Cinn found his comment interesting. She didn’t associate Sparkle with raw power. Sparkle did her sex thing and that was it. But Cinn had been wrong about Ganymede. So maybe she was underestimating Sparkle.

“Wow, I broke another nail. I’ll have to think of a reason to get a manicure that isn’t shallow.”

Or maybe not.

As everyone except for Dacian left, Sparkle paused in the doorway. “I’ll give you an hour for your plants. And don’t forget we’re doing dinner.”

With that threat hanging over her head, Cinn clutched Vince to her as she followed Dacian down to the greenhouse. He didn’t say anything, and that gave her time to think. Silence was her enemy. She didn’t want to think right now.

They’d almost reached the greenhouse when Dacian broke his silence. “You know, I wanted to kill Edge when I found out he’d let you go into the bathroom alone. Then I remembered that I did the same thing last night. Someone’s going to have to take care of Airmid.”

Cinn didn’t like the sound of that last sentence. “What did you have in mind?”

“Maybe Ganymede can put one of my insane rages to good use. I could distract the goddess while Ganymede took her out.”

“No!” Her reaction was immediate and unequivocal. Dacian would die. Amazing. That thought filled her whole mind, her whole heart. There was no room left to worry about the ethics of destroying a goddess or even wondering if it could be done.

He slid her a sideways glance. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Translation: I’ll do it when the time comes. Cinn fought down her panic. Things wouldn’t come to that. She’d figure out something else. Then they were entering the greenhouse and she stopped thinking.

“Ohmigod.” That was about all that came to mind. Asima was crouched beside Teddy with an open book in front of her. Teddy had suddenly sprouted colorful mittens at the ends of each of his prickly arms. And Asima’s special brand of musical torture shook the glass walls of the greenhouse.

“Just. Kill. Me. Now.” Bain lay on the cot, his hands pressed tightly against his ears. “If you don’t do it right now, I’m going to murder a cat. I’d enjoy it. A lot.” His eyes shone bright crimson.

Dacian must’ve believed him because he quickly pulled the plug on Asima’s small but excruciatingly powerful stereo system.

Bain slowly lowered his hands. “Oh, God—and I don’t use that term lightly—that feels so good. I was considering abandoning my post and taking a fun vacation in the fires of hell. My boss is missing a bet by not having that cat by his side.”