”

A police officer at that moment was walking by. He heard Elizabeth and turned to them. “Actually Agent Simmons and his team went back to D.C. last night.” He told them. “When we called the F.B.I. to see where those agents were, the person we spoke to saw them. When we asked for proof, we got a text message with their picture.” He shook his head. “So whoever these guys are, they’re not the agents we started with. They might not even be agents but the nurse insisted they were. They had a document from D.C. that stated they were to take her to safety.” He then walked away, mumbling something.

That news sank in. Rachel watched the officer walking away. “What if they’re not agents?” She asked.

Delaney frowned. “But they had a federal paper.” She reminded Rachel. “Who else could they be if they had that type of paper?”

Rachel thought about it. “I don’t know but if that’s true, the police here might never find her.” She looked down and shook her head. “Where could Emily be?”

In his prison room, James shook his head as he backed from the door. He hadn’t managed to smash the window over the doorknob. He should have realized it would be stupid to try that. Unless police broke down the door or SWAT did or even a psycho, the door wasn’t going anywhere. He looked at the window. He wondered if he would be able to get out that way. He went to the window and opened it. He smiled. Leave it to the Black Hands to forget something like a window. He then frowned. He forgot that he was on the third floor. He saw several police cars around the entrance and police walking all around. The only reason why they would be there was because of Emily.

James closed his eyes and focused on Gabriel and Jasper. He had to tell them what had happened. He hoped now that since the window was opened, whatever spell was keeping him from getting in touch with Gabriel and Jasper was broken. He needed to get to them. That would be better. He focused hard enough and disappeared.

Jasper and Gabriel were talking when James appeared. They both turned to him. “Shouldn’t you be at the hospital watching Emily?” Jasper asked.

James nodded. “I should be but that’s why I’m here.” He looked at Gabriel. “She’s been taken captive by the Black Hand.” He told Gabriel. “There were four of them and one of them was very skilled when it came to magic. He stunned me even though I was invisible.”

Jasper looked at Gabriel as well. “What are we going to do now?” He asked. “We need to get Emily back before they kill her.”

Gabriel nodded. “I know Jasper.” He said. “But I don’t think that everyone in the Black Hand is behind this.” He looked at James and his eyes narrowed. “You said four Black Hands and that one was skilled enough to see that you were invisible?”

James nodded. “I used the best invisibility spell that I know of and he was still able to see me.”

Gabriel nodded. “I have a feeling that whoever it was didn’t use magic.” He said.

Jasper and James both frowned. “Who could it have been then?” Jasper asked.

Gabriel looked at him. “A Black Hand whose family has had the ability to see that which is invisible.” He answered. “One of the remaining Seekers.”

James thought back to the four men. “One of them, I’m guessing it was the Seeker, acted like he didn’t see me before I fell unconscious.” He said. “I’m pretty sure that it was their leader.”

Gabriel nodded. “Seekers are members of the Black Hand but they’re not entirely aligned with them. Usually they’re stuck in the Seventh Circle here in the states and kept in the lowest branches worldwide. My guess is that this one is keeping his power secret from the rest of the Black Hands if he had been sent to deal with the Chosen One.” That did make sense to both Jasper and James. There was no way that any Black Hand in the lowest branch or Circle would be given that mission.

“So you think that he’s working on his own? Sort of as starting a rebellion in the Black Hand?” Jasper asked Gabriel. Why would they risk it after all of this time?

Gabriel nodded. “No doubt He ordered the others not to try anything reckless now that they’ve found the Chosen One and this Seeker and a few have decided to go rogue.” They all knew that by “He”, Gabriel meant the Man with the German Accent.

James shook his head. “But won’t they try to kill her?” He asked. Why kidnap the Chosen One if not to kill her?

Gabriel shook his head. “More likely they’ll hold her prisoner for now. They kill her now and they’ll have no leverage against Him. It makes more to hold her hostage to get more power in the Black Hand.”

He stood up. “Either way. We need to get her away from the Seeker.” He said firmly. “The Seekers are some of the most dangerous Black Hands. If this one has her prisoner, you can bet he’s more ruthless than the others and that places the chosen one in more danger.”

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