Life in Shadows (3 page)

“We’re
certainly more structured than some coven,” Saxon answered with a chuckle.
“We’re all beholden to the same rules. Unless you’re asking if we’re a town
hall democracy? We’re not that. The Brotherhood has leadership and some
hierarchy based on merit, but newcomers can rise quickly. We have no tyrants.
And as a single circle, even as our numbers grow, the power of this region is
not diminished. In that, we all benefit equally.”

“What
does all that cost?” asked Hector. “Don’t tell me all this is free.”

“A
small contribution of your time, and some of that only for social gatherings.
Your time and your willingness to defend your brothers and sisters should the
need arise.”

“With
no restrictions on behavior outside your circle?” Jin spoke up. He still stood
beside Kate at the lectern. He held a completely neutral expression and tone.
“Surely the Brotherhood follows rules to prevent the abuse of ordinary people?”

“We
police our own as far their actions affect our brothers and sisters,” Saxon
answered. “It’s better than leaving every Practitioner to their own devices,
wouldn’t you say? But we wouldn’t be so arrogant as to tell anyone how to live
or how to manage their power. How our members handle their own affairs outside
the Brotherhood is up to them. I’m surprised to hear that you and yours might
be interested, Jin. Surprised, but pleased.”

Jin’s
gaze never wavered, though his lips turned into a slight, grim smile. “We are
not. Thank you.”

“Can’t
blame me for trying,” Saxon conceded. “I’m happy to speak with anyone else who
might be interested, as is Mr. Gold here. Thank you for your patience.”

With
that, the audience resumed its general exit. Some waited near the lectern for
Archimedes to settle down so they could ask their own questions. Onyx caught
another narrow-eyed look from Hypatia. She blew it off to focus on her partner.
“What now?”

“Let’s
get out of here until this breaks up a little,” Molly decided, tilting her head
toward the door. “I don’t want to stand in line.”

They
moved back into the gallery, taking up a spot by one of the bookshelves clear
of the doorways. “I didn’t expect to see this many people here. Makes me wonder
how many are in the Brotherhood. And how many Practitioners are there in
Seattle all together?”

“These
aren’t all exactly Seattle people,” Molly noted. “Kate’s circle is from north
of Everett, and one of those pagan groups is kind of out in the sticks east of
here. I don’t think either of them are part of the ‘drain’ the Brotherhood guy
is talking about.”

“Competition
is a better word.”

“Yeah.
I mean we never feel it because we never reach that high. ‘Course, that sort of
asks what the Brotherhood is doing that they need so much power, y’know?” Molly
tone made her thoughts on that issue plain, and Onyx agreed: it couldn’t be
anything good.

“You
might hit that limit with some of the things in that book Elizabeth left you.”

“The
book she left us,” Molly corrected. “She knew that when she wrote down my
name.”

Onyx
didn’t argue. She took Molly’s hand again. “Might never have met you if I
hadn’t wandered into her shop.”

That
brought a grin to her partner’s face. “You weren’t wandering. You knew what you
were looking for in there.”

“I
wasn’t looking for a hot redhead.”

“Bullshit.
Everyone is looking for a hot redhead.”

Onyx
snorted and leaned her head on Molly’s shoulder. “Okay. You got me. Anyway.”
She looked up at the others filtering out of the other room. A few individuals,
accompanied by someone from either Jin’s circle or Kate’s, moved to different boxes
or shelves in the gallery. “Did you need to talk to anyone else here?”

“I’m
ready to bail as soon as we can. Are they cleared out already?” Molly asked,
turning back to the other room.

“Not
quite,” answered Saxon as he came through the doorway. His friendly smile
remained. “Sorry if I’m intruding. That sounded like it might be part of an
open conversation. Molly, is it? And…?”

“Onyx,”
answered the other young woman. She noted that Saxon was alone and wondered if
his companion was already fielding pledges to his fraternity. “Are Kate and Jin
still tied up?”

“Yes.
I don’t think it’ll be long.” His eyes turned to Molly. “That’s quite a bequest
she left you.”

