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“What kind of problem?” James asked.
Logan grimaced, as fearful and uncomfortable as ever, despite the new ink he wore on the underside of his wrist. “It’s hard to explain.”
The Aether lurched, murmuring its uncertainty.
“Torrio?” James asked. The damned Five Pointer had been unsettled ever since he and his men had torn the Strega to pieces fighting the Hip Sing highbinders.
“It’s not Torrio or the Chinese guys,” Logan told him. “I don’t know who they are, but there’s a lot of them. There’s hardly a place to stand. They’re screaming and chanting. They’re shouting for you.”
The Aether trembled then, urging him on. “It’s nothing but a distraction.”
“It’s an uprising,” Logan argued. “They’re demanding to speak to you tonight, or they’re threatening to tear the place apart. You need to go down there before everything blows up.”
“What do I care?” James told him. The Strega had always been a means to an end. After tonight, he’d have far more to rule over than a sordid saloon on the Bowery. “Let them have it.”
Logan stared at him, incredulous. But then, how could he possibly understand?
The Aether leaped and danced in anticipation. The vibrations were so frantic now he could no longer hear the buzzing that had bothered him for months.
“It’s starting,” he told Logan. And when the night was over, he would hold the key to controlling far more than a simple Bowery barroom. Soon he would have the Book of Mysteries and everything he needed to unlock its power.
He’d have the world itself in the palm of his hand.
“Get your coat,” he told Logan. “I need you to come with me.”
DEVIATIONS
Madison Square Garden
Jianyu was growing impatient. He and Viola were waiting on the main level of the Garden for some sign of Ruby Reynolds, who should have been along before now. He looked up at the grand clock at the end of the cavernous hall and wondered what was keeping her—and how much longer they could afford to wait.
It was not that he had any fear of being discovered. Both of them were still wrapped in his affinity, hidden from sight within the strands of light, just as they had been since the beginning of the evening. They had slipped into the hall with the rest of the attendees, rich men and women who had come from across the continent to celebrate the solstice and decide the fate of their Brotherhoods. While men who were boiling with fear and raging with hate had given speech after speech, he and Viola had stolen away from the crowd and taken the opportunity to search the building for some sign of what Jack was planning.
In the end, their search had turned up nothing. The corridors and back rooms were clear of any obvious danger, and nothing seemed amiss on the roof either. It would have been easier had they found some small hint as to what Jack had in store. Without any clues, all they could do was watch and wait.
But first they had to find Ruby.
“She’ll be here,” Viola said, but Jianyu wondered who she was trying to convince—him or herself. She was vibrating with her usual impatience, but tonight there was an edge to it.
Ruby should have already arrived. She was supposed to have slipped away from her escorts while the crowd found their seats on the roof above, long before the ritual was to begin. Jianyu alone could have ferried her out to the carriage where Cela and Abel would be waiting to take her back to the safe house, but Viola had insisted on being involved.
“We cannot wait much longer,” Jianyu told her. Cela and her brother would not be able to circle the block very many times before someone noticed their carriage.
There were many reasons that Jianyu had fought to keep the Johnsons outside the Garden that night. After the attack on the New York Age’s offices and Viola’s subsequent decision to end the men who had perpetrated it, the Order clearly suspected a connection between the Mageus and the Negro Community. They would not have requested a staff of only white workers for the evening’s festivities otherwise. Because there would have been no way for the Johnsons to blend in without discovery, Jianyu had refused to put either Cela or her brother at any more risk than they already were.
She had been livid, but it was better this way. With Cela safely outside, he could focus on the dangers ahead without worrying about which of them might touch her. He would get through the night—he would live through the night—and when it was over, only then would he allow himself to consider what they had spoken about earlier. Only then would he let himself remember the feel of her lips against his.
“There,” Viola said, pointing toward a single robed figure descending the back staircase. The woman’s hood had flopped back as though Ruby did not care who saw that she was not where she was supposed to be. “See? I told you she would come.”
But Ruby did not immediately head for the place where they had agreed to meet. Instead, she paused at the base of the stairs and considered her options. When she reached the midpoint of the room, she stopped and looked around as though she did not know where she was supposed to be.
Jianyu hesitated.
“Andiamo,” Viola said, impatient as ever. “You wanted her to come, and now you hesitate. What are you waiting for?”
Jianyu frowned, unsure of the reason. But he waited longer still, until Ruby began moving in their direction. She stopped short of their meeting place.
“Hello?” Ruby whispered, searching the empty room for some sign.
