Robert dreamed about the ball again, with the woman on the balcony. He didn't get to see her face, because someone shook his shoulder, even though there was nobody around, just the two of them, and then he woke up. Rose stood next to his bed, with her hand still on his shoulder.

'I'm sorry… We are having a meeting of a sort, down in the bar. Something happened.'

Robert sat up and rubbed his eyes.

'What?' he asked with a blurry voice. 'What happened?'

'I don't know. Probably nothing good. See you downstairs,' and with that, she left the small room.

Robert looked at his watch on the nightstand. It was early evening, but still a couple of hours before his shift. He got out of the bed and put on a white T-shirt in addition to his sweatpants. Then grabbed his cane, currently in a smaller form, and out he went.

They were all sitting around the fireplace, except Luther, who stood behind the counter as always. Heads were put together, the murmur of the nervous conversations filled the bar. Everyone was trying to figure out what the news might have been. Not like there were a lot of options.

Robert took a chair from one of the empty tables and put it next to the couch. Teodore sat on the near end of the couch, basically next to Robert now, and looked at him questioning, with his eyebrows raised, but the older man just shrugged.

Marcus stepped in front of the fire, and everyone went silent. He looked shocked, grim, even.

'So… About an hour ago the other safe house was attacked. The survivors reported a lone attacker, wearing a long coat, a hood and a white, featureless mask. He was average built and slightly taller. That description matches the one we have about The Priest.' He stopped and took a deep breath. 'Antonia Bogdan is dead. So are fourteen police officers out of the seventeen who were protecting her. The Priest got away, but there is no sign of the Goddess so far. We are monitoring every news channel and emergency call to see if she got out or not.'

There was a terrible silence. Robert saw that Rose looked at the door anxiously, Martin went pale and a muscle on Jenna's jaw tensed. Vittorio's hand was shaking so badly he had to put his drink down on the small table in front of him.

'How did he find them?' asked Teodore.

'We don't know,' shook his head Marcus. 'There is a theory, but…' he drifted off like someone who doesn't want to finish the sentence.

'But?' asked Rose encouragingly.

'So when he killed the two officers at the coffee shop a week ago, he took… he took one of the heads.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Jenna. 'You don't wanna say that he magicked out the address from a severed head, right? That's utter nonsense, dude. Bullshit.'

'Not necessarily,' said Robert slowly, in the voice he used while teaching. 'If he can keep the head alive, which as far as we know would be one of the main skills necromancers are possessing, then the memories would be still in the brain. What do you think, Teodore?'

Teodore looked at Robert, his face unreadable as always.

'There is not enough information even to guess here,' he said, 'but at this point what you said makes just as much sense as anything else.'

'I think I am about to throw up,' pitched in Martin. Rose patted his back soothingly.

'So that's it then, right?' asked Benjamin. 'The guy's gonna come here next.'

'Maybe,' said Marcus. 'Probably, if he couldn't open the statue.'

Mr George, who was quiet all along, now stood up from his armchair and set his grey jacket right. He had a friendly smile on his face. Before he could have said anything, Jenna stood up too.

'Listen, you old moron, I know what you are about to say, and you can forget it. You were a hero so many times already, now it's time to lean back and let someone else do the job. You are not going anywhere.'

'I… I still think that maybe I should…'

'Nope. Sit down.'

Robert wasn't surprised when Mr George did as he was told. He might have been a brave man, a hero indeed, but saying no to Jenna Carano when she used that voice would have been beyond stupid.

The mood in the Broken Shield wasn't light before, but after Marcus' dreadful news it went downhill with amazing speed. Just a few days ago they all were warriors, soldiers waiting for the battle. Of course, they were afraid, but they had the experience, they had their tricks and moves. It was yet another fight, nothing more. They were up to the task.

Or they believed so, but after hearing about how easily the Priest went through a bunch of other trained warriors... That was sobering. Disturbing. Terrifying. And it affected everyone: even Ayana and Teodore seemed depressed, or the very least more depressed than usual.

'I am not sure that I worth this much trouble, Robert,' said Mr George sadly three days after the ill-memoried meeting. 'Besides, even if that man gets to me, I cannot be that key he is looking for. I'm not a sorcerer.'

'That's not how it works, sir' shook his head Robert. 'You might not have your mother's eyes, but you are still her son. Even so, you did not inherit magic, you still are the descendant of that ancient sorcerer. Not that it matters, mind you: you are in danger and we will protect you. The reasons are not important.'

Mr George scoffed, almost sourly.

'I knew a lot of men in my life who would have said the same, Robert. Do you know what they all have in common?'

