Not a lie. Tempted to turn the question to a command, Henry reluctantly acknowledged that the hallway of an apartment building where neither of them lived, with a date waiting, with no idea of how the actor would react to the memories, was probably not the best place. So he settled for, “What did you want to speak to Tony about?”

“He was there, this morning, when I . . .” Terror surfaced from the depths of the green. Terror Henry wasn’t evoking. “. . . collapsed. I just wanted to know if he . . . If there was anything . . .” Hands rose to waist level, opening and closing as though trying to hang onto the thought. “I just . . .”

This was a man perilously close to the edge. Half tempted to push him over to see where he’d land, Henry allowed his better nature to rule and backed the Hunger down, releasing the actor’s eyes. “I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“No, that’s . . . yeah, sure.” Barely holding it together, he turned away then turned back again, dark brows drawn in. “Do I know you? I mean, have we met before?”

Interesting. As far as Henry could remember, they’d never actually met before last night. “Perhaps you’ve seen me with Tony.”

“Yeah. Sure. That must be it.” Squared shoulders and a crisp nod, but Henry could see the tremors mortal eyes would miss.

He waited in the hall until he heard the door to the building clang not-quite-closed then hurried down to the landing to look out the window. Shoulders hunched against the rain, Lee Nicholas trotted across the street to where a busty blonde waited in his classic Mercedes. As he got into the car, he said something to make the blonde laugh, his body language suggesting that nothing worse than bad hair had happened to him in the last forty-eight hours.

The man was definitely a better actor than most people gave him credit for.

Tony was with him when he collapsed. Something had happened when the gate reopened. What? And where was Tony?

On cue, his cell phone rang.

“Tony? Where the hell have you been?”

“Close but no cigar, Nightwalker. I assume he’s not with you?”

“No.”

“He’s not answering his phone.”

Henry glanced up the stairs toward the apartment before he realized which phone the wizard was referring to. “He can’t turn it on in the studio.”

“He’s not at the studio. They finished early today.”

“Sometimes he forgets to turn it on when he leaves.” He was grasping at straws and he knew it.

“Seven shadows came through the gate this morning, Nightwalker. Seven. He would have called and told you about that were he able. And then the two of you would have appeared at my door demanding more of my time. More of the potion.”

Were he able. “Yes.”

“Where are you?”

“At Tony’s apartment.”

“I assume there’s no sign of him?”

“None.”