“How secure is this?” Jo asked Wayne.
“What?”
“This communication.” Jo motioned to the desk so oddly reminiscent of the briefing room table. “I’m still learning about this world, but video conferencing could be hacked and listened in on in my original timeline.”
“I’m pretty sure it’s secure.”
Jo put her hands on her hips, thinking a long moment. She could see how the communication could be broken into and listened in on with a blink. But Jo didn’t know if it was because of her magic, or because it was actually a risky connection. She took a deep breath and decided to err on the side of caution. It wasn’t exactly a far leap in logic to see Wayne as someone who wouldn’t understand a good security system from a bad one. He likely had people to take care of that for him, but looking at the office, she trusted them even less.
“Pretty sureisn’t going to cut it,” Jo muttered. That same sensation of being watched still lingered with her. She shook her head, her mind made up. “We need to meet, in person. I have so much I need to tell all of you, but for now, you’re all going to have to trust me on this. The one you suspectisa danger, not just to you, but to everyone you love, and the very fabric of the world itself.”
“You don’t have to convince me.” Takako was the first to respond. “I’ll get to Aristonia as quickly as possible.”
“Where are you now?” Jo couldn’t help but ask.
“We know it as Japan, but it’s now the Kingdom of Hajisha . . . Part of the Federated Isles.”
If Jo hadn’t known Takako so well, known her to be a level and serious person—especially when the situation called for it—she would have suspected the woman of making up the names. But this was not her world and it was not a practical joke. This was the Age of Magic, the earth overlaid with thousands of years where sorcery had never left the landscape of human history.
“I guess it’s a good thing I always sucked at history,” Jo mumbled. “Gonna have to re-learn it all anyway.”
Wayne made a soft noise of amusement. “I can coordinate travel for you both,” he offered to Samson and Takako.
“Thank you,” Takako said.
“One or two, Samson?”
All eyes turned to their craftsman.
“I’ll try to get Eslar.” He didn’t even notice they were all looking at him, his head never rising to meet their gaze.
“Thank you, Samson,” Jo said gently. She could see something was breaking him down, though without more information, it was impossible to tell what it might be. Just that it had something to do with Eslar. “He’s one of the team, after all.”
Samson just nodded.
“All right, I’ll get on the arrangements, and we’ll all wait on pins and needles until Jo feels confident telling us what, exactly, is going on.” Wayne leaned over his desk. “See you all soon.” With a wave of his hand, the call ended.
Jo turned, leaning against the edge of the desk. Looking back out the window, she squinted into the setting sun, wondering just where Pan was now. She didn’t know what it would take to bring the woman down, but Jo was confident that their first step was the right one—getting the team back together.
Chapter 2
Just All Right
The breeze that wafted past the balcony brushed the hair out of Jo’s face with gentle yet chilling fingers. Even as she tightened the heavy blanket around her shoulders, Jo couldn’t help but lean into the feel of it, closing her eyes to the sensation, soaking it in.
It wasn’t until she was finally sitting down, glass of way-too-expensive scotch in hand, that it hit her. She hadn’t had a chance to really process what being in this new world, free of the Society’s constraints, might mean. But now, as she felt the breeze against her face, heard the sounds of the city below her in its un-muted cacophony, she allowed herself a moment to simplyfeel.
The chair beneath her was comfortable and sturdy, the cushions a soft and cradling contrast. The air was rich with the tangy scent of a busy city, muted by both the crisp chill of the mid-January weather and the distance provided by the penthouse balcony—because ofcourseWayne would live in a fancy penthouse above his own company. Some things not even a brand-new world could change, it would seem.
And, while she’d never admit it to him, some things she didn’twantto see changed. There were few precious constants she could depend on in the jumping timelines and shifting worlds; the members of the Society, Wayne specifically, counted among them. He’d been by her side from the very first moment, after all.
At the sound of the sliding glass door opening behind her, Jo let her eyes flutter open as well, taking in the flickering lights of the buildings surrounding them. Soft jazz spilled outside for a moment before it was dulled once again by the door sliding shut. If Jo listened intently enough though, she could still hear it amid the backdrop of the city’s ambient noise.
“Someone looks cozy,” Wayne chuckled by way of greeting, sitting himself down in the chair to Jo’s right. He’d forgone a blanket of his own for a scarf and an expensive-looking coat that managed to cling to his frame in all the right ways. Jo just shrugged, pulling the thick, probably-also-hideously-expensive blanket tighter around herself out of spite. When she glanced over at Wayne, it was to find a look of unexpected fondness on his face. One that he hastily schooled into something more teasing once he noticed, motioning with his chin towards her glass. “Liking the giggle juice?”
Though the lingo felt more teasing than Wayne’s usual bravado, Jo still felt warmth bloom at the center of her chest. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed the easy rapport they’d once had, hadn’t realized how long things had been getting rougher and messier between them as a result of her not-so-secret mission to end the Society. Jo raised the glass to her lips, lamenting her role in inflicting those old wounds.
As she sipped, mulling over where, how, and when to attempt to suture her past mistakes, Jo allowed herself to focus for a moment on the way her fingers felt against the cool glass of the tumbler, the way the rich and smoky flavor of the scotch coated her tongue, tingling all the way down her throat and warming her chest and stomach. It was the most delicious liquor she’d ever experienced in any of her lives, she was certain, but after another quiet sip and a brief moment to lick the remnants of the amber liquid from her lips, she just shrugged again. And smirked.
