But anything he said in front of Ames, he might as well be saying to Lehrer’s face.
“He’ll be okay,” Ames said, more gently this time. She reached over and found Dara’s free hand, squeezing once. “Noam’s smart. He’ll figure it out. He’s lasted this long, hasn’t he?”
“Texas will be different,” Dara said. And he couldn’t explain how he knew that was true, just that itwas. He knew that down to the marrow of his bones.
“Let’s get started,” Claire said after the last of them—Holloway—had finally shown up, unwinding his black scarf and settling in at an empty table. “Priya’s got an update from Texas.”
“Well, they aren’t happy,” Priya said, perching on one of the barstools and twirling her straw between her fingers. “But I think they’re going to drop the murder accusation for now. They’re blaming Lehrer, not us—that’s the good news. Thebetternews is that they might be able to get us a prototype of the vaccine.”
Oh thank god.
A vaccine. If that was true—if Texas came through on their promise—Noam wouldn’t have to stay with Lehrer. They could justtake careof it, end all of this now before—
“Will they have it ready in time for Independence Day?” Leo asked, an innocent question, and dread plunged black into the pit of Dara’s stomach.
Shit.
Ames.
He caught Claire’s gaze across the room; even her black skin had gone visibly pale. Silence hung over the room, sharp-toothed and vicious.
“What?” Leo said, glancing between them all. “What did I say?”
“Nothing,” Dara interjected swiftly and slid his empty glass across the bar. “Can I get a refill?”
Leo grabbed the glass and filled it up, stealing a couple looks at Dara like he thought more information might be forthcoming. Next to Dara, Ames kept kicking the toes of her shoes against the underside of the bar—she knew what had just happened. Her cheeks were flushed a dull red.
Behind her back, Dara gestured toward Priya. She drained the rest of her drink and got up, moving forward like she was headed to the bar to get a refill of her own.
Dara’s blood was frozen in his veins as she set the glass down on the bar top. Ames lifted her head—and Dara met Priya’s gaze right as Priya stabbed the syringe needle into the side of Ames’s neck.
“What the fuck?” Ames leaped up, her barstool toppling over and her hand slapping against her neck. But it was too late; Priya had already pushed the plunger.
Dara caught Ames’s wrist. “It’s okay,” he said quickly. Her eyes were wide and wild when she reared around to face him instead, a thin trickle of blood cutting down the side of her neck to stain her shirt collar. “It’s okay. It’s just suppressant.”
“Thehell, Dara!”
She must have reached for her magic, then, because Dara watched the color drain from her face from one breath to the next. And Lehrer must’ve ordered her not to let herself get caught, because she instantly broke to the right—but Dara was faster, hooking his arm around her neck to catch her in a clinch.
Either Ames was stronger than he remembered, or Dara had gotten weak these past months. She thrust her elbow back into his ribs, hard enough he wheezed and only just managed to keep his grip.
“Help me!” he managed to get out.
Priya tried to go for Ames’s middle, but she couldn’t get past Ames’s knees. Ames had always been good at physical sparring, vicious and efficient.
“Dara!”
Dara ducked, and Leo broke an empty bourbon bottle over Ames’s head. She slumped in Dara’s arms and he staggered, struggling to hold up her deadweight. Leo dropped what was left of the shattered bottle in the sink behind the bar, and Dara and Priya heaved Ames’s body between them, slinging one of her arms around each of their necks.
“What was all that?” Leo said, as Claire swept up the broken glass with a flicker of telekinesis.
“She’s under Lehrer’s persuasion,” Dara explained, shifting to get a better grip on Ames’s waist; her sweater was thick and made her hard to hold on to. “She didn’t know about the Independence Day plot—that was our one secret from him, but now she knows, so ...”
“So now he’d know,” Priya finished grimly. “Or he would, if we let her go back there. Not that we have anything better to do with her. I don’t suppose you’d let us stash a hostage behind your bar for the next several weeks?”
Dara shook his head. “Not that long. Just a few more days—Noam can do to her what he did to himself.” He said it like he was way more confident than he felt. It must take substantial magical effort to sustain a shield like the one Noam had on his mind. Dara wasn’t even sure Noam could manage to hold two at once. “We just need to wait for him to get back from Texas. We can keep her in my apartment.”
Claire and Priya exchanged looks. It reallywasthe best plan, even if Dara felt a little guilty suggesting the obvious selfish option. But at least if Ames was with him, he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