“Hey,
you guys got a house in a nice neighborhood,” Molly pointed out. “Real estate
in this town isn’t getting any cheaper.”

“And
yet I doubt you’d be interested in a trade, though I’m happy to make the
offer,” he ventured.

“Wouldn’t
dream of it.”

“No,
of course not. Can’t blame me for trying. I didn’t come out to ask about the
book, though. But if it’s not too forward, Molly, are you by chance a hermetic
like Elizabeth? I didn’t think she ever took on any apprentices.”

Onyx
gritted her teeth.
Round Two of What’s Your Practice?
she thought.

Molly
handled the question with more humor than Onyx could manage. “Is that a forward
thing to ask? We don’t get out to a lot of wizard parties.”

“You
should definitely come to ours, then. We have plenty.”

“I’ll
bet. No, I’m not a hermetic. I didn’t apprentice under Elizabeth, either. I
worked in her shop for a couple years. She wasn’t hung up on lines between
Practices.”

“No,
she wasn’t. It’s probably why she kept a Book of Shadows. So if you’re not one
of her students, how did you come into your own Practice?”

“Saw
a bunch of freaky shit while working at a Renaissance Faire. You have to camp
out overnight at the big ones, y’know? Those people keep it friendly and safe
for all the customers, but once they close down for the day it’s all green hair
and nipple rings.”

For
the first time, Saxon’s friendly smile wavered. He seemed genuinely unsure of
how to take that. His eyes glanced to Onyx. “It’s true. I’ve seen it,” she
said.

He
summoned up a small, good-natured laugh. “Fair enough. I don’t mean to pry. But
I’m serious about the invitation. We’d love to have you both. I’m fairly sure a
couple of our members are the body-piercing sort themselves. Like I said, we
welcome all types.”

“I
think we’ll have to decline,” said Onyx. “We’re private people. But the
courtesy is appreciated.”

Saxon
offered a business card. “The invitations still stand. Don’t say I never
tried.” Molly accepted the card so he would go away, and then smiled politely
as Saxon moved off to other conversations.

Rolling
her eyes, Onyx took on a sarcastic, mocking tone. “
’Hey, can you join my
club? By the way, we all share books. Can I borrow the one you just got?’
”

“That’s
what I figured,” said Molly. “C’mon. Let’s go collect and get out of here.”

They
had to pause for another moment as Archimedes and Hypatia exited the audience
room with Mr. Gold following closely behind them. The well-dressed couple still
looked thoroughly put out. “What the hell is their problem?” Molly asked once
they were out of earshot.

“They’ve
got a debilitating case of Entitled Asshole Disease,” grumbled Onyx. “I talked
with them earlier and wish I hadn’t.”

“That
gargoyle statue would be cool if we had a place to put it.”

“No.
No, it wouldn’t. That thing is made of wrong. I’ll tell you later.”

“Molly,
Onyx, thank you for waiting,” said Jin as the pair stepped up. He reached over
the desk to shake their hands. “I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better
circumstances.”

“No
worries,” said Molly. “Thank you for doing all this. Seems like it’s a little
awkward for everyone.”

“A
kind choice of words,” noted Jin, “but accurate.”

“So
is the book in the other room?” Molly asked. “Do we need to pick it up
somewhere?”

“Not
at all.” Kate opened up one of the desk drawers to produce a large,
leather-bound book closer to an encyclopedia in size than a personal journal.
Its worn, buckled brown cover bore simple geometric decorations, but no words.
Several envelopes and loose papers poked out from its pages. Kate held her
silence long enough for Molly to take the book and turn it over in her hands.
“She left you a private note tucked into the first pages,” Kate said. “It’s
something she asked us not to mention during the reading. She said to start
with the note.”

Onyx
heard a shaky breath from her partner and put her hand on Molly’s shoulder.
“Thank you,” said Molly.

“One
last thing,” Jin spoke up again. Onyx noted the low tone of his voice and the
way his eyes took in their surroundings. “Do not leave the same way you arrived
tonight. I am not sure everyone will honor the agreement of safe passage.”

