Page 38 of Just Dare Me
“But he doesn’t know that. What reason would he have not to trust the Agency?”
“Jay’s smarter than you think. He knows not to trust anybody as long as he holds the key to Arael Moaz. And just so you know, the second Jay thinks there’s a chance that Arael’s ghost might fall into the wrong hands, you wouldn’t have to kill him. He’d do it himself. That’s who he is.”
“And that’s precisely why he would never come in,” Madison adds. “It would only draw attacks from East Side. As long as he stays hidden from all sides, the whole game is stuck on pause.”
“Pause, yes, but stalemate, no. We have the advantage, and Jay’s giving us time. They can’t just wipe out the entire agency, but we can wipe out their operation with only a few kills—their necromancers, or their demon conjurer. Without either of those powers, the game’s over.”
Madison nods her head in thought. “And now you think you might have found their hideout.”
I shrug modestly. “Checkmate. But we’re not rushing it. I know the Agency likes a paper trail.”
“Washington likes a paper trail,” Madison corrects. “Andwelike to give Washington what they like.”
“Right. So, the Detroit Salt Mine is big business. Lots of money. Which means a board of fat cats, CEOs, all that. How much you wanna bet we find some of Detroit’s most powerful sorcerers on that board? In fact, there’s one name I can almost guarantee we find.”
Madison groans. “Conrad Paul?”
“Conrad Paul,” I confirm. “How else did King Paul find out about necromancy? Daddy’s probably been going to their secret orgies for years.”
Adrian drops a thick stack of papers on Madison’s desk. “Conrad Paul’s on my list as well.”
Director West riffles the pages with her thumb. “What list? What is this?”
“Every sorcerer of interest in Detroit.”
“Do you meaneverysorcerer in Detroit, period? Because that’s what this looks like.”
“I’ll need ten of your agents, minimum.”
“Ten? That’s the entire Double-D.”
“We’ll split the list among them. They’ll visit these houses and conduct interviews. I realize this will cause some friction—”
“Friction!” Madison leaps to her feet. “Please tell me you’re being purposefully obtuse right now, because the only alternative is that you’re delusional, and/or an asshole.”
My mouth hangs open and my eyes dart back and forth between them, as though watching Ping-Pong.
“If the FUA won’t do it, then the FBI will. I can have ten UTF agents here tomorrow morning.”
“You wanthumanagents knocking on the doors of Detroit’s most powerful, most respected sorcerers? Are youtryingto recruit for East Side? No, I’m serious. Don’t shake your head at me.” She slaps the desk. “Look me in the eye when I speak to you!”
All my senses go on alert, not because I’m afraid of how Adrian might respond to so much aggression, but because I’ve never seen Madison West like this. Oh, I’ve heard from plenty of people how intimidating she can be, but none of that does her justice. I’m not intimidated by this Madison West. I’m terrified. But Adrian only scoffs. Hescoffsat her. Now there’s some balls.
“Whose side are you on?” she hisses. “Why would an underworlder—amythic, no less—go to work for Washington? They’re not our friends. We all know that when the time comes—and it will come—our so-called government will turn on us. Theywantthe demons to out us. They’re just licking their lips waiting for it, aren’t they? So the rest of the world can see what monsters we are.”
“Why don’t you just say what you’re trying to say? Go ahead and say the word. Say that I’m a ‘traitor.’”
My whole body tenses. Call him any word you want except that one. I’m dying to find out what kind of mythic Adrian York is, but I don’t need to find out by him shifting in a rage while I’m in the same room.
Madison doesn’t back down. “Give me a reason not to. People throw that word at Shayne, but they’re wrong. She rejected the UTF every time they came calling. She cooperates with Washington, but unlike you she would never join them.”
“Never’s a long time,” he says, surprisingly calm. “And you both are very young. Just babies, with a baby’s perspective. You see only your tiny little piece of the picture. Iaman underworlder. A mythic,no less. But if those things were all I ever was, my four hundred years on this earth would be a complete waste. I didn’t dump ninety-thousand pounds of tea into the Boston Harbor because I’m an underworlder. I didn’t fight alongside George Washington, vote for Lincoln, or march with MLK because I’m a mythic. Everything I’ve done is because I’m an American. I didn’t just join with the government. I helped tocreateit.”
Madison massages the bridge of her nose. “Congratulations. You’re the architect of our demise.”
“I disagree. When the underworld goes public, which is and always was inevitable, this country will be among the first to adopt full acceptance, cooperation, and fellowship. It’s the very reason this country exists.”
“Are you trying to tell me the Founding Fathers knew about us?”
