“Trust me. You’re not my kind.”
“I’ve seen evidence of your magic.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re the same.”
Although I put on a good show, his words hit too close for comfort. Why was I willing to extend a certain amount of trust to Callan and House Lewis, yet unwilling to do the same for the Green Wizard? He was right. I had at least as much in common with him as I did with vampires.
He started toward the door. “If you’re not with us, then you’re against us. It’s that simple.”
“The world is literally awash in shades of gray. Nothing is that simple.” I tossed the card on the coffee table. “What’s your name?”
“Joseph Yardley.”
“I think I’ll still call you the Green Wizard. It’s catchier.”
He offered a half smile. “I don’t really mind what you call me as long as you join the cause.”
I slept like a corpse that night and when I awoke the next day, I made the decision to attend the meeting. I couldn’t share the information I’d learned about the stones with the Green Wizard, but maybe there was something I could learn from them. I was curious to know more about their plan. Just because they wanted to overthrow vampire rule didn’t automatically make them a better option. I needed to know more.
A basic reveal spell gave me the time and location of the PSR meeting. If I were Joseph Yardley, I would’ve chosen a more memorable abbreviation for my group, but hey, I wasn’t in charge of the marketing department.
I debated inviting Kami to go with me, but, in the end, I went alone. Yardley had only extended the invitation to me and I wasn’t sure how an extra guest would go over. He trusted me enough to include me, but that didn’t mean I trusted him. The only thing I trusted were the weapons strapped to my back. And to my thigh.
And my ankle.
Finally I was ready.
I triple-checked to make sure I wasn’t being followed today. I didn’t want to be the reason the Green Wizard’s party was busted by vampires.
The meeting was being held in the Barbican. Not too far and there was a direct bus from Euston.
On the bus I took a seat beside an elderly woman with a shopping bag. She cut a quick glance at my axe and shuffled closer to the window.
I smiled. “Blind date. A girl can’t be too careful these days.”
She averted her gaze and stared out the window instead.
My phone buzzed with an incoming message from Kami. I’d deal with her later.
I disembarked at the Barbican stop and noticed the same elderly woman struggling with her shopping.
“Need any help? I can carry that for you if you like.”
Her eyes turned to slits. “Do I look like I was born yesterday?”
More like one hundred yesterdays, but I thought it best not to comment.
“If I wanted to steal it, I would’ve done it already, but if you don’t want help, that’s fine. I get it.” I held up my hands and turned to walk away.
“It’s only two blocks,” she called after me. “Think you can manage?”
I swiveled around and she thrust the bag toward me. I looped the handle over my shoulder. “Holy hellfire. What have you got in here? Rocks?”
“A set of hand weights.”
I smiled. “You’re going to start working out?” Better late than never, I guess.
“I intend to use them as weapons on intruders. A wolf went crazy in the lobby of my building. It took several residents to tackle him.”
A berserker in this area now? The stone’s influence or a coincidence?
“Who was he?”
“Heck if I know. We only have one wolf in the building. Lives in the penthouse suite and we rarely see him. All I know is it wasn’t him.”
“What happened to the crazy wolf?”
“Don’t know. After he was knocked unconscious, somebody called pack authorities to report the incident.”
I’d have to check in with Romeo and see whether another wolf was brought to the infirmary. He wasn’t there when I spoke with Rafe. Maybe he was brought in later.
The elderly woman stopped in front of a building. The sign over the entrance canopy read Acadia.
“Here we are. I’ll make it the rest of the way.”
I handed her the bag. “Good luck. I hope you never have to use those weights.”
She smiled. “I hope you never have to use that axe.”
If only.
I continued another block and down a side street to the address on the card. I didn’t need to check the numbers to know where I was going.
Halfway down the street I spotted two hulking men. It wasn’t my business, but if they wanted to keep this meeting secret, posting two burly guards in plain view wasn’t the right way to go about it. If a vampire patrol caught sight of them, they’d be curious to know exactly what Humpty and Dumpty were guarding.
“How’s everyone this fine day?” I asked. “I just helped an old lady carry her bag. I figure there must be a kitten in a tree just around the corner.”
“Card,” the man on the left growled.
I showed them the card Yardley had given me. Grunting, they moved aside to let me pass.
The room’s low ceiling prompted me to duck even though there was plenty of space for me to stand at full height. Wooden beams ran the length of the ceiling and I tried to figure out what the room’s purpose might’ve been once upon a time. Before I could reach a conclusion, a bell clanged and Joseph Yardley a.k.a. the Green Wizard took his place at the head of the room like a teacher ready to launch into a lecture. He wore his trademark green cloak and the sun tattoo on his head gleamed in the dim light.
There were about twenty-five people seated, ranging in age from an acne-riddled teenager to a white-haired woman with deep creases in her face and a hunched back. A cane rested against the edge of her chair.
“Welcome, friends,” he began.
I listened to his impassioned speech and watched the faces of his listeners as they flickered from interested to angry to hopeful. Yardley seemed to know how to hit all the right emotional buttons. On the surface he didn’t say anything I disagreed with, but I already knew who, what, and why. I was more interested in how and when.
I didn’t hear those answers.
Afterward, I lingered in the back row and waited for the crowd to depart. Yardley remained deep in conversation with a handful of other attendees wearing similar cloaks. Of the twenty-five attendees, I only counted three women.
“You need more witches,” I commented.
Yardley’s brown eyes twinkled. “Which is why I invited you, remember?”
The lone woman in the huddle stuck out her hand. “I’m Susan Mayflower.”
“London Hayes.” Her skin was dry and cool and slightly calloused.
“You’re thinking about this all wrong,” a man in a brown cloak continued. “Why wouldn’t I be able to have elemental powers if I possessed the elemental stone?”
“Because the evidence suggests that’s not how it works, Byron,” Susan said, clearly irritated by her friend’s refusal to accept the information. “If you don’t have elemental magic in your bloodline, the stone does nothing for you.”