He stared at her over the rim of his mug. The renewed warmth of the drink hit the walls of his body like waves against a breakwater. He tried for an instant to find power and focus his magic on her so he could understand what was Truth here.

But even as he groped in his darkened soul, he remembered the magic was gone. A wave of misery washed over him and he took a sip of coffee to counteract it. No wonder he could not find the right thing to say to her. He fell back on his old instincts, and picked through the bewildering array of things he could say to her for the most truthful one. She had stared at him through his long silence. Teddy was smirking as he polished a glass. Lynda’s face was pinker than Wizard had ever seen it.

“I have the feeling,” he said carefully, “that this is not the best place for us to be.” That was better. Speaking his thoughts did focus them, and she had gone from angry to rapt, leaning closer to hear his soft voice. Teddy no longer looked so amused.

“I can’t say what it is that bothers me, but this is not a good place for us.” Teddy’s words leaped into his mind and he mouthed them. “This is no place for a lady like yourself.”

Lynda was glowing in his words, her smile gone soft and gentle. Wizard felt very pleased with himself for an instant. and then the impact of his own words broke on him like a douse of cold water. This was no place for a lady. Not this bar.

This was a man’s bar, with a constant edge in the air. A certain type of man might bring his woman here, but not his lady. It was not a place for quiet talking, for the sharing of thoughts or companionable silences. It was a place for displays and competitions, challenges and threats. It was a place where misplaced men came to prod balls around a table, to drink and mutter angrily and helplessly at one another, and then to fight short, ugly fights. Not a place to bring a friend one valued. So why had Lynda brought him here? And who had brought her here before?

No answers to those questions, but a solution. Leave. He rose from his stool, feeling a strange rubberiness in his knees.

It passed and he took Lynda’s arm firmly. He was certain now of the danger here. She had tempted it, but she had fed him.

The least he could do was take her to a safer place.

“What’s wrong?” Her voice was a shade short of baby talk, her mouth a plump little pout. Charades for Teddy.

“Nothing, yet. But if you want to sit and talk with me, we have to find a place to talk where I don’t feel exposed. I like my back to a wall. When I’m with a lady, I tike to concentrate on the lady, not worry about someone behind me with a pool cue.” He listened to himself in surprise. So he did know how to do that kind of talking- It came out of his mouth too smoothly, too glibly, for it to be new talent. Even the words seemed practiced in their sentences. It poured out of him almost like a Knowing; almost.

“Well—but—let me finish my drink first, then.” She pulled gently away from him, and he saw her eyes dart to Teddy. She wanted him to notice this exchange, to see how Wizard had taken control and wanted to be alone with her. She wanted the other men in the room to see that she was desirable, that this man wanted her. He needed to follow that thought, but the sense of danger pressed against him, squeezing his mind to action. He coughed and, lifting the drink, drained it to clear his throat. The warmth spread through him anew.

“I think we should go someplace quieter, more private.”

These words came even more smoothly. Lynda turned in surprise and gave him a suddenly measuring look.

“Oh. I see. Well, keep your shirt on. The night is young; there’s no rush. Besides, I want to finish my drink.” She leaned to bump her shoulder gently against him, filling his nostrils with her scent. She was enjoying this. He wasn’t.

“I want to leave here now, and I want you to come with me,” he said bluntly. “I think you’d be stupid not to. You could get hurt.”

“Are you threatening her?” Danger spoke from behind him.

Wizard turned to it and found himself eye to eye with Booth.

The final tumbler clicked into place. From the rosy flush on Lynda’s face and the way she moistened her lips, he knew she had scored her hit. This was why she had brought him here, whether she knew it or not, to this place no man would bring a woman he cared about. Because this was Booth’s place, and this was where he had brought her. She had come here to be seen with a new man. To lay a fresh little sting on Booth’s pride in revenge for whatever he had done to her. Because she had known that Booth would come here, and the thought of their confrontation warmed her.

“I’m not threatening her.” Wizard spoke the useless words.

Lynda hitched closer on her barstool, and snugged her arm through his, keeping him on point. Perhaps she sensed he wanted to flee.

“Mind your own business. Booth,” she snapped.

“I am. Just because we’re not going together anymore doesn’t mean I want to see you get hurt. Look at this guy, Lynda!

Where the hell did you pick him up? I heard what he said to you. Don’t do anything stupid like leaving with him.“

Booth’s words were like lines in a play. Wizard knew this scene by heart, had watched it played out in a thousand settings, but never before had he been a principal in it. He tried to step clear, but Lynda clung to his arm.

“Get lost, Booth. I’ll go anywhere I want, with anyone I want.” Her voice was clear and carrying, filling the tavern and interrupting pool games. She had her audience. “You don’t own me. Not anymore. Mind your own business. You didn’t want to treat me nice when you had me, so leave me alone now. What could he do to me worse than what you did? Answer me that?” Lynda blazed at him gloriously, letting her lips go full and her breasts heave, letting him see all he had so carelessly thrown away. “Baby.” She had turned to Wizard now, changing her voice to intimacy, letting Booth see all he was shut away from. ‘Take me out of here. You were right. Let’s go someplace more private.“ She leveled her eyes at Booth once more and fired with deadly accuracy as she observed in a clear voice, ”It’s been a long time since I was with a man who knew how to treat a lady. I’d almost forgotten what it was like.“

Teddy the bartender had edged closer during the exchange.

Wizard wondered if he was keeping himself handy to prevent trouble or just to witness it. His eyes had a hard, dead glint in them, the look of a man who expects to watch a fight. He wouldn’t stop it. Wizard stiffened.

“If you’re coming with me, we’re leaving now,” he said to Lynda. His voice was cold, its edge cutting through all other sounds in the room. He kept his eyes on Booth as he stepped away from the bar and was amazed to find how easily Lynda came along with him, floating on his arm. Her purse and bag were on her other arm, and he knew that she had been ready for this move, had planned it just this way. As Wizard moved toward the door, she rode on his arm as regally as any queen.

Wizard didn’t need to look back to know that Teddy was smirking and Booth was glowering. He heard the impact of Booth’s fist on the bar, saw heads turning to watch their exit. It’s not over yet, warned a voice in the back of his skull, and he felt a quickening of excitement in his body, surging like pleasure.

It frightened him.

The woman was short and dark, with tightly curled hair and a nose like a Jewish elf. She was leaning against the wall of the building as Wizard and Lynda came out into the cool dark streets.

“Last chance to do anything smart tonight,” she announced as he came out the door. “Run like hell, buddy. If you don’t, forget it. Forget everything, because you are a babe in these woods and you are going to lose it all. Last chance.” She hitched herself up off the wall and strode off into the darkness. Lynda was adjusting her coat. If she had heard or seen the other woman, she gave no sign of it.