Ink & Quill

Chapter 7

 ~ Sylas ~

A week later, despite Jaxon's great reluctance, we meet Aurelio again—for lunch in a little restaurant at the city's edge, this time.

A crisply dressed waiter greets us when we arrive and guides us to where he waits, seated at a table covered in green satin cloth, enjoying a steak salad and a glass of wine.

As Jaxon and I sit, the waiter hands us small, elegant menus, and Aurelio invites us to order what we'd like. 

There aren't many choices, but what there is seems like the epitome of fine cuisine—Aurelio's 'steak salad' is actually 'torched Kobe beef with sake beet purée and miso crème fraîche on a bed of fresh greens.'

There are no prices listed, and I gather this is the sort of place meant for people who are rich enough not to care what they might be.

Reading the menu is like trying to decipher something written in a semi-familiar foreign language, and I cast Jaxon a look that carries a plea for help.

He sees it and rescues me.

"He'll have the poke bowl," he tells the waiter, nodding at me. "I'll have the stuffed avocado thing."

Looking mildly scandalized, the waiter takes our menus back and departs.

Aurelio swirls the wine in his glass and looks at Jaxon over the rim.

"Childish as ever, I see. You always did have a knack for enjoying the things that were handed to you while at the same time showing your utter disdain for them," he comments.

Jaxon settles back in his chair and I wince as it creaks beneath him. It's a delicate, rattan thing—a subtle 'this place isn't for you' aimed at anyone above a certain weight.

I haven't even tried the food yet, but I decide I don't like this restaurant very much.

"We may be brothers, 'Rel," Jaxon says evenly, "but you don't know me, and we aren't friends."

The barest hint of a smile touches Aurelio's lips. "If you say so." He reaches down beside his chair and pulls two large envelopes out of a leather messenger bag, handing one across the table to each of us. "Here are your dossiers. Everything is included: names, backgrounds, copies of necessary documents. Memorize what you need, keep the rest safe."

Jaxon sets his envelope aside without opening it. "This isn't my first rodeo. I know the drill."

"Good." Aurelio nods. "Then you understand the consequences, should you be caught."

"Better than you, I imagine."

"If so, you lack imagination."

Jaxon scowls at his brother, but a hint of curiosity lights his eyes.

"Just how deep in this shit are you, 'Rel?" Jaxon asks.

Aurelio takes a sip of wine.

"Think of it this way. If you're Sherlock Holmes in this little game, and our 'unknown threat' is Moriarty, then consider me Mycroft."

Jaxon gives him a blank look, and Aurelio sighs.

"You really ought to read more, Jaxon. Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock's older, smarter brother embedded in the government and wielding influence and power behind the scenes. Without having to do much actual work," he adds.

I take a sip of water. "I guess that makes me Watson, then."

Aurelio's eyes snap to me, and I shiver. I'd thought his expressionless features revealed a lack of emotion, but now I'm not certain; now his eyes are more like the surface of dark water, beneath which may lie fathomless depths.