Jeremy walked out of the tent, feeling exhausted just from that single conversation. The girl Natalie—or Linnethea now, apparently—was still inside with Josh and Captain Hoskins, discussing how to start finding more of Brian's hideouts. Cinza had the impression they might be magically concealed by more of Omega's lingering magic, based on their previous inability to find him back in the Rallsburg days.

  "Motherfucker just keeps screwin' us over long after he's dead, doesn't he?" Jeremy grumbled to Cinza as they walked back into the camp proper. He was still working through the frustration he'd felt inside—no matter how many times it happened, it still hurt, every single time. Ruby was on her phone, texting everyone they'd brought down to meet up at the crumbling house in the center of town.

  Cinza nodded. "A god, no matter his later cruelties."

  "Shit, every god I ever heard of was cruel in some way or another."

  She smiled. "True enough, Agent Ashe."

  "Ain't we been through enough to be on first names by now?"

  "I suppose I'm always on a first name basis with everyone, aren't I?"

  "...Was that a goddamn joke?"

  Cinza sighed. "An attempt. It's been a difficult day."

  "No shit." Jeremy rolled his shoulders, trying to clear the aches from his joints. He was in far better shape than he had been back at the beginning of the investigation, but years of desk jobs in the Bureau had left him far less well-equipped for such an intense burst of field work.

  "Would you prefer Jeremy?"

  "Thought you were the one who hated titles and whatnot. Guy in the White House called you 'ma'am' and you shut him down hard."

  "There is a difference," said Cinza. "Ma'am sounds as though they're subservient to me in some way. I'm not above or below anyone. I'm just another human being making my way in the world. People happen to listen to me, but I do not control them."

  "But not me, huh?"

  "You earned your title through hard, honest work. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but it sounds like something you're quite proud of."

  Jeremy nodded. "Big fuckin' deal when I made Special Agent status, for sure."

  Cinza smiled. "So I use your earned title, because I respect you as a person. I didn't do anything to earn 'ma'am' other than happening to have been born female."

  "And formin' the largest magic organization in the world," Jeremy pointed out.

  She shrugged. "If we had formal titles, I'd ask you to use one. We don't. My name is enough."

  "Call me what you like, then," said Jeremy with another shrug. "Don't matter to me."

  "As you wish, Agent Ashe." Cinza stopped as they reached the door to the half-destroyed building. "Hm."

  "What?"

  "This was once the home of Julian Black."

  "No fuckin' way." Jeremy glanced across the half-wrecked little home. "Records said he lived in an R.V."

  "They must have been outdated. This whole area was formerly a park for recreational vehicles though," she added, looking around. "We stopped briefly to gather some of his belongings when we left Rallsburg originally, though most of his home was destroyed by the ritual." She hesitated, squinting at the doorknob. "There is a trap on the door."

  "What?"

  "One of Joe's designs, actually. It's not one of Makoto's. I think, if I just…" Her eyes narrowed, and one of her hands seemed to be fiddling at invisible strings. A moment later, the lock clicked open. Jeremy reached forward, but Cinza put her arm in front of his. "Ahh… he changed it."

  "Huh?"

  "Watch."

  Cinza flicked in midair. A jet of flame shot out of the doorknob, blisteringly hot, but it evaporated in seconds. She smiled.

  "Clever. A trap within a trap."

  "Aww, shit," grumbled a voice behind them. "You know how long that took to set up?"

  They turned to see the man himself behind them. Julian stood at an odd angle, holding his bandage to his arm. He was accompanied by Hector Peraza, Jackie, Alden Bensen and a trio of middle-school kids.

  Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "Uhh…"

  "Friends of Linnethea," said Jackie with a shrug.

  He sighed. "Right."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Is that everyone, Ruby?" asked Cinza.

  "Makoto says he's still looking for the two guys who came with Agent Ashe," the crimson-haired girl reported, finally pocketing her phone.

  "They're in the medical tent," said Alden. "I think they found one of their friends…"

  "Shit…" muttered Jeremy. "West, right?"

  "Yeah."

  "Tell Makoto to meet up with us on the usual route," Cinza told Ruby. "We'll be heading out momentarily."

  "Got it." Ruby hesitated. A moment later, she lunged at Cinza, planting a huge kiss on her lips. She broke away again, a little red-faced. "You forgot to do that earlier."

  Cinza looked speechless. Ruby smirked at her. She hurried away, dialing up Makoto as she went. Jeremy wanted to laugh at the spectacle, but as he turned back around to the camp, he saw them.

  Lani and Rook. Standing right in front of him. Rook had her rifle, Lani had his pistol, and neither looked particularly happy — serves them right.

  "Ashe?" asked Jackie.

  "That's my old partner," Jeremy grunted.

  "...Shit." Jackie turned to face them, matching his own hostility instantly — like a real damn partner would.

  Lani shifted around uncomfortably on his feet. He couldn't look Jeremy in the eye, and if Jeremy was being honest, he wasn't sure what he might do if their eyes did meet. He was still on-edge, hopped up on adrenaline. It had only just begun to subside when he punched the lieutenant in the face, where his blood surged right back up to full again. Rook, meanwhile, was staring at Cinza — unblinking, her hand tight on her rifle strap, cold as ever.

  "I—" Lani started.

  "Get the fuck out of here," said Jeremy.

  "What's going on?" asked Hector nervously.

