Rory huffed, too rattled to laugh, and reluctantly pulled away from Arthur.
“Jade’s in a taxi now.” Zhang didn’t seem at all interested in their lack of clothes, but then, there probably wasn’t much he hadn’t seen from the astral plane by now. “What exactly did you see?”
Rory winced. “Couple of paranormals killed two men and took a relic.”
“What?” Arthur sat up, the blankets falling to his waist. “Just now?”
“So you didn’t see the vision?” Rory asked.
Arthur shook his head. “If I did, I can’t remember it.”
“I’m scanning the city but not finding anything.” Zhang sounded frustrated. “Did you get any clues to where it happened?”
Rory saw the white columns in his mind, and the big stone lion. “Library, the big fancy one in Midtown.”
Zhang vanished.
Arthur’s eyes were troubled as he reached out and gently cupped Rory’s face with one hand. “I’m sorry you saw that.”
Rory closed his eyes, seeing the horrifying moment Hyde had transformed. “It’s bad, Ace,” he said quietly. “The men were gutted by a big paranormal, real scary, a fella with claws and teeth.”
The hand against Rory’s face went deathly still. Rory opened his eyes to see Arthur had gone too pale, his face a blank mask. “That mean something to you?”
Arthur’s muscles were tensed to marble hardness. “Did you happen to get his name?” he said, in a voice with an unnatural lack of emotion.
“The others called him Hyde.” Rory furrowed his brow as Arthur stayed frozen. “D’you know that name?”
“Ah.” Arthur licked his lips. “It’s complicated.”
“That’s Arthur talk foryes,” Rory said. “What about the others? Miss Shelley, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Chester?”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
Rory’s heart picked up its pace again. “You know all of ’em, don’t you?”
Zhang suddenly reappeared. “There are no bodies at the library, but there’s bloodstained snow at the base of the north lion.” Frustration was clear on his face. “But I can’t find where they’ve gone from there with the relic.”
Rory’s stomach dropped. He was gonna have to watch the slaughter again. “Zhang found blood but no murderers,” he said to Arthur, and then added, for Zhang, “Tell Jade to have her cab meet us on 42nd instead.”
“Why?”
Rory was already getting to his feet. “’Cause I’m gonna scry the lion.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
A gray dawn was just breaking as Arthur and Rory caught their own cab from Central Park West to meet Jade and Zhang. Arthur kept his feelings off his face, but his stomach was an absolute mess.
“I wish you didn’t have to do this,” he muttered, as the cab turned left onto 59th and continued along the edge of Central Park.
Rory’s face showed some of his fear, but his spine was straight as any soldier’s. “Who were they?”
Arthur lowered his voice so the cabbie wouldn’t hear, not that he was paying them any attention anyway. “Edgar Barnes was Luther Mansfield’s lawyer. Benedict Chester was Wesley’s valet. I didn’t realize he was smuggling more than wine into the country. I didn’t even know he knew about magic.”
Rory side-eyed him. “Your Lord Fine’s servant, huh.”
“He’s notmyLord Fine,” Arthur said impatiently. “He’s not my anything.”
“Bet he’s gonna be upset about his employee, though. No one likes getting played for a fool.”
