Free Alex Verus Novels, Books 1-4 (9780698175952) by Benedict Jacka Page B

was
dead
. I waited, heart in my throat.
    “So, I’m offering you the same job as before.”
    I stared at the phone for five seconds. “You’re what?”
    “The leader of the investigation team would like to employ your services,” Lyle said. “We’ll work out the details later.”
    I closed my eyes and silently let out the breath I’d been holding. Lyle wasn’t calling about last night. Well, he was, but not the way I’d been afraid of. “Look,” I said after a moment’s pause. “I said already—”
    “Your problem was that the job wasn’t official, correct?”
    “…Yeah.”
    “There’s a ball tonight at Canary Wharf,” Lyle said. “You’re invited. Council members will be attending, including the member directly responsible for the investigation team. He’ll speak with you personally.” His voice was dry. “Official enough for you?”
    For the second time, I was left speechless. “Um…” I said at last.
    “Oh good. The invitation will be delivered to your door in sixty seconds. Hopefully you’ll consider it important enough to get out of bed. Oh, and
do
pay attention to the dress code. It would be very embarrassing if you and your escort were turned away at the door. I’d offer to lend you something, but unlike you I don’t have the luxury of sleeping all morning. See you tonight.” Lyle broke the connection before I could think of a comeback.
    I listened to the dial tone, then hung up. If Council members were going to be at this ball, that made it an Event with a capital
E
. Everybody who was anybody in the mage world would be there. Lyle was serious, and that meant the Council was too.
    Out of perverse curiosity, I lifted my watch and lookedat the time, watching the seconds ticking off. Lyle had finished his call at 9:38. Exactly as the display ticked over to 9:39, there was a distant banging at my front door. I hate show-offs.
    I pulled myself to my feet, wincing at the stiffness in my legs, and went downstairs. A teenager was standing outside my shop window, holding a white envelope in his hand. Apprentice employed as a gofer; some things don’t change. I unlocked the door, nodded at the “Alexander Verus?” and took the envelope from him. As he disappeared up the street, I opened the envelope and took out the card inside.
    It was the real thing. In flowery language and copperplate handwriting, the card stated that the High Council of the British Isles would be honoured if Alexander Verus, et cetera, et cetera, would present himself with an escort of his choosing, et cetera, et cetera. There was a footnote about the dress code in slightly pointed language that I couldn’t help but wonder if Lyle had put in specifically to have a dig at me. Like there’s anything wrong with jeans and sweaters.
    I went back upstairs and dropped into my chair, staring at the card while flipping it back and forth between my fingers. It was made of cream-coloured paper with black lettering, and embossed at the top in gold was the Council’s coat of arms. As I scanned it, I could detect the magical fingerprint that marked it as a genuine invitation. The only question was what I was going to do about it.
    I don’t like the Council. I don’t like its ideas, and I don’t like its people. The Council doesn’t even follow its own laws, much less the spirit behind them, and as far as they’re concerned, morals are whatever’s convenient at the time. They have absolutely no problem with throwing people to the wolves, including people who are supposed to be working for them.
    On the other hand, if I just turned Lyle down, I’d be back where I’d started. After the events of last night, I was pretty sure that the Council’s plans for this Precursor relic were going to be stepped up, whatever they were. The members of the team detailed to investigate would know a lot morethan I did. Maybe enough for me to figure out what Cinder and that woman were up to.
    And I’d only be going to talk to them. I could