"Pull off here," said Kendra, interrupting him.

  "What?" He took them to the curb, stopping neatly behind the empty pickup that was the only other sign of life on the whole block. "Did I say somethin' wrong? I didn't really mean that. Not every awakened is a pain in the ass, I'm just havin' a rough week here."

  "I wasn't listening."

  Kendra got out of the car and held up her hand. A red light flashed out of nowhere, emitting from her palm. Another red light lit up the nearest alley. Jeremy stared dumbfounded as Kendra emerged from the shadows. Except… Kendra was still standing next to the car, one foot in the passenger door. "What the fu—"

  The other Kendra hurried in and took the back seat. Kendra closed the door. "We can go," she added, nodding to Jeremy.

  "...You got it," he muttered. He glanced up into the rear-view mirror, where the other Kendra was brushing flakes of snow off her shoulders. Jeremy realized it was snowing, and turned on the wipers before it built up too much. "So…"

  "This is my sister, Lily," said Kendra.

  "Your what now?" Jeremy nearly pounded on the brakes, but managed to stop himself. He pulled out onto the highway and sped up, wanting nothing more than to get the pair out to the Greywood and be done with the whole mess. "I investigated your family. You don't have a sister."

  "Quite," said Lily. She turned to Kendra. "Kenni, did the Mettis deal finalize?"

  "Yes," said Kendra. "We'll be acquiring their subsidiaries as of the close of business today."

  "Excellent."

  "...Lily Wilmore," muttered Jeremy, remembering the name Maddie had used at the funeral. "So it was actually your sister this whole damn time?"

  "In a manner of speaking," said Kendra.

  "We take turns," Lily explained, "or if need be, we can be in two places at once."

  Jeremy shook his head. "I'll never understand you people."

  "Awakened?"

  "Nah," said Jeremy, pulling off onto the Tacoma exit. "Rich people."

  Most of the ride from Tacoma all through Olympia was spent in silence. Both Lily and Kendra were on their phones almost immediately, tapping away at who-knew-what. Jeremy didn't mind. He didn't understand them anyway, and he had enough on his mind. There was one topic, though, that they might be uniquely suited to help him with. As they exited Olympia, he finally brought it up.

  "Hailey's in your home town," he prompted, as he pulled off onto the roads leading out to the forest.

  "She's a foolish girl," said Kendra dismissively.

  "Her best friend just died," Jeremy shot back. He wasn't gonna let Hailey take that kind of abuse, even if he did agree she was acting a bit crazy.

  "An event which might have brought us together," said Lily, glancing up. "Hailey's gone and mucked it up. Now she's wanted by your government and ours. I'm sure you saw the report of the building collapse?"

  "Yeah," said Jeremy. He'd seen the alert pop up as they waited at a light, and cursed under his breath.

  "Bad publicity undermines us all," said Kendra.

  "Our business isn't so affected, divorced from magic as it is," said Lily, "but I fear for the greater impact her actions will cause."

  "Cinza must take a stand," added Kendra.

  "...You think she's gotta go public?" asked Jeremy. It wasn't a surprise—both Maddie and Rachel had voiced much the same idea. While Hailey was rapidly squandering any goodwill she might have found from her exciting and dramatic reveal, Cinza had yet to take the stage. Her book was still the stuff of legends, the unpublished bible of the new age. She could be incredibly influential on the world at large. And she'll probably hate the whole fame thing. I know I sure as hell do.

  "I intend to discuss the idea when we arrive," said Kendra.

  "So that's why we're goin' to the damn Greywood," said Jeremy, tapping his forehead. "Figures it was somethin' like that."

  "Honestly, I hadn't considered the idea until now," said Lily.

  "The threat was quite real, I assure you," added Kendra. "And I fear I cannot protect myself or my employees."

  "But you can make your own fuckin' dimensions," said Jeremy. "How's a guy like Brian Hendricks gonna break into that?"

  Kendra frowned. "If you know about that particular talent, were you also informed of the many times those dimensions were breached?"

  "...One or two," he admitted grudgingly. Whenever Rachel wasn't trying to dodge the topic.

