“And if she doesn’t want me there?” David asked, his voice so low it was almost a whisper. “What if it’s too late?”
“Then you have to respect what she wants. But maybe you could put some effort into showing her that you genuinely care for her. Hiding out here is not helping her to believe that.”
David scowled. “I’m not hiding. I’m working through the Knowledge, now that I finally have access to it. I’m searching for anything that could help us against the blood Shadows. I’m meeting with Council members, lobbying to change how we share the information we’ve accumulated over all these hundreds of years. At the same time as still being the Curator for every single Shadow Weaver in Greater London.”
Emma was utterly drained. And now she was giving relationship advice to a man who was old enough to be her grandfather while he mansplained his job to her. She scowled back. “Yes, yes, you have a busy job. You still have to choose what’s more important.”
“What do you mean?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Are you actually getting anywhere with the Council?”
“Well—”
“James and Elizabeth seem to think the Council has been against you since the beginning,” she observed. “Maybe it’s time for you to let it go.”
“Let it go. Just like that? You’re talking about my entire life’s work.”
Emma shrugged. She wasn’t suggesting it would be easy.
David shifted back in his chair, and they sat silently together for a long moment. David stared off into space as if he was contemplating the darkest secrets of the universe while Emma spent the time watching David.
This was a man who Zach and Kay both believed in, who Elizabeth had loved and maybe still did. He had a solid strength to him, an aura of dependability and loyalty. Maybe it was because he reminded her so much of Zach, but she felt as if she could trust him, and she desperately needed someone to trust.
“David, I think I have a way to end this so that we can both go back to Wales and fight for the people we love. Will you help me?”
He turned to face her, raising a silver eyebrow. “I thought Kay and Ethan were planning to drive up tomorrow and help you.”
If only it was that simple. “It won’t work. Gordon knows Kay, and he’ll suspect anything I say if he knows I’m with her. He’s already suspicious because he saw me through the vision. I need to use that. I need to contact him tonight before he makes his own move. I plan to convince him to take me in.”
“I don’t like it.” David’s tone was dark. “I don’t see how we can keep you safe if you’re with Gordon.”
Well, that was the shitty part. “I don’t think you can. I think you’ll have to trust me. You’ll have to watch me walk in there and let me do my best. I’ll memorize your number and call you if I can. You can track my phone and see where I go. And you can haul me out if I need you.”
“After Elizabeth was taken,” David admitted slowly, “I got GPS trackers for everyone. I was going to hand them out tomorrow. You could take one. Put it in something Gordon won’t check.”
“Perfect.” This was what she needed. To know that someone was waiting for her. Someone who would come and get her if she called. Having Kay and Ethan promise to help had been a start. Knowing that David, the man who Zach saw as a second father, was watching out for her helped too. It was enough.
“What if you can’t call me? What if I don’t know that you need to be hauled out before it’s too late?” he challenged.
Emma gave him a sad smile. “That’s the risk.”
David sat quietly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, clearly thinking through everything she’d said. “Zach will hate this,” he said eventually.
“Zach could have come with me… but he doesn’t want to be involved,” Emma admitted slowly. And she had to get to Gordon before Zach learned her plan and tried to stop her, but she didn’t say that.
David watched her carefully, almost as if he could see through her to all the things she hadn’t said. A long moment passed and then he dipped his chin. “Okay. You understand the dangers better than anyone, and you’re the only person who might be able to get close to Gordon. Let’s do this.”
God. A shiver rippled up her spine. Whether it was from relief or fear, it was impossible to tell. The back of her left eye prickled with a vague sense of premonition, but no vision pressed against her mind and she didn’t chase it.
She’d made the decision. She’d given herself as much backup as she could. There was no benefit to delaying. She had to rip off the bandage and do it now.
Emma pulled out her phone and held it in her lap. She took a slow breath and let it out equally slowly. Then she pressed the button to call the number Riley had given her and turned on the speaker.
Gordon answered after a few rings. “Yes.”
She tried to form the words, but her throat had closed. Gordon’s voice rattled through her brain, and she froze.
David stood and stepped across the space between them to sit quietly beside her, and she let herself absorb his quiet strength for a moment, reminding herself that she wasn’t alone.
