Reader Believes

Chapter 37

            Rika leaned against the brick of the building behind her, a smile on her face and her eyes on Hugh. He finished up his story, forced to raise his voice as another truck lumbered by. It was only when Vincent began speaking that Rika felt Noriko stiffen beside her.

            While she wanted to just jerk around to stare at the other girl, Rika knew better. She wasn’t going to blow their whole operation. Instead she casually turned towards Noriko and leaned in slightly, like she was asking her opinion on something. “Which one?”

            Her voice just as low as Rika’s, Noriko said, “The woman with curly hair in the green shirt.”

            Rika nodded and turned to Anabelle who stood on the other side of her. “Did you hear that?”

            The artificial blonde nodded, eyes already locked onto their target. “I’ve got her. How far ahead do you want me to let her get?”

            “At least a few dozen metres, if you can keep her in sight that way. The last thing we want is her to find out we’re following her.”

            Anabelle grinned. “She’d have to get over two hundred metres away before I’d be worried about losing her. And that would only happen if she hid behind someone or whatever. My eyes are good.”

            “Then wait until she’s past that fire hydrant up there,” Rika said, nodding at the bright yellow object just identifiable from where they stood.

            “Aye, aye, Captain.”

            Only minutes later, the five of them ambled off. Rika had them keep their pace slow and continue talking, as if they were heading somewhere because they were bored. Rika let Hugh and Vincent do most of the talking, while Noriko and her added the occasional comment. Anabelle remained silent, her attention focused on keeping Jerrie Gallagher in sight.

            Rika glanced around as they drew even with the hydrant, noticing the apartment buildings and tiny park that lay to either side of the road. Ahead, she couldn’t even see their target anymore, but Anabelle walked forward, her eyes steady, so Rika wasn’t worried.

            The farther down the street they got, the more cars and graffiti appeared. Over the dark brick buildings that seemed to populate the area, Rika could see the CN Tower stabbing up into the sky, silhouetted against the blue and white of the partially sunny day. The street they were on ended as it ran into one far busier, filled with cars, streetcars, and trucks. Worse, there were far more pedestrians, forcing them to close together to avoid being separated.

            With Anabelle in the lead and Rika just behind, they continued their pursuit, though with far more care now that they were surrounded by people. The conversation between Hugh and Vincent became strained, and Rika took over. She nodded at the nearest store window, and said to Noriko, “I like that jacket. It’s cute.”

            Noriko stared at Rika before she swallowed and managed a smile. “Yeah, I like it too. There are a lot of good stores around here.”

            Vincent, taking his cues from them, rolled his eyes. “God, we are not stopping everywhere so you girls can shop.”

            Hugh shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

            “You’ve clearly never been shopping with them.”

            “Like you’re any better when you buy video games,” Rika shot back, using the movement to scan the people nearby. So far, no one was paying any attention to them.

            Anabelle stopped just in front of a sushi place and turned to Rika. “She’s turned down an alley,” she whispered, half an eye on the people dodging around them.

            “Then let’s get across from it and see what we’re dealing with,” Rika replied just as quietly. In a normal volume she said, “C’mon guys, let’s get going. We don’t want to be late.”

            The others faked grumbles and followed her and Anabelle further down the street. The Sight mage slowed as they drew level with the alley that lay across the street. She nodded towards it. Rika turned and frowned, not seeing any sign of Gerrie. She glanced at the others, all crowded around her, and shrugged. They’d come this far. She’d hate to have to go back empty-handed, especially after the amount of persuasion she’d had to use to get Ahisu to stay home. She looked around again, but saw no flash of scarlet. Not that that was conclusive. She knew Shetton, under Ahisu’s orders, was somewhere nearby.

            As soon as a gap in the traffic presented itself, Rika led the way across. As they entered the alley, they found that it was just big enough for a car to go through, the sides of the buildings that made it covered in a rainbow of graffiti that ranged from names, to insane artwork that Rika guessed had taken hours.

            Anabelle stared straight ahead, while Rika kept glancing around. Most of what was there were the backs of buildings, fire escapes, and fenced in lots. Hardly the kind of place she normally walked. All pretense of talking had been given up as all of them remained on high alert.

            They emerged onto the next street over, blinking in the sudden sunlight caused both by their escaping the overshadowed alley and because a cloud had just freed the sun from its fluffy embrace. Anabelle nodded at the smallest of the buildings facing them, the one that seemed like it was huddled against the ten story glass tower beside it. “She went in there.”

            Rika nodded and studied the short, squat brick building. It was hardly what she’d pictured when she’d first come up with the plan. Still, nondescript was better if you were trying to keep yourself a secret.

            There were a few people walking by, but no one was really paying them any attention. “Alright,” she said, turning to the others. “We’ll walk over there and you, Vincent, can see what you can hear. I might try my hand at it as well. Any information we can get will be-”

            “No, mistress,” came the voice from behind her.

            The other four jumped and looked around, while Rika turned to stare at the red creature who lounged against the building, his yellow eyes on her. “What do you mean, Shay?”

            “You’re not to go over there. Master made his orders to me very clear. No harm or potential harm is to come to you on this mission. You are not to draw attention to yourselves. The whole of that building and the area around it is soaked in alarm spells of different types. Anything with magic that gets close…well, at best they would know you were there. At worst, even I might have difficulty getting you free.”

            Rika frowned. “How do you know all this?”

            He smiled. “I’m a demon. We can see magic. And I should warn you, master said that I’m allowed to use force should you try anyways. Against all of you. So please, don’t bother trying.”

            Her lower lip jutted out slightly, but Rika only sighed. “Alright then,” she said to the others who were still clearly nervous after hearing Shetton’s voice. “Looks like we’ll have to head back. At least we have their address, I guess.”

            Hugh shrugged as they turned and went back the way they’d come. “You can’t win them all.”

            Rika sighed again. “I know. But I wanted to win at least one without relying on the others.”