“Be right back,” Patrick sighed as he got back to his feet.
“Eat first. Plan for war later,” Jono said with a frown.
“You lose your lunch that way.”
Patrick headed for the entrance, picking up Carmen’s discarded umbrella along the way. Hauling open the door that led to the alley, Patrick opened the umbrella and stepped outside into the downpour. The threshold wrapped around the building grated against his soul, and he hissed at the discomfort. A couple of seconds later, Jono and Nadine joined him outside. Jono took the umbrella from him and hefted it higher, giving them all room to huddle underneath it. Nadine cast a shield around them to help keep out the rain and the wind.
As Patrick’s cell phone reconnected to the nearest tower, it began to vibrate with numerous notifications. He had nearly fifty missed calls, about as many text messages, and it looked like his voicemail was full. Patrick didn’t bother with any of the messages.
“Have you been in contact with Setsuna?” Patrick asked Nadine.
“We’re dark. I don’t know her burner number,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Patrick went through the usual protocol of calling Setsuna on her burner phone. On the last call into the number, he switched it to speaker. He doubted the werewolves around him would keep their ears to themselves, but Nadine needed to hear what was being said.
The line picked up on the second ring. Patrick knew Setsuna wouldn’t have picked up at all if she wasn’t in a secure location.
“Status?” Setsuna asked in a low voice.
“Alive. Not functional. I have my backup, and the immortals want me to fight. We’re a day away from the Dominion Sect’s latest attempt at stealing a godhead. They have Zeus.”
“There’s a warrant out for Rachel’s arrest.”
“So she’s officially labeled Dominion Sect now? You find any evidence to make your charges stick this time?”
“We’re working on it.”
“I would work on a bullet to the head over an arrest if you find her. She’s working with Ethan, after all. The murders paired with the soultakers and a missing immortal? Hermes was right. New York City is a sacrificial altar.”
Nadine leaned closer to the speaker pickup and raised her voice. “Zachary Myers was on the field in the Hamptons. So was Hades. If Zachary is helping Ethan cast the spell like last time, we’re going to need someone who can counter high-level blood magic. They should be a mage, but tell them not to tap a ley line. When I tapped one yesterday, I noticed the currents were wilder than they should be. Have you had any reports on the stability of the nexus below New York City?”
“Nothing recent. Nothing I would trust, at this juncture,” Setsuna replied.
“You need to get someone down here to check, someone youtrust. I’d do it, but if the nexus and ley lines leading into it are compromised, then I’m going to need to save my strength to help build breakwaters in the ley lines later.”
“If the nexus is compromised, then it’s already too late.” Patrick rubbed at his face tiredly. The dull ache in his body was fading faster than it would if he hadn’t taken Victoria’s tincture, but she couldn’t cure exhaustion. “We can’t trust the nexus will remain stable. They’ve had six months to fuck around with it under Rachel’s watch.”
“She’s a witch though. How would she be able to do that without anyone noticing?” Jono wanted to know.
Nadine shrugged. “The SOA has mages on its payroll. I wouldn’t be surprised to find some of them were dirty.”
“You speak as if we’re the only agency that has been infiltrated” was Setsuna’s flat response.
“We didn’t call to argue about which agency is cleaner. The SOA and the PIA will both lose under that criteria,” Patrick said.
Setsuna steered the conversation back on track. “What is your status, Collins?”
“If you’re asking if I can pull off the same stunt as last time, let’s go with no. It doesn’t help that we don’t have the military as backup.”
“It may come down to that in the end. A pity we can’t pull them in now.”
“You can’t call in the military on awhat-ifbasis,” Nadine muttered.
Patrick rolled his eyes. “I’m sure the governor of New York willloveneeding to send in the National Guard for a federal agency’s fuckup.”
“Your attitude isn’t helping this situation any,” Setsuna said.
“Ask me if I fucking care.” The line went quiet, neither side speaking up. Patrick sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. “In case anyone hasn’t thought about it yet, because I doubt Rachel had clearance to enter the base, you need to do an audit of the Repository.”
