License Invoked

Chapter 16

"Where the hell have you two been?" Fee snarled as Liz and Boo-Boo came into the dressing room. "There's only minutes left before the concert starts!"

"We know it," that a

Fio

She took a long drag at her cigarette and breathed out twin plumes of smoke at the agents like a dragon in pre-toast mode. "You're supposed to be protecting me!"

"We were looking for Ms. Robbie," Boo-Boo said, calmly, "but we're here now. You look very nice, ma'am. The dress matches your hair just exactly."

Seeing nothing but a blandly pleasant face, Fio

"Has everything been going all right?" Liz asked Lloyd.

He nodded. Liz admired his ability to be a total professional when the occasion called for it. Now that he had accepted the situation, he was willing to be cooperative. "Show's ready to go. I haven't let her out of my sight, not even in the toilets. Did you find the silly woman?"

"No," Liz sighed. "We lost the trail."

Lloyd frowned. "Shouldn't you still be looking?"

Liz shook her head. "Our place is with Fee. If there's going to be another attack, we need to be right here with her, not out looking for Robbie." Lloyd nodded curtly. He didn't fuss over what couldn't be helped.

"That makes sense." He flipped open a radio and spoke into it. "No sign of her, Mr. Lemoine."

The mild voice of the Superdome master control operator came from the small speaker. "I'll let Security know, Mr. Preston. Everybody's on alert."

Lloyd flipped the unit shut. "If she shows her face, she's ours."

Fio

"I hate the waitin'," she said. "I've always hated it."

Fitz stood by the wall of the dressing room with sewing supplies at the ready in case Fio

They might need that little bit of good luck to help get them through the night. She herself had grounded firmly in Earth power and filled up her personal batteries as far as they would go before entering the Superdome. She wished that they'd been able to find Robbie. So many questions were left unanswered. Was she working for anyone else, and if so, who? What was her motive? Why attack Fio

Nigel Peters came into the dressing room, looking haggard. He headed directly for Fio

"Give me that!" she wailed. "I need it."

"Don't constrict your voice with smoke, darling," he said. "Here." He handed her a drink instead. Fio

"What'ch you starin' at, Ms. Mayfield?" she demanded, brogue on full red alert.

"I..." Liz stopped herself from sounding too familiar with all these people here. "What's the matter? I know you've done hundreds of these shows. This isn't even your largest crowd. You couldn't possibly have stage fright."

"It's not that." Even under the heavy makeup, Fio

"Don't be a fool," Liz said briskly, stepping right in front of her to get her attention. "You've proved that there really is bad magic attacking you. It's real."

"Oh, that really helps!" Fio

The scarecrow had something to say as well.

"It's better to be afraid of real things, Ms. Kenmare," he said, aiming those blue, blue eyes at her. "You can do something about 'em. Meantime, you just give 'em the best show you know how. You'll be fine once you're out there."

"And what the hell do you know about show business?" Fio

"Apart from small parts in school dramas, nothing," Liz said, cheerfully. "But you're an old pro, Ms. Kenmare. These are your fans. They love you. All you need to do is go out there and... er, wow them. There's nothing new for you in that."

"This," Fio

"I see," Liz said. And she did. Fio

Lloyd was underimpressed. "This is what they pay you for, from my tax dollars? Pep talks?"

"If that's what's needed," Liz said. "And now, if you'll forgive me, I have to concentrate."

She withdrew to the side of the dressing room to ready the arsenal in her handbag. Everything had been replenished from the suitcases in her hotel room and augmented by materiel from Boo-Boo's bottomless pockets. She flicked through them, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen packets, plus whatever charms she knew that didn't require a physical component. The most important tools she had were likely to be the litany of her memorized spells of protection. She started muttering them to herself, readying a framework to weave around Fio

Fee went back to pacing. It was hard because the damned floor was parquet wood. Every little crack broke her mother's back. She was afraid of causing bad luck to her mother, or anyone else! That kind of thing rebounded upon one. Instead of wanting to run out into the street, she wanted to find a tiny, enclosed place and hide in it until this was all over. Ten minutes. Eight minutes. Six minutes.