Page 108 of Thief of Night
That definitely wasn’t true. No one called themselves “cabals”—it’s not like that was a particularly nice descriptor. That word just hung on them so long that it stuck.
The guy was on a roll, clearly pleased to have an audience. “Then these Cabals sprang up all over the world. They managed to gather up all the resources just because they were the first. But they have no business sense. I’ve met some Cabal members and let me tell you—they’re like any downline in an MLM—already so invested that they have to exploit others to justify what they’ve already done.”
Charlie let out a surprised snort of breath. He wasn’t exactly wrong.
Lars, though, was not having it. “The Cabals rose up because that’s the traditional way things work—some authority at the top. An apprenticeship for new gloamists. But I admit they may turn out to be too old fashioned. They cling to the idea that the solution to their problems is going to be foundin musty old tomes. And they can be ridiculously hierarchical. They delight in being enigmatic. Still, they’re what we have and I look forward to hearing whatever they have to teach us.”
“And they haze like a fucking fraternity,” Shawn put in.
Charlie wished Posey was there to hear this. But more than that, she wished she could speak to Red, mind to mind. She’d love to hear his running commentary.
Charlie took a sip of coffee and poked at her breakfast. She wasn’t sure these guys disagreed with one another, but they were definitely not to be outdone.
Shawn went back to complaining. “They make you do a bunch of things for them and only give you a tiny bit of knowledge in exchange. They want to gatekeep shadow magic. You remember that book, years ago, that led to so many deaths? I think it was a Cabal plant, to make sure that people outside of the Cabals knew they better join.”
“So why are you willing to listen to one of their leaders?” Charlie asked.
“If he has secrets to impart, I want them and—” At that point Lars stopped, because Archie was standing at the front of the room and clearing his throat, Malhar beside him.
“Welcome, everyone. I trust we’ve all had a good breakfast and enough caffeine to face what is ahead,” Archie began in his big booming voice. “First of all, I thank you for being the people you are—successful in your own rights, and yet still curious.”
Charlie couldn’t help thinking of Curiosity Books and its slogan:The world belongs to the curious.Its proprietor died for following his own advice.
“We are here to lend our time, energy, and yes, money, to the building of a better world. A world in which the depths of human consciousness and human power are tapped. I know there are doubters among you who believe nothing new will be revealed. I doubted too. Your skepticism speaks well of you. No one gets to where you all are without being able to spot the difference between fool’s gold and real gold.
“To get us into the right state of mind, we’re going to start the day with a guided meditation to get us relaxed. So when you finish up your food, please head to the conference area and we will begin.”
Charlie rose and started out when she spotted Mark in the back of the room. He was dressed in a leather coat, black jeans, and a white shirt that was stained with sweat around the collar.
She still couldn’t look at him without one of the worst times in her life flooding back. The bullet. The sound of it cracking through the windshield.The man in the passenger seat thrown back by the force of it striking. She’d screamed and screamed and screamed, her car slamming into a Jeep parked on the curb.
And with that, the memory of him, before. Of lying in bed together.I love you to the moon and back,he’d whispered in her ear.
Charlie strode toward Mark. As she came toward him, her expression steely, he ducked toward the convention space.
She rushed after him, just short of breaking into a run. He still got into the room before she could catch him.
As she crossed the threshold, she realized that enough people were looking at her that she couldn’t drag him out without someone stopping her—or at least asking a lot of questions. She could, however, sit next to him.
“I know what you’re doing here,” Charlie said in a low voice and was gratified to see his eyes widen. “And you should leave.”
“Charlie Hall,” he grated out after a moment. “You always think you know everything and you’re always wrong.”
Prison had not been kind to him. He looked haggard and gaunt, fingernails yellowed, swathed in his coat as though he was cold. If she needed further proof that he was involved in this scheme somehow, it was that no one who was that much of a rumpled mess would get into Solaluna without a much better outfit or actual money. The only effort he seemed to have made was dousing himself in a lot of cologne.
“If I’m so wrong,” she said, “tell me how.”
He snorted. “Later.”
A young woman in loose flowing purple and a lot of gold woven into her braids entered the room. The program was about to begin.
“Just trust me for once,” she said, exasperated. “Or don’t and face the consequences.”
“You never face consequences,” Mark told her.
Charlie got up as the woman began taking them through a ritual meditation. So much for his apologies. It just figured that somehow he’d gone back to blaming her for the situation he found himself in.
Well, if her luck held, she’d have time later to try to get information out of him. Right now, she needed to get to Archie’s room.
