“My masters and I,” Dee clarified.

Virginia went around the desk to stand beside the English Magician. “Pretty,” Dare said.

“My favorite view,” Dee murmured. Unlike his offices in London or New York, where he was so high he could barely see the streets, here he could look across Pioneer Park and see San Francisco spread out below him, close enough to touch. Almost directly opposite was the triangular shape of the Transamerica Building picked out in lights against the night sky.

“You know your masters will never rest until they have hunted you down,” Virginia said quietly.

“Yes. I know that.”

“Every moment you remain free and unpunished offends them. Your masters will lose status with the other Elders. They must make an example of you.”

Dee nodded again. He could see himself and Virginia reflected in the dark glass. They looked as if they were floating over the city. “You killed your master… and yet no one came after you,” he said.

Virginia laughed, but the sound was brittle and false. “I did not kill my master. The fool became both arrogant and careless in his old age. He made the mistake of challenging the authority of a Deer Woman and then insulted her and her tribe of Shapeshifters.”

“What happened?”

Virginia laughed again. “What do you think happened? There were Deer Women on this land long before the Elders fled Danu Talis. They know every hidden trail, secret pathway and leygate, and how and where they all connect. One moment my Elder was in Oklahoma, threatening the woman… the next he was in Badwater, in the heart of Death Valley at the height of summer. I believe he used his aura to keep himself cool for the first few days… until he had no aura left.” She clapped her hands together suddenly and the Magician jumped. “His own aura finally consumed him in a ball of flame. There wasn’t even dust left.”

“How do you know all this?” Dee wondered.

“Because I was there,” Dare said lightly. “Who do you think led the Deer Woman to him?” She patted Dee’s shoulder. “I was tired of him: he had lied to me once too often, made me promises he had no intention of keeping.” Her voice dropped to a whisper and her fingers curled slightly. “Don’t make the same mistake.”

“I won’t,” Dee answered, watching Dare’s reflection the whole time.

“So tell me, what you are going to do, Doctor?” Virginia demanded.

Dee came stiffly to his feet. Without saying a word, he crossed the room and stepped into a small private elevator. Dare hesitated a moment, then followed him. The elevator was uncomfortably small, obviously designed for only one person. With great care, the Magician pushed his burnt thumb against a button marked Emergency Stop. The button glowed a dull blue and then the doors hissed closed.