Leonidas frowned. “You should watch your tongue, Alton. You have yet to earn back our trust,” he growled. “Do not forget that you and your coven remain on probation. The Council is watching your every move until we are satisfied that everything being done here has met our expectations. You kept your secrets from us once—you won’t get to do so again.”
“I’m not trying to,” Alton replied. “I’m merely pointing out the facts. We wouldn’t be in this situation if you had allowed me to bring the children here, as soon as it became clear they weren’t safe in their homes any longer.”
“Listen, Waterhouse, all I’m saying is, if you so much as sneeze in a way that I don’t like, we will come down on you so hard you won’t know what hit you.”
“Well, I imagine it’ll be you. You just said so,” I said, drawing Levi’s ire away from Alton.
“I’d advise you to toe the line as well, Merlin, especially after your little display today,” he said. “You see, the surname ‘Merlin’ doesn’t mean a damn thing anymore. It won’t get you anywhere fast, unless you’ve got your eye on Purgatory.”
Alton raised his palms as Levi and I faced off. “We’re getting away from the matter at hand. This is about the children,” he urged. “It isn’t about the reason they’re missing, or who’s to blame. We just need to fix it and get them back. Astrid, what information do you have already?”
Astrid whipped out her tablet, which was connected to her brilliant Smartie AI system. “There are eleven children on our list who were specifically targeted by the Ryder twins. All of them are missing, with the exception of Marjorie Phillips, who ran away before she could be captured. She may still be at large, which puts her as a priority. She’s seventeen and appears to have Air and Clairvoyance in her skillset. Some of these abilities are assumptions, based on what we’ve heard from parents or witness reports.
“Then we have Micah Cranston, age five, who has Telekinesis and Earth. Mina Travis, age six, with Telekinesis, Water, and Air. Samson Ledermeyer, age three, whose powers remain unknown. Then there’s Min-Ho Lee, age twelve, who has Herculean and Earth abilities. Andrew Prescott, age nine, whose powers also remain unknown. We also have Emilio Vasquez, age eight, who has Fire and Herculean abilities, and Cassie Moore, age eleven, who is an Empath and a Morph.”
I nudged Wade in the side. “Morph?”
“Magicals who can transfer their consciousness into animals.”
“They turn into animals?”
He shook his head impatiently. “No, they can only take over the mind of an animal—use its body as a vessel, that kind of thing. Their human body stays where it is.”
“Right, thanks.” I hadn’t seen it mentioned in any of the books I’d read so far. “Is it a rare ability?”
He nodded. “Rarer than Shapeshifting. Now hush. Astrid is talking.”
“Then, there’s Sarah McCormick, age ten, who appears to have Supersonic abilities, albeit fledgling and unconfirmed. Lastly, we have Denzel Ford, age six, whose powers remain unknown.”
“What about Louella Devereaux?” Dylan asked. “Have we given up on her?”
Alton grimaced. “I’m afraid there’s no use looking for her. We found her body shortly after the Ryders were captured,” he explained. “Well, what was left of her, anyway. Half a leg and most of an arm, both positively identified as belonging to the poor girl.”
A solemn silence hung over the group for a moment. I remembered the corkboard in the abandoned warehouse. Her face, crossed out. It had seemed unlikely that Louella had survived, but I’d been hopeful that she’d managed to get away. My heart gripped in an angry vise. They’d killed her in cold blood. The sick bastards.
“Any news on Kenneth Willow?” I asked, recalling the psychotic teenager with the bow-tie Esprit. He’d been the Ryders’ easiest target. All they’d had to do was push the big red button in his mind, and he’d lapped it up—a readymade soldier to join their army. I knew I was supposed to keep an open mind, but Kenneth had simply been waiting for that kind of opportunity to come along. The evil in him was innate.
Astrid shook her head. “He hasn’t shown up anywhere, which makes me think he’s keeping a low profile. Maybe the Ryders took him to wherever Katherine Shipton is hiding. It’s hard to know where he might be, but we should probably keep him on the list—see if we can find him. He might be the one person who can lead us to Katherine’s hideout.”
“Very good,” Alton announced. “It sounds like you’ve got everything taken care of, and I’m sure the Mage Council members are eager to get back to their duties. How about we leave them to it, and see where Mage Mephiles has gotten to?” He turned to the other three, a polite smile fixed on his face. I sensed deceit gripping his chest. He didn’t want to leave because we had everything taken care of; he wanted to leave because he didn’t want Leonidas to overhear anything we might say.
