hesitant to rely on him, but his desire to claim me secures him as a temporary ally.”
Oz went rigid at my side. “He’s the lesser of evils—for now.”
Pierson looked at his journal. “Kaine and the Dark Ones are the wildcards at the moment.”
“Kaine did not look pleased with me when I last saw him. It seemed as though he wished to cut my head off.”
“He doesn’t,” Oz said firmly, as though there were no doubt in his mind that his statement was true.
“How can you know?” Drew asked quietly.
“Because he’s tried too hard to acquire her to throw it all away because she torched a few of his boys and zapped him into submission.”
“And forced him to tell me where you were,” I added. “I might have beaten him a bit afterward to get a head start, too.”
Silence fell heavy upon the room until Muses broke it.
“Is that all?” he asked, daring a step toward Oz. “Because I feel as though there’s more to this than you’re letting on—something you don’t want to share. It makes me want to rummage around in your mind until I find the full truth.”
“I don’t have the full truth,” Oz snarled. “I have suspicion and common sense. Kaine wants her for something, so he isn’t going to kill her. Neither will that other motherfucker whose name we don’t speak—at least I don’t think he will. It’s what’s happened to Celia that I can’t figure out, and it has me on edge.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Something about what happened between Khara and her at the Hallowed Gates just doesn’t sit right, especially now that we know what we do about the Pho-asshole fucking with Khara’s head. I need to know what happened there and where she went.”
“And how will you learn that?” I asked, turning to face him. “The Light turned their backs on you long ago. Surely you do not think you can go to them for information.”
“I have a plan, new girl. No need to stress.”
“I do not ‘stress’, Dark One, but I do think before acting, and I see no wisdom in this.”
He choked on a laugh. “Think before acting? You? That’s rich…”
“Suppose your plan works and you find someone willing to tell you what you wish to know. Do you honestly believe you could trust the veracity of their story?” I stared into his deep brown eyes and found nothing but anger looking back. “My mother went missing not long after I arrived, and if the attack on the Hallowed Gates was indeed an illusion created by the fear god, I fled for what would appear to them to be no reason. Why would any of them trust you, a Dark One, who is allied to me and undoubtedly seen as a traitor for what you did for my mother?”
“Like I said, I have a plan.”
“If he wants to talk to his former team, then let him,” Casey said from his position on the sofa. “As long as he doesn’t give them anything on you, I don’t give a fuck.”
“If you think it is worthwhile, do it,” Pierson said. “In the meantime, the rest of us will focus on Kaine and his Dark Ones.”
“What am I to do, then? Because I will not be left here to hide like a coward in the sewers of this city that has become my home, staying behind like the inept warrior I was when I first met you. I am PC, as you are, and I am every bit as capable of living up to that reputation.”
Drew walked over to me, his normally soft eyes narrowed and focused. He reminded me of the Drew I had known before; the one we lost after Hades brought him back from the dead.
“What are you thinking?”
I furrowed my brow in thought. “I want to go to the Underworld. I must speak with Aery to see if she has had any visions—or could have one if she were to focus.”
Drew’s eyes turned to Casey. Casey’s gaze drifted to Oz and searched his face for something. Their silent conversation lasted but a minute before Casey nodded. “Fine. Go and see if you can get what you need. Then come straight back. No side missions. No deviating from this plan. Got it?”
“I understand—”
“Good. Because if you do, you will be punished for insubordination like you are PC.” He leaned in closer. “If you’re one of us, then you’re one of us, good or bad.”
At that, I