“And what would make you think that you have anything I want?”
Jameson kept his answer brief. “Vantage.” That was the name of the ancestral home Jameson had won during that capital-GGame, a home that had been in his father’s mother’s family for centuries.
Bowen’s family—and Jameson’s.
Truthfully, Vantage was the only thing Jameson possessed that had ever truly felt like it was really his. Not billionaire Tobias Hawthorne’s. Not Avery’s.His.
“What is it I can do for you, Mr. Hawthorne?” Bowen’s use ofJameson’s last name was obviously intentional, a reminder that the two of them were not family in any way that mattered.
Fine by me, Jameson thought. “I’d like an invitation to the Devil’s Mercy. Tonight.”
“That’s it?” Bowen said, his tone mild and all the more chilling for it.
Jameson knew the sound of a gauntlet being thrown when he heard it. “That,” he said, “and there’s a piece of artwork I would like you to acquire for me.An Alchemist with Angel’s Wings.” Jameson abbreviated the title. “And while I’m at it, I want someone to fetch me every crucible in every museum in London.”
Bowen Johnstone-Jameson smiled slightly—veryslightly. “Now you have my attention.”
Chapter 41
ROHAN
Rohan was not a hero, but he could play the part well enough. He’d carriedbothGrayson sisters right out the front gates of the Thorp mansion—and gone back for the kitten. He was just that magnificent. All things considered, the conqueringheroshould have either slept well and deeply or stalwartly gone off in search of a dragon to slay, but in the hours that had passed since they’d returned to the bayou, Rohan had done neither. He’d taken up position on the platform, standing guard, and while doing so, he’d been dogged by the need to check on them.
Gigi and Savannah both.
When Rohan had first seen the pair of them lying on the garden path, he’d thought for the briefest moment that they were dead. Rohan was no stranger to death, and though it was rare, he had occasionally found himself having made a costly miscalculation, but he’d never once felt his heart pound in his throat the way it had in that moment.
Never, since he was a child.
They werefine. Both of them. And still, Rohan gave into the maddening urge to check on them for the third time. As he stood opposite the loft bed, listening to the sound of their breathing, he swore thiswould be the last time. Instead of retreating to stand guard on the platform, he finally managed to take his leave altogether, to do what he should have done hours earlier.
Find Nora.
Gigi had turned down an offer. She was useless as bait now, so Rohan didn’t even have the option of breaking his promise to Savannah. That said, logic dictated that the Watcher would very likely be seeking an alternative now that Gigi had saidno.
Nora clearly had her sights on being that alternative, and fortunately, Rohan had never promised not to useheras bait. As he wound his way through the bayou, he cursed himself for ever letting their knife-loving guest out of his sight.
It didn’t take him long to realize that he was being followed. “You walk lightly for someone your size, Mr. Daniels.”
“You’re going after her.” Brady Daniels was nothing more than a voice in the darkness, but Rohan had already pinpointed the exact amount of space between them.
“And whichheris it you believe I seek?” Rohan replied.
“You’d prefer Calla, but you’re not opposed to using Nora as a means to that end.”
Rohan cocked a brow he knew the scholar could not see. “And you are?”
There was a pause, a weighty one if Rohan was not mistaken.
“You know that I’m not,” Brady said.
Desperate men made such useful tools.
“If you were Nora,” Rohan replied, “where in this town would you go to draw the Watcher’s attention and throw your hat in the ring?”
They found their quarry beside the statue of Saint Adelaide. Even in the dark, Rohan knew the exact second their approach had been marked. That their Icelandic friend made no attempt at evasion spoke volumes.
For one reason or another, this was not a confrontation that Nora wished to avoid.