“Where’s the Archmage?” I snarled.
“Meeting with the Synod in Edinburgh. He shan’t return for several days.”
“Wells let you use his office?”
“Several ongoing affairs remain underway in London. I lead them during his absence.”
That gave me pause. I thought Julian nothing more than the Archmage’s lapdog. I wondered after these other endeavors he spoke of until my anger boiled forth again.
“Then answer for him. How the bloody fucking hell did Mathers get drawings of the Nameless City, Julian?” Spittle flew from my lips in my rage.
Julian’s face hardened, and he sat back in his chair. “Can you ensure the legitimacy of these drawings? Many representations of the Nameless City exist, perhaps he acquired one of these,” he said, his tone deadly serious. That he didn’t dismiss the issue cooled my anger a bit.
“I know that place like the back of my own hand, and he possessed exact drawings, down to the goddamn cracks in the wall. The Archmage promised to protect the City.” I lowered my voice and leaned over the desk. “The Nameless City has been compromised. This mission now concerns the fate of the world. You are going to put every agent in London onto this case, under my command.”
“I can’t do—”
“Don’t lie to me!” I swept a stack of paper off the desk to scatter on the floor.
Julian never moved.
I pointed a finger at him and said, “You can, and you bloody well will, you pus-filled, sack of—”
Julian stood, the movement painfully slow, and my words caught in my throat. The calm, playful facade Julian always kept crumbled away, and something rose up in him that absolutely terrified me. He fixed me with his gaze, and I felt my heart pause.
“I have endured more than you will ever know, and I have suffered your arrogance long enough. You will not speak to me that way. I am one of the only allies you have left in London. You would do well to remember that.” Power of an ancient kind filled his words, and I felt as if I stood before one of the old gods. Silence fell, delicate as glass, and I feared if I spoke, or even moved, the world itself might shatter. I never imagined the foppish Julian Baker could frighten me. Finally, he sighed, and the terrible power in him dissipated. He collapsed back into his chair, looking absolutely exhausted.
“I want to help you, Aleister. But Henrick is the only Agent in London other than the two of us.” He rubbed his eyes; his voice weak.
I blinked. We always kept agents available. “Where did the Synod send everyone?”
“Not the Synod.” He lowered his hands and gave me a meaningful look. “The Archmage. He’s emptied the city in the last week, sending them all over the world. Henrick is to leave for Egypt in the morning. Did you bring these drawings with you?”
I shook my head. “I gave them to an associate to look into.”
“How long ago did you leave his house?”
“An hour, perhaps.” I took a deep breath and swallowed hard, my composure returning. “You think this about the Book?”
“I think it very likely.”
“Do you think the Book compromised already?” Panic crawled up the back of my throat.
“No,” he said, and the knot of anxiety in my gut loosened a bit. “But the Archmage is up to something.”
“This doesn’t make sense.” I stroked the stubble on my cheeks. “Why has the Synod allowed Wells to send agents away like this? And why was I called back to the city?”
“I called you back to the city. Not Wells or the Synod,” Julian said, catching me by surprise. “Things haven’t been quite right for some time now. I wanted you here as I investigated so that I had someone close at hand I knew I could trust.”
“You trust me?” I asked, confused, and a bit touched.
“Of course I do. I still remember Winterbourne Academy. When we were friends.”
I smiled despite myself. “Before you became the golden child, and I the wickedest man in England.”
“How things change,” he whispered sadly. “What are we going to do?”
I turned, running a hand through my hair as I thought. Our Archmage had sent the majority of the Knight Mages away not just from London, but from England itself. And a possibly mystical organization possessed details on the location of the most powerful book of magic in the world and boasted a sizable portion of Parliament among its members. But were they connected? Julian said that he brought me back to London, but that raised another question.
“Julian,” I said, turning. He sat with his fingers steepled, watching me. “How did you find out about the Golden Dawn?”
He remained quiet for a moment, a thoughtful look in his eye. At last, he said, “The Archmage originally asked me to take the case. I gave it to you instead.”
“Well, that changes things, doesn’t it?” I said, dropping into a chair off to the side of the office. “If Mathers is trying to bring the Book of Thoth here, and Wells is involved, why would he ask you to investigate?”
“He wouldn’t,” Julian said, his brow furrowed. “Which means—”
“We don’t have a damn clue what is really going on,” I finished for him, leaning my head against the wall, and closing my eyes. God, I was tired.
“Then we find out,” Julian said. I liked the resolve in his voice. “The Archmage hates your guts, so I think it best if I focus on that line of investigation. Continue your inquiries into the Golden Dawn and those drawings you found.”
He stood, and I did the same. He came around the desk to stand before me, extended his hand, and I took it. We grinned at each other, and the knot of anxiety in my stomach unwound completely. We had a direction. We could do this.
“We’ll meet again soon. For now, you need to leave. No one other than Henrick knows of your presence here and the less time we spend
