She knew immediately that this was not something she could discuss with anyone. The Light Archon would understand immediately, as he’d lived a clear life of deception where even one misspoken idea could kill you. But Em and Henry would require explanations. And Kaiser…

…Kaiser was what she had to hide from. And there was nothing she could hide. He knew about the connection to the Shadowmaster, now. He knew that the transformation from human to Archetype had come through Alex’s own flesh…and Kaiser had access to Alex West’s wife. That math, from Hawk to Alex to Kaiser’s incoming god-hood, was very easy to lay out.

If.

Go ask the Spartans, Alex used to say, because of their famed response to the promised invasion of Laconia by Philip II of Macedon. “If I invade your country, you will be destroyed.” And their response was very simple: If.

If Alex loved Hawk, he would do anything to keep her safe. If he would do anything to keep her safe, then Kaiser could get anything he wanted by threatening Hawk. If he could get anything he wanted by threatening her, he would absolutely do something to get that immortality and more out of Alex, or…whatever Alex was now.

But that all hinged on a single if. If Alex loved her. If.

Alex was her life. Her person. Hers. And she realized she was contemplating taking a sledgehammer to their connection if that was what it took to keep him away from Kaiser. It wouldn’t even be that hard. He already looked at her as if she were a stranger.

He was looking at her right now, from across this little space of safety, swirling some of that sweet ant-honey wine in a cup and smiling. Em and Henry were discussing ways to form an underground railroad, to turn the willing participants unwilling, and then to get them out. The Archon looked like he’d rather be drunk right now. But Kaiser was alert and watching her avidly, and with avarice aplenty. He’d done the math already, but Hawk wasn’t quite sure that he’d accounted for that if.

And then a horrifying thought. Maybe he didn’t need to convince Alex he was a threat. Maybe he only needed to convince one of the other gods that she was the key to capturing the Shadowmaster. And to prevent that, she was going to have to stick to his side like glue, all night.

“Archon,” Hawk said, suddenly, snapping the others out of their arguments. “What would happen if someone found out one of us have lied? About anything?” Hawk said.

Archon looked from her to Kaiser and back. “It would be catastrophic for you all. There are legends and stories about people from the God-World. One of them is that they are too pure to lie.”

Hawk almost choked on that. Em, who could always be counted on, said, “The fuck is that? Tell me you’re shitting me.” And forced Hawk to contemplate Emile Yung and the word “pure” sharing the same space and somehow not melting down, and now the laughter threatened to come. She didn’t dare let it out, though, because once she started laughing it would go from there to the inevitable tears.

There was a sudden, loud, horrified scream from the dais with the thrones.

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“What was that?” Em half stood up. The Archon pulled her back down.

“One of Argon’s acolytes failed. Likely at the last test. To sanctify his altar, he commands a gift of flesh. Hold your hand in the fire as long as you can, while thinking on his name and his words. If he then appears before you (or, in this case, is already before you) you are to present your burnt hand, opened, as a final proof of loyalty. Then, if he is pleased, he heals you.” The Archon’s mask gave a small, displeased jerk. “Unfortunately the number of people willing to feed his fire usually outstrips his patience for his own ceremony. He will insist they all finish, but he is starting to get bored.”

“Will Earth Archon come for us?” Hawk said.

“Yes. Now, Hawk, you have some protections. Nasheth has to deny you before she can harm you. But your friends have no such safety.”

“I’ll note that ‘harm’ does not include the ‘blessing’ Nasheth gave that woman’s face.” Hawk said, dryly.

“So let me clarify: Right now, anything she does to you must be something you can survive. You do not want to see how creative she can get when she wants to kill someone.”

“How badly does she want to kill the Shadowmaster?” Hawk whispered.

“One of the foundational vows of the Gods is his demise. If you meet him, you will kill him or die in the attempt.” A pause. “Funny, the number of graves a man can leave in his wake. Especially a man with purple hands.”

In the math equation Hawk was building, that made Nasheth a bigger danger. Kaiser would want to be sure Alex would react to Hawk before he moved against her; one must avoid waste, after all. Hawk might still be useful to Kaiser. But Nasheth, or Naomi Studdard, or whoever the fuck that creature was there in the bloody tent she chose to call home, she’d kill Hawk just to watch the fallout.

“So,” She said, bringing the last part of her equation to the light, “We all need to figure out how to become more valuable to Nasheth alive than we would be dead.”

“I don’t understand.” Kaiser said.

“If she thinks that any of us are connected to Alex, and that there’s even a chance Alex is her goddamned Shadowmaster, she will not hesitate to kill us to manipulate him. And thanks to Kaiser, she knows we are connected. Just not how.”

“Now, now, little girl,” He said, sounding far too up on himself, “I can clarify that information any time you want.”

“Kaiser…why do you think you’re still alive?” She said. “You’re the number one person I’d blame Edgar Studdard’s suicide on. You stole two billion dollars from him while he was watching his own daughter die. Who was also Naomi’s daughter. What did you do for their little girl’s funeral? Was it a nice gift basket? Did you send the funeral potatoes?”

Kaiser grabbed her, his fingers digging into his shoulders. “You listen to me you goddamn bi—”

“You finish that sentence and I’ll remind Naomi about what you did to her family.”

“You think that will matter?”

“In front of all of her worshippers. Every single one. I’ll tell them all about Amelie. I’ll wake up whatever motherly instinct is still left in that thing and remind them all that you stole two billion dollars from a father with a dying kid, and you used that kid’s own fucking hero worship of you to get away with it. I won’t survive that, but I don’t think you would, either.”

He held her aggressively a few more seconds, and she thought, Yes. This is him. This is the real Kaiser Willheim. She waited for him to hit her, or shake her, or commit some other violence as his control slipped through his slimy fingers. Then the mask he’d always worn came back into place, and while he wasn’t smiling, he was urbane once more. “Mutually assured destruction? I didn’t think you’d stoop so low so quickly. Your hubby had more finesse.”

“Fastest way to get home.”

“To an empty house. You just remember that, Miss West. There is every chance none of us are gonna get out alive, but if we do, he ain’t coming with you.”

“I know,” Hawk whispered.

“Then why are you trying?” He said, in a different tone. He sounded…well, genuinely puzzled.

“Because I have to be able to say I did.”

And any mockery he had ready was smothered at birth, because a chorus of voices outside their screens pulled their attention away from their own, small, petty fighting. Nasheth, Earthmaster, had spoken. The outsiders were to attend to her.

Right now.