I slid into the booth opposite Pasha and Jake and we sat in silence until the drinks came: the same green stuff as before. This time I wasn’t hesitant; I needed that drink, because now I knew more about what I was up against, what I was going to face come tomorrow, and I wasn’t at all sure I was up to the task. I slugged the booze back in one. A whole fucking castle full of Ministry mages, ones who weren’t limited by the fact that their power came from their own pain. They had plenty of people there to supply it, a whole bunch of human cows. Including Amarie, who, for some reason I couldn’t quite fathom, had been specifically targeted. Perhaps to get me in there. Perhaps. And Pasha, Jake and I were just going to walk in. If that perhaps was right, we’d be doing just what they wanted. They’d be waiting for us. Hah! Last night alive. Did I have a choice? Yes, yes I did. I could walk away. I could ignore what felt more and more like a summons, pull out that Ministry pin and haul my sorry arse back Upside, sit in my office and wait for a new job to come in.
