Ariock tossed and turned on his huge bed, but he couldn’t sleep. The downpour outside reflected his relentless worries.

Was he losing Vy?

She had behaved so strangely. She hadn’t even asked about Ariock’s clairvoyant visit to her family home. Instead, she had been physically needy, even desperate. She’d acted like a maiden trying to seduce a king for her own survival.

Ariock rolled over, clutching his pillow. He might have believed that a year ago. He would have feared that Vy felt pressured into seducing the ultra-powerful gigantic freak, and that their whole relationship was a ruse. But now he understood how wrong that fear was. It was an insult to Vy.

They had shared so many wonderful moments together. They made each other laugh. They talked in private about their most tender hopes. He knew Vy would never fake the way she cared about him.

So why had she tried to seduce him only to hurry away?

Where was she now?

Ariock didn’t want to be an overbearing boyfriend, or a stalker, but he couldn’t help but expand his awareness in lieu of sleep. He’d sensed that her suite was empty. No life spark within. Vy had not gone to bed.

Had she gone to Cherise or some other sympathetic friend, to complain about Ariock?

Was she pacing the palace halls, full of pent-up sexual frustration?

The sky began to lighten. Dawn was arriving, cloaked by rain.

Ariock gave up on sleep. He used his powers to wash and dress himself, and he walked out of his suite, unsure where to go. Maybe he would visit Thomas. If anyone could guess where Vy had spent the night, or why she was acting so weirdly, it would be her super-genius foster brother.

Vy was in the hallway.

Ariock blinked, surprised. Why was her hair so damp and tangled? Why were her clothes stained?

She must have been outside in the rain.

Vy looked equally surprised to encounter Ariock in the hallway. “Uh, hi?” she said. “I was just coming to see you.”

“Are you all right?” Ariock knelt so they could face each other at eye level.

Her tremulous smile conveyed that she was not all right.

Ariock gently wrapped her in his arms. Vy leaned against him, chilly and shivering a little bit. It felt good to just hold her. He wanted to keep her warm and safe. Vy had let him derail her entire life. He didn’t want to lose the one and only person who cared about him to that significant degree. He couldn’t imagine what had caused the problem last night, but he would do anything to heal whatever had happened.

Vy stepped back and tugged Ariock towards his suite. “Can we talk?”

“Of course.” Ariock held the door open for her, then followed her inside.

In the light of glass lamps, Vy looked angelic, like a dream painted by some Renaissance master.

“I’m so sorry,” Ariock said. “I was trying to be protective and safe, but I guess I was being overprotective? I didn’t mean to offend you. I…”

He trailed off, seeing her sickened expression. His words didn’t matter.

“So,” Vy said in a tone that was the opposite of casual. “You think the person who visited you in the night was me? You didn’t notice anything weird? Or out of character?”

Why did she look so upset?

“What did she say to you?” Vy said. “What did she do with you?”

A second later, an explanation clicked into place in Ariock’s mind.

Vy nodded, seeing realization dawn on Ariock. “Yeah,” she confirmed. “That wasn’t me.”

Ariock wanted to smack himself for missing so many obvious clues. Evenjos was a shapeshifter who could imitate anyone if she studied them for long enough. How had he forgotten that?

That resurrected hag must have done something to get Vy out of the way.

She could have killed Vy by accident, playing whatever sick game she was playing.

“Are you injured?” Ariock knelt in front of Vy and held his hands out, inundating her with healing energy. He sensed minor bruises fading to healthiness.

Her prosthetic leg seemed different. More complex. Since it wasn’t an injury, Ariock ignored the change there.

“I should have checked right away,” he said. “I should have realized. I’m so sorry. What did she do to you?”

A second later, he realized that might be a rude question.

But Vy didn’t seem offended. “She made a leaky shack for me. In mega-beast country. I thought I might have to hike back and try not to get eaten, but it turns out Azhdarchidae is a good scout.” She laughed. “He showed Thomas where I was. And then Thomas sent Varktezo to rescue me.”

Vy had been stranded in rain-drenched nighttime wilderness.

Where massive predators might have eaten her.

She was safe now, but that was thanks to Thomas and his friends, not to Ariock. While Evenjos had laid hands on his girlfriend, Ariock had been utterly clueless.

And then Evenjos had role-played as Vy.

She had gotten Ariock naked. Kissed him. Climbed all over him. Pretended to love him! While Vy was trapped and alone, Ariock had missed every hint that something was off with his supposed girlfriend. He had nearly…

“EVENJOS.”

