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“Oh, come now,” James said, growing impatient. He stood then, leaning on his cane as he drew himself up to loom over Jianyu, who remained seated. “There’s no sense in denying it. Werner told me that Viola found something—silver discs. Logan confirmed that she took them.” When Jianyu’s expression betrayed his surprise, James only smiled. “I may be willing to offer a trade.”
“You have nothing I want,” Jianyu said.
“Lie,” James countered. “I have exactly what you want. I have the Strega and the Devil’s Own.” He watched Jianyu’s expression close up, like a house before a storm, and he knew he’d hit his mark. “You want your home. Your family. I can make that happen, Jianyu. I can convince them all it was a simple misunderstanding. I can make sure they welcome you back like the prodigal son.”
Jianyu’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t respond. He also couldn’t quite hide the longing in his eyes. And nothing could disguise the way the Aether danced.
“I could also offer you protection,” James added.
“As you protected Josef Salzer?” Jianyu asked.
“He wasn’t my concern.”
“The boy was one of Dolph’s,” Jianyu charged. “If you believe yourself worthy of taking Dolph Saunders’ place, he should have been yours to protect.”
“I protect those who are loyal,” he told Jianyu. “I offered the boy the mark, but Josef refused it. He made his own choices, and he suffered the consequences of them.”
“Did he?” Jianyu asked, tilting his head. “Or was he offered up? It strikes me as damning that none of those we have saved from the Order wore the mark.”
James didn’t so much as blink, despite Jianyu’s astuteness. “Josef Salzer was never my concern. None of them were. My only concern is the road that lies ahead. Destroying the Order. Reclaiming the power that once belonged only to those with the old magic.” Taking my place as their leader.
“Your concern has only ever been for yourself,” Jianyu charged, as though it were a failing—a sin of some sort—to survive.
James had had enough. Whatever the Aether signaled, his patience was at an end. “I want the sigils. I’m willing to offer you protection in exchange for them,” he told Jianyu. “I’m willing to offer you an alliance.”
Jianyu stood. “We are finished here.” He started for the door, had his hand on the knob and was already pulling it open before James spoke again.
“The Order’s already searching for what you stole,” James said. “It’s the reason for the patrols.”
Jianyu stopped, one foot nearly out the door. He hesitated, his hand still on the doorknob, but eventually he turned back, just as James knew he would.
“I’ve kept them from you,” James said. “I’ve offered up others to give you time to see reason, but I’m running out of patience. Soon they’ll find someone who’s willing to talk, and then the Order will come for you and your little crew.” He paused, letting this information settle. “What will you do then? How will you protect your Sundren friends? You’re alone. Without support or backup…
“Oh, I know you have each other,” he said, waving away the silent argument he saw shimmering in Jianyu’s expression. “But a lone Chinaman and an Italian girl against the Order? It’s laughable. Outsiders, all of you. Mageus on top of that. Face it, Jianyu. Alone, you don’t stand a chance against what the richest men in the city are capable of. But under my protection? Under the protection of the Devil’s Own?” He shrugged.
Jianyu did not speak at first. It was not hesitation—James understood this—but care. He’d never been rash before, and he would not start now. “What, exactly, are you offering?”
“Come back,” James said softly. “Repledge yourself to the organization that your dearly departed Dolph Saunders built. Pledge yourself to me. Give Newton’s Sigils into my keeping, and in turn, I will protect you and yours. Your Sundren will be safe.”
“And what of Viola?”
James shrugged. “That depends upon Viola.”
“You would take her back willingly after the injury she gave you?” Jianyu asked, eyeing the cane.
“She made a mistake,” he said with another affable-looking shrug. “We could come to an arrangement.”
The edge of Jianyu’s mouth twitched, but he did not smile. “Those discs must be very valuable for you to make such a generous offer.”
“They are,” James said. He was sure of it.
A long, fraught moment passed between them as the Aether vibrated and danced. But with the strange vibrations that had plagued him for weeks, James could not read the message within it. He could not tell what answer Jianyu might give until he spoke.
“After what you have done, you cannot actually imagine we would simply hand over anything so powerful?” Jianyu said. “You cannot truly believe we would trust you?”
“But I would,” James said easily. “In fact, I’ve imagined much, much more than that.” James let the affability slide from his expression. In its place, James revealed the reality of who—of what—he had become. His hand caressed the coils on the Medusa’s head, felt the cold energy there answering to him, and sent it out into the air. “You see, my old friend. You no longer have a choice.”
THE PROFESSOR
