There was no audible reaction. I looked around to see that no one seemed particularly shocked. Obviously they’d seen it coming. “What’s the charge?” Slate asked Rain. He seemed to have forgotten about me.

“Suspicion of involvement in the Rayfield case,” Rain said. “Which as of today is being treated as a murder.”

“So we’re arresting her?”

“No,” Rain said. “The Council has decided not to issue a formal indictment.”

A murmur went up at that. “So what are we bringing her in for?” Lizbeth said. “Littering?”

“The Council believes that an indictment would risk escalating the conflict.” Rain didn’t show anything on his face, but somehow I got the impression he wasn’t happy. “Vihaela will be brought in, but she will not be formally charged.”

“Oh, this is bullshit,” Slate said.

“What, we’re supposed to say pretty please?” Lizbeth said. “What happens when she tells us to go fuck ourselves?”

“You may not have a formal indictment,” Rain said, “but you are acting under direct Council orders. That means if you encounter any resistance, you’ll be free to use necessary force.”

Both Slate and Lizbeth perked up at that. Rain noticed. “I said necessary force.” Rain didn’t raise his voice, but his gaze rested on the two of them. “You are not pulling in some two-bit adept, and you are going to have eyes on you for this one. You pull some cowboy shit, I will hang you out to dry. Understand?”

Slate and Lizbeth had stopped smiling. “Yeah,” Slate said.

“Lizbeth?”

“I got it,” Lizbeth said.

“The six of you,” Rain nodded to the Keepers, “will be the field team for this operation. You will have two auxiliaries attached to you for the duration, mages Abeyance and Verus. Abeyance is a time mage and Verus is a diviner. They’ll provide information support on the ground. Haken has field command. Slate, you’re his second. The seven of you report to Haken, and Haken reports to me.” He glanced around. “Any questions?”

“Uh, yeah.” One of the other Keepers, Coatl, raised his hand. “So if I need to be excused to take a shit, should I be going to Slate, or do I ask Haken? You know, if it’s an emergency.”

“Hey,” Lizbeth said. “If you’re taking a shit, it’s always an emergency.”

“Love you too, Liz.”

“Are you hearing this?” Slate demanded to Rain. “Why’s this clown on the detail?”

“Kiss my arse,” Coatl told Slate. “If the Council really gave a fuck, we’d have an indictment already.”

“How about you—” Haken began, then stopped as Rain raised a hand. Rain looked at Coatl. “You have something to say?” Rain asked. “Say it.”

“Council can’t make up their mind what they want,” Coatl said. “Everyone’s got their own piece.” He shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

“Yeah, well, maybe they do,” Rain said. “But we’ve got a missing apprentice and a missing witness, and that’s not going away. So if we’re going to do this thing, we’re going to do it right.” He looked around. “Does anyone have a problem with that? Because if you do, there’s the door.”