Her attention shifted from Kai to me.
“You’re going to wait right here while we deal with the cultist, correct?”
She pushed her hair off her shoulders. “Of course not.”
“Tori—” Kai began placatingly.
“Kai doesn’t need your supervision,” I snapped at her. “And you have no reason to be here. We don’t need your ulterior motives getting in the way right now.”
“Then I’ll be clear about my motives.” She drew herself up. “If the truth about Ezra Rowe comes to light, Kai will be implicated in capital crimes. And not only do capital crimes come with steep penalties for the accused’s guild—which is now my guild—but it would be an unacceptable smear on my family’s reputation.”
I stared at her, then turned to Kai and whispered in hoarse disbelief, “You told her?”
“Makiko will protect Ezra’s secret.”
Aaron gave his best friend a considering look before pushing to his feet. “All right, time to get to work.”
I crumpled my burger wrapper and tossed it into the paper bag, my displeasure over Makiko’s presence wilting under a tide of nervousness.
Twenty minutes later, I stood in the entryway of Brenda Holloway’s apartment building, adjusting my hair. The tangled curls fell past my shoulders, acting as a curtain to hide the small Bluetooth phone in my ear. Our usual earpieces had cords that were way too obvious, so I was borrowing Makiko’s sleek little earbud phone instead.
Beside me, with his hands in his pockets, Justin surveyed the dingy foyer with a clinical eye. Neither of us looked directly at the security camera in the corner.
Step one: Get Brenda’s attention.
I approached the panel on the wall and dialed the number for B. Holloway. The panel emitted a ringing sound, then a terse female voice answered.
“Who is it?”
“Is this Brenda?” I asked brusquely.
“Yes. Who—”
“I was sent,” I interrupted. “You should know by whom.”
A confused pause. “I’m sorry, but—”
“I have a delivery for the Praetor.”
“Th-the Praetor?” she whispered. “You can’t talk about that—”
“Then let me up and I’ll explain.”
Suspicion stiffened her voice. “I don’t recognize you.”
I looked up into the camera. My hand dipped into my purse, and I lifted out a small bundle wrapped in a black shroud—my scarf—and tugged the fabric open. The small silver scepter we’d taken from the underground room in Enright glinted.
“Do you recognize this?” I asked, exuding a cultishly dreamy air. “We are both blessed by the Goddess’s light, fellow Auditrix.”
A fluttery breath came through the speaker. “Oh. Please come up, then. Unit 506.”
The security door buzzed, and Justin pulled it open. We crossed to the elevator and I pressed the button.
As the doors opened with a quiet chime, I murmured. “We’re heading up. Fifth floor.”
“Copy that,” Kai murmured through the Bluetooth phone in my ear.
We rode the elevator up and disembarked. The gray-carpeted hallway was as drab and unwelcoming as the lobby downstairs. I glanced at the nearest unit numbers, then headed right. Justin followed.
At the far end of the hall, Aaron flashed me a grin before stepping out of sight. He and Kai had broken in through the rear exit and were stationed nearby, ready to act. Makiko was patrolling at ground level in case Brenda somehow made it past them.
I knocked on the door to unit 506. The bolt clacked and a sliver of a long, plain face appeared.
“You have a delivery for the Praetor?” she whispered.
Stepping closer, I flashed the top of the scepter, where it was tucked in my purse again. “Yes, but he’s not home. We were supposed to meet.”
“I see. The Praetor is—”
With a rustle of movement, another face appeared above Brenda’s—a male face. Neatly combed hair, a smooth jaw, and a cleft in his chin. He peered at me.
“I can handle this, Daniel,” she muttered out of the corner of her mouth, trying to elbow him away. “She’s looking for the Praetor and—”
“Quiet,” Daniel interrupted in a low tenor voice. “You don’t want your nieces overhearing anything, do you?”
Brenda glanced nervously over her shoulder, and I picked up the sound of the TV. Shit. There were kids in there? We definitely needed to get her out of her apartment and into a better location for our ambush.
“Is there somewhere else we can talk?” I asked. “A private room in the building here, maybe?”
Her brow scrunched. “Well, there’s the terrace …”
“The terrace will work,” I said quickly, quashing a triumphant smile. Aaron and Kai had already scouted the rooftop terrace. It was the perfect place for a little nonviolent interrogation.
Daniel grabbed the door and pulled it open. “I’ll take them up and find out what they need.”
“I can—”
“You need to watch the kids,” he snapped commandingly.
Brenda’s shoulders hunched, and she backed away from the door. Daniel stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. He was tall but lanky, and around the same age as Justin.
I kept my expression neutral, wondering if this development was good or bad. Daniel, whoever he was, seemed to know at least as much as Brenda about the cult, and I was happy to interrogate him instead. The problem was we knew Brenda was a witch, but this guy could be anything—mage, sorcerer, or even the assassin who’d almost succeeded in using me as a murder weapon to kill Justin.
“This way,” he said, leading us back to the elevator. The doors opened immediately, and I followed him inside. Justin joined us, and we rode the elevator up two floors to the terrace.
The elevator dinged, and Daniel gestured for us to go ahead. I reluctantly stepped into the small vestibule, which contained two doors, one marked with a stairwell sign. Justin made a beeline for the unmarked door, and orange light from the setting sun blazed across my eyes as he shoved it open.
Daniel gestured again, so I strode outside as well. The blah concrete terrace featured a few plastic lawn chairs, empty flower pots, and nothing else. Wow. Management wasn’t even trying.
Daniel came out right behind me and swung the steel door closed. He leaned against it, assessing us with cool brown eyes.
“So …” I began uncertainly, wondering how to casually alert Aaron and Kai that the man was blocking the door. “What’s the, uh, plan?”
“The plan?” Daniel cut in. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “Be quiet and I’ll find out.”
Huh?
He tapped his thumb on the screen, then lifted the phone to his ear. Ah, shit. Was he verifying my very fake story?
“Hey,” he said in greeting to whoever had answered his call. “Two of the guild snoops just turned up at Brenda’s place.”
My heart slammed into my ribcage.
Daniel’s lip curled. “I didn’t disobey orders. I was waiting for orders and they waltzed in on their own.” A pause. “Yeah, well, I’ve only got two of ’em. That guy, Blain—Blake, whatever. He said there were five, didn’t he?”