“Uh.” Gill’s head appears above the fridge door, mouth full of sandwich. “Okay…”

“He said they were somewhere on the East Coast. That his father is behaving erratically. He said it was too dangerous to go after them. That he thinks Isaac may have”—I swallow—“killed two Mageguard trackers.”

She stands up straight. “That is intel we did not receive.”

“Erebus and the Council would have buried news like that immediately,” Sel mutters. “Like everything else they want to hide.”

“Can your team look into it?” I ask. “See if they can find them based on that?”

She nods slowly. “Of course. But tactically, they won’t stay anywhere for long. And the Atlantic seaboard is a lotta ground to cover.”

I sit back. She’s right. Not enough info to do much of anything. The whine of the engines shifts, and the pressure in the cabin changes. Gill glances out the window. “Starting the landing cycle. May as well wake the others. Once we hit the ground, it’s an hour drive.”

“To this safehouse in the middle-of-nowhere Georgia?” Sel asks, his tone bored.

“Yep,” she says winking at me. “Off the Order’s grid.”

“Off everyone’s grid, it sounds like,” Sel mutters.

“Keep up, Kane,” Gill says with a wry smile. “That’s kinda the point.”

24

WE CIRCLE A secluded, remote airstrip at the top of a mountain. As soon as the landing gear touches the ground, an SUV’s headlights flash awake from where it had been idling in the dark. Another Liege waiting for our arrival.

Alice, Sel, and William jog easily down the stairs to the tarmac. My pace, however, is slower through the cabin. Annoyingly so.

“You’ve been jailed and drugged, then you escaped a magical prison. You’re probably really feeling it now that you’ve been sitting for a while. Your body’s gonna need some time to recover, just like your powers,” Samira says from the cabin doorway. I grimace in response.

I’ve just reached the door beside her when I pause. She’s a tall woman who takes up space, wide shoulders and hips. Years of honed muscles at her biceps, wrapped around her thighs. She reminds me of Sel, somehow. The easy, confident movement and the coiled strength, ready to be used to protect or attack. Casually lethal. A pang of curiosity—mixed with envy—halts my steps, and I realize I have an opportunity that I can’t pass up and might not get again.

Concern crosses her features. “What is it?”

“Nothing bad. Just wondering if I could talk to you… before we go?”

“Absolutely.” She leans out the door to yell at the group down below over the sound of the engines. “Give us a couple minutes, yeah?”