Page 50 of Curses & Keys
Phaedra taps on the paper, and Hawthorne nods, then she folds it and slides it into her pocket a second before Henry comes back around the corner.
“All done?” he asks as he walks over to the box. When we confirm, he picks it up and slides it back into the slot. “Is there anything else I can help you with tonight?”
“No, but thank you, Henry,” I assure him. “We appreciate your willingness to meet us here at such an unorthodox time and thank you for your discretion.”
“We serve all our clients’ needs,” he replies with a smile. “No matter the request. And I assure you, we’re very discreet.” He ushers us out of the vault and closes the door, then escorts us out of the bank.
“Report,” I order the minute we step outside.
“Clear,” Gatlin confirms.
“Henry’s in his office on his computer,” Mathias informs us. There are several seconds of silence, then he says, “Interesting. He’s erasing the video footage of your visit.”
“That’s unusual, but we did ask him for discretion,” I reply, trying to think through all the implications of his actions.
“He’s texting someone…” Mathias’ voice trails off. “Damn. I can’t see the message.”
“Well, let’s hope it’s Cian and not the council,” I murmur into the comms. “Everyone, meet back at the hotel.” Henry doesn’t strike me as the type to go back on his word. Plus, Cian’s one of my most loyal agents. Let’s hope that extends to his father.
Once everyone’s in the car, I slip behind the wheel and place my hand on the dash. Using visual waves, I obscure the car from the cameras, allowing us to roll silently through the London streets without the cameras getting a clear picture of us or the car.
“How are you hiding us from the CCTV?” Phaedra asks.
Glancing in the rearview mirror at her in the backseat, I explain how I’m using magic to shield us. “It’s a spell mages created when the cameras became a nuisance. Thankfully, we’rea short distance from the hotel, so it shouldn’t take much for me to power it.”
She frowns. “Do all mages know that spell?”
“Yes, but not all of them can use it.”
“I think the person who broke into my condo and trashed it used the same spell,” she replies with a twist of her lips. “The only thing the camera could catch was his brown dress shoes.”
My brows draw together. “I didn’t study all the footage, so I missed it. I’ll have Mathias show me when we get back.”
Mathias wouldn’t know that most mages can’t cast a spell of this magnitude. Only the most powerful. Could it have been my father? I think about it. Doubtful. He rarely leaves London. But he has a veritable army of personal assistants sworn to secrecy that would be more than happy to cater to him.Damn it.That means he could be the traitor.
27
PHAEDRA
We arrive back at The Hari and sit down to make a plan. I show the rest of them what it says on the paper. “William of Durham founded Oxford…”
“I thought King Alfred founded it,” Mathias inserts.
Surprised to hear the comment come from him, I take a moment to explain. “In the 1300s, a rumor sprang up that King Alfred had founded Oxford roughly four hundred years earlier than William, and it became widely accepted as the truth for a long time. However, it was eventually established that William is the correct founder.”
His dark eyes spark with appreciation. “Thank you.”
Hawthorne turns from Mathias to me, then taps the paper. “We immediately knew it was Oxford, but the second part couldmean one of three places—either St. Peter’s College, the Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey, or St. Peter’s in the East.”
I beam at him. “Correct. The keys to the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter, and those are the only buildings in Oxford with his name.”
Gatlin folds his arms across his large barrel chest. “We’re not splitting up.” His tone leaves little room for disagreement.
Jamison nods. “I agree, but the longer we spend in one place, the more likely the council will catch up with us. I don’t want them to know what leads we’re following. Is there any way to narrow it down?”
“Letz’ group started a thousand years ago,” I remind them. “St. Peter’s college wasn’t founded until the 1900s, so we can rule that one out. That leaves us with two. The Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey and the other church, St. Peter’s in the East. Both were built in the 12thcentury, I think.”
Hawthorne leans forward. “Actually, a church stood in the same place as St. Peter’s in the East since the 10thcentury, but it wasn’t renamed until the 12thcentury.” He stops for a minute. “The Church of St. Peter-le-Bailey was torn down and the new church built on the site in the 16—or—1700s. I remember, because they found some earlier artifacts from my world, Langit, buried there. That timeline would make it questionable.”
