Rory’s jaw tightened. His eyes went, unbidden, to his bare finger. At least there wasn’t going to be any wind in the antiques shop.Let it go, he told himself.He’s got family responsibilities and a wedding to deal with and he doesn’t need you slobbering over him.
He set the mug down and got to work.
Edgar Barnes wasn’t at his law firm and he didn’t answer his home phone.
Arthur left a message with Edgar’s secretary and then drove to Harlem to pick up Jade and Zhang for the trip to Coney Island. He idled in the alley outside the Magnolia and started to exit the car, but Zhang was already getting the front passenger door for her.
As Zhang shut the door and went for the back seat, Arthur coughed. “Look at me, being such a gentleman and not commenting on how I’m picking you two up at the same place.”
Jade rolled her eyes, but with a smile. “Did Rory wear your clothes again this morning while he was making your coffee?”
“Touché.”It would have been nice to have Rory along that morning. Would he ever want to chase relics with them?
Arthur pushed the thought away. There were a lot of reasons not to look too closely at the future, not least of all that Rory was content working for Mrs. Brodigan in New York. Content making his own living and not taking a cent from anyone else, even though Arthur had nothing but money to offer.
He shoved that thought away too.
He took Park Avenue south, the long drive down Manhattan’s east side passing as Jade and Zhang puzzled over the disturbance in the astral plane. It wasn’t a conversation he really understood, so he mostly stayed out of it, his mind turning over his own night and what it might mean.
As he finally turned onto the Brooklyn Bridge, he asked, “Is magic ever contagious?”
“The more I learn about magic, the more I realize how little I know,” said Zhang. “Which means I’ve never heard of it being contagious, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.”
The wharves and broad expanse of the East River passed beneath the bridge, Brooklyn up ahead. Jade was eying him with open concern. “Why do you ask?”
Arthur sighed. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him, but he owed it to John to explore every possible lead. “I had the dream last night.”
Jade sucked in a breath.
Zhang leaned forward, between the front seats. “A nightmare, I take it?”
“Ace was a prisoner during the war,” said Jade.
“Briefly,” Arthur hastily cut in, as in the rearview mirror Zhang’s expression had gone to instant pity Arthur didn’t deserve. “Many soldiers endured far worse. I was rescued after only days. By Ellis, of all people.”
“But you still have dreams?”
Scars aren’t just on the body. Arthur swallowed and nodded once, any words he might have said sticking in his throat.
Jade spoke up quietly, sparing Arthur from having to say it. “He had critical information about American battle plans. He was questioned. He wouldn’t talk. They gave him a hallucinogen and sent their worst interrogator in.” She glanced at Arthur with shared sympathy. “He still wouldn’t talk.”
“I haven’t had the dream in months.” Arthur’s hands were clenched too tight on the steering wheel. “Seems a bit coincidental that I had it just as John has the worst nightmares of his life. Except—”
He hesitated.
Jade touched his shoulder with quiet support. Christ, it broke his heart that she understood this so well. She had her own nightmares from the war. Hell, Zhang had been in Europe for it all, he may well have too.
Arthur made himself talk. “If the dream starts, I usually have to relive the entire experience. But this time, I didn’t have the whole dream. The hallucination began, but then—I woke up.”
Zhang was eying him intently. “Was anything unusual about the wake-up?”
Arthur could still feel Rory’s soft skin against his, the murmured endearments in his ears. He’d leave that part out. “I felt like I’d passed through a lightning storm. Then I went right back to sleep, no more dreams.”
Zhang nodded once. “It was Rory.”
Arthur nearly swerved the car. “What?”
“The magic plaguing your brother John will have infected his aura like Spanish flu. However you were exposed, it would do the same to you.”