It was not just a word.

The war palace trembled and rumbled, shaken on its foundation. Buildings shook. Fury erupted out of him, and his enemy’s name came through the wrenching and groaning of bedrock. People throughout the city woke, swearing. Ariock heard distant shouts.

He didn’t care.

He was already on his feet, coasting outward, in search of the ultra-powerful thrum of Evenjos’s life spark. If she’d had a bedroom, he would have smashed through it. But Evenjos wasn’t mortal enough to need sleep.

He expected her to flee. She was such a coward. If she flew into the wilderness beyond the city? Well, then she’d better stay gone.

Instead, Ariock sensed her power inside the palace. It felt intensified due to an overlap. Evenjos plus Garrett?

“I’ll be back,” Ariock told Vy.

Vy jumped to her feet. She seemed more balanced than usual, despite the earthquake. Ariock hoped she wouldn’t ask to come with him. He needed to banish Evenjos, or punish her in some public way, but he didn’t want Vy to see him as a tyrant.

“Take me with you?” Vy pleaded.

Well.

Ariock wasn’t going to argue.

He embraced Vy within his awareness and ghosted to the approximate location of the powerful thrum.

Much of the war palace was shielded with plates of burnished meteorite or sea glass. That screwed with clairvoyance. Ariock could not teleport directly to where he wanted to go, so he deposited Vy in the airy atrium of the hallway, then flickered to a reinforced door.

He seized the door with his powers and wrenched its titanium alloy thickness into twisted scrap metal.

Garrett and Evenjos looked surprised in some sort of parlor.

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But not entirely surprised. They had felt the earthquake. Evenjos had prepared for a confrontation by defaulting to her immaculate form: a hag masquerading as a goddess. What a sham.

Garrett wore stately council garments with a Yeresunsa mantle. He stepped in front of Evenjos, shielding her with his arms. “She’s sorry, Ariock. She didn’t—”

Ariock wrapped both Evenjos and Garrett in his awareness and teleported them to atrium where Vy waited. It was a public hallway. Onlookers gathered in the shadows.

Ariock didn’t care. Let everyone learn what a monster Evenjos was. She deserved public humiliation.

“You attacked Vy.” Ariock pointed an accusing finger at the former goddess-empress. “You imprisoned her. And then you tricked me, so you could play stupid, selfish mind games.”

Evenjos opened her mouth.

“You don’t get to speak.” Ariock cut her off. “You did enough speaking last night, although it wasn’t in your real voice.”

The onlookers looked ready to run if anyone lost their tempers, but they were also enthralled.

“Ariock.” Garrett sounded like someone placating an overwrought child. “Let’s take this down a notch.”

Ariock turned on his great-grandfather. “Was this your idea?”

“What? No!” Garrett sounded affronted. “Of course not. I would never—”

“But you knew.” Ariock was seething. A storm rumbled outside, and there were dust motes suspended in his widened awareness, yet the shaken barrier between himself and his limits seemed unimportant. He wanted to prove that Evenjos and Garrett had limits. They were not gods. Not in his city. Here, he was the one in charge.

“I just found out,” Garrett said. “I promise, I would never mess with you like that.”

Ariock narrowed his eyes at Garrett, trying to read his face. How could he tell whether the old man was lying?

He needed an ally who could outsmart Garrett and Evenjos. Thomas was probably asleep, but he might bring him here anyway.

Evenjos drew a ragged breath. “I’m sorry. I regret what I did.”

As if this was some trivial offense.

“Our lives are not a game.” Ariock glared at her. “I can’t trust you around the people I care about.” He pointed to Vy. “That’s someone I love. You hurt her. You could have killed her.”

Evenjos looked stricken. “I wouldn’t—”

“I don’t believe you,” Ariock said. “Get out of my city. I don’t want to see you again.”

Garrett’s eyes went wide. “Now, now,” he said in that placating tone. “That’s not necessary. Ariock, she’s truly sorry. I guarantee it.”

Ariock glared from one mind reader to the next. These were supposed to be his advisors? His friends?

“Let me make this clear,” Ariock said, his quiet tone belying his rage. “I will not work with people who threaten the people I love.”

Evenjos opened her mouth, as if to protest.

Then she seemed to see his determination, and she slumped.

“We are two of the four heroes of prophecy,” Garrett said. “You can’t just throw us away.”

