“Trust me, I’m not expecting anyone to act out of character. There’s actually something way more important that I need from you two.” I cast a glance toward the kitchen, where the items I found beneath the sink are waiting to be used. “Tomorrow, I’m sending out word to Rasputin that I’m willing to join the Order of the Northern Wolf.”

“What?” Jude goes still. “August, you can’t—”

“I resisted his demands, I killed one of his minions, I fled town—”

“He doesn’t know you were the one who killed William,” Gunnar argues quickly. “We were inside the school, and away from the windows. His spies couldn’t see us, and for all he knows, I—”

“That’s not the point.” I hold my hands up again. “Time’s running out, things are escalating, and he’s not going to be patient much longer. I don’t want him to start sending pieces of my parents to the local newspaper in order to up the ante, you know?” Letting my arms drop, I exhale a shaky breath. “I mean, I’m obviously not going through with it, but I need him to think he’s still in control before he starts to get worried.

“And that brings me to why you’re here.” Sinking down into the same chair I used when I met the coven, I grip my knees until my fingers turn white. “No matter what happens on Friday, my parents need to be rescued, and Azazel needs to be stopped, and … and you guys are the only ones I can trust to make sure that happens.”

They exchange another look, and Gunnar begins, “Auggie—”

“I know: Your bosses have big plans, and you’ve been given orders, and blobbity blah. But I know you.” I make eye contact with both of them. “Neither one of you came here wanting the Ascension to happen, and nobody knows what this thing inside of me is going to want when it breaks free.” Squeezing my knees tighter, I add, “We’re talking about the ‘father of all vampires’—an actual angel who’s spent all of human existence trying to get back here and assert itself. This thing isn’t looking to take orders from its children, and making me pinky swear my allegiance and hoping it counts for jack shit later is nuts.”

Jude’s mouth curves into a hollow smile. “All right. You’re not wrong—about any of it—but promising to help is … I mean, we still don’t know where Rasputin is hiding, let alone where he might be keeping prisoners. Besides, the oath I swore to the Syndicate will prevent me from acting against their interests. No doubt Gunnar is in the same position.”

“Actually,” Gunnar mumbles, suddenly fixated on his fingernails, “I never swore an oath to the League.”

Jude does an actual cartoon double take. “Wait, what?”