Keeping secrets again, Alton? I don’t blame you.
“That sounds like an excellent idea, Alton,” Imogene replied, before turning to me. “I hope we will meet again soon, Harley. Perhaps I could bring you a gift from my dear friend’s shop, to congratulate you on your fresh start and bright future.”
I smiled, my chest swelling with pride. “I’d like that very much, Mage Whitehall. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve chatted.”
“It has been much too long. But we’ll remedy that soon, I promise.”
After a brief farewell, the four turned on their heels and swept out of the Aquarium, with Leonidas banging the glass one last time. In the wake of their exit, a tense calm settled over the remaining group. Everything seemed to be a competition to Stella and Channing, and we appeared to be playing the silent game.
Wade cleared his throat. “I agree about keeping our eyes peeled for Kenneth. He might be the bridge between us and Katherine. A sort of Finch substitute, since the white-haired wonder isn’t squeaking a word about dear old Mom,” he muttered. “Now, what kind of leads have we got on the children, Astrid? Are there any we can follow—any sightings or chatter on the news platforms?”
“If it’s all the same to you, Stella and I will conduct our own investigation,” Channing cut in. “We know what we’re doing, and, to be honest, it doesn’t seem like you have any idea what you’re doing. Other than a list of names, you have nothing. Plus, it saves us bringing the rest of you up to speed on the way we conduct things in the LA Coven. You can play detectives around the city, if you want. We’ll bring home the kids.”
He wouldn’t have dared say that had Alton still been here. You might look like a rhino, but you’re a timid little mouse in the face of authority. Coward.
“Are you kidding? We need to work together on this,” Wade insisted. “This is our case. We have the intel. We’ve met these kids—they know us. Do you really think they’re going to follow two strangers, after being snatched by the Ryder twins?”
“A rescue is a rescue. The kids’ feelings don’t come into it.” Channing glowered at Wade. “See, this is why we’re better equipped for the job than you. You put too much weight on emotion. This is our duty, plain and simple. A task. A job. That’s it. Throwing emotions into the mix does nothing but cloud judgment.”
Wow, they have militarized you to within an inch of your humanity.
Wade appeared to be handling the backtalk. Throughout the conversation, I’d barely felt any kind of emotion coming off Channing, and it wasn’t because he was a secret Shapeshifter. I could sense the difference. Where Garrett’s ability kept his feelings hidden, Channing just didn’t feel anything. The perfect soldier.
Stella, on the other hand, appeared to be a little more human. There was no mistaking the frisson of attraction she felt toward Wade; it pulsed through me like static electricity, setting the fine hairs of my forearm on edge. I tried to ignore the sensation as best I could, though it was pretty difficult with her making doe eyes at him.
I rested my hand on Wade’s shoulder. “What does it matter if they lead their own investigation, Wade? As long as we find the kids, it isn’t important who goes where, or who uses what information. This is a team effort, but if they want to split into their own faction, let them. It might be easier for us to search the city without them distracting us with LA Coven procedure.” I hoped they could hear the salty note in my voice.
“Harley’s right,” Tatyana agreed. “We can cover more ground if we split up.”
“Yeah, and if they don’t want to hear the leads Astrid has, that’s fine by us,” Dylan added, casting a subtle look at Tatyana. I didn’t know what was going on between the two of them—the all-American football star and the stunning Russian ice queen—but their emotions were easy enough to read. A growing attachment sizzled between them as they stood side by side.
Channing smirked. “Glad some of you can see some sense. It’s Basic Investigation 101—divide and conquer. It would appear that your fearless leader lacks basic competency.”
“Watch your mouth,” Raffe snapped, in a voice that didn’t sound entirely like his own. He’d been so silent I’d almost forgotten he was there.
Captain Buzzcut snorted. “This coven should have trained you all better. Don’t blame me for your own inadequacies.”
Raffe scowled. “Don’t try me, Channing.”
“Why? You don’t look so tough to me.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” A sinister flash of scarlet darted across Raffe’s eyes for a moment. Channing’s expression changed, his brow furrowing in a worried frown.
“Let’s all just calm down, shall we?” Stella stepped in. “We’ll go our way, you’ll go yours, and we’ll reconvene each evening to discuss what we’ve found. How does that sound to everyone?”