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Wilbur shut his eyes. “No, not that I know of. He was into other weird shit, though. I’m not sure what, but it never seemed dangerous, which is why I wanted to see him again. Everything was okay when we last saw each other. We parted on good terms, he to his life, me to mine.”
At the tone in his voice, I suddenly understood. Not only was Martin Wilbur’s family, but his buddies had been family, too. And like most old friends, Wilbur thought they’d be picking up where they left off. Only it hadn’t been Trent. It had been Van on the other end of the line.
“I’m laying bets on the probability that Van had tracked down Trent and got the goods on you some time ago. Maybe even the first time you walked into Van and Jaycee’s magic shop.”
“The one her dragon butthead managed to thoroughly trash?” Wilbur forced a pained grin at Camille.
She leaned over the railings, making sure her boobs were in full sight. “Dude, they aren’t stupid. I’ll bet they recognized your abilities and decided to dig up dirt on you in case they ever needed to use you.”
“And how do you figure that?” His eyes lit up, but she stayed out of reach of his good hand.
“Because that’s something we would have thought of. And if we could have thought of it, you know the bad guys are smart enough to.”
“Martin!” Wilbur suddenly panicked, struggling again to sit up. “Martin—is he okay? Did they…”
“He’s fine. We’re looking after him until you’re back on your feet.” I reassured him and, calm again, he rested his head against the pillows.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t think. I’m sorry I put you guys in danger. I know what you’re doing—by now you know that. I know what you’re fighting against. I wanted to make sure you weren’t out to take over the country but…just…I’m sorry.” He closed his eyes, breathing softly, and I realized he’d fallen asleep.
I patted his hand and motioned to Sharah as we walked outside. “Keep a guard on him. He’s in danger until we catch those sorcerers.”
She nodded as we walked toward the front of the ward. “He’s not out of danger from his injuries either, though I think he’ll pull through. But he’s probably going to lose that leg. It’s so crushed that despite Mallen’s needlework, we couldn’t connect most of the blood vessels. We’ll know in twenty-four hours whether we have to amputate.”
“I wish we knew just how much he told Van and Jaycee about us.” I held up my hand as Camille started to speak. “I know he didn’t mean to—he didn’t intentionally betray us, but the fact is that he did talk. And now we have no clue if they know about where we took the spirit seals or not.”
Camille let out a long breath. “You’re right, of course. That’s our biggest danger here, isn’t it? If they find out Queen Asteria has the spirit seals, Elqaneve will be on the pointy end of the stick. They’ll marshal the goblins from Guilyotin and march on the Elfin city. Even if they can’t gate enough demons through, they’ll use goblins and ogres and whoever else they can pull into their dirty little war. So, where do we go from here?”
“We make sure Martin’s okay, and then visit Carter. And then, we head out for the Supe Community meeting.” I slid into the passenger seat of the car.
Camille slid into the driver’s seat, drawing her feet in and slamming the door before fastening the seat belt. Morio and Shade rode in back; I took shotgun. As soon as we were all situated, she pulled out the parking lot, and we headed over to visit Carter.
Carter, the son of a demon and a Titan, was far more than he appeared to be. He walked with a limp and a brace on one leg, and his shaggy red hair was meticulously kept in a trendy do. Two horns rose, spiraling, from his head, to belie his demonic heritage. Carter kept tabs on the demonic visitations to Seattle, and he had records going back for several hundred years. He also was a member of the Demonica Vacana society, a secret society that observed and—at times—interfered in the goings-on with demons in human society.
He lived in a modest basement apartment in the Broadway district, a haven to junkies and hookers. But he was in no danger, and a magical “go-away” zone surrounded the sidewalk outside the steps leading down to his apartment, discouraging lowlifes and criminals from hanging around.
I knocked at the door and, after a moment, it opened. Carter peered out, eyeing us, then stood back to allow us in. We hadn’t been around much the past couple of months and weren’t sure just how eager he was to see us.
“What can I do for you?” He was as polite as ever but seemed a little more aloof. Carter had been the foster father to a beautiful mute daughter named Kim, until recently.
“We have something to tell you, and we want your take on the issue.” He motioned for us to sit down in the worn but genteel living room. The velvet sofa was spotless; so were the thick rugs that covered up the concrete floor. Everything looked as it always had, but the apartment felt a little more empty.
Then the curtains to his kitchenette opened, and a man walked out, probably in his early thirties, carrying a tea tray with tea and cookies on it. He looked human, but that was no guarantee he was. But Carter smiled up at him, and motioned for the man to sit with us.
“I want to introduce you to my new assistant. This is Tobias. Toby, meet Delilah and Camille D’Artigo, Morio, and Shade.” He gave the other man a sly smile, and it was returned in kind. Right then, I knew. Carter had a boyfriend. Nothing about our prior interactions had told us anything about Carter’s love life, and we’d never asked.
We murmured hello, and Carter glanced at Toby. “We need some privacy. If you wouldn’t mind?”
“What would you like me to do?” Tobias started to stand. Carter reached out and stroked his hand. Toby ducked his head.
“If you could go organize the new photographs we got in, I’d appreciate it.” Carter watched as the lithe man excused himself and headed into the back room. After Toby was out of the room, he looked back at us and blushed. Seeing a demigod blush delighted me, for some reason. It meant that, as powerful as Carter was, he still had a spark of humanity to him, even though he’d never been anything remotely resembling human.
“When did Toby start working with you?” I was determined to needle him just a little about it. After all, that was what friends did. And Carter was our friend.
He glanced up at me, and a little smirk crossed his face. “About two months ago. He was working for a client of mine. We…the attraction was immediate. So he came to work for me. It won’t last. He’s one of the djinn, and they don’t make good long-term lovers. But it will be fun for the duration. And I needed the company. And the help.”
“Can you trust a djinn?” Camille frowned. I knew that look. It said she didn’t trust Toby any more than she trusted a skunk in heat.
“No, but that is why he is not allowed access to private information, and why he doesn’t have a key to my place. Do not trouble yourself, young witch, I will not compromise the integrity of my operations with a veil of sex haze. But it has been a long time since I’ve found someone to my liking, and I plan to enjoy myself in the meantime. And before you ask, I don’t ask what equipment my lovers have, merely if they want to play.”