He
said no more. “Thanks for that, too,” said Onyx. Jin nodded to her, his
concerns plain in his dark eyes, and then stepped away to speak with another
guest. Kate offered only a quick farewell.

Molly
held the book in both arms as she and Onyx walked out. Both women kept a wary
eye on the others in the gallery. One of Jin’s associates helped a guest sort
through some books on one of the shelves. Saxon stood with Archimedes and
Hypatia near the gargoyle. The over-dressed couple seemed receptive to Saxon’s
overtures, though nothing looked like a done deal. The other guy from the
Brotherhood lingered near the entrance while seemingly looking over something
on his cell phone. Onyx thought that was a little too convenient.

She
didn’t see Hector anywhere.

“What
do you think?” Onyx asked.

Molly
leaned in. “I think a warning like that means a lot. Especially from either one
of those two, let alone both of ‘em.”

“Sure.
I mean, what do we do now? We came in your car. Ballard to Shoreline is a hell
of a walk.”

“Buses
are still running. Or we could go to one of the bars and call a cab.”

“Buses
and cabs put us in a vehicle with other people,” Onyx pointed out. “So then
it’s a question of whether we’re safer in a crowd or if we’re putting other
people in danger.”

Molly’s
eyebrows rose. “You think we’re at that point already?”

“I
think Elizabeth’s will wasn’t as much of a plea for peace as it was a warning.”
Onyx looked less at Molly as she spoke than their surroundings. Her partner did
the same. Being face to face allowed each to cover the other’s back. “Look,
I’ve never been in a fight with other Practitioners, y’know? Hopefully I’m only
being paranoid, but remember what Saxon said about the Brotherhood’s rules for
dealing with normal people? Jin knew the answer before he brought it up. That
wasn’t a question. Jin was making a statement.”

The
other woman let out a heavy breath. “Whatever’s in this book isn’t worth
putting someone we don’t even know at risk. Or you,” she added, catching her
partner’s eye. The look she received in return stopped her from taking that
thought any further. “Okay, okay,” she relented. “In this together.”

“Damn
straight.”

The
front entrance opened, drawing their attention. A well-built man in a dark suit
and gloves entered, heading straight for Hypatia and Archimedes, though he held
off rather than intrude on their conversation with Saxon. Onyx needed to watch
for only a few seconds to decide he must be their chauffer or bodyguard, if not
both. She also noticed Hypatia’s frequent glances in her direction. Molly spoke
up again, bringing Onyx back to their main problem.

“Okay,
public transit’s out. Cabs are out. Walking is out. We could go into stealth
mode once we’re out of here, hole up in a hotel room or something nearby and go
back to the car in the morning. Hate to spend money like that, but how long is
anyone gonna look for us?” Then she frowned. “But if we’re gonna do that, we’re
still going back to the car.”

“We
didn’t exactly get a rock star parking space,” said Onyx. “I mean we’re a
couple blocks away.”

“Yeah,”
agreed Molly. “Fucking Ballard nightlife. What I’m saying is maybe we’re
overthinking this. Maybe we just take a long ninja-walk around the neighborhood
and come at the car from another direction?”

“Ninja-walk?”

“It’s
more fun to say than ‘sneaky.’ If anyone follows us out of here, we have to shake
‘em before we get into a car, anyway.”

“I’m
game.” Onyx let out a heavy breath. “We haven’t exactly practiced this sort of
thing much.”

“No
time like the present to learn, huh?”

To
their credit, they learned quickly. Onyx looked at the reflections in the
gallery windows as they left rather than turning to the crowd. She saw
Hypatia’s unfriendly glare and Mr. Gold’s quick look up from his cell phone as
they came to the door. Molly kept the book tucked close to her chest with one
arm like a wide receiver carrying a football. Once they were outside, she
pulled her wand from the interior pocket of her leather jacket and slipped it
up her sleeve of her other arm.

Onyx’s
car waited a couple blocks away to their left and around the corner. Instead of
going that way, the pair turned right when they hit the sidewalk.