“I feel like you’re not seeing the big picture here.” Arthur turned onto another random street, because Red Sox notwithstanding, he really didn’t want Rory to have to wield the wind in Boston again if they could help it.
“I am, actually,” said Rory. “Because if that Sebastian fella’s with them, he’s got that tattoo that confuses magic. Zeppler won’t be able to track me with magic.”
Arthur furrowed his brow. “But even if you can put Gwen and Ellis aside, London is also much closer to Germany than New York is.”
“Zeppler just reached across the ocean to send a lackey and the cops after me in Boston,” Rory said grimly. “I don’t think it’s safer to stay here anymore.”
Arthur sighed. “No,” he said, very quietly. “I don’t think it is either.”
They were quiet for several minutes, Rory still watching out the back of the car as the side roads turned to the highway. Arthur kept his foot on the gas but relaxed, just a fraction.
He wanted to ask more about the fire paranormal, but Rory suddenly said, “How would I pay for London?”
“I’d pay. Yes, me,” Arthur said immediately, cutting off Rory’s protest. “Funding is what I can contribute. I don’t have magic, the rest of you have to let me do something.”
“You do more than just bankroll stuff,” Rory shot back. “Besides, if you’re paying for me scrying, wouldn’t you basically be my boss? Wouldn’t that be weird?”
“Terribly weird,” Arthur agreed. “You’d have to boss me around quite a bit in private to make it up.”
Rory’s lips grudgingly turned up in a smile. Another moment went by, and then Rory let out a breath. “I’ve only ever been outta New York twice, counting today. Neither time has gone real well.”
“But both times could have gone worse,” Arthur pointed out. “You’re not chained to anything just because it’s who you’ve always been or what you’ve always done. You can wake up on a new morning and choose a new path, a new adventure.”
“Guess so,” Rory said, with more softness than usual. Arthur chanced a glance at him. Rory was chewing on his lower lip, looking lost in thought. “I didn’t have a good experience with boats.”
“It’s likely to be different when you’re not bound and gagged. Although, I can’t promise what will happen if we actually do find Gwen and Ellis in London, because I seem to be the only one who realizes there’s every possibility you’ll just end up in cuffs again.”
“Maybe.” Rory was smiling again, though, small and almost shy. “London, huh.”
They needed two days to get everything ready. Arthur had to see his family andtake care of affairs, whatever that fancy rich-fella talk meant, so Rory slipped back to his boarding house to pack everything up.
He was standing in the middle of his room, staring down at his quilt and his trunk, when he heard a quiettap-tap-tapat his third-floor window.
Outside his window, a pebble was floating in midair. After a second, it tapped itself against his window again, like a knock.
Rory grinned. He went to the window and saw Jade three stories down in the alley. He waved, and a moment later, the air flickered around him as Zhang’s astral projection materialized in his room. “We came to help.”
“Oh!” Rory flushed. “I mean—I don’t got much stuff, you don’t have to—”
“We want to,” said Zhang. “Can we come up?”
Less than three minutes later, there was a polite knock on his door, and then Jade was slipping in.
Rory bit his lip. “The floor’s men only,” he said to Jade, “and I don’t want you to get in trouble—”
“I assure you, I’m not in the least bit worried.”
She was looking around his room thoughtfully, in her pretty clothes, and Zhang’s astral projection looked just as nice. Rory remembered, belatedly, just how shabby his room was. He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Sorry it’s so—you know.”
They both looked at him in surprise. “Do you really think we came to judge your home?” Jade said gently.
“It’s not home,” Rory admitted. “I just slept here. Home was the antiques shop and now it’s—well, I got somewhere that feels like home, anyway,” he amended awkwardly. “I really only got four things I care about. The quilt, the hat, the compass and Ace’s postcards. Ace said I can keep anything I want at his pad while we’re gone, so I told my landlord I don’t need the room anymore.”
Arthur had pointedly made a space for Rory’s trunk in his own closet right next to all his own stuff.It’s not permanent, and it can’t be permanent, Rory reminded himself.Arthur’s got a reputation to worry about. But it made his heart feel soft and squishy anyway.
“The hat can of course come to London.” Jade moved her hand, and the quilt began folding itself. “As for the rest of it, we’ll help you pack while we tell you what Zhang’s mother was able to dig up on the fire paranormal.”
As they crammed Rory’s few possessions into his trunk, Zhang’s astral projection explained. “We think his name is Jean-Pierre Mercier, also known as Jack. Grew up in England with his mother, but his father was French.”
