“Have you got the Snow White lipstick?” Monique Two asked Monique One.
“Yes!” she said, searching through her bag. “Though shouldn’t you have one too?”
Monique Two opened her identical bag to check. “It’s empty.”
I put my hand out to Monique One. “The product is spelled, which means it wouldn’t have cloned over. There are limits to this magic, unfortunately.”
Monique smiled at me with true sunshine in her face and eyes. “Regardless, it’s pretty amazing.”
She handed the lipstick to Monique Two. “We need you to put this on and then kiss the high warlock’s cheek, in about ten minutes. Move away from him, circulating among the guests, and then he’ll pass out a minute or so later. Hopefully his episode will be put down to stress, or alcohol.”
I looked to Michael Two. “Try and have a drink with Dad before Monique kisses him. He doesn’t handle wine well, so maybe that will help with the explanation.”
The biggest risk was that the high warlock would realize something was going on and rush back to the house to capture us. But it was a risk we had to take.
“Done.” Michael Two took Monique Two’s hand with the same tender care I liked to think I had shown toward the real Monique. “Shall we? We’ve only got thirty minutes, so we’d better make the time count.”
“Thanks, to both of you.” I waved as our clones strolled back toward the reception.
When they were out of sight, I turned to Monique. “We’d better get moving.”
We hurried in the direction of my father’s house.
“That was kinda freaky,” she said, and I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face.
“Yeah, I know. The first time I did it, when I was young, was freaky as hell.”
When we reached my father’s house, I put my arm out to stop Monique from crossing the ward over the front path. “Hang on. Stay here for a minute.”
I cast a soft spell and the ward became visible, shimmering silvery-gold in the sunlight. “Can you keep an eye on the ward and tell me if you see it disappear? I’m going to check the tracker.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the screen linked to Xander’s tracker.
He was still there, below ground, and he was pacing up and down. The guy was obviously stressed, but still alive and moving, which was great news. If Xander was alive, it was likely Kyle was, too.
“They’re okay,” I told Monique, sliding the screen back into my pocket, and reached for my notebook. I’d had to covertly make a whole list of spells needed for today, and make sure I kept them away from the prying eyes of my father.
“The ward! I think it’s down already!” Monique said.
I cast the revealing spell once again. Nothing was there.
“The clones did it!” I ran toward the front door, Monique hot on my heels. “Dad will likely realize we’re in here once he wakes up. He has wards everywhere. We need to hurry.”
I ran for the lounge and pulled out the tracker screen from my pocket. “They’re directly beneath us. Hold this.”
I tossed the screen at Monique and opened my notebook to the first page.
My heart was pounding and my stomach was tight with stress, but the adrenaline pumping in my veins pushed me to continue.
I invoked the incantation for the elevator I’d covertly created while I was my father this morning, and sensed it rushing down through the earth to the dungeon below.
I felt the elevator pierce the prison room ceiling and continue down.
“Yes!”
I called it straight back up to the lounge room again so we could climb aboard. “I was worried he’d warded the dungeon, too, but he didn’t. Let’s go!”
I pulled Monique into the waiting elevator car and pushed the button. The elevator moved down, into the earth.