“I’m in too.” Rory took a step after them.
Arthur started behind him. “And me as well—”
“You can’t, you gotta scram.” Rory glanced over his shoulder. “Go check on your ex. Besides, your family’s counting on you.”
He was guileless and sincere and right. Arthur still hesitated. “But I—”
“It’s all right, Ace,” Jade called, still holding tightly to Zhang’s hand. “We’ve got this.”
“But—”
“Go on,” Rory said gruffly, then lowered his voice for Arthur’s ears alone. “You rolled out of bed to come here. It’s going to take you an hour just to doll back up for Fifth Avenue and I’m already mad I gotta let you go.”
“But...” Arthur stilled, watching as his friends disappeared into Grand Central’s commuters, to the stairs and the subway tunnels. He stood for a moment beneath the domed zodiac ceiling, the crowd parting irritably around him. Then, alone, he walked outside to hail a cab back to the Upper West Side.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Dragon House was empty, although it was unlikely to stay that way once it got closer to lunch. Rory, Jade, and Zhang made their way to the door at the back and down to the library to join Mrs. Wang and Ling.
Rory caught the tail end of their rapid conversation in Chinese, but his eyes were fixed on the small brass sphere not much bigger than a marble, which sat on the round table in the center of the library. “They didn’t steal the ring.”
“No.” Mrs. Wang was frowning. “I pulled it from the trunk, to be sure. But they left it. They left all sorts of items.”
She pointed at the table, where the solid brass sphere sat innocently alongside a small statue, an antique microscope, his compass, and two vials of potions, both blue. Rory’s skin was already breaking out into prickles of want. He probably should say something. Probably should tell everyone to go ahead and put the ring back in the trunk, or maybe in something lead. And he would. Right now.
“Are those Pavel’s potions?” That...wasn’t what he’d meant to say. He slouched awkwardly. “They’re coming back today, right? Sasha said Saturday.”
Mrs. Wang nodded. “The Taussigs expect them back.”
“And with the way things have been going, we could certainly use superstrength and alchemy.” Zhang picked up the vials. “I’ll move these; wouldn’t want those to get set off on accident. Set off around the rest of us, at least; you’re probably not in much danger.”
Rory blinked. “I’m not?”
“We think those are knockout draughts, like Gwen and Ellis used on Arthur,” Zhang said, as he set the potions up on the highest shelf. “You’ve got much stronger magic than one of those.”
Jade had knelt next to one of the trunks. It was a beautiful dark wood that was nearly black, reinforced with iron and leather. She pointed at the lid. “This trunk was welded shut with a blowtorch. Someone sliced the iron straight through. That would take the sharpest of blades.”
“Blades?” Rory asked tightly. “Or claws? ’Cause those claws Hyde’s got looked sharp as razors.”
Zhang looked frustrated. “He would have had to get past the guardian magic. But paranormal claws could have done this, yes.”
Mrs. Wang and Ling were heading to the door. Mrs. Wang said something in Chinese to Zhang as she passed, and he nodded. “They’re going to check on everyone upstairs,” he translated for Jade and Rory, as his mother and Ling disappeared out the door. “Hyde murdered two men in cold blood this morning. If he’s lurking anywhere nearby...”
“...everyone could be in danger.” Jade lifted her hand, and an empty box about the size and shape of a pencil case floated out. “This box was originally sealed shut as well. They cut the amulet out of it. So whoever took it, they don’t have your mother’s powers of incorporeality.”
Zhang leaned against the wall. “They left everything else alone. They were looking for the amulet.”
Jade sat on the floor, crossing her trouser-covered legs. “If this was Hyde and Shelley, they now have two relics.”
“It’s not gonna do them any good,” Rory said. “Relics are bound to a paranormal until death.” He blew out a breath. “It’s why I can’t just give the ring to Pavel even though he needs it more.”
“They’ve still got the pomander, and I’m sure that’s unbound...” Zhang pointed out.
“I never even heard of a pomander before that fella said it,” Rory admitted.
“Because you actually bathe,” said Jade. “You don’t need a ball of musk to mask your smell.”
Rory wrinkled his nose. His gaze went past Jade to the items on the table again.
