Patrick was acutely aware of Jono and Wade standing just beyond arm’s reach, watching him. He knew whatever he chose, his pack would follow him down that road, and they would all have to live with the consequences of his actions.
“Wade stays with us,” Patrick said.
Reed glanced over at Wade, who had finished all of his hot dogs and was only half hiding behind Jono now, though his soul still shone too-bright to look at. “He carries bad habits.”
“Then teach him better ones before you go.”
They stared at each other for a long few seconds before Reed gestured at Wade. “Come here, fledgling.”
Wade gave Patrick a panicked look before reluctantly shuffling forward. Patrick stepped aside, letting Wade take his place. The teenager flinched when Reed placed his hands on Wade’s thin shoulders.
“Look at me,” Reed commanded.
Wade could do nothing but obey, locking eyes with the elder of his kind. The pair stood frozen in the midday sun, statues no one paid any attention to thanks to Patrick’s look-away ward. Five minutes passed, then ten. With every second that ticked by, the glaring brightness of Wade’s soul shrank until it disappeared beneath his skin. His aura became nothing more than a faint human sheen to Patrick’s senses.
The general finally let him go and Wade stumbled back into Patrick’s arms. He was shaking, hunching in close, and Patrick let him.
“Ow,” Wade muttered.
“I will be here when they no longer are,” Reed said, his voice a rumble in his chest. “Remember that.”
Wade scowled down at his feet and didn’t reply. The general didn’t seem put off by his attitude. Patrick gently prodded Wade to go stand by Jono.
“I’ll need a full report on the staff and the status of the search,” Patrick said.
“I’ll see that you get it.” Reed smiled grimly, blowing smoke out of his nose, no cigarette in sight. “Good hunting, Collins.”
The general walked away. Patrick watched him go for a few seconds before collapsing the tiny mageglobe spinning against his palm. Sound rushed back in around them, the summer day filled with the buzz of people talking, dogs barking, and the distant hum of the city beyond the urban greenery.
Jono stepped closer, wrapping an arm around Patrick’s shoulders. “Come on, mate. Let’s head back to Marek’s flat.”
Walking between Jono and Wade out of Central Park, Patrick carried the weight of an uncertain future with him, chilled down to his bones.
23
Jono reachedover the back of the sofa and pulled Patrick’s mobile out of his hand, ignoring his protest.
“Hey, that’s mine,” Patrick said.
Jono got a glimpse of a news article about the mayor’s latest press conference. He wouldn’t have thought anything of it except the picture beneath the headline made him freeze.
Patrick leaned his head back so he was looking at Jono upside down. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Jono turned the mobile around so Patrick could see the screen, with its picture of the mayor surrounded by other officials and aides. “I know that woman.”
Patrick reached up and took his mobile back. “Which one?”
Jono pointed at the blonde woman standing off to the side behind someone else, her face visible over their shoulder. “She was with Ethan when they had me, and I saw her again at the Crimson Diamond.”
Patrick’s grip tightened on his mobile, but he didn’t say anything. He saved the picture though before locking his phone. “I’ll head home and look into it.”
“I came down to tell you supper is ready, not to run you out. They’ve got the table all set up on the roof.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Wade will eat your plate if you don’t join us.”
“He can have it. Considering how many hot dogs he had at the park today, I’m surprised he still has room in his stomach. Think we should enter him in the Nathan’s Hot Dog contest at Coney Island next summer?”
