Page 62 of Cast in Shadow
“If you don’t want any part of this mission, there’s the door.” I pointed toward the front of the bar. “I won’t hold it against you. And if you think you have a better idea, I’m willing to listen. All I’m asking, for now, is that you hear me out.”
“Why Emerson?” Nguyen all but growled the question at me.
“Because he’s a primordial, and if I’m right about what’s happening with Megan, we’re going to need that kind of strength on our side.”
He rolled his neck before sinking down and settling back in his chair. It was a deceptive move. He wasn’t relaxed in the slightest, but he wanted to give me that impression. Or maybe it was Shay he was thinking of, given the way his gaze darted her way for a beat before he spoke. “What do you think is happening with the witch?”
I shifted my attention to Shay. “Are you willing to hear me out?”
She gave me a quick nod, the tail of her blonde ponytailswishing with the move. “I’ll listen, but I’m not promising more than that.”
Fine by me.
“Dennis?”
His gaze rested on Shay, and he lowered himself back to the couch, only this time he took the cushion right next to her. “Let’s hear it.”
“I showed Emerson the footage from the campground earlier this morning. He agrees that she’s gotten her hands on some powerful dark magic.”
Nguyen lifted his chin. “You already met with him.”
“Yes, and he knows I need to talk to my team before things go any further. Because the problem isn’t just the amount of power she’s amassing. Her humanity is slipping in the process.”
I filled them in on how I thought Megan was trying to reach out to the veil.
Dennis shook his head. “I thought it wasn’t possible for a witch to touch the veil and live. Didn’t all the ones who tried die?”
“No one really knows what happened to most of them,” I said.
“Most?” Shay asked, perking up.
“There’s been at least one who succeeded in not just touching the veil, but in actually passing through it into the Alius.” It grated sharing even that much information, but they needed to know the truth. So, I sucked it up and pushed on. “What I’m about to tell you is classified at the highest level.” I glanced across the dimly lit bar, taking in the murmur of a dozen conversations happening around us. “Which means it stays between us.” I motioned between the four of us. “No one else can know, inside the organization or out of it.”
“If it’s that serious, why are we meeting here?” Shay asked,spinning her glass of cranberry juice slowly on the table beside her.
I’d weighed the logic of having this conversation here, but the bar was the best choice for a couple of reasons. One, I wasn’t ready to bring Emerson into Lexa and expose the location of our headquarters to any of the Brethren. Two, a clandestine meeting under a bridge or in an abandoned warehouse left me with too many variables. And three, the bar was safe ground.
“This building is warded against eavesdropping,” I said.
Shay stopped rotating her glass. “You can do that?”
When you owned the place, yeah. You just had to know someone with the kind of magic that could manipulate sound and be willing to pay to have those wards recharged on the regular.
“Give it a shot.” I tipped my head toward the table closest to us, where three men dressed in dusty work clothes and battered boots were winding down after a long day. “Tell me what you hear.”
“People talking.” She looked unconvinced.
“What are they saying specifically? Are they talking about their plans for the weekend? Complaining about their boss? Swapping dirty jokes?”
She focused her attention for a few seconds before her brow scrunched. “I can’t tell. It’s all… muffled.”
“That’s all anyone will hear if they’re trying to listen in on a private conversation within these walls.”
“That’s kind of cool,” Dennis said, scanning the crowd.
Nguyen and Shay, on the other hand, kept their eyes on me. His were hard and impatient. Hers were calculating.
“Does the Brethren know about this mythical witch who supposedly crossed through the veil?” Nguyen asked, bringing us back on topic.
