The man in the booth cursed and turned away to his new preoccupation, just as Rory yanked his hands off the ticket counter and stumbled backward so fast he knocked into Arthur.
“They disappeared.” Rory had gone very pale. “I don’t understand, I’ve never seen something like it—”
Jade took his arm, gently but firmly guiding Rory away from the angry group. Arthur tagged along at Rory’s other side, wishing he could take Rory’s hand but mindful of the crowded room. “Did you really break city property?” he whispered to Jade. “Not that I’m not appreciative—”
“Of course I didn’t,” she said breezily. “The clerk will find his machine working just fine now.”
They found a spot along the wall that wasn’tquiet, but it was at least mostly free of other people. Jade put a gentle hand on Rory’s shoulder. “What did you mean,they disappeared?”
“Should we wait for Zhang?” Arthur asked. “Where did he get off to anyway?”
“He’s right next to you.” Rory indicated the empty space on Arthur’s other side. “You keep stepping in him, but he says it’s fine.”
“He’ll be fully here in a moment,” Jade added, as Arthur nevertheless scrambled a few steps sideways. “His physical form is calling an anonymous tip to the police about bodies in the sewer.”
The bodies. Edgar and Chester. Arthur gritted his teeth. He hadn’t been attached to either man, but he hadn’t wished them dead, and certainly not at Hyde’s claws—
Real claws. Not a hallucination. Christ. Arthur pushed all of it away, into the vault with the rest of the horrors. “Resourceful man.”
He and Jade looked at Rory, who ran a hand over his face. “I saw them at the information booth,” he said. “Hyde and Miss Shelley. One moment they’re standing there, looking impatient. Next moment, Hyde saysfinally—and then poof. Kaput.”
“Kaput?” repeated Jade.
“The whole vision goes wonky. Like losing the radio signal and getting nothing but static. Then it clears and they’re gone.” Rory ran a hand through his curls. “I went over those minutes three times. I don’t understand. How can you take yourself out of time?”
Arthur and Jade exchanged a look. “Like Zhang on the astral plane yesterday,” said Arthur, as Zhang came up behind Jade.
“Exactly like me.” Zhang joined their huddle. “The police will find the bodies. I’m sorry about your friends.”
The last was directed at Arthur. “I didn’t know them well,” he admitted. “I’m sorry for Edgar—he wanted nothing to do with this. Chester seems to have involved himself; selfishly I think I’m mostly glad he’s not going to be around Wesley anymore.”
Zhang closed his eyes for a moment, looking for all the word like he was napping on his feet, as Jade said softly, “Lord Fine will want to know that his valet was murdered.”
Her tone was gentle, because she knew how many people Wesley had lost, that he was a viscount at thirty-two because the war had taken his father and the older brother the title should have gone to. Wesley might not have known his valet more than two weeks, but it would be terrible to hear someone he’d let in that close to his life had been victim of a brutal murder. It wasn’t as if Arthur could tell Wesley that his employee had been mixed up in dangerous magic and using Wesley as cover.
Unease suddenly gripped Arthur. “You don’t think Hyde would look for Wesley now?”
Rory frowned. “Chester didn’t mention Lord Fine by name. But you should probably check on him.” When Arthur and Jade both looked his way, he huffed. “What?” he said testily. “Not his fault his valet was a con. I don’t want him to get hurt either.”
Arthur hesitated, even more torn. “There’s a gentlemen’s brunch this morning. Wesley will be there. But I can’t go; we need to figure out where Hyde and Shelley have taken the relic—”
Zhang suddenly paled. “Someone broke into the teahouse.”
“What?” Jade’s eyes widened. “That’s impossible. How?”
“I don’t know.” Zhang looked at her, shock on his face. “Ling didn’t notice anything amiss when Rory’s ring was rattling around. It must have happened while I’ve been in Midtown. My family is in the library searching right now.”
Rory moved in. “Was it Hyde and Shelley?”
“We don’t know. Whoever it was, they avoided all of our guardian magic.” Zhang closed his eyes for a moment. “There only seems to be one thing missing: Gwen’s relic amulet.”
“Oh boy,” muttered Arthur.
Rory bit his lip. “Hyde and Shelley might havetworelics? Are they still in New York? There’s gotta be half a dozen ships they could take outta here.”
“I’m scanning the piers.” Zhang’s eyes were still closed. “Finding nothing.”
“Come on.” Jade took Zhang’s hand. “Let’s check on your family. The train’s fastest.”