  "We're here to help."

  "Like hell you are."

  Cinza stepped forward to join Jeremy and Jackie. "If this place had not already been so desecrated by violence today, I would strike you down where you stand. Know that, and be gone."

  "She's awakened!" Lani pleaded, a tear dropping from his eye. "She's one of us!"

  Jeremy snorted. "Another fuckin' survival tactic. Open your eyes, Lani. She's still playin' you."

  "I watched her do it!"

  "'Cause if she didn't, she'd be locked up right now!"

  "Hey!" shouted one of the kids behind the pair, suddenly stepping up to the plate. She had to be one of Natalie's friends, Jeremy assumed. "She saved our lives! What the heck did she do to you?"

  "Betrayed all of us, kidnapped one of our own and nearly killed her sister, blackmailed your friend, and put us all at grave risk," said Cinza grimly.

  "But—"

  "Kidnapped me too," added Alden, to Jeremy's surprise, "for her boss to cut me open." He stepped forward as well. "Hailey's the only reason I'm not dead right now 'cause of her. I'm not buying it either. Linnethea vouched for you, but… well, you seem the same to me."

  "You heard me," said Lani, finally looking at Jeremy. "On the radio. We saved Malich's life. We're just here to help… that's all."

  "You want to help?" Jeremy growled. He pointed at Rook, stock-still with a sniper's endless patience. "Arrest that bitch, take her to D.C., and get her to testify for Rika Nishimura. Tell everyone Rika was under duress for hackin' Laushire, and that she wasn't in town for the twenty-five."

  "They'll put her away. You know they will."

  "No shit," he snapped. "That's the damn point, Lani."

  "You have two choices," said Cinza firmly, also turned toward Rook. "Stay out of our lives forevermore, or help an innocent girl escape wrongful punishment for which you are partially guilty. Either way, you must leave. You are never again welcome in the Greywood."

  "The goddess saved her," said Lani, and this gave Cinza pause. Lani looked briefly hopeful at the vague disruption of Cinza's cold expression. "She's awakened. You can tell, I know you can. You said anyone awakened had the right to sanctuary within your borders."

  Cinza shook her head, and an icy chill to match Rook's had returned in full. "She defiled that right. For her, there is no sanctuary. Grey-eyes' mercy is infinite, but mine is not. Leave now."

  "But—" Lani started, but Rook finally moved. Her hand took his sleeve, stopping him mid-sentence. Her eyes still hadn't left Cinza for an instant through the whole conversation, though her mouth hadn't opened once. Finally, she spoke, quietly and in a language none of them understood.

  "Yksinääst ei auta Jumalakaan."

  Cinza's eyes narrowed slightly, while everyone else looked on in utter confusion.

  Rook sighed. "Niin makaa, kuin petaa." She looked down at Natalie's friends still surrounding her. Her accent seemed thicker than usual as she spoke a few more quick words. "Stay with them. It will be safer."

  Before anyone could say more, Rook turned and left, pulling Lani along with her. They hurried away, Lani still shooting glances back over his shoulder every few steps, but Rook's steps were sure and quick. In seconds, they had vanished completely.

  Cinza spat on the ground.

  "What happened?" asked Ruby, finally returning with Makoto on her heels.

  "Nothing worth mentioning," she said simply. "I thought you were still on the north side."

  Makoto shook his head. "Nothing to see up there."

  "Nothin' to see here anymore either," said Jeremy roughly. "Let's get the hell out of here already."

  "But what about Linnethea?" asked the girl indignantly. "First you kick out our new friends, and now we're ditching our best friend?"

  "She's busy." Jeremy realized it was pretty awful for him to speak like that to a kid, but at the same time, she'd been defending Rook. He wasn't exactly feeling charitable.

  "Kelsey," said Alden quickly, before another argument started up, "she's helping out the army with something right now. She'll catch up to us."

  "But—"

  "She's got Gwen." He smiled. "We're on foot. And hey, you get to see the Greywood. Not many people get to see it, especially when you're not awakened."

  "...Fine," said Kelsey.

  Cinza nodded. "Rest assured, your friend is the most powerful person in the state, bar the goddess herself. She will be quite safe." She glanced around. "Unless there's anything else, we should get going."

  There wasn't, and soon enough, the odd group was headed out of the camp—leaving behind friendships, relationships, heartbreak and ruin in their wake, lost among the bodies and wreckage of what had once been a thriving pilgrimage. It would rebuild, of course it would. Magic still existed, and Cinza's resolve grew stronger with every step, if Jeremy was any judge.

  "Well, they're definitely terrorists now," he murmured to Jackie as they walked through the thick woods, finally away from the stench and buzz of the camp.

  She coughed, somewhere half between a laugh and a confused grunt. "They weren't before?"

  "Fuck no. Apparently, we couldn't blame 'em for Lakewood, 'cause they were attacked. And everything else is just rumor and incident." Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Let's see the politicians deny this shitshow though."

  "You know they'll come up with somethin'."

  "Yeah." Jeremy sighed, but his voice caught. His arms trembled.

  Jackie threw an arm around his shoulders. "You good?"

  "No. Fuck no." He rolled his head back again along his shoulders, still trying to get the aches out—but it wasn't his body that was aching. "Jackie, I… dammit all…"

  "I get it, Ashe," said Jackie. She pulled him into a bear hug. "Trust me, I fuckin' get it."