“So you want to do what?” the other Keeper said. He was tall and athletic-looking, with blond hair. “Just let the guy go?”

“There’s sod-all we can charge him with.”

“Karla’s not going to be happy.”

“Fuck Karla,” Caldera said. “She wants this guy so badly, she can do it herself.”

“Or she’ll just take it out on us,” the man said, then held up his hands to forestall Caldera’s answer. “All right, all right. I’ll try and sell her.” He walked out, giving me a curious glance as he passed by.

“Hey, Verus.” Caldera typed something into her computer and blanked the screen, then waved me over. “Grab a seat.”

Caldera is a member of the Order of the Star, the division of the Keepers that enforces the Concord and national laws amongst adepts and mages. She’s an Englishwoman of thirty or so, shorter than me and a fair bit heavier, broad and stocky.

I first met Caldera about a year and a half ago. I was being chased around London by a bunch of adepts who wanted to kill me for something I’d done while still an apprentice, and Caldera had become involved because of the Richard connection. The whole thing ended badly for pretty much everyone concerned, but if there’d been one silver lining from my point of view, it had been the working relationship I’d developed with Caldera. I’d seen her a few more times since then, usually under similar (if slightly less dangerous) circumstances—I’d want some favour or a bit of information, she’d want something I could find out with my divination magic, and we’d figure out some sort of deal that gave us both what we wanted. We’d even had a couple of drinks together, from time to time. But we’d never quite made the jump from acquaintances to friends, and to be honest that was probably because of me—I could never quite forget the organisation she worked for.

If I was going to do this, that was probably something I’d have to get over.

“Right,” Caldera said after we’d exchanged the how-are-you-how-have-you-beens. “So you want to be a sanctioned auxiliary.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s not a difficult question,” Caldera said. “Why do you want to join?”

“Excitement and glamour?”

Caldera gave me a look.

“Well, we’ve worked together a few times before and it’s more or less worked out, right? I just thought it was worth giving it a try.”

“Uh, yeah,” Caldera said. “The times we’ve worked together, you only did it because you needed the help.”

“Hey,” I said. “What about last April? Anne was the one in trouble, not me.”

“And you disobeyed every single order I gave you.”

“There were extenuating circumstances?”

Caldera gave me a flat look.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “I know there’s been some friction, but I was hoping to mend fences with the Council, and this seemed like a place to start. Besides, I’m a good diviner and I know you guys are shorthanded.”