  "Until we can be sure our design is perfect, we can't risk it," Lily said. "I'd prefer we take shelter in the one home we know to be truly protected."

  "I heard Omega broke in," Jeremy pointed out. And then got shot dead by Rachel, in the one part of her story I completely believe… The look on her face when she said it. Jesus.

  "Jackson Smith held power far beyond what we comprehend," said Kendra. "He is gone. Since that day, despite living in the same forest as our foe and a huge contingent of fortune-seekers, the Greycloaks have never seen a single unwelcome incursion upon their land. Not even a close call. I cannot say the same for my own work."

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  "...Fair enough," said Jeremy.

----------------------------------------

  The car slid to a halt, deep in the forest to the east of Rallsburg. Jeremy had no clue where they were, but the Laushires seemed to know where to go. After the third or fourth mixup, he threw up his hands and hopped out of the front seat. Lily took the wheel, and they proceeded much more swiftly through the rest of the thick forest, in a path seemingly at random.

  Seemingly, my ass.

  It didn't surprise him in the slightest when a pair of cloaked figures appeared in front of them, emerging from behind the trees. Jeremy recognized the crimson-haired Ruby from the funeral—and from the many news stories still circulating about her, as Hannah Newman, calling for her return home and an investigation into her original disappearance. Jeremy didn't know what to think about it yet, but he doubted the girl was worse off without her father, based on what he'd read.

  Ruby was accompanied by a tall Japanese boy who stood just behind her at all times, watching the group carefully with his hands deep in the pockets of his robes. Jeremy couldn't see a gun—but the Greycloaks didn't need guns to be dangerous.

  "Welcome!" Ruby called as they got out of the car. "I'm glad you got here okay."

  "You called ahead?" Jeremy said, glancing at Kendra.

  She nodded. "A courtesy to a generous host."

  "For one of the empowered eight?" said Ruby, blue eyes wide and sparkling. "We'd do anything."

  "Please," said Lily, glancing up into the snow filtering through the canopy. "Can we get out of this? I'm a right popsicle out here."

  "Of course," said Ruby. She glanced at Jeremy. "Are you coming too, Mr. Ashe?"

  Jeremy shrugged. "Figured I should see it sooner or later, right?"

  She smiled. "The whole world should. Come on."

  Ruby lead them back through the trees, in a twisting route that had Jeremy's head spinning in minutes. He knew he was helplessly lost, and stopped bothering to try and figure out the path after the second switchback. Something about the confusion felt oddly familiar though. He couldn't quite place it, until he smelled a hint of a fire ahead and remembered his last time stumbling through the forest.

  Same shit that Julian used to protect his little gambling circle. Bet I can't just trip into this place though.

  They rounded the final copse of trees and found a perfect archway of tree branches and vines forming an entry into the wide clearing. Ruby gestured for them to proceed, a wide grin plastered on her face. "Welcome to the Greywood," she said, beaming.

  Okay, this shit is pretty cool, Jeremy had to admit. The wide clearing with the cabins was covered in a thin layer of snow, but the creek bubbled through the center heedless of the season. Next to the water, the garden still grew, as if it were the middle of spring, and a cloaked silhouette picked out crops ready to harvest. The farmer waved to the group as they walked in.

  Ruby lead them across the stone pathway and over the perfect wooden bridge growing out of the ground. Well, nobody else seems surprised that there's two Kendras. Guess this is another damn thing Rachel left out. Jeremy kept a close eye on Ruby as she sauntered up through the carved wooden doors into the wide meeting hall, where their host awaited.

  Cinza smiled from her chair at the head of the room as they walked in—and smiled even wider as Kendra's hair and general appearance returned to their normal state. "Welcome back, Kendra. I hope your flight from the city wasn't too taxing."

  "Thank you," she said tersely. "Though I daresay I've never had the pleasure of a visit."

  "Of course. I do apologize for any lack of hospitality in the past. I'm glad we can accommodate now, when you're in such dire need," said Cinza.

  Jesus, they're worse than the fuckin' politicians. Jeremy spoke up before the veiled insults started cutting past the surface. "Nice place."

