“And I’m coming with you.”“No you’re not,” said Pete and Rob and Ink simultaneously. John almost joined in just because of their shared forcefulness, but he did not, after all, know the Director; so he kept silent.“It’s not a debate.” Aidan rested elbows on his desk, looked at them levelly across laced hands. “It’s family. And you’ll need me.”“You’re the Director of the Magical Enforcement Division,” Pete said. “You can’t just swoop in and work a random case.”“You can’t break charms,” Ink said, and his voice trembled, barely noticeable, hurting with love. “You can’t use your voice on something that can’t hear you. And you’re barely a magician without it.” “We need you,” Rob said, surprisingly softly, “here, Aidan. If we lose you we lose more than just you.”“Yes,” Aidan said, “the MED loses the symbol, Joanne’s faith in me as her successor, the face of youth and change, a half magical creature, proof that you don’t have to be an old-fashioned purely human witch or enchanter or anything, I know.” He might’ve said this sarcastically; he didn’t. He did know; he took Rob’s objection and his own position seriously, John thought. “But I have thought about this. I’ve got a Deputy for a reason. I’ll stay out of any direct contact with curses or hexes or evil sorcerers. I promise.” He was holding Ink’s hand now. His voice held a thread of silvered steel underneath calm explanations. “I love Elena as much as anyone,” Pete said, “but she’s not you. She can’t do what you can do, literally, magically. Actually, call her in. Tell her about this. See what happens.”Aidan raised an eyebrow. A knock tapped against the door.“I hate it,” Pete said, “when you answer objections before we’ve come up with them.”Rob sighed, and watched Aidan. John covertly watched Rob doing the watching. Compassion in those sea-blue eyes. Loyalty in that heroic jawline. Rob had made his own argument on behalf of the department, but could also see and sympathize with his Director’s need to rescue family; all that was in that gaze, as Rob considered the mission.Funny, that. John hadn’t expected MED agents to be quite so good at emotional nuance. Nor so kind. Elena Ruiz proved to be thin and brown and quick as a sparrow; the Deputy Director of the MED was a weather-witch, John vaguely recalled, and had spent the last three months holding back terrible drought and brushfires across Southern California. She had short brown hair and a fearsome knife casually tucked into her belt; she listened to Aidan patiently for two minutes and then said, “You can’t go.”“Yes I can,” Aidan said. “Did you all miss the part about me being in charge?”“We need you here. We’re meeting with the Magical Oversight Committee next week, remember? No one else has your voice. And I hate politicians.”“We know,” Pete said, half under his breath, “we were there when you made it rain on Senator Whitmore, last time.”“He deserved it, that—”“Listen.” The silver-tipped spears in that voice cracked out and hit everyone in the room. A banshee’s voice: not a full command, but a sizzling diamond-edged reminder of what he could do. “This isn’t a discussion. My family won’t talk to anyone who doesn’t have a magical bloodline stretching back at least five generations. The best you’d get is a shut door. And if someone’s making cursed objects—and sending them after powerful families—then we need to know who and why. And I’m good at talking to people.” The implications rang darkly across the office: Aidan wanted to have words with the sorcerer behind this case. “So you need me. I’ll stay out of the way in the field and I’ll stay in touch with you, Ellie, but you’re running things here until we get back. Understood?”