Ariock imagined asking one of the onlookers to shoot Garrett with the inhibitor serum. Then Ariock would scoop Garrett and Evenjos up, and deposit them in some miserable outpost on Umdalkdul. They would have no way to return to Reject-20 and Freedomland. At least, not for a few days.

Let Evenjos think about what she’d done.

Ariock clenched his fists and willed his awareness to remain human-scale. He really needed to remember that Garrett was a vital asset in battles. And Evenjos did heal thousands of injured soldiers on a daily basis. The troops couldn’t afford to lose that.

These two were supposed to be his friends.

His imperfect, self-absorbed, telepathic friends.

“Ariock?” Vy spoke up from behind him.

He turned. Beyond the atrium window, the clouds had parted to let in a small amount of dawn light, giving Vy an aura. It was impossible to stay furious when he was gazing at her.

“Thomas gave me a means to protect myself.” Vy tapped her prosthetic leg.

An upgrade? Perhaps a way to shoot the inhibitor serum would give Evenjos pause if she decided to attack Vy again. Maybe that would be enough.

Ariock knew that he couldn’t win the war and defeat the galactic Torth Empire without his powerful allies. But what could he do about them?

He felt constrained, the way he felt in caves. Even here, in this airy palace of his own making, the ceiling seemed too close. The thick pillars might as well be twigs, easy to snap.

“You will never approach Vy again,” Ariock told Evenjos. “Unless you have my permission.”

She nodded.

“You’re never going into my bedroom again,” Ariock said. “Not even as dust. And you won’t ever pretend to be someone else. If I catch you doing any of those things? You don’t get another chance. I will kick you out.”

Evenjos shrank with every ultimatum. Her wings drew close, as if to protect herself.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” Ariock said. “Or see you. Unless it’s for strategic purposes in battle.”

“Ariock? There’s no need to be so punitive.” Garrett limped closer, looking small despite his large frame. “She’s genuinely remorseful.”

Ariock glared at his great-grandfather. Why was he so assiduously defending Evenjos?

“She isn’t your enemy,” Garrett said in a pleading tone.

That was easy to say. But how was Ariock supposed to go into battle while constantly worrying about Vy and Evenjos on the same planet together?

“Please.” Garrett gripped Ariock’s sleeve. “You can trust her from now on. She really is sorry.”

“Why are you speaking for her?” Vy asked Garrett.

Evenjos walked towards Vy. Ariock tensed, ready to intervene.

But the winged Lady smoothly knelt, facing Vy. She bowed like a supplicant. “I am truly sorry, Lady Vy. I allowed jealousy to overcome my sensibilities.”

That was a start.

Ariock wondered how repentant Evenjos actually was. He ought to drag her to Thomas’s so-called Dragon Tower. Let Thomas read her mind. Let him decide how far Evenjos could be trusted.

“I have not earned forgiveness,” Evenjos said. “But I will never inflict such an insult upon you again.” She bowed lower. “If a time ever comes where you need my services, I will serve you as needed. I promise.”

As if Evenjos could offer anything superior to what Ariock could provide.

“That includes regeneration healing,” Evenjos said. “I cannot regrow your leg, but I can fix scars and blindness and other maladies. As long as I live, you and Ariock will both retain the vigor of youth, instead of suffering the frailties of old age.”

Ariock thought of Torth longevity pills. Was Evenjos offering the magical equivalent of those?

“I am sorry.” Evenjos stood, disincorporated, broke into dust, and flew down the ramp and out of sight.

Ariock stared after her. He almost wondered if he had been too harsh.

Nah.

Garrett blew out a breath, as if ridding himself of tension. “I need to show you the book of prophecies.” He put a gnarled hand on Ariock’s arm. “There’s compelling proof that she’s important. I’m telling you. You need her.”

Ariock stared down at his great-grandfather, sure that this was manipulation. Why had the old man waited to mention the prophecies? Unless…

Maybe there was some future event that Evenjos shouldn’t learn about?

“The fewer people who know the future,” Garrett said, “the better.” He gave Vy an apologetic look. “Would you mind excusing yourself?”

“I don’t keep secrets from Vy,” Ariock stated firmly.

“She spends more time with the boy than you do.” Garrett sounded frustrated. “I’m trying to prevent our super-genius friend from learning too much. When you visit him, he isn’t usually trying to suck up every secret in your mind. But if he’s hanging out with Vy? He might glean something he shouldn’t. And for someone with a mind like his…? Well, it wouldn’t take much for him to become a problem.”

