Zhang suddenly appeared again. “The seller knows Arthur has magic in him,” he said urgently. “He needs backup.”
Rory’s eyes widened. “Ace—”
“I’m going.” Jade turned and took off, her high-heeled boots clicking on the marble as she somehow managed a near-run without falling.
Rory started after her, but Gwen’s gloved hand wrapped around Rory’s arm. “Wait, Rory. We need to look for the siphon at the seller’s hotel.”
“But Ace—”
“Ace was a soldier, he’s very capable. And he’ll have Jade with him,” said Gwen. “Jade will take care of him.”
Rory clenched his fists. “It’s my magic in him—”
“I know,” Gwen said, more softy. “But we must find this siphon, Rory. It must be now. Trust Arthur and Jade.”
Rory swallowed hard. As Gwen stepped to the curb in her pretty dress, he looked at Zhang’s flickering projection in concern. “I should go to Ace,” he whispered, as Gwen waved her hand and a taxi swerved instantly to the curb. “He might need me.”
“He might, but we all need that siphon.” Zhang looked as torn as Rory felt. “I’ll follow you best I can,” he said quietly, as Gwen and Ellis climbed into the back seat. “But you have to go with them. Because can we trust Gwen and Ellis not to make off with that siphon if they do find it?”
Rory winced.
Gwen leaned out the door. “Rory, come on!”
Rory cursed and scrambled into the taxi after them.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Whose magic is in you?
Arthur couldn’t move, his lips useless.Think of something,his mind screamed at him.Anything—
“You’re not a paranormal,” the man hissed. The stage lights lit half of the man’s face—pale skin, pale eyes, the pointed nose and an angry set to his thin lips. His gaze was darting all over Arthur. “But you have magic in you. How is such a thing possible?”
Arthur’s brain raced. Down on the stage below, the man in the tuxedo was aiming the knives at the woman on the wheel. He threw one, and it whooshed through the air and landed in the wheel with a thunk. The audience gasped.
Arthur kept his face as emotionless as he could. “I didn’t come here to tell you my secrets. I came here to make a deal.”
The seller’s lip curled. “Don’t pretend you’re here to deal when you’re nothing more than a snake.”
The man on the stage threw another knife. Another round ofwhoosh-thunk-gaspfilled the air.
“You actually believed you, mundane as a rock, could hide magic from me.” The seller leaned into Arthur’s space. “Whose is it, I demand to know—”
The velvet curtain suddenly moved. “It’s mine.”
Jade. Arthur forced any surprise or relief off his face, muscles tensing as both of the seller’s henchmen stepped forward.
But the seller held up a hand to his men. “Wait.”
His gaze flicked over Jade, from her tiny top hat and tuxedo to her boots. Beautiful and composed, and only someone who knew her as well as Arthur would catch the more rapid than usual rise and fall of her shoulders, the breaths of someone who’d sprinted to the rescue.
Arthur held his breath. How had he known Arthur had magic in his aura? Was the seller a paranormal?
If the seller somehow had aura-sight, like Gwen, he would know what kind of magic was in Arthur’s aura and would never believe it was Jade’s.
Arthur tensed, ready to fight.
But after an endless moment, the seller sat back in the chair. “Very well,” he said, with some semblance of politeness. “Come in.”
