Now even more about what I’d seen was making sense. “I think they were all under a spell. That may be why they didn’t seem to care I was there. The spell must be in the music, and it didn’t affect me since I’m immune again. But if we switched the music, they might still enjoy themselves without being under Sylvester’s thrall.”
The trick would be finding someone to DJ for the forces of good. Perdita would have been a good choice if she hadn’t still been a prisoner. My roommate Gemma used to hit the club scene, but she hadn’t done so in a while and I didn’t want to risk dragging her into this. She was disturbingly enthusiastic about magical missions. “Jake!” I said abruptly. Owen’s assistant was more into punk, but I was pretty sure he could put together a playlist that could save the world.
“I’ll get him,” Sam said. “He may even still be here. He’s been pulling extra hours while Palmer’s been missing.”
A few minutes later, Jake ran in, breathless. “You need me?” he asked. Then he saw me. “Katie! You’re back! You’re safe!” His gaze moved beyond me, searching, and I shook my head.
“Sorry, he’s not with me. I was the only one who could get past the wards to escape, but I know where he is.” I left out the fact that when I’d last seen Owen, he was about to come under attack by elven prison guards.
“But, getting through wards?” Jake asked, his forehead wrinkling. “I thought …”
I groaned inwardly. It had completely slipped my mind. After the number of times we’d explained Owen’s returning magical powers in the other world, I should have remembered that it wasn’t widely known in this world, either.
Merlin came to my rescue. “It’s a long story, and I’m sure Owen will explain it to you when he returns.”
Jake didn’t look too upset by the news. He merely nodded and said, “That would explain the books he was having me find on magical infusion. But I bet that’s not why you want me.”
“Actually, we want your musical knowledge,” I said. “We need the ultimate playlist.”
He looked even more taken aback by that than he had been about the idea that Owen had magic again. “A playlist? Why?” he asked.
I gave him a quick recap about the partying elven army. “I think their music contains a spell. If we could switch it, that might break the spell. If they really like the new tunes, then maybe they won’t want to go into battle. We might not convince them to go home, I suppose, but we can worry about that later.”
“So you want music fun enough to stop a war? I think I can handle that.”
“They were really grooving on disco, and remember, these are elves, so melody and harmony are important. They seemed to love the Bee Gees. Come to think of it, with those unearthly voices and tight harmonies, it would explain a lot …”
Jake grinned. “I’m surprised you hadn’t figured that out already.” He pulled an iPod out of his lab coat pocket and started scrolling through the screen. “Fortunately, my musical tastes are really broad. I’ve got a lot of stuff here that should work. Just give me a few minutes. How long a playlist do you need?” His thumbs worked rapidly across the device as he spoke.
“I don’t know. Say about half an hour, maybe?”
He didn’t look up from the screen as he said. “Okay.”
While he worked, I turned back to the others. “I think I can get back into the building and swap out the iPod in the sound system’s dock. All the partiers are blocking the portal, which should help keep anyone else from being whammied and sent to the other world.” I waited for someone to tell me it was too dangerous, but Owen wasn’t there. As annoying as his overprotective instincts could be, I felt a little lost coming up with a potentially dangerous plan without having to overcome any objections. Some of my best ideas came from addressing his concerns, so I hoped I wasn’t missing anything.
“I don’t like you going in there alone,” Granny said. “I’m coming with you.” Her objection wasn’t quite the same as Owen’s, but it did force me to think.
“That would be a bad idea,” I said. “Until I can switch out the music, the spell might affect you. And after having been under the elf whammy, I can tell you it’s not something you want. They can make you forget who you are. I have to go in alone on this one.”
“I’ll need your assistance,” Merlin told Granny. “You’re the one who has the best elf underground contacts.”