“Excellent.” Verus lets out a satisfied sigh. “I’ll draft up binding documents for the treaty.” She turns to me and Lincoln. “Great job.”

“Thanks.” I slump into my chair, the reality of this treaty washing over me. To save Purgatory, I agreed to send Armageddon and his army back to Hell. Anxiety and adrenaline fight their way through my system. Minutes tick by while everyone scurries around with last-minute preparations and I freak myself out by thinking of everything that can go wrong with this plan. Finally, I decide that I’ll go crazy if I sit around here any longer.

I turn to Lincoln and exhale a long breath. “Time to face my demons.”

Lincoln gives my hand a squeeze; there’s no question he’ll go with me. We share a sad smile. In a few minutes, we’ll waltz out to Armageddon’s army where I’ll test my new Scala powers on all of Purgatory.

Not exactly a sure thing.

“Wait, Myla.” Mom steps into the main chamber from the antechamber. She’s now wearing her Senator’s robes. She looks regal, lovely, and strong. Cissy stands beside her in white robes with purple trim, the gown of a junior senator. Zeke wears black body armor with the quasi seal on his shoulders: a circle on interlocking stars. Adair’s nowhere to be seen, which is nice.

I gasp. It’s like they stepped out of a history book from the Ryder library.

“What’s this about, Mom?” She once said something about the bunkers holding Senate robes, but I can’t imagine how dressing up could help now.

“Verus just told us about the treaty.” Mom makes a regal gesture around the room. “I am still the Diplomatic Senator of the quasi people. I will request parlay with Armageddon, then go outside with my guard and junior senator. Hopefully, we can distract him for a time while you get started.”

I frown. “Will he really respect a Senator’s request for parlay?”

Cissy grins. “We have the Scala and Scala Heir in our bunker. He’ll talk.”

I glance about. “Where is Adair, anyway?”

Cissy fidgets in her robes. “Uh, she started getting hysterical.” Cissy makes her ‘eek’ face. “So I maybe slipped her a sedative. There was a medicine kit on one the shelves.”

Zeke chuckles. “My girl totally roofied her.” He keeps shifting positions to show off his muscly self in his cool new armor. Lincoln and I exchange a look.

Mom taps Zeke on the shoulder. “Let’s stay focused, Mister Ryder. We need to get ready to head outside.”

If Mom’s calling him Mister Ryder, that means he’s driving her crazy. I curl my mouth into a Cheshire cat grin. Welcome to the end of her comments on how I should have dated Zeke.

The Oligarchy frown. “Your plan is flawed. Maxon Bane is dead.”