The Greywood was still as impressive as ever.

  Cinza smiled at the gasps of wonder from Natalie's friends, but their group hurried straight to the main hall. Jeremy winced as he remembered the last time he'd been inside—reuniting with Lani, meeting Rook, and setting off on the path which brought him here, into a position of making a reckless and near-suicidal decision. Jackie was watching him with clear unease, but she hadn't yet let slip his plan to anyone. Jeremy trusted her with his life and more; he knew she wouldn't say a word.

  As they crossed the bridge, Cinza made a subtle signal with her hand. In an instant, Yusuf intercepted Natalie's friends, and they began a tour of the whole compound. Jeremy wondered how she'd set that up—had she called ahead somehow? He didn't see any cell phones or radios. His own had been dead quiet, with Malich and Stebbins back at camp getting debriefed, while Jackie sat right next to him inside the hall.

  "We should be attacking," said Ruby, the moment the huge wooden doors swung closed.

  Cinza shook her head. "It's not the time."

  "But they're on the run! We could strike real fear in their hearts! Let us show them we can't just be kicked around like that."

  "Kicked around?" muttered Jackie. "That's what you call the shitshow we just went through?"

  "How bad?" asked Brittany Wilkins, now in a wheelchair decorated with symbols and gemstones. At first glance, it seemed gaudy, but as Jeremy continued to stare, it actually made an incredible sight with how the light subtly shifted every time she moved. The chair didn't actually seem ostentatious at all, and if he understood gemstones right, it was also a powerful tool in a pinch.

  "We don't know yet," snapped Ruby, before Cinza could answer. "But I saw dozens of people go down. Good people who were just trying to live their new lives."

  "My love…" Cinza started quietly.

  "No," said Ruby, turning to face Cinza.

  They weren't sharing their head chair for once—Ruby was still on her feet, while a tired-looking Cinza leaned back and rested. Ruby was practically radiating heat, matching the fire in her eyes and the red of her hair. Jeremy swore he saw actual flames spit from her mouth as she went on.

  "They attacked normal people. Not us, just regular people in the open. We don't deserve it either, but this was totally unprovoked and awful. How can we call ourselves followers of the goddess when her people are gunned down in the forest without an answer?"

  "There's an answer," said Makoto. "The military."

  Ruby shook her head. "'Koto, I love you, but sometimes you're just so naïve. The army's not really on our side. They might have promised you guys a lot on the east coast, but back here, they're saying our home isn't ours anymore. The police said we weren't getting attacked by golems. They never did a thing to track down Harold's killers in Tacoma, or Jessica's killers in Lakewood. Who have they gone after?"

  She held up her hand, three fingers extended. "First they arrest Hailey for trying to avenge Jessica. Next they arrest Rika, even though she obviously didn't do anything, and they do it by coming into our safe place and practically kidnapping her. Neither of them actually got charged with anything yet either, they're just holding them in secret prisons in D.C."

  "Preach, sister," said Julian.

  Who's the third in this biased fuckin' rant? wondered Jeremy. He wanted to speak up, but his own mind was stuck on the mission he'd made for himself—one he'd need to coordinate with Cinza as soon as he could. He had no idea when Felix would call him back, but the journalist had said before the night was over.

  "And now we find out that they kicked Natalie out of a public school, just because they think she might be one of us." Ruby held up her phone, and Jeremy could just barely make out a headline about the 'missing daughter of the traitor found in Seattle'. "They are not on our side. Don't believe their false promises for a second."

  "Enough," said Cinza.

  Ruby faltered. She turned around, facing Cinza. "Cin, you can't really trust them…" she said, halfway between pleading and angry. "After everything we've been through—"

  "That's why we need them." Cinza shook her head. "I don't need to trust an ally to work with them. Not a single soldier will ever enter the Greywood, nor any agent of the government whom I have not personally approved."

  Ruby shot a glance at Jeremy, who shrugged. Guess I passed her fuckin' test. Makes sense, since I hate so much about the system myself.

  "We've got enough here," said Ruby. "The new awakened are ready, and the rest of us have fought before. We can protect ourselves, and with Hector and Natalie on our side, we can beat the golems. They've never come close to the Greywood. We can drive them out."

  "What about the rest of the world?" asked Alden, sitting up in his chair. "I mean, I like it here, but I'm not gonna live here. I need to go home. My family hasn't seen me in over a month."

  "We'll protect them too!" said Ruby forcefully, and once again, fire spat from her mouth. She's gotta be doing that on purpose, right? That doesn't just happen. "We have magic! Nikki can find them!"

