“You do more than just bankroll stuff,” Rory shot back. “Besides, if you’re paying for me scrying, wouldn’t you basically be my boss? Wouldn’t that be weird?”

“Terribly weird,” Arthur agreed. “You’d have to boss me around quite a bit in private to make it up.”

Rory’s lips grudgingly turned up in a smile. Another moment went by, and then Rory let out a breath. “I’ve only ever been outta New York twice, counting today. Neither time has gone real well.”

“But both times could have gone worse,” Arthur pointed out. “You’re not chained to anything just because it’s who you’ve always been or what you’ve always done. You can wake up on a new morning and choose a new path, a new adventure.”

“Guess so,” Rory said, with more softness than usual. Arthur chanced a glance at him. Rory was chewing on his lower lip, looking lost in thought. “I didn’t have a good experience with boats.”

“It’s likely to be different when you’re not bound and gagged. Although, I can’t promise what will happen if we actually do find Gwen and Ellis in London, because I seem to be the only one who realizes there’s every possibility you’ll just end up in cuffs again.”

“Maybe.” Rory was smiling again, though, small and almost shy. “London, huh.”

They needed two days to get everything ready. Arthur had to see his family and take care of affairs, whatever that fancy rich-fella talk meant, so Rory slipped back to his boarding house to pack everything up.

He was standing in the middle of his room, staring down at his quilt and his trunk, when he heard a quiet tap-tap-tap at his third-floor window.

Outside his window, a pebble was floating in midair. After a second, it tapped itself against his window again, like a knock.

Rory grinned. He went to the window and saw Jade three stories down in the alley. He waved, and a moment later, the air flickered around him as Zhang’s astral projection materialized in his room. “We came to help.”

“Oh!” Rory flushed. “I mean—I don’t got much stuff, you don’t have to—”

“We want to,” said Zhang. “Can we come up?”

Less than three minutes later, there was a polite knock on his door, and then Jade was slipping in.

Rory bit his lip. “The floor’s men only,” he said to Jade, “and I don’t want you to get in trouble—”

“I assure you, I’m not in the least bit worried.”

She was looking around his room thoughtfully, in her pretty clothes, and Zhang’s astral projection looked just as nice. Rory remembered, belatedly, just how shabby his room was. He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Sorry it’s so—you know.”

They both looked at him in surprise. “Do you really think we came to judge your home?” Jade said gently.