Haken nodded. Rain took the rod from the projector and walked outside.

“Can you believe this?” Lizbeth said as soon as the door shut. “This is such bullshit . . .”

Haken was staring at the door. “Everything okay?” I asked quietly.

Haken got to his feet. “I’m going to have to make some calls. I’ll meet you downstairs.” He headed out. Glancing over, I saw that the other Keepers were still arguing. I got up and made an unobtrusive exit.

I left the room to see Haken turning the corner. Scanning the futures, I saw him slip through a door and . . . damn. It had locked behind him. I could have easily picked the lock, but not in a building full of Keepers. What was Haken up to?

I felt a familiar presence behind me and turned to see Caldera. She was at the door leading to the stairwell, and she was arguing with Rain. With an annoyed glance back to where Haken had vanished, I headed towards them.

“. . . not an option,” Rain was saying as I came into earshot.

“I’m fine,” Caldera said. “The doctor said I was in good shape.”

“I’ve got Dr. Cazriel’s report on my desk,” Rain said. “He prescribed a minimum of forty-eight hours before you’d be ready for light duty. Four days before any combat ops.”

“That’s bullshit. I can still—”

“The answer is no,” Rain said. “I am not going on record as sending you on a combat mission against direct medical instruction.”

“You need all the help you can get.”

“There are six Keepers on this already. We’ve got enough hitting power.”

“It’s my case,” Caldera argued. “I’ve got the background—”

“And your reports have been filed. You’re already the Keeper of record for the Pudding Mill Lane investigation. You’ll get the credit.”

“Fuck the credit! I want to be there.”

Rain gave her a steady look. “Go home, Caldera.” He glanced at me, then turned and headed through the door.

Caldera glared after him, looked like she was about to start swearing, then looked at me and visibly ground her teeth. “Bad day?” I said.

“No shit.” Caldera took a deep breath. “You’re going?”

I nodded. “I don’t know most of the team. Anything you can tell me?”

Caldera moved to one side, out of the way of a pair of men walking past. “Who’ve you got?”

“Haken, Slate, Trask, Lizbeth. Two others called Cerulean and Coatl. And a time mage auxiliary called Abeyance.”

“Yeah, I’ve worked with Abeyance,” Caldera said. “She knows what she’s doing. Slate you know. He’s an arsehole, but at least he’s not bent. Lizbeth’s a bitch, don’t turn your back on her.”

“The others?”

“Trask is Slate’s partner: he’s smarter than Slate and he’ll back him up. Coatl’s a long-timer. Not as dumb as he looks. Cerulean I don’t know, he’s a transfer from Order of the Cloak. And Haken’s Haken.”

“Cool. Who are they working for?”

“What do you mean?”