Page 77 of A Fury Of Shadows

“Wait.” Cortes’s eyes had shrunk to slits. “Howard Titus? As in the tech tycoon?”

Serena dipped her head. “He’s an Immortal.”

Vlad exchanged a guarded look with Cortes. “No wonder the guy looks like he doesn’t age.”

Lou removed a laptop from a bag and switched it on. “Jordan should be up. I’m not so sure about Howard, but I’ll try him anyway.”

It was Howard Titus who answered first.

“Hang on a minute!” he shouted down the line. “Let me find somewhere quiet!”

Serena frowned at the music and brouhaha reverberating through the speakers. “Is he at a party? Isn’t it six-thirty in the morning there?”

Violet checked her phone.

“Yup,” she informed them with a fatalistic air. “According to his social media feeds, he was at some billionaire’s shindig in Malibu last night.”

The scenery changed to a bright exterior. It looked like the Immortal had stepped out onto a terrace near the ocean.

Howard gazed curiously at his phone, the rising sun turning his blond hair to spun gold and giving him the appearance of some kind of Greek god. “Oh, hi guys. I see the whole gang’s there. And a few new faces.”

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Serena said critically.

“Hang on a minute,” Lou interrupted. “I’m getting Jordan on the line.”

The second call connected.

A man in jeans and a T-shirt appeared. He sat eating doughnuts at a workstation. An enormous, concrete and glass computer lab was visible around him.

“Hi, Lou. What can I do for you?” Jordan Banks said distractedly, his spare hand moving rapidly across a keyboard.

“Howard is on this call, Jordan,” a melodious female voice interjected.

Brimstone’s ears pricked up.

“He is?” Jordan paused, a fresh pastry halfway to his mouth. He squinted at the screen and scowled. “You’re right. Why is that asshole in a tux? Isn’t it early morning in L.A.?”

Howard grinned. “Still sore about our last match, I see.”

Jordan flipped him the middle finger.

“You should mind your manners in the presence of our guests, Jordan,” the female voice reprimanded him.

Brimstone raised his head from where he lay at Mae’s feet.That is not a human, my witch.

“Who is that?” Mae asked Serena warily. “Brim says she’s not human.”

Serena looked at the fox. “He can tell?”

Brimstone panted smugly, bushy tail sweeping the floor.

“That’s Eva, Jordan’s sentient AI creation.”

Cortes furrowed his brow. “They have a sentient AI?”

“Why, yes, Enrique Cortes, formerly Beau Bonaparte Cortes,” Eva said smoothly.

Cortes froze.

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