He glanced down at the screen and snarled viciously when he saw who was calling.
For a long moment, he considered not bothering to answer. But he’d already strengthened his Shadows, and a glance at his watch showed that he still had some time to kill. He might as well use it to remind James of exactly how useless he was.
“It’s too late to ask for forgiveness,” Gordon drawled into the phone. He turned his face from the busy concourse and lowered his voice. “I will see you and your friends on your knees before the end of the week.”
There was a moment of strained silence, and Gordon briefly thought about telling James to be calm just to fuck with him. But his nephew spoke first. “We are prepared to trade. If you give up the final vial of Blood Shadows and cancel your meeting with the Prime Minister, we will give you back the silver bowl from your altar.”
Gordon stilled, annoyance crawling up his spine. “How about I keep my meeting and my vial, and when I’m the Archdderwydd, I’ll take back everything you stole.”
“I thought you’d feel that way,” James muttered. “So let me be clear. If you don’t agree, I’ll call Blayne’s National Security Adviser to warn him of fraudulent inconsistencies at Oracle. It turns out that I have evidence you arranged the attacks Oracle supposedly predicted… and I’ll be sharing all of it as soon as we’re done here.”
Fuck it all. Gordon had kept his nephew out of all the political meetings… but James had helped to create the fiction of Oracle. His name was in the company articles. He’d been responsible for most of those attacks himself. He could easily show how they’d been orchestrated.
James had become so erratic and unreliable, so steeped in his own pathetic self-destruction, he probably wouldn’t even care if he went to jail to do it.
Gordon breathed slowly through his nose, reminding himself that great leaders would always be beset by traitors. This was just more evidence that he was the only Dru-vid strong enough to take up the mantle of Archdderwydd.
The thought settled him. He was the Archdderwydd. James’s disloyalty didn’t make any difference in the long run. Gordon could agree to his terms—with a few revisions—for now. And then punish him all the more later. “I want my bowlandmy blade back.”
James snorted rudely. “So that you can make more blood Shadows? Certainly not.” He chuckled, sounding even more like an idiot. “We’re destroying the blade today. That’s not negotiable.”
Rage flooded Gordon in a swift rush, darkening the corners of his vision as he fought to keep himself from lashing out at the nearest Duine. “That blade is priceless. It’s irreplaceable. And it’smine.”
For the first time, James sounded truly furious. “It stopped being yours when you embedded it in David’s heart. Don’t mention it again.”
Gordon held in the vicious tongue-lashing James deserved, his brain racing. Now that he’d learned the truth of Shadow stripping, he was certain he could create the most powerful blood Shadows ever formed. But he needed both the bowlandthe blade. They were his heritage and his right. He’d suffered for them his entire life. And he would have them back.
A new thought occurred to him. Maybe this was his opportunity to take back his possessions and get hold of James or Emma at the same time. He didn’t particularly care which one. Then he’d have the blood he needed too.
He let out a controlled breath before forcing himself to say the words. “Fine. I’ll cancel my meeting with the Prime Minister.”
“Good. Then you won’t mind meeting at midday—when you should have been in Downing Street. Bring the vial.”
Gordon grunted. It made no difference if his meeting had to be rescheduled. In fact, it might make more sense. He could destroy the London Circle, reassure the Order, declare himself Archdderwydd, and then see to the Duine.
He growled into the phone, “I’m at Liverpool Street station, at a particularly nasty coffee shop. Come alone… and bring my bowl.”
He ended the call without waiting for a response, and then he immediately scrolled through to Diedre’s number. James would aim to destroy the blade before midday. Gordon had to act immediately if he was going to take this chance.
His Council had failed him time and again, but now they would step up… or they would suffer.
“I have a Guardian job for you,” he stated coldly before Diedre could get a word out. “And find me the Seers. I need them to pull themselves together. We have a chance to fix the mess you made and take control back. But I need to know where James and his triad are, and I need to know right now.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
“He took the bait.”
Riley already knew Gordon had taken the bait. She knew it by the look on James’s face. Grim determination. Worry mixed with hope.
Half of her wished Gordon had refused. They needed more time. Time to plan. Time to regroup. But he wasn’t going to let them have any of that.
“I’m certain he’ll reschedule his meeting with the Prime Minister,” James continued. “He’ll think he can focus on the Duine after he takes the chance to track us down.”
“Yes, he’ll go straight to his Seers.” Emma shifted in her seat, her tone a similar mix of unease and defiance.
“So, let’s give them something to See.” Kay stood, Ethan rising beside her. They looked at each other for a long moment, silent communication filling the space between them as their Shadows lingered. One last moment before they separated to fight the battle on two fronts.
Riley thought they might be about to step apart, but then Ethan lifted his hands to cup Kay’s face and leaned his forehead on hers. Riley forced herself to look away, but she could still hear the worry in his voice as Ethan murmured, “Come back to me, Kay.”
