Sebastian folded his arms. “If the owner knew about magic, don’t you think they would let me borrow their car?”
“Borrowtheir car? Is that how you’d explain it when the police showed up and you knocked them down like dominoes?” Wesley tsked. “As much as I unexpectedly find this side of you criminally sexy—you see what I did there—I say we taxi over to this shop that sells the Hudson Haberdashers hats and see if we find anything. No need for larceny and other larks.”
“We should go back to the train station first,” said Sebastian.
“Oh, we should, should we?” Wesley tilted his head. “And why is that?”
“You know, to investigate,” said Sebastian. That sounded convincing, didn’t it? “Maybe the station master saw Jade or some of the others.”
“You’re suggesting that maybe the fellow who sees hundreds, possibly thousands of people a day, will remember the four we’re looking for?”
“Um.” Sebastian tried not to squirm. “It can’t hurt to ask, yes?”
“Sure, duck,” Wesley said, as he dropped the cigarette to the ground and stamped it out.
It was a short walk through the town and down to the train station at the banks of the Hudson. But as Wesley had predicted, the ticket master was less than impressed with their questions.
“You think I remember who came through my station three days ago?” the ticket master said. “I don’t know a one of these passengers from Adam. I don’t remember who was here an hour ago. In three minutes I won’t rememberyou.”
Summarily dismissed, they stood on the platform, gazing across the tracks to the Hudson River beyond. “I think we should go to the river before we go to the hat shop,” Sebastian said.
“Why?” Wesley said dryly. “Have Arthur and the others suddenly become mermaids?” He paused. “Is that possible?”
“My friend Gwen controls the tide,” Sebastian said. “And some paranormals with water magic can breathe underwater—”
“You realize how casually you glossed overmy friend controls the tide, don’t you?” Wesley interrupted. “You’ve lived and breathed magic to the point that a sentence like that doesn’t even give you pause, but I promise, I am very much still stuck on it.”
Oh. Sebastian could hear Mateo echo in his mind,haven’t you had any girlfriends without magic?“You’re taking it very calmly,” he said encouragingly.
Wesley narrowed his eyes. “You’re not patronizing me, are you?”
“No.” Of course Sebastian wasn’t. Was he? He quickly went on. “I don’t think Arthur suddenly grew fins,” he said. “I just think we should look around the station. To, um. See if there are any clues about the others.”
“Oh please,” said Wesley. “What kind of hapless rube do you think you’re fucking?”
Sebastian winced. “I just—”
“You’re looking for that cat who was here when we arrived,” said Wesley. “I know that’s why you sweet-talked that deli into giving you some scraps.”
“Maybe those are for me,” Sebastian protested.
“Really,” Wesley said flatly. “And for what purpose do you require a pocket full of ham?”
“...a snack?”
“A snack.” Wesley tilted his head back. “Do you understand who you’re talking to? What a terrifying and unapologetic bastard I am? There is not a soul in London who would talk to me like I’m a child bumbling through the adult world of magic, or who would undertake this transparent attempt to wheedle me into something as frivolous as traipsing after a stray.”
Sebastian held up his hand. “Five minutes,” he promised. “Then we can go.”
Wesley pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something indecipherable abouthandsome men. “Five minutes. Not one second more.”
They crossed over railroad tracks to the green space at the river’s edge. It was mostly empty, save for an older Black couple sitting on a park bench overlooking the water.
Wesley looked up and down the Hudson River. “Miss Robbins said Brodigan broke the ice on this river once.Accidentally, the way a normal person might accidentally break, oh, say, a china plate.” He shook his head. “Not that I see any evidence of that, or signs of the others at all.”
Sebastian squinted down the river. “There’s a lighthouse.”
“Is it hiding an ex-quarterback and three paranormals of varying heights and temperaments?”