  "Thanks," said Cinza. "And welcome to you too, Lily."

  Lily shrugged. "We wouldn't be here if we had any other option."

  "I'll choose to take that as a compliment," said Cinza, though Jeremy could feel Ruby bristling from across the room. "Honestly, I'm quite happy to help for as long as I can. Ruby, would you fetch Nikki please? I feel like we'll be wanting her assistance here shortly."

  Ruby left, though not without another dirty look at the Laushires. "We'll need our own cabin with a good connection," said Kendra, unperturbed. "A substantial transfer was wired into your account this morning. I trust it will more than cover any living costs we might accrue."

  Cinza nodded. "We're incredibly grateful for the support."

  "We oughta use this as a base of operations," said Jeremy, glancing around. "Start trackin' down Hendricks for real."

  Both the Laushires and Cinza glared at him. Cinza was the first to speak, her strange voice echoing far too much around the wide hall. "Do you think we haven't been trying?"

  "The man poses a great threat," said Kendra. "Both to our lives and our reputation. We cannot get the world to accept magic while they still assume us responsible for the golem attacks."

  "Why haven't you told everyone about him yet?" asked Cinza.

  Jeremy narrowed his eyes. I did. Nobody fuckin' believed me. And now I'm tied up in too many goddamn conspiracies that I don't know where to start on who's tellin' the truth. "...I'm workin' on it."

  "Cinza, Ruby said you—" Nikki cut off with a huge sneeze, accompanying a gust of cold wind through the open door. Ruby hurried in after her, a scarf pulled tight around her neck, followed by a similarly bundled up brown-haired woman with a camera dangling in front of her. Behind them…

  "Lani?" Jeremy gaped at him. Lani nodded back with a sheepish smile. He was wearing the same grey robes as the rest of them—minus the young woman with the camera—and looked way more comfortable than Jeremy ever remembered him being, even back in the office.

  "Hey."

  "Your partner came to us three weeks ago," said Cinza, and she sounded a bit too smug for her own good. "He's helping build a better place, for the good of us all."

  "For the good of us all," Ruby echoed quietly, somewhere behind Jeremy. Fuckin' hell. I've seen cults, and this sure as shit is one of them. At least they ain't proposin' to burn me alive… yet.

  Wait, if Lani's wearin' the robes… "Lani, you're—"

  "Awakened, Jeremy." Lani held up his hand, and a little flame burst into life in his palm. He grinned. "You think they'll give me a promotion if I'm the first agent who can use magic?"

  "I think they'll fuckin' suspend you right along with me for going AWOL," Jeremy muttered. He walked over to his partner and gave him a bear hug. "Jesus, Lani. Don't ever pull that shit again."

  Lani hugged him back. "You got it." He let go, gesturing to the brown-haired woman. "Jeremy, this is Riley."

  "Riley Emick— er, Riley Emlick." She coughed, face glowing red. "Emrick. God, what is wrong with me today?" Riley stuck out a hand, and Jeremy shook it. Shit, that's a firm handshake. "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Ashe."

  "You and the rest of the world," he grumbled.

  Lani laughed. "I really dodged a bullet, huh?"

  "Lani, you not dodgin' the bullet is what lead to this clusterfuck."

  He laughed even harder, which left Jeremy feeling warmer than the fire crackling in the stone chimney could hope to achieve. Good to have you back, man. "Come on, there's a lot you gotta see. This place is amazing."

  "Mr. Ashe," called Cinza, before Lani could drag him away. Nikki sneezed again, and excused herself into one of the back rooms. Cinza shot a curious look at the Laushires before she continued. "Will you be staying with us tonight? I'd like to draw up one of the guest rooms and plan out dinner accordingly."

  Jeremy shrugged. "I'll take the dinner, but I should probably get back soon. It's gonna be morning in London in three hours."

  "London?" asked Lani, surprised.

  "Hailey," he said simply, as if it explained everything.

  Lani didn't seem to follow, but Cinza sighed. "Of course. If you need anything on that front, don't hesitate to ask. We all want the same thing."

  Still ain't sure of that… but I fuckin' hope so. Jeremy nodded. "Thanks."