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“I don’t starve my—” I broke off, getting a look at his plate. It had everything in the list he’d given Marsden, plus a side of what looked like baked beans. And an entire pot of syruplike coffee sat off to the side. “I thought you were a health nut!”
“You need to eat more,” Pritkin said, taking a bite that appeared to have some of everything on it. “I almost cut myself on your shoulder blades this morning.”
I ignored that. “We don’t have time for breakfast, anyway. The Circle could be on the way here now!”
“Doubtful,” Marsden said, looking unconcerned. “If Saunders is aware that we are in discussions, he will expect us to go to him and be preparing accordingly.”
“We aren’t in discussions! You brought me here against my will!”
“I’m sure you will have no difficulty explaining that to the Circle,” the conniving old man said.
Pritkin looked up, scowling. “We’re being railroaded!” I pointed out.
“Yes, but not by him.” Pritkin pushed the paper toward me, and the screaming headline momentarily made me forget everything else.
CASSANDRA PALMER’S DARK PAST
“We knew it was only a matter of time,” he said, as I snatched it out of his hands.
Pythia or Pretender?
While a successor to the recently deceased Lady Phemonoe has yet to be officially announced, sources inside the Silver Circle allege that the power may have gone to obscure, noninitiate Cassandra Palmer. “If true, this would be a disaster,” said a high-level source who asked not to be named. “Her background speaks for itself.”
Indeed it does. Crystal Gazing has learned that her mother was Elizabeth O’Donnell, onetime heir to the Pythia’s throne. This is the same initiate, it will be recalled, who was disgraced and dismissed after she eloped with Roger Palmer, a man in the employ of Antonio Gallina, the notorious Philadelphia crime boss. Her daughter is believed to have been brought up at Gallina’s court, using her abilities to forward his nefarious activities. Since then, rumors have linked her name with that of Gallina’s master, Vampire Senate member Mircea Basarab. The Senate had yet to comment on these allegations at press time.
Yeah, I bet the Senate was about as thrilled as I was to have my background splashed all over the press. Pritkin was right—I’d known it was coming—but it was still a blow. The article even included a picture. My own face stared up at me, not from a photograph—I hadn’t had one of those taken in longer than I could remember—but from a composite sketch. My chin was too big and the artist had given me a better nose than I actually possessed, along with a sulky, hostile expression. But it was close enough.
I sat down because my knees felt a little weak. How was I supposed to go anywhere, do anything, now? If this had come out a day earlier, the pawnshop guy could have excused himself, placed a call and had a dozen war mages there in five minutes. I hadn’t fully realized how much I’d relied on anonymity until I didn’t have it anymore.
“The Circle leaked this on purpose.”
“Very likely,” Marsden agreed. “It’s standard procedure before taking action that may be received negatively. A sort of preemptive public relations, if you will.”
“The measure they’re trying to prepare people for is my murder!”
He looked up at me, those blue eyes suddenly keen. “Which is why you need me, my dear.”
I sighed. “Let me have it.”
“Saunders won the last election by portraying me as a doddering old fool who was past his prime but was too stubborn to leave office. He promised a reenergized Circle, change, prosperity. What he failed to mention is that the prosperity was all going to him.”
“What are you saying?” Pritkin was leaning over the table, his hawklike gaze fixed on Marsden.
“That he’s been skimming, and very cleverly, too, ever since he took office. He’s increased the rate of the tithe from all of us and pocketed the difference.”
“That’s impossible. Someone would have noticed!”
“Someone did notice. And it landed him in one of MAGIC’S cells.”
“There’s an oversight committee—”
“Staffed by Saunders’ cronies. One of the first things he did after the election was to clean house. The only people in positions of authority today are those with an interest in keeping him there!”
“You realize I have no idea what you’re talking about, right?” I asked.
“Have you seen the tattoo our mages wear?” Marsden asked, rolling up his sleeve.
“No. Pritkin doesn’t have one.” It wasn’t like I could have missed it.
