Blood Lines

recognized the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario from a recent newspaper photograph although the picture had not managed to capture either her very obvious self-assurance or her sense of humor. The cavalier costume she wore suited both.
    As Henry watched, she brushed the feather in her hat against the floor in a credible bow and said, "You'll have my complete support in this, George. Mr. Tawfik. I'll see you both at the ceremony and I'll tell Inspector Cantree you want to see him now." Then, grinning, she replaced the hat and headed down the hall toward the party. She didn't appear to be enchanted.
    There were now only two heartbeats sounding in the library-Tawfik's and the Solicitor General's-and they sounded as one. Through the open door, Henry heard a low voice ask thoughtfully, "And what is Inspector Frank Can-tree like?"
    'He won't be easy to convince."
    'Good. We prefer, my lord and I, to work with the strong; they last longer."
    'Cantree believes that independence yields greater results than conformity."
    'Does he now."
    'They say he's incorruptible."
    'That in itself can be used."
    Used for what ? Henry wondered. There was something in the tone that reminded Henry of his father. He didn't find that at all comforting. His father had been a cruel and Machiavellian prince who could play tennis with a courtier in the morning and have him executed for treason before sunset. Still motionless, he frowned as he watched a large man in a pirate costume walk down the hall on the balls of his feet, carrying himself as though he were perpetually ready for a fight, his expression just to one side of suspicious. Bearing and attitude both said "Cop" so strongly that Henry doubted the man had ever been of any use undercover.
    The newcomer paused in the doorway, one beefy hand dropping to the pommel of the plastic cutlass that hung at his hip. Instinct seemed to be warning him of a threat within the room and his tone was carefully, aggressively neutral.
    "Mr. Zottie? You wanted to speak with me?"
    'Ah, Inspector Cantree. Please, come in."
    As Cantree stepped over the threshold, Henry raced forward, letting the heavy folds of the cape slip from his shoulders to the floor. Over short distances, he could move almost fester than mortal eyes could register but not while dragging meters of fabric behind him. Sliding between the burly Inspector and the door, he sped shadow silent into the room, along a book-covered wall, and behind a floor-to-ceiling barrier of heavy curtain.
    Convenient , he thought, his back pressed against glass, his feet turned to either side so as not to protrude, his entire body motionless again. Over the sound of three heartbeats, he heard the door close, the hardwood floor contract beneath the Inspector's weight, but no hue and cry. His entry had gone unnoticed.

    He felt something. It brushed against his ka with all the innocent strength of a desert storm, almost dragging him from the light trance he'd been maintaining for most of the evening. Before he could begin to react, the barrier wards, set up more from old habit than perceived necessity, diverted the touch and only by lowering them could he hope to find it again.
    For an instant, he weighed what he did tonight against such tantalizing potential and, regretfully, left the wards in place. His lord perceived this evening as the initial gathering of a core of acolytes-which it was, in addition to an initial gathering of a more secular power-and his lord would not look kindly upon personal indulgences during such a time.
    The touch had been undirected, accidental, therefore it would have to wait.
    But the glorious memory of it lingered in the back of his mind and he vowed it would not have to wait long.
    'Inspector Frank Cantree, Mr. Anwar Tawfik."
    Henry slid the curtains apart a centimeter, movement masked by the quiet sound of flesh touching flesh.
    'Please take a seat, Inspector. Mr. Tawfik has a proposal that I think you'll find very interesting."
    He watched the Inspector lower himself onto an expensive leather sofa and saw Solicitor General Zottie move across the room to stand beside a wing chair, its high back barely a meter from his hiding place, completely hiding Anwar Tawfik from Henry's line of sight.
    This is beginning to feel like some cheap horror movie , Henry mused, where the creature rises out of the chair to face the camera at the end of the scene. I guess I wait for my cue . He'd make his move after Cantree left the room