Robert had a pretty good guess but waved no with his head anyway.

'Two things, Robert. They have two things in common. They are all heroes… And they are all dead.'

'Let's be fair, at your age knowing some dudes who already died is not exactly a virtue,' said Jenna who just arrived from upstairs. Mr George smiled from ear to ear, as Jenna sat down with them and immediately stole Robert's coke. He didn't even object anymore, that was not the first occasion by far.

'That being said and true, I still think that your best move would be to let me go. In fact, you cannot keep me here against my will.'

'That is so not true,' she said with a devilish smile.

Mr George sighed.

'Once I knew a woman like her,' he turned to Robert. 'She was stubborn, bossy, hot-tempered and a know-it-all. She was incredibly annoying, too. It's a miracle we lasted for 61 years… I miss her every day. If I were a young, perhaps redhead gentleman and I'd find a lady like her, I would not be wasting my time, but what do I know about life, right? I'm only 94 years old, after all.' he gave them a cheerful look, then got up and left.

'He doesn't know what he is talking about,' said Jenna. 'What a stupid idea…'

'Yeah, it's nonsense,' said Robert sarcastically, 'almost as if people who are attracted to each other and enjoy spending time together should be dating. Bollocks.'

Jenna didn't answer but didn't leave either, which was kind of a good sign according to Robert. Instead, she closed her eyes and leant back on the sofa. She was sitting close enough to Robert, so he felt her hair on his shoulder.

'I switched shifts with Rose,' she said. 'I can't sleep anyway, and she looked like she could use some.'

None of them slept well in the last three days, and it started to take a toll. Benjamin became lightheaded, while Martin drank one coffee after another chasing the hope that the next one will finally help. Even Robert felt under the weather. It was hard to tell if Jenna was more grumpy or not, especially after she picked up the habit of practising with her butterfly-knife when she was bored. In any way, she looked very tired herself, but Robert knew better than trying to argue with her.

He got up instead and went behind the bar. Luther taught him how to use a professional coffee machine. That was a good thing because when the university will fire him for taking a leave without any notice, he will have a hireable skill. Lord Montgomery will be happy to see his firstborn son working as a barista.

Robert made four shots for Jenna and a latte for himself. The girl only thanked it with a brief smile.

'Who is gonna be the third one on the shift?' asked Robert. He knew it very well, but he wanted to break the silence before it could become awkward.

'Supposed to be Vittorio but I sent him to sleep, too. He is freaking out and it makes me nervous.'

'If I wouldn't know better I'd say you wanted to be alone with me tonight, Miss Carano,' said Robert.

'In your dreams, Professor,' laughed Jenna.

The silence grew around them, but it somehow wasn't awkward at all. Robert was drawing, while Jenna read the book she snatched from him. It was his favourite novel what he brought with himself in a manner not different from how kids carried their safety blanket.

Around two in the morning Jenna fell asleep in her armchair, curling up, book laying opened on the armrest. She looked small and fragile to Robert, and the man took off his navy blue suit jacket and put it on Jenna. Then he picked up the book and smiled because it was the part with the sword fight on the hill. Jenna used a coaster as a bookmark, and Robert put it into the book before he closed it and put it down on the table in front of Jenna's chair.

The next day they all got together for a big lunch. Benjamin and Vittorio put together three tables, Robert set them up, while Rose helped Martin to cook. Luther gave up his kitchen easily: he had a lot of experience with making burgers, but Martin was a real chef and worked in a fairly good restaurant.

The whole thing was Rose's idea: she told Robert that in her opinion the best possible way to raise low moral was a nice meal together. Marcus disagreed, suggesting that they all should have group sex instead or even better, before, but Rose told him to go cut some onions for Martin.

'He is not wrong, though,' said Jenna to Robert, but she made sure that Rose didn't hear her, probably because she didn't want to end up peeling potatoes.

'I'd be honoured to be of your service, at your earliest convenience,' said Robert politely. He even added a little bow.

'I bet you would,' grinned Jenna and walked away to help Ayana with the chairs.

Rose was right. The unbearable pressure pushing them down slowly eased, as they sat down together, with Mr George at the head of the table. They were telling jokes, insulted each other out of tradition, but not a single deadly threat was told, not even by Teodore. In fact, Robert saw the man smile, even so briefly that he couldn't be sure if it wasn't just the play of the shadows. They seemed to enjoy each other's company with Ayana, which was nice and kind of terrifying at the same time.

Vittorio and Benjamin were comparing notes, talking about their favourite spells, complimenting on memorable occasions when they used that particular spell in question to knock out the other. Jenna sat next to Robert but was talking to Marcus: she apparently had a couple dozens of questions about motorcycles.

