“We cannot,” Jason said flatly. “I’m not going to step into your fight.”
Victor could not provide Jason with the kind of information he needed. Further, he wanted Jason to jump into a fight without understanding the sides, which was the opposite of Jason’s own intentions. It was Vermillion who had something to offer Jason.
“What about your uncle?” Victor asked.
“He is under my protection,” Jason said. “That protection does not extend to you or your interests.”
“I can offer you substantial benefits,” Victor said. “You would be surprised at what I can accomplish, when sufficiently motivated.”
“You would be surprised at what I can accomplish, when sufficiently motivated,” Jason said in turn. He didn’t reinforce his words with his aura, but it wasn’t necessary. Although it didn’t show in his body language, a ripple of fear passed through Victor’s aura.
Jason had once fought a team in a mirage chamber, using movie-monster theatrics to stir fear and disorient them. It only worked because they were as na?ve as he was, and he cringed when thinking back to what he now considered a buffoonish display.
While it had barely been a year since then, it had been a year in which Jason had walked through blood and death. He no longer had to make a foolish imitation of being dangerous; his experiences, attitude, training and transformed body had brought about a deadly transfiguration.
Jason’s old, frivolous self had increasingly become a mask he had to put on, and with months of constant fighting, he hadn’t put it on in a while. Wading through a sea of monsters, the only people around him had been his trusted friends and most reviled enemies. After all that, the mask didn’t fit as neatly as it used to.
To the kind of people who recognised it, Jason unconsciously radiated danger. Even with his aura hidden, it was in the way he moved, the way he watched everything around him. It was in his confidence, an unassailable self-assurance. Ari had picked up on it even before Jason unleashed his aura, and Victor was a lot sharper than Ari.
“I’d like to go over some of the things I could do for you,” Victor said. “And your uncle as well.”
“No,” Jason said firmly. “I suspected that you might have some kind of offer along those lines, but I want to be unambiguous over rejecting any kind of negotiation on that front. I know this isn’t what you want to hear, and I want this to be an amicable relationship, but I’ve just gotten back from farther away than you know there is distance to go. I don’t know the local situation or the local players and I’m not even going to consider intervening until I have a better understanding of the water I’ve splashed down in.”
Jason gave Victor a genuine smile to cut the tension.
“To be honest, Mr Tollman—Vic—I came here for two reasons. One was to give you some face, so as to not cause trouble for my uncle. The other was to meet Vermillion.”
Jason turned to the pale man, who had been largely content to sit back, eyes never leaving Jason.
“I’d like to meet privately for a more frank discussion, Mr Vermillion.”
“An information exchange?” Vermillion asked.
“Yes,” Jason said. “If Vic, here, can convince you to make another pitch on his behalf once I have a better lay of the land, I’ll listen. I don’t see myself agreeing, but you’ve approached me with courtesy. It’s only fair that I reciprocate.”
Jason stood up. Victor and Vermillion did the same and Jason shook hands with Victor again.
“It was good to meet you, Vic. I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want, but I’ve learned some hard lessons about carelessly picking my fights before.”
“I understand,” Victor said congenially.
“If you’re willing to have a further meeting,” Jason said, shaking Vermillion’s hand, “I’m sure you can find my number.”
After having one of his staff escort Asano away, Victor plopped back down into one of the room’s many armchairs.
“That bloke is unnerving,” Victor said. “That doesn’t mean he’s the real thing, though. Are you sure he’s not just bluffing about being from your circle? It seemed like he was fishing for information.”
“I’m certain,” Vermillion said. He had never encountered an aura as strong and rigidly controlled as Asano’s. It was like an impenetrable sphere, perfectly formed and revealing only what it wanted you to see. It was also stronger than any tier-two aura he had encountered by an order of magnitude.
He had almost mistaken it for a tier-three aura, and he had no doubt that if Asano wanted to hide it from him, he could have. Asano clearly wanted Vermillion to see that he was an essence magician, and not one to be trifled with. Vermillion was the front man for the Cabal’s dealings with the other groups in Sydney and Asano was wholly unlike the essence magicians he had encountered from the Network. While he was still an essence magician, Vermillion had no doubt that Asano was a different breed entirely.
“Are you going to meet with him?” Victor asked.
“Yes,” Vermillion said.
“Will you try and convince him for me?”
“No,” Vermillion said. “If he were to pit himself against the EOA, it would cause dangerous ripple effects. I don’t think he’s part of the local ecology. If it weren’t for the family connection, I doubt we would ever have heard of him.”
“So why is he trying to sell gold?” Victor wondered.
“That is a curiosity,” Vermillion said, “which is why I bought it from you. My people are analysing it, chemically and otherwise. This man may be operating independently, although I’m not sure how it’s even possible for someone of his nature to get that strong without support.”
“How strong?” Victor asked. “If he’s alone, would he even be of use against the EOA? How dangerous can one man be?”
“Very, I suspect,” Vermillion said. “But you’re right that taking on an organisation like the EOA is a futile gesture. Even if he somehow overcame all their local forces, it would only bring greater threats down on him.”
“Are you telling me to roll over for the EOA?”
“I know you don’t like to take the easy road, Victor, but sometimes the hard road runs right off a cliff.”
“How would he stack up compared to you, if it came to a fight?”
“I don’t know what he’s capable of,” Vermillion said. “I would avoid one, if possible. My instincts tell me that if I couldn’t… I suggest you be very polite with his uncle.”
10
A LEATHER COAT AND TIGHT, BLACK PANTS