“An antiques appointment?”
Arthur stilled. “What an odd question.”
“Not at all. You were so terribly friendly with your dealer on the phone.” Wesley dropped the cigarette to the terrace and ground it under his foot. “Brodigan, the name was? Is he actually Irish or one of your American mutts?”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “He’s not a dog.”
“It was a jest.” When Arthur’s eyes stayed narrowed, Wesley held up his hands. “Unclench, Ace.” He reached into his coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, soft and crumpled from his pocket. “He must be quite the antiquarian for your mother bear side to be so offended. Perhaps I should engage him.”
Not hardly. There was a meeting Arthur wasn’t letting happen—
The French doors swung open. “Mr. Arthur Kenzie?” A middle-aged white man politely leaned out the door. “I’m sorry, sir, but you have a call.”
Maybe Zhang, Jade, or Rory. Maybe news. Arthur turned away. “If you’ll excuse me, Lord Fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The clerk led Arthur past the bustling Gentlemen’s Café and into a small office down the hall, which held only an impersonal desk and a telephone. The clerk politely shut the door on his way out, leaving Arthur alone. “This is Ace.”
“This would have been so much easier if you could see me on the plane.”
“Zhang,” Arthur said with relief. “Is everything all right? Your family—”
“Only the amulet missing, no one hurt,” Zhang confirmed. “But I have a question for you. Do you remember Gwen ever mentioning someone who confused her magic?”
Interesting question. “I do.” It had been just Gwen and Arthur that day, at a sidewalk cafe in Dijon. Jade had been following a lead, looking for a supposed alchemist’s shop in the oldest part of the city. Gwen had been mostly silent at their shared outside table, watching the passersby from behind large sunglasses that hid the preternatural yellow of her previously hazel eyes.Only auras still, she’d finally said.I wonder if auras are all I’ll ever see again.
“I told her it might be small comfort, but I was glad she was alive.” He and Jade both had been, and hang it all, Arthur still was. He wasn’t eager to see Gwen or Ellis now, but he’d meant what he said to Wesley; he wanted to be done losing people. “And Gwen said,the maelstrom saved me.”
Zhang made a curious noise. “Saved her from what?”
“The fire, I’d say, if I was gambling,” said Arthur. “Baron Zeppler’s compound had been burnt to the ground by Philippe’s fire magic. Most everyone died, but Gwen had escaped, and that was the only explanation she ever gave. Jade didn’t know what it meant either, and we tried not to harp on anything having to do with the baron.”
“The maelstrom.” Zhang made ahmm. “A person?”
“I assumed so.”
“A person who can confuse magic. I’ve never heard of that ability in a paranormal, but it would explain why neither Rory nor I can see them with magic.”
In Zhang’s background, Rory said something in a grouchy tone of voice, and Jade laughed.
“Thanks, Ace,” said Zhang. “We’ll keep going.”
Without you, he didn’t have to add.
Arthur frowned as he replaced the telephone receiver on the candlestick stand. Why was he here when his friends were on the Lower East Side, when they had paranormals and a relic to find?
He still needed his tuxedo from the Lower East Side. He could leave here early, visit Chinatown first, and still be back to Midtown in time for the wedding. He’d checked on John and Wesley both and there was no sign of Hyde here. He was needed with his friends far more than he needed to eat finger foods and make pointless conversation here.
But as he strode toward the office door, it opened.
“More calls?” Wesley stepped inside without asking, then leaned on the door until it closed behind him, the sounds of chattering disappearing as they were left completely alone in the private of the office. “At a wedding?”
“Everyone is always so surprised to discover I’m more than a dewdropper. It’s a bit insulting, really.” Arthur went for the door, but Wesley didn’t move. “Wes, please. I have somewhere to be.”
Wesley raised an eyebrow. “Where could you need to be besides the New York governor’s son’s wedding?”
“I’ve already told you, my appointments aren’t your business.”
