Page 11

Wesley frowned. “I don’t often see Mr. Zhang seem anxious. I wonder what that cable he just received said.”

“So do I,” Sebastian said quietly.

* * *

Sebastian’s trunk was in his decoy room on the sixth floor.

He had to sneak his clothes upstairs in stages to pack, trying not to make it obvious that he’d been more or less living with Wesley in New York.

Then, when he was finally packed, he had to help Wesley, who had far more clothes than he did, and for all his wartime experience, was accustomed to having a footman pack his bags off the battlefield.

Finally, though, they had got everything loaded into a car for the trip from their hotel by Grand Central to the North River piers along the Hudson. A light rain started up as their cab made its way across Manhattan.

“I meant to send Teo a telegram before we left the hotel.” Sebastian was trying not to poke at the contusion on his face.

He’d taken more of the powder before they’d left, which helped the ache but didn’t do anything for the red mottling his cheekbone.

“Maybe I can still send it from the pier. He can tell my family where I’m going. ”

“Ignoring what an obnoxious older brother you’re being, expecting Mateo to manage your correspondence,” Wesley said, “I already sent one.”

“You did?”

“Of course,” Wesley said, like it was obvious he would keep up his letters with Mateo, which put a cozy sort of warmth in Sebastian’s chest.

“And speaking of de Leons.” Wesley glanced at the front seat, then lowered his voice, speaking so the cab driver could not have overheard.

“I might know the current Valemount line, but we haven’t really talked of the fifteenth-century Duke of Valemount.

You said last night that he was a paranormal who married a Spanish countess, and they both made relics before they were found by your witch-hunting inquisitor ancestor, the original de Leon who cursed your blood? ”

“Yes.” Sebastian sighed, and then admitted, “The countess was also my ancestor.”

“She was?” Wesley said in surprise.

Sebastian nodded. “She was a de Leon. The inquisitor was her brother.”

Wesley’s eyebrow went up. “And I thought my family had grievances.”

“I imagine they didn’t get along very well,” Sebastian agreed ruefully. “With that much magic in his heritage, the current Duke of Valemount could be a paranormal himself.”

“Seems possible,” said Wesley. “And whatever else he is, the two of you may be related.”

Sebastian blinked.

“Presuming the original duke had children with his Spanish countess, of course,” Wesley said. “But if this inquisitor was your direct ancestor, and the present-day Valemounts are direct descendants of the inquisitor’s sister, then you and the current duke would be some degree of cousins.”

“It would be very distant,” Sebastian said.

“Quite. But you’d be blood relations nonetheless,” Wesley said, “in a world where blood magic exists.”

It was a good point. Sebastian nodded grimly.

Soon their taxi was turning onto the busy street that ran along the Hudson, Manhattan’s tall buildings rising up on their left and the row of piers and ocean liners along the river on their right.

As the taxi pulled up to their pier, Wesley craned his neck, gaze on the crowd.

“I see the others, already coming our way.” He added, under his breath, “And I’m fairly certain Arthur and Brodigan’s luggage is floating an inch above the dock. ”

As Sebastian followed Wesley out of the taxi and onto the curb, their four friends joined them, Jade and Arthur with umbrellas. “There you are,” Jade said, as light drops fell on Sebastian’s flat cap. “First class is already boarding.”

“You lot could have gone ahead,” Wesley said, as a pair of dockhands approached. “Wait. You are coming, aren’t you?”

Arthur and Jade exchanged a look. “We decided Rory and I would come with you,” Arthur said. “But Jade and Zhang can’t follow yet.”

“What?” Sebastian said, furrowing his brow.

Jade motioned them over. The six of them huddled together on the sidewalk, forming a cozy knot under the two umbrellas while the dockhands began unloading Wesley’s and Sebastian’s trunks from the taxi.

“We weren’t able to get four first-class staterooms,” Jade explained, the raindrops now a gentle patter on the shared umbrellas. “We were lucky to get two—one for Lord Fine, and one for Sebastian. Arthur and Rory are sharing a cabin in second.”

“But I don’t want to you or Rory to have the worse room,” Sebastian protested.

“Oh no, I’ll have to live for a few days without a marble sink and a butler up my ass, how ever will I manage,” Arthur said, deadpan. “I assure you, it’s quite fine. Frankly I’d choose bunking with Rory in fourth over being cloistered with the stuck-up pricks in first.”

“Thank you, Arthur,” Wesley said dryly.

“We need to question the current Duke of Valemount, now more than ever,” Jade said. “Lord Fine said they’re in the same circles and can attend the same parties. We want it known that Lord Fine is returning to England so he receives those invitations.”

Sebastian didn’t want to separate from Wesley, but he also didn’t want to draw undue suspicion.

“But your father is a congressman, no?” Sebastian said to Arthur.

“Aren’t you the most logical choice of all of us to travel with Wesley?

You could go to any party with his peers and no one would think anything of it. ”

“True,” Jade said, “but we have an even better idea.”

She pointed at Sebastian.