  Nikki, who'd been sitting in a corner chair with her legs curled up in front of her, looked up at her name. Suddenly, everyone was looking at her. She winced.

  "I dunno," she muttered. "Hard to find people I've never met."

  "You said you found a way around that," said Ruby, with the hint of accusation laced through her syllables.

  "...Kinda. I dunno," Nikki replied with a vague nod, but it was so much less confident than Jeremy expected. He remembered Nikki as a somewhat loud-mouthed, forceful young woman who didn't take crap from anyone. What happened? Had she been burned out by so many difficult spells, like Cinza? He glanced at Jackie for confirmation, and she looked just as concerned. Nikki, meanwhile, was withdrawing even further into her shell, wrapping up tight in a blanket near the fire and murmuring something to herself.

  Still… if she can find Brian, maybe my plan doesn't have to be so crazy after all. Gotta talk to her.

  "Ruby," said Cinza, and her voice was far more firm, echoing through the otherwise-still cabin hall. "An attack would hurt us. I do not disagree with your distrust of the government. If you had heard what was said this morning, you would be far more inflamed than you are now. Know that I share your sentiments, but this is not about the government. This is about the public."

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  "...What do you mean?"

  "We have been the victims of a massacre," said Cinza, and a few around the room winced at the proclamation. "The public sympathy will be with us now. We have shown no aggression, and until now, Brian's people could not be blamed for any direct actions against us, only tangential ones. Tonight, they've thrown that away. The government has no choice but to act, something you can see for yourself outside."

  As if to punctuate her words, a helicopter beat the air overhead as it flew north.

  Cinza nodded, grimly satisfied. "If we attack now, this is no longer a massacre, an assault on innocents. It becomes another battle in a private war, where the bystanders are the victims instead of the awakened."

  "We were attacked!" said Ruby angrily. "Why can't we fight back?"

  "Because we engage in deception as a way of life," said Cinza. "The public will assume we provoked it somehow, in some secret way they do not understand. We must allow the United States to intervene on our behalf, and remove ourselves from the equation."

  "I—"

  "Ruby, please!" said Cinza, and a burst of emotion filled her voice. "I can't risk you," she whispered.

  Ruby faltered, her mouth still slightly open. The rest of the room was suddenly frozen. Jeremy felt a distinct tension filling the hall, a discomfort rising with the panic and fear on Cinza's face. He'd never seen her so upset, and based on the reactions of her followers, they were all in the same boat.

  "...Yusuf and Matthew will assist the National Guard teams with finding Brian's hideouts," said Cinza finally, while Ruby was still frozen in place. "Neither of them are publicly known." She turned to the two men, coincidentally standing near each other. Yusuf had returned at some point without Jeremy noticing, too caught up in the argument. "Do not wear your cloaks, nor anything else identifiable. Stay with them and feel out for magic as I taught you."

  They nodded, though Matthew seemed nervous. Cinza seemed to recognize this as well, as her voice softened once again. The desperate emotion was still present, and her face had not yet calmed, so the mix was nowhere near as comforting as she intended.

  "Natalie is already helping one group. Captain Hoskins is expecting more if we can spare any, and I wish to show our cooperation. Josh is waiting in the camp, and he can direct you further."

  Matthew glanced at his wife, seated next to him in her wheelchair. "I—"

  "I'll be fine," said Brittany, squeezing her husband's hand. "I've got to keep the defenses here strong. Go."

  They both left, the wooden doors swinging closed behind them. The rest of the impromptu war council dispersed, discussing the news of Natalie's school, the massacre at the camp, and generally de-stressing as best they could. Only Jeremy, Cinza and Ruby remained, with Ruby still staring down at Cinza. Nikki still sat in the far corner, but she kept up the mumbling without noticing anything, well out of earshot.

  "Agent Ashe," said Cinza gently. "I believe I need a moment alone with my love, if you could…"

  Jeremy shook his head. "Got somethin' more important, and I think she'll want to hear it too."

  Ruby finally turned, and Jeremy saw her face—no longer the fierce and eager fighter. She was pinched and scared, her young age showing more fully in her expression. The red hair framing her face was no longer a curtain of flames, instead the identity she'd chosen to erase her past. She was just a kid—fuck me, they're all just kids. Ain't a single fuckin' one of the people in charge here over twenty six, unless Cinza is, and I sure as shit doubt that. How'd this happen? Where did we all fuck up so much they had to take charge?

  His phone buzzed. Jeremy pulled it out, and there it was: the message he'd been waiting for.

  UNKNOWN NUMBER: Call from 360-555-1611 in ten minutes to arrange pickup. Don't bother trying to trace. About time you figured out the right side of the story.