Even Luther joined them. He and Mr George talked about gardening: Luther claimed to have a small garden somewhere around the pub, although Robert has never seen it.

Robert himself had a conversation with Rose about the worrying uprise of the cheap, so-called romantic, but mostly just erotic fantasy novels, and how they belong to the rubbish. Robert tried to stay open in most parts of everyday life, but when it came to books, he was a big ol' snob. And Rose was even worse. They had a nice time trash-talking about modern writers whose novels shouldn't be popular or even existing, for that matter.

All things considered, it was a genuinely nice afternoon. They were at the dessert when Marcus' phone beeped. Only he and Ayana had their mobiles with them because they were special MAGE issued pieces, impossible to track by magic or technology.

Robert watched as Marcus took out the phone, opened the message and read it. His smile died out as he understood what he saw. Then he looked up. By then half of the people around the table were already looking at him, while the other half continued to talk and laugh.

'What happened?' asked Robert loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The conversations slowly drifted away. Marcus shook his head, looking for words and that was scarier than anything Robert ever saw. There was nothing in this word dreadful enough to render speechless a man as brave as Marcus.

'He found a descendant,' said Marcus hoarsely. 'He set the Goddess free five minutes ago. They are at Trafalgar Square.'

The only answer was complete and perfect silence. Ayana put down her fork and the quiet clinking noise felt like a bell. Luther murmured something, and Robert felt as if something very heavy moved very close to him. Jenna, who had that unique sense when it came to magic, now twitched beside him and even groaned a little, closing her eyes.

'What are our orders?' asked Ayana from Marcus. She was up on her feet, with a beautifully crafted silk hand fan in her grasp.

'None,' said the man. 'The Met is on their way with all the sorcerers that remained.'

'Will that be enough?' asked Benjamin.

They could all read Marcus' face.

'What about the MAGE? Are they sending someone down there?' asked Martin.

'It is just us,' said Ayana. 'The MAGE doesn't have any branch in the United Kingdom.'

'Well that's just plain rubbish, innit?' said Martin outraged. 'Now we gonna have to deal with that bloody mess on our own.'

'What are you talking about?' asked Jenna. 'You don't think we should go there, right?'

'Trafalgar Square is in the middle of everything,' said Martin. 'The bloody Queen is living like fifteen minutes from there, the Gallery with all the van Goghs and Rembrandts and Picassos is there wide open and full of tourists. For almost two weeks all I hear is you and Robert are the best, the strongest, the smartest, and I think you might just be, but what are you good for, hidin' here? I don't know about you, but I'm going.'

He stood up and Robert followed his lead.

'Martin is right. If anyone has a chance against the two of them, it's us. I'm going. And also, Martin, there are no paintings from Picasso at the National Gallery, they are all kept at Tate Britain…'

'Nobody cares!' said Rose and Jenna together. Then the blond girl continued: 'Let's get going then. Jenna? You in?'

She said something long and very angry in Italian what made Teodore scoff, then nodded. 'Yeah, I'm going, too. But if we die, I'm gonna kick your cute little ass, blondie.'

Rose shot a provocative grin to her.

'Wait, wait, wait, wait,' said Marcus raising both of his hands. 'That's not how it works. We are told to stay here. Our orders are…' his phone beeped again. He checked and shrugged. 'Yeah, never mind, they are begging us to go now. They cannot order us, though, so if someone wants to stay, that's okay.'

Nobody wanted to stay, not even Vittorio, despite the fact that he was shaking so hard he dropped his meter-long Rune-carved staff two times before he could pick it up properly.

'Okay, so, we are going to need a car. Two cars, actually. Luther, do you have, by any chance…?' Robert looked at the fae, but he wasn't at the table anymore. Instead, he stood in the middle of the bar, next to an opened trapdoor that none of them knew existed.

'Follow me' he said, and down he went. Martin obeyed without a second thought and the others did the same.

'Robert…' Mr George grabbed his arm before he could go down too. 'I… I don't know what to say. Here.'

The old man gave him something cold, and Robert needed a second to realise what it was. A necklace with a round pendant: a dog tag. A real one from World War Two, with George's name on it. That, and the most powerful shield spell known to humans, the one that was protecting the soldiers from the terrors of war.

'I don't know if it still works, so don't be a hero, okay?'

Robert nodded, shook the old man's hand and hurried after Jenna. He looked back and Mr George seemed old now, he seemed very, very old and tired. Almost like a soldier tired of watching his brave and heroic friends running to battle and die.