eyes flicked to me and then away. “He left for greener pastures, yes. I had to track him down and kill him for his disobedience. Quite the shame. Luckily, I am more than capable of taking over my lab.”
These mages clearly didn’t know I was the greener pastures. I wondered how they’d heard the rumor so stripped of detail.
“Maybe,” the man pushed, “but the fact remains that you will be vulnerable. Momar is more ruthless than you ever were. He’s not as cautious—”
“It was never caution, Rufus. It was strategy. In order to achieve a complete victory, one must crush the opposition in its entirety. Pull out the root. That takes time and planning. Otherwise your enemies will come back to haunt you. Isn’t that right, Chambers?”
The man with the bow tie’s eyebrows lowered, and I suddenly wondered which one of these guys had been responsible for ruining Broken Sue’s life. Could that be what Elliot meant?
“Momar doesn’t seem to have any trouble with his swifter approach,” Noah said with a full mouth.
“He has left severed roots all over the world,” Elliot replied. “They are under the ground, slowly growing toward the surface. They merely need to be tended before they will sprout once more.”
“Yes, well…” Rubber Band Face shook his head. “Momar took down the power players. He might have left some of the crumbs, sure, but no matter how much you tend those, they’ll never grow into…flowers or trees or whatever it is you’re talking about. They’re useless.”
Elliot grinned slyly. “That’s the difference between you and me. Between me and Momar. Big-picture thinking. Trees and flowers and ferns and critters—they have more power than you would think when you group them together and give them purpose.”
Chambers leaned his elbows on the table. “Is that the power you are hoping to amass? The failed leftovers of Momar’s battles?”
“That is the power I will collect, yes. That I will prime and prepare for use. But I won’t tell you how. Only my ally will be privy to my plans. Otherwise I will gather a network and a staff, like I have in the past. I doubt the world has changed that much.”
“It’s changed more than you think,” the paper reader said.
My empty plate was cleared away and a steaming plate was set down in its place, no time to rest between courses. Cyra stepped forward immediately, and Rufus paused, probably wondering if he was about to get a butt in his hologram again.
“Roast beef tenderloin with red wine sauce,” the server murmured softly. “Haricot verts and a buttery garlic mashed potato.”
I nodded as Cyra barged in and took more than the couple of needed bites. “This is good,” she said around her food. “Hire these cooks instead of Mr. Tom.”
Rufus waited until she was done. “Even if you are correct, Elliot…” He cleared his throat. Gesturing to Paper Reader, he said, “And I’ll mention that Maverick is—”
“Maverick?” I blurted out with a laugh.
Everyone paused and looked at me.
I covered my mouth with my napkin. “Sorry. I didn’t know his name. Just…surprised me, is all. Does he have an assistant named Goose?”
“As I was saying,” Rufus continued, “I would agree that the world has certainly changed more than one might think. You won’t be able to hide away in your mountain and expect to be left alone while you plot.”
“Yes,” Maverick said, undaunted by my reaction to his Top Gun name. “When you rose the first time, you were unknown. You claimed your mantle almost out of the blue. You are watched now. The Mages’ Guild has their eye on you. Momar is aware of this meeting and eager to know what comes of it. You won’t get a chance for a mistake, and you might not even get a chance to emerge as you plan.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Elliot said, wiping his mouth. “And I’d be quite the simpleton if I hadn’t thought of all of that. Coming up out of the blue the first time wasn’t a stroke of luck, however. It wasn’t a surprise to me like it was for others. You’d best remember that.”
“Do you expect your ally to cover your back while you make your…return?” Noah asked.
Elliot pushed an invisible plate away and went back to resting his elbows on the table. He squinted at Noah. “Cover my back? No. Keep my whereabouts secret? Possibly.”
Burke huffed. “How would that even be possible?”
“For you?” Elliot tapped his pointer fingers together. “It wouldn’t.