  Time for me to play my part, I guess.

  "Go ahead," Cinza prompted.

  "I'm gonna get a call from Felix Wieczorek here soon."

  Cinza frowned. "I'm not familiar with this name."

  "Journalist who was part of the original story on your diaries, now works for Hendricks helpin' him spread his message."

  "A monster, then," said Ruby quietly. "Like all the others."

  "Yeah, somethin' like that," said Jeremy. "Point is, he thinks I'm still somebody they can recruit. I ain't awakened, after all, and I'd be the most valuable fuckin' spy they could get these days."

  "True enough." Cinza's expression was finally returning to normal—the calculating and confident leader Jeremy was used to. It bolstered his own confidence, seeing this young woman whom he'd come to appreciate return to herself again. "What are you proposing?"

  "Well, they ain't gonna let me see where they are," said Jeremy, and Cinza nodded again. "But we've got an ace in the hole they can't know about."

  "William Carbonell," said Cinza with a satisfied smile. "You intend to lay a trap for them."

  "I don't get it," said Ruby slowly. "What's Will got to do with this? I thought he just found out affinities and stuff like that."

  "Will can also track the use of magic to a pinpoint degree of accuracy," said Cinza. "We can use this to locate Brian."

  "Why couldn't we just have Nikki find Mr. Ashe?"

  "'Cause she can't give you more than what's around the fucker," said Jeremy. "Unless I'm mistaken."

  Cinza shook her head. "Even if she had met Brian after her awakening to recognize his essence, Nikki could only describe everything around him to the tiniest details, not the location itself. In this forest, her spells will not amount to much."

  "And Will can give us the actual location?"

  "Accordin' to Rachel, yeah," said Jeremy with a shrug.

  Ruby gasped. "You've talked to her?"

  "I was going to mention it later," said Cinza quietly, smirking slightly.

  "So here's the plan," said Jeremy, and he felt a huge weight settle onto his shoulders as he spoke. Am I insane? The fuck am I doin'? I'm gonna get myself killed. "I find Hendricks. He's the one holdin' this shit together. We take him out, all we've got are scattered crazies with rifles. No golems, no Omega-protected hideouts, no fuckin' martyr syndome drivin' sympathy."

  "How do we take him out?" asked Ruby, but Cinza had obviously already come to the same conclusion Jeremy had.

  "You want me to go through that again," she murmured. "After what I showed you today."

  "Exactly 'cause you showed it to me," said Jeremy. "We've never been able to get close to Hendricks. They've got jammers and golems and shit, so I'm never gonna be able to call out to the military, and they ain't gonna do what needs to be done even if I could."

  Here we go, Hailey. I'm doin' what I told you I always wanted to do, what I told you not to. I'm gonna break this cog, they're gonna replace me, but fuck if I ain't doin' somethin' important on the way out.

  "You would kill a man without due process?" asked Cinza, and Jeremy could feel her eyes judging him. "Ignore the justice system you have served for your whole career?"

  "We ain't got laws yet for the shit he's done." Jeremy shook his head. "Massacre by fuckin' magic golems. I'll give the fucker one last chance to surrender, and that's it. He refuses, I signal Will, he passes the info to you, and we're done."

  "...And you're aware I may hit you as well?"

  Jeremy hesitated. He took a long, deep breath, then nodded without another word.

  Nothing more needed to be said.

  Cinza turned to Ruby. "Please, my love, fetch Hector for us. We'll need his strength."

  "Cin—"

  "There isn't much time," Cinza said gently. She stood up and reached around Ruby's head, pulling her gently down for a kiss. "Please. Come back to me swiftly."

  Ruby ran out of the room. Cinza glanced at Jeremy, who looked down at the clock on his phone.

  One minute left. It was just the two of them in the room now, except for the still mumbling Nikki in the far corner, well out of earshot.

  "You should know," said Jeremy quietly. "The FBI tip line got a call about you."

  "I've no doubt they've had many false calls."

  "From Maria Cabazanos, about a girl named Misty Hylätty she used to live with. Not that she had any fuckin' clue how to pronounce that."

  Cinza hesitated. The fear returned once more, a deep terror borne out of her soul. Jeremy knew it too well, had seen it on too many faces to ever forget it. She finally forced her mouth open, voice quiet.

  "What will they do?"

  "Try to find her." Jeremy shrugged. "Nothin' I can do to deflect it, it's already in the system. Just thought you should know."

  Cinza took a deep breath. She nodded in a robotic way. "Thank you, Jeremy."

  He gave a weak grin, about to try and say something witty, but his phone rang an instant later.

  "This is Ashe."