People made all kinds of wrong assumptions about Thomas.

Ariock wondered, not for the first time, if the oracle Ah Jun had made the same mistake, and painted something misleading about Thomas. “What sort of a problem do you imagine Thomas presenting?”

“Agh. Never mind. This one won’t matter.” Garrett tugged Ariock. “Come on, let me show you the book.”

Vy fell into step beside them. Garrett looked disgruntled, but Ariock said, “I’d just tell her anyway.”

“Have you showed it to Evenjos?” Vy asked pointedly.

“No.” Garrett led them through the door Ariock had mangled, stepping over broken metal scraps. He cleared off an ornate desk, then gestured. A thick tome fell out of thin air and landed on the polished wood.

Pages turned in rapid succession, too fast for Ariock to get a glimpse of what was on them. Garrett was using his powers. Then the book settled open.

“Here. Have a look at the next prophetic pivot,” Garrett said.

A painting spread across two pages, illuminated in a dusty beam of dawn light. One of the figures in the painting had to be Ariock. The painted version was a colossus dressed in spiky black armor, but limp and weak, possibly unconscious.

A winged angel with flowing hair carried the giant through clouds. The painted version of Evenjos clutched Ariock, looking terrified and determined. Her wings spread rays of light. The painted giant seemed to drag darkness and chaos behind him.

“The Transformation of Strength,” Garrett said. “That’s the title of this painting.” He stabbed it with his gnarled finger. “I don’t know what’s happening here, but I think we can assume that you need her.”

Ariock didn’t like the implications. Was he going to fail badly in some future battle?

Was there any way to avoid it?

“Are those missiles?” Vy pointed to dots and dashes in the painted clouds.

“They could be,” Garrett said. “Or Torth military transports. They don’t look friendly, whatever they are.”

Prophecies were generally inscrutable until they happened. Ariock reminded himself of that. The last pivot had showed Thomas naked and screaming, as if tortured, by Evenjos. It had looked bad, but it had turned out to be good. Regeneration healing had saved Thomas’s life.

The Transformation of Wisdom. That had been the title of the last pivot.

Now the upcoming pivot was the Transformation of Strength.

Ariock stepped back, trying to quell his inner disquiet.

“Well, it looks pretty straightforward,” Vy said. “Is that normal for these prophecies?”

“Not at all,” Garrett said dryly. “I’ve found the paintings to be exceedingly hard to interpret. All this really tells us is that Evenjos and Ariock are going to play a vital role in some upcoming pivotal event. And the event has to happen, or else we’re bound to be defeated by the Torth Empire.”

Ariock searched his great-grandfather’s face. “Do you have any estimates as to when?”

“I don’t know.” Garrett shook his head sadly. “Soonish?”

Ariock tried to accept that.

“But I know that we need each other,” Garrett said. “We can’t lose sight of who our real enemies are: The Torth Empire.” He touched Ariock’s arm. “Evenjos does feel remorse. I promise. Please remember, Ariock, she has baggage. She was tortured. She isn’t healthy in a lot of ways, despite her sixth magnitude healing power.”

That was probably true.

“I’ll look after her,” Garrett said. “So you won’t have to worry. All right?”

That sounded so paternalistic and responsible, Ariock wasn’t sure if Garrett was serious.

Vy scrutinized the old man. “You and Evenjos,” she said. “You’re together. Aren’t you?”

Garrett looked shocked and affronted.

“Are you lovers?” Vy asked.

Garrett grumbled defensively. “All right, all right. You don’t have to make a big deal about it.”

Ariock’s jaw fell open. He had assumed that Vy was just teasing Garrett, trying to embarrass him.

His imagination tried to reassemble Evenjos and Garrett into a romantic paradigm. Maybe it could work, if they managed to treat each other with whatever tiny scraps of respect they could scrounge up. After all, they were both… well…

Old.

Really old.

“You’re going to heckle us about our ages?” Garrett shot Ariock a nonplussed look. “Really?”

Vy giggled.

“Try to keep a lid on this,” Garrett said with dignity. “I happen to think Evenjos has some admirable qualities that you keep overlooking. That doesn’t mean we’re a couple of teenagers pining away for each other. It’s a friendship. Nothing more significant than that.”

He was protesting an awful lot.

Ariock chuckled and hugged Vy. She was laughing, too.