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doesn’t
constitute an emergency on mine.” She shrugged and continued her
trek across the noisy room. His T-shirt read If you’re happy and
you know it, drop your pants . She wasn’t sure he’d get the
innuendo even if she told him what it said. “I like the shirt.
Besides I’m not convinced we need to be inconspicuous.”
    They passed through a set of double doors
and exited the building. Balmy night wind caressed her face. The
soothing touch was ruined by honking horns and the continual drone
of automobile engines. Manicured gardens and decorative foliage
lined the wide concrete path. A section angled off toward the
multi-level parking garage while the main walkway continued toward
the street.
    “Why would we no longer need to be
inconspicuous?” he asked.
    “Think about it. Vee’s entire life’s work
revolved around helping Mystics reach their true potential. He
trained the trainers, so to speak. The journal itself is proof that
he intended to share his knowledge with as many as possible. The
Wisdom of the Ages is an über-sophisticated version of Earth’s
Internet. Even if he had some deep, dark secret, why would he have
you transmit it to Lord Drakkin?”
    “I agree. Malos’ explanation doesn’t make
sense, but I assure you he was trying to steal the journal.” They
paused at a street corner, waiting for the traffic signal to halt
the sea of taxis, cars and limousines.
    “I don’t doubt what you saw.” She shot him a
sidelong glance. “Do you think Tal is incompetent?”
    “Of course not.” He sounded insulted, which
was exactly what she’d intended. “I hold Head Master Tal in the
highest regard.”
    “I like him too, and I trust Trey with my
life, which is why I think the brothers dar Aune are amusing
themselves at our expense.”
    The woman next to Evan nodded toward his
shirt. Her male companion read the slogan and chuckled. Evan
clenched his jaw, not bothering to comment on the exchange. “You
think they’re…”
    “Playing matchmaker.” The light changed,
signaling them to cross the street.
    “Head Master Tal is unaware of what I sensed
when I touched Malos and the images that erupted in the vortex.
Even if this mission is meant to throw us together, we are still at
risk.”
    “If you say so.” She swept her hand toward
the towering structures surrounding them. “Pick a city. Venice,
Paris, Rome, New York?”
    He stepped to one side of the sidewalk,
allowing the steady stream of pedestrians to move past them. “Malos
will pursue us. It’s only a matter of how long it takes for him to
determine my destination.”
    “Then let’s get the hell out of Dodge. You
can Summon the Storm. Why are we waiting around for him to find
us?”
    “My vision brought me here.” He pointed in
the direction they’d just come. “To that hotel. I need to know
why.”
    “Then we’re back where we started. Pick a
city.”
    He shrugged his broad shoulders and nodded a
short distance down the street. “That one is closest. Was it one of
the three revealed by the Seeker Circle?”
    “Nope.” They followed the sidewalk toward
the main entrance of the hotel. “Can you describe anything you saw
in the vortex? I know you said it’s still jumbled.”
    “Once we get settled, I’ll share the images
with you.” Her steps faltered and she pretended to struggle with
her suitcase. The last time he’d touched her mind had been at the
beginning of their torrid affair. “Let me take that for you. It
makes me appear rude otherwise.”
    She passed the handle to him and turned her
face away. His boyish smile and the innocence they’d both left
behind rolled through her memory. Their joint mission was only
scheduled to last a few weeks, but unexpected complications had
stranded them off-world together for nearly a solar cycle. The
rough equivalent of an Earth year.
    “Are you here for the convention?” A perky
female voice intruded on Dro Tar’s melancholy. Evan held the door
open as the busty redhead