North Beach, San Francisco 6:30 PM Friday
Wes stared at the crystal ball on the table. Andrea was still blocking him from scrying her, but another spell he had cast and a delicately worked out arrangement with the Auditors had finally enabled him to find her.
She was here. In town.
It was time to do something about her, and tonight would be better than tomorrow. Five of his girls, Sarah, Michelle, Vanessa, Kim and Cheryl (who was in charge) were dealing with her victims. They had restored Vivian, who was resting now, heavily sedated to ensure she got sufficient rest, and had just restored a transformed young woman named Holli.
Holli was a 27 year old woman who, before she had the misfortune of meeting Andrea, had a good life and a good job, with a fiancé and plans for the future. Until nearly 18 months ago, when she stopped at a convenience store just outside of Los Angeles on her way home to Bakersfield. Andrea had spotted her, and enslaved her on the spot, leaving her car parked at the store in an unsolved mystery kidnapping that still baffled law enforcement. Paula was looking into her situation now, but had already found that her fiancé had eventually married another person, her job was long gone, and she had been declared dead. Holli would have to start all over again.
She too was now resting, and he would have to have a long talk with her when all this was over. She was very pretty already, as pretty as most of his other girls in fact, and seemed bright and might be a replacement for one of the girls who had moved on or who would soon.
The healers were working on Misti now, and it would be hours before they were done. Cindy still stood in a corner, a beautiful clockwork doll, and restoring her was going to be the hardest of all. If it was actually possible.
He was angry now.
Walking to the other room, where Beth, Grim and Riley were sitting on a balcony watching the sunset, he broke into their conversation.
“I found her. She is here in town. Beth I need you to bring her business manager to awareness so we can ask him some questions.”
Beth nodded, and Grim and Riley stood as well.
“You’re thinking a quick attack, aren’t you?” asked Grim. Seeing what his friend had in mind, he approved.
Grim nodded, “Well, you might catch her off guard that way. I think you’re right. She is planning a big moment for you at that wedding tomorrow.”
Riley, his expression hard, replied “You can count on that. I think Emily and Sabrina have had enough trouble for their lifetime with rogue wizards from Shiron, don’t you Beth?”
“Yes, I think so too,” She answered grimly.
A few minutes later, the befuddled and now infatuated tax lawyer looked raptly at Beth, eagerly telling her anything she asked. Grim, Riley and Gavin looked on, hiding in the shadows behind him.
Chinatown, San Francisco 6:45 PM
Andrea was finishing her third helping of dinner, some Chinese noodles she had ordered up. Chad picked at his food, amazed at how much this woman could eat. But then, she was a goddess after all.
North Beach 7:00 PM
Wes looked around the room, a plan sorting through his mind. The girls would have to postpone dealing with Misti for now, he would need them all for his plan. Jim, the tax lawyer and Andrea’s business manager, had been extremely helpful, albeit unwittingly. They now knew where Andrea was at, down to the street address, and had a good feel for the layout of the townhouse she was in. It was time.
“This is what we are going to do. We are going to hit her hard and take her out right now. She is just down the street, only a few blocks from here actually. Grim, you and Paula are going to take the back door. I will take the roof with one of you girls. Kim, would you come with me?” Kim nodded, while the rest looked on expectantly. “Riley, you and another of the girls will take the front door. Who do you want with you?”
Riley thought about it for a moment. He liked all the girls, and would really have preferred to take none of them, but he realized he needed someone with him with some spells, and after a moment, he picked Brandi as she looked the most like she wanted revenge. “Brandi, will you come with me?”
“Yes, I will come. That bitch hurt my roommate, I want her,” Brandi said, her usual cheerful disposition smoldering now with an eagerness for revenge.
“Ok then, the rest of you wait here. Be ready though, Andrea might do something unexpected,” Wes cautioned.
As the other five got themselves ready, Wes took Beth, Cheryl, Michelle, Sarah and Vanessa aside. “I know all of you want to come with me and fight. I need you to stay and protect the others. I also need you to be ready when we come back. I fully expect some or all of us to be pretty banged up when this is over. Taking out Andrea is going to be tough.”
One by one the girls kissed him, and hugged the others. They watched as the six left the house and moved quickly boarded a streetcar heading up the street.
“Be careful please,” Michelle whispered to herself. Sarah, standing next to her, heard her whispered plea, and put her arm around her friend. She thought the same thing herself.