Mansfield made another choked, gurgling sound. Arthur set his jaw. “Let me get a doctor,please—”
“He’ll bleed out any minute, stop clutching your pearls.” Ellis gave Mansfield an uncaring shove, and the man toppled to the ground like an overturned statue. “You saw plenty of death on the battlefield.”
“Doesn’t mean I ever liked it,” Arthur said, through gritted teeth.
“Mr. Mansfield is not an innocent,” Gwen said. “He was going to do a terrible thing with that relic.”
“Sell it to Baron Zeppler, you mean.”
“You know about that?” Gwen’s expression turned from surprise to understanding. “Ah, of course you do. Your paranormal is a subordinate. He’s been listening.”
“Yes, let’s talk about him.” Ellis bent down, the dagger still in hand. “The little waiter, with the curls and the glasses. We know he’s a paranormal, Ace, he could see me. And we know he’syours, because he sure didn’t like me looking at you.”
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Arthur said evenly.
“Arthur, this guise is pointless,” said Gwen. “I see his magic in your aura.”
“Can you see what his power is?” said Ellis said to her.
“Traces.” Her fingers moved in the air over Arthur’s heart again. “Not enough for me to see what it does, but I can see his magic is strong.” She leaned forward. “The relic known as the Argonaut Amulet is locked in Mansfield’s safe behind my painting. He wouldn’t give me the combination, of course, but it was easy for invisible Ellis to watch him lock it.” She looked up from Arthur’s heart, her eyes not quite on his face. “We’re leaving here and taking the amulet with us. But first, we must find out what your subordinate paranormal can tell us about the relic.”
Arthur stared at her without flinching and didn’t respond.
“Ellis has unlocked the secrets of the Venom Dagger,” she said, as calmly as if they were chatting over coffee at a sidewalk cafe in Paris. “He will paralyze you, kill you agonizingly slow.” She cocked her head. “And you remember I can cause far more pain than a simple cut.”
Arthur held her gaze and stayed silent.
Ellis spun the dagger in his hand. “How about it, Ace?”
Arthur met Ellis’s eyes and spoke without emotion. “My name is Arthur James Kenzie, Second Lieutenant, 05 898 346.”
Ellis’s expression turned to stone.
Gwen looked between them. “Is he implying what I think he is, Ellis?”
Ellis’s gaze dropped to Arthur’s chest, where Arthur’s shirt and tuxedo vest hid the faded scars. Then he huffed, short and angry, and spun away. “Forget it, Gwen. He’ll die before he gives someone up.”
Gwen sighed. “Most men do talk under torture—”
“Ace isn’t most men.” Ellis jammed the dagger in its holster. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t need him to talk.”
“It would be nice if he did,” Gwen said, with an endless sort of patience.
“He’s got a paranormal’s magic in his aura.” Ellis winked at her. “How long before that paranormal wants him back?”
No.
“Bait.” Gwen straightened. “With a link like this, he could find Ace on the moon.”
Ellis bent at the waist to meet Arthur’s eyes. “We have you,” he said, “so we’ll have your sweetheart too.”
Arthur yanked at his captor’s arms. “Over my dead body.”
“Possibly.” Ellis nodded at the guards. “Search him.”
Arthur redoubled his efforts, but all four men were on him now, holding him immobile as they pawed through his pockets. He tightened his jaw, eyes fixed forward. Maybe, just maybe, Ellis would ignore—
“Wait.” Ellis pointed. “Is that a cigarette case?”
