The door opened and Shavers came in. "What's the— goodGod!"
The chairs came crashing down, the files floated back into the drawers, the
papers went back into the trays, everything quickly and smoothly went right
back
to where it was supposed to be, as if nothing had ever disturbed it in the
first
place. Shavers stood in the doorway, staring at them slack-jawed.
"It's all right, Danny," Blood said.
"But—"
"It's all right. Don't worry. I'll explain later."
"If you say so, sir." Shavers backed out uncertainly and gingerly closed the
door behind him.
Blood turned to Wyrdrune with a wry grimace. "That was you, wasn't it?"
Wyrdrune shook his head.
"Come on, don't hand me that," said Blood impatiently. "That was all your
doing.
You've all cooked this up together, haven't you? I don't understand, what are
you up to?"
"You just don't want to believe it, do you?" Wyrdrune said. "How were we
supposed to know in advance that we'd be brought here for questioning? How
would
Billy have known where we'd be and when?"
"You could have influenced things somehow," Blood said, as if trying to
convince
himself. "How difficult would that be for a wizard who studied under Merlin?"
"But I'm not a certified wizard," Wyrdrune protested. "You said so yourself.
I
didn't even finish school."
"You may not be certified by the Bureau of Thaumaturgy, young man, but you're
a
wizard, just the same," said Blood. "I'm no expert, but I know enough to know
that teleportation isn't exactly the sort of spell your average undergraduate
could master. Now, I don't know what sort of game you're all playing here,
but
frankly I haven't got the time for it."
"It's not a game!" said Kira in exasperation. "Will you listen, for God's
sake?"
"Forget it," Billy said, looking tired. "We're just wastin' our time 'ere."
He spread his arms out in an encompassing gesture and they all vanished from
the
office.
They reappeared in the penthouse of the abandoned apartment building where
Merlin had established his residence. One look around and any remaining