His eyes widened. “What would I know of English high society?” Sebastian said, trying not to squirm under the others’ stares.

“Well, let’s see,” Zhang said. “You had an aunt who was supposed to marry the Earl of Blanshard.”

“And another aunt you just told me was the Spanish countess who married the original Duke of Valemount,” Wesley added. “Somehow I doubt either of those men would have been eager to marry commoners.”

“Wait,” said Rory. “You’re related to this Lord Valemount fella?”

“It would be very, very distant,” Sebastian said weakly.

But the others were still staring at him. Wesley tilted his head. “Something you neglected to tell us, Sebastian?”

“No,” Sebastian said firmly. “I haven’t been hiding some kind of title all this time. The things you and Zhang bring up are ancient history.”

“What do you think English peerage is built on?” Wesley said. “That Spanish princess you once mentioned, with superstrength. She wasn’t another of your relatives, was she?”

Sebastian groaned. “Why is your memory so good?” He made a face. “Our world is magic. My parents had left all of that other stuff behind even before they went to Puerto Rico. The titles, high society—that’s your world, Wes.”

“Perhaps,” Jade said. “But you still know enough to pass as a Spanish aristocrat, don’t you?”

Oh no. “Please say you’re joking, Jade.”

“Of course I’m not joking,” Jade said, with a grin. “We’ve booked your ticket under a pseudonym. You can infiltrate the aristocracy as the eldest son of a Spanish count—a glamorous international bachelor heading to London with his friend, the Viscount Fine.”

“This way you can attend every social event with Lord Fine and be a second pair of eyes and ears,” Zhang added. “It needs to be you who joins Fine to talk to the Duke of Valemount, and not Arthur or Rory. You’re the most likely to recognize it if he refers to anything about the relics.”

The others were nodding along with Jade and Zhang. “A count’s son.” Sebastian rubbed his forehead. “Dame paciencia,” he muttered.

Rory snorted. “You gotta find your own patience,” he said, sounding amused. “But are you gonna blow your cover walking around like that?” he said, pointing to Sebastian’s cheek.

“Oh, that part’s fine,” Arthur said, with an unconcerned wave. “You’d be surprised how often so-called men of culture get in fights. Just look at the entire concept of dueling.”

“I want to protest, but Arthur is right, we can invent any number of stories to explain a bruise,” Wesley said.

“Boxing, outdoorsmanship, or hell, simply tell the truth—you were defending a girl from some lout.” He turned to Jade.

“This covers us, but Miss Robbins, why are you and Mr. Zhang taking another ship?”

Zhang held out a piece of paper. “Our cable from Gwen.”

Wesley held it flat so Sebastian could read it too.

HYDE MISSING STOP TRAIL POINTS TO TANGIER STOP WE ARE EN ROUTE TO SPAIN NOW STOP

“I don’t understand,” Wesley said, as Sebastian stared at Gwen’s message, stomach in knots.

“Gwen Taylor is your friend in London, the one with witch-sight who controls the tide, married to the man who can turn invisible? And Hyde I assume refers to the paranormal who called himself Mr. Hyde, who has a very bad history with several of you?”

That was putting it lightly. Hyde was a paranormal with shape-shifting magic who’d been prisoner under the same blood magic as Sebastian, only Hyde hadn’t needed any motivation to kill or maim. Arthur still bore scars from Hyde’s claws, a remnant of an interrogation during the war.

“I understood from Gwen and Ellis that Hyde was securely locked away in a remote English asylum,” Jade said.

“Sebastian, she said the three of you took him there and saw that his cell was fully secured, with magic traps painted by your cousin Isabel. Hyde is terribly dangerous, yes, but last I knew, he was bound by Rory’s magic, his mind trapped in the fifteenth century. ”

“And he can rot there,” said Rory darkly. Despite their size difference, he’d moved to stand protectively close to Arthur. “My magic wouldn’t have let Hyde go, not after what he did to Ace. If anyone deserves to be locked up, it’s that monster.”

Wesley frowned. “Then pardon my language, Miss Robbins, but who the hell would free him?”

“Hyde has three kinds of magic,” Sebastian said quietly.

They all turned his way.

Sebastian looked up from Gwen’s telegram.

“Hyde cannot control his own shape-shifting because he was warped by a relic’s magic.

So he has his own magic, the relic’s magic, and Rory’s magic.

” He took a breath. “And to unlock the medallion with hunting magic, you need to murder a paranormal with at least three kinds of magic.”

“The same medallion relic that was made by the original Duke of Valemount,” Wesley said, in understanding. “This is why we’re rushing back to England.”

Zhang nodded. “We have to find where Hyde has gone. And we have to follow all our leads. We can’t wait any longer to investigate the current Duke of Valemount.”

Downriver, another ship blasted its horn, a deep reverberation that echoed around Manhattan’s edge.

“Find a way to meet the duke but be safe ,” Jade said firmly. “Jianwei and I are leaving tomorrow on a ship to Lisbon. From there, we’ll work our way to Gwen and Ellis, and then back to you.”