Kid was angry. But even if I let him join the pack, no one would work with him. Plus, I was pretty sure Davy would kill him if they ever got in the same room together.
“You want to be part of the pack, you have to earn it.”
“Pike wouldn’t—”
“I suggest,” I said over the top of him, “you don’t quote me on what Pike would or wouldn’t do. Ever.”
Kid wasn’t the only one who was angry.
He shut his mouth. Good.
“Finish school. Get clean. You give me your counselor’s number so I can check in on you. You don’t Hound—at all. You got me on that, Bell? Not for the cops, not for a friend, not for anyone, until you’re straight and clutching a diploma in your hand. You do that and I’ll give you a try.”
“Fuck that shit,” he said. “I don’t need you.”
“No,” I said, “you don’t.” I stood. “And one more thing—I’d avoid Davy Silvers if I were you. He’s not as forgiving as I am.”
Pike had been my friend, but Davy had worshipped the man. I waited a second to see if Anthony had anything else to say. He didn’t. So I turned and walked off.
Anthony swore again behind me.
Kid didn’t know it, but I was doing him a favor. I was giving him a chance at a life without pain. Well, with less pain anyway. I think that’s what Pike would have really wanted—for the kid to have a second shot at a clean life, regardless of the dumb things he’d done.
Anthony had that chance. I hoped he made good use of it.
I strolled over to the table where Kevin and a noticeably pregnant Violet waited for me. Zayvion, surprisingly, stayed seated for a few more seconds. He said something to Anthony, but even with my good ears, I couldn’t catch it over the noise of the crowd.
Rats.
“It’s good to see you,” Violet said once I was close enough.
I smiled, even though Anthony still had my hackles up. “Good to see you too.” I took the extra seat. “Is it okay if Zayvion joins us?”
Violet nodded, the low lights of the room flashing across her tasteful wire-rimmed glasses. She had pulled her red hair back in a plain ponytail. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, but had that beautiful glow pregnant women were supposed to always get. I used to think the whole glow thing was a bunch of baloney before watching Violet go through the last few months of carrying my dad’s child.
Yes, it was weird to see someone younger than me pregnant with my dad’s baby. Family issues. I have them.
“Why didn’t you just call?” I asked.
Violet pushed her glasses back on her nose and shifted to sit up straighter. Kevin pulled a Mute spell out of his sleeve. I mean literally. He tugged his rucked-up shirtsleeve back down on his wrist, and somehow in the middle of that put up a very subtle Mute that even a good Hound would have a hard time tracking.
Like I said, he was very, very good at that sort of thing.
“I didn’t want the call traced,” Violet said.
Wow. The woman knew how to set a mood.
“Someone’s tracing your calls?”
“There are members on the board of Beckstrom Enterprises. They represent a faction of shareholders. They are displeased with the amount of resources going into the lab and technology development, and the lack of results. They insist I show them classified documents of my progress.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to get my head around the problem. “What classified documents?”
“The disks. They want to know about the disks.”
The same disks that were stolen. The same disks that were implanted in Greyson’s neck and used to turn him into a beast. The disks that would make magic portable and nearly without price. Disks that would change how everyone accessed magic and be used for as much bad as good.
That was a problem.
Zayvion strolled over, made eye contact with Kevin, and then sat in a chair next to me without ruffling the Mute spell. Very nice.
“Are they members of the Authority?” I asked. I knew some of the people in my father’s company were in the Authority, like his accountant, Mr. Katz, but it wasn’t like anyone had ever done a roll call for