“He has more than one.” Rowena spoke in a matter-of-fact tone that was utterly chilling.

“You painted this, and the two that we have.”

“Painting is one of my passions,” Rowena confirmed. “One of my constants. Pitte.” She turned to him. “They know this much.”

“I don’t know a damn thing,” Dana declared.

“Step over here, to the cynical side of the room,” Jordan invited.

“It’s what Malory knows that matters now.” Rowena held out a hand. “All that I have will be used to keep you safe.”

“Not good enough.” Flynn shook his head. “She’s out of it. They’re all out of it. You want your money back, we’ll—”

“Excuse me, I can speak for myself. This isn’t a matter of a refund, is it?” she asked Rowena. “There’s no turning back, no saying, uh-oh, the stakes are higher than I realized, game over.”

“The agreement was made.”

“Without full disclosure,” Brad put in. “Whatever sort of contract these women signed with you won’t hold up legally.”

“The issue isn’t legal,” Malory said impatiently. “It’s moral. And more than that, it’s destiny. As long as I am, as long as I know, I’m part of it. Until the four weeks are up. And if I find the first key, one of them is next.” She looked at Dana and Zoe. “One of them will be at risk for the next phase of the moon.”

“Yes.”

“You know where the keys are,” Flynn exploded. “Just hand them over. End this.”

“Do you think, if that were possible, we would remain in this prison?” In a gesture that mirrored both disgust and bitterness Pitte flung out his arms. “Year by century by millennium, trapped in a world not our own. Do you think we live with you out of choice? That we place our fates, the fates of those in our charge, in your hands because we wish it? We are bound here, bound by this single task. And now so are you.”

“You can’t go home.” After the boom of Pitte’s, Zoe’s quiet voice was like a hammer blow. “We are home. You had no right to trick us into being part of this without telling us the risks.”

“We didn’t know.” Rowena spread her hands.

“For a couple of gods, there’s a hell of a lot you don’t know and can’t do.”

Pitte’s eyes went to smoke as he rounded on Flynn. “Perhaps you’d like a demonstration of what we can do.”

Fists already clenched, Flynn stepped forward. “Bring it on.”

“Gentlemen.” Rowena’s heavy sigh was like a flood of cool water, designed to lower the rising temperature of the room. “The male, regardless of his origins, remains woefully predictable in some areas. Your pride and manhood aren’t at risk here, in either case. Flynn, whatever the world, there are laws woven through the fabric of it.”

“Rip the fabric. Break the law.”

“If it were within my power to hand out the keys at this moment, it would solve nothing.”