Marcus had, of course, been with her when she wrote the owl and when she had sent that ruddy big eagle to deliver it. Rumor had it that Khaat's old friend and ally Jess Potter was back in town, and if there had been a time when Khaat had felt alone, it was now. If there were a time when she felt the burden of national security, it was now. Marcus wasn't against her finding allies. Potter's dossier was clean. There was nothing in it to make Marcus unnecessarily suspicious of the man. When it came to protecting people he cared about, Marcus Belby was a lethal man. But then again, according to the dossier, so was Potter. In this case, that made him a friend before they met.
Khaat had wanted to talk to Jess, but that was hard to do in her current position. This time, some of Khaat's family had come along with her. They'd secured the private parlour on the basement--the one with the bar and the decent furniture. They'd stationed more bodyguards at the table near the basement door, both men pretending to drink pints and play a bit of chess with pocket sized Wizard's chess board. They weren't working to be completely unnoticed. They wanted to warn off others from the basement, and so far it was working. The band of Lupin family and friends downstairs had taken to making tea, pouring pints, and helping Khaat make herself comfortable.
It had taken months for her to recover this far from the mauling she'd taken from werewolf James Blood. She could stand, and she could walk short distances before she tired now. She had chosen a place on a settee downstairs, a place that was slightly hidden in shadow, and she was using it, hoping the shadow would minimize the scarring Blood had done to the left side of her face and neck. It was something that Robert, until he was free of his own curse, was unable to heal for her. Marcus didn't think Khaat seemed to care, though, if Potter picked up on the fact that there was yet another Lupin to be born in April-ish.
"What'll you have, Marcus?" Tom asked him.
"Just a pint, please," Marcus said. The barkeeper drew a pint for him from the tap and set it in front of Marcus
"I'll add it to the tab," he told Marcus, referring to Khaat's bill for the parlour and all the drinks everyone was buying today. "Are you expecting someone I might know?"
"I'm hoping I know him when I see him," Marcus said, hoping to be a bit subtle and figuring the pub regulars would certainly know Jess and inadvertently tip Marcus off if he didn't immediately recognize Potter himself. The kitchen door of the pub opened briefly for a server with a tray of fish and chips. Gliding over her head, the imposing figure of a large bald eagle floated noiselessly over the pub patrons before Archangel perched himself on Marcus's shoulder. Marcus rolled his eyes.
"So inconspicuous," he remarked sarcastically to the bird, sighing. Why couldn't she have just an owl like everyone else?