The holy water formed a small puddle around the jade figure; I returned the figure to the safety of the crate, not trusting it not to get knocked over.
“What else can you try, Matthew?”
I shook my head. “I need to do research. It could be a spell or another artifact that frees them. There’s no way to know. This came from China, and the jade is kind of a big indicator that Chinese mythology is somehow involved. I’ve had a little dealing with that before, so I can do some research, but there are no guarantees, Nikki.”
“There never are in life. Now, we must move these containers.” She closed the door and relocked it.
“Move them? Where? How?”
“We cannot let our adversaries keep their prize, Matthew, while you discover how to restore them to humanity.”
“I didn’t say no, I just asked about he where and how.”
“My club has loading docks,” she smiled. “By incentivizing the right workers, it shouldn’t take long to relocate them all beyond the reach of those from the club.”
She started walking to the car.
“Don’t you think they’ll figure that out pretty quickly?” I picked up the lone crate and quick-walked—carefully—to catch up. “I mean, you’d need some unknown warehouse or something to move them all to, and then you’re leaving a lot of loose ends to follow up on. This isn’t the kind of operation you slap together last minute.”
She slowed her pace as we got to the car. “True. I could arrange for everything we need, but it would take days, maybe even weeks. Perhaps a temporary relocation while I arrange something more permanent and untraceable.” She tapped a finger to her lips, thinking.
I set the crate in the back seat, then put the seatbelt on it for good measure.
“Maybe, but there could be a better, an easier way to stop them from getting all this.”
“Oh?”
“Bureaucracy,” I grinned.