He looked older.
She had not seen him since the spring and he looked like the months between then and now had cost him more than months usually cost a man of his particular endurance. He was sitting at the back table of a tea house in the Pale Court area when she arrived — neutral ground, non-registered, no pack markers, the kind of place that served as a meeting point for people who needed to meet without the meeting being recorded. He had his hands around a cup he wasn't drinking.
She sat down across from him.
"You look tired," she said.
"I am tired," he said. "The spell is work I didn't fully account for when I built it. That's my mistake." He looked at her. "How is Bram?"
"He froze a glass of water last week."
Aldous nodded slowly. Not surprised. "I expected that. The water eleme
