Glamazon glared and stood a little taller. The woman was imposing, in a way that no one wearing colorful spandex should have been. “You just made me lose that jerk. I would have caught the bastard by now.” She poked Emily in the chest.

Emily took a deep breath and ignored the sore point right where Glamazon’s finger had struck her. “Did you pay for that opportunity?” Emily asked.

“What?” Glamazon asked.

“Did . . . you . . . pay?” Emily asked, every word enunciated carefully. “Alea Iacta is low-key, for the most part. He’s been hiding for some time, even, keeping his head down. But he got an offer that he refused. And then you appear out of nowhere, knowing where he was even when out of costume.”

“Wait, do you know him?”

“Shut up,” Emily said. Her hands shook by her side until she felt Athena grab one and squeeze. “Are you with them? The Cabal?”

Glamazon looked away, the same expression Emily’s sisters had when they were lying flitting across her features. “What are you on about?”

“How much did it cost you?” Emily asked. “Or what did it cost you? Did you have to pay at all? How did it work? Did they just tell you where to find him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Glamazon said.

Teddy growled, low and rumbling from right behind Glamazon. The woman jumped and seemed to notice for the first time that, for all intents and purposes, she was surrounded.

“Tell me,” Emily said. “Now.”

It was strange seeing someone twitch back, as if Glamazon were one of her sisters caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Emily felt her brows knitting together. “I won’t ask again.”

The factory’s darkened corners grew deeper, and the low rumble from Teddy’s throat amplified, drowning out even the faintest of noises from outside.

“God, what the hell is wrong with you?” Glamazon whispered. “W-we’re meant to be on the same side.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Emily said. “But I’m not so sure now. Not when you might be one of those people who paid for a little glory. What did Alea Iacta do that was such a big threat to you, or anyone else for that matter?”

“He’s a Villain!” Glamazon said.

Emily’s teeth snapped together and she bit back a growl of her own. “You chased him across several blocks while he was hiding after being blackmailed by the Cabal. You fired off those sparks of yours all over the damned place, in public. I’m sure you know how distracting those lights are. Did you make sure there was no car traffic around?”

The flash of guilt suggested a no to that question.