“Viviane never asked me to.” Gunnar shrugs, his gaze flicking to Jude and then back down again. “Kramer made her pledge her blood before he would Turn her, and even though she eventually came to believe, she didn’t want me or anyone else to be deprived of free will.”

Jude continues to stare at him. “You mean you’ve had the ability to walk away at any time, but you’ve chosen to stay with them?”

“Obviously.” Gunnar bites the word off.

“I still don’t understand.” Jude’s massages his brow. “You joined them despite never believing in their central cause, and even though they hold nothing over you, you still do all their bidding anyway?” Gunnar doesn’t answer him, so he presses, “How does Viviane Duclos know you won’t betray her entire organization?”

“Because she trusts me, okay?” Gunnar finally explodes. “This isn’t easy! I joined the League because Viviane was a friend to me when I needed one the most, and because she’s never done anything but help me figure out who I am and what I want. Maybe that whole concept is alien to you—”

“Hey!” Jude rises to the bait instantly, his eyes smoldering. “When I Turned you without authorization, I put my position at risk and jeopardized all of the relationships I had with the only people that I’ve ever trusted—including Hecuba! How have you possibly forgotten that?” Tossing out his arms, he snaps, “You’re so determined to cast me as a villain that you’ve decided you never mattered to me, and it’s bullshit!”

“Rasputin is going to kill my parents if you don’t help me save them,” I interrupt loudly. Maybe I’m not sad I never had a boyfriend. “Letting innocent humans get slaughtered by a megalomaniac with a god complex won’t help either the League or the Syndicate—and if my one shot at surviving this fails, then the Ascension proceeds and the whole world will be destroyed. Figure out how you feel about that.”

There’s a long silence, stars glittering through the tall windows, before Jude rubs his face. “Just … what is it you expect us to do? How are we supposed to pull this off?”

So I tell them—what parts of my plan make sense, and which I can safely share—and they listen with pensive expressions. There are a lot of critical gaps in my account, and by the time I’m done, I’m sweating. Without the full picture, it’s an incredibly weak case, but I’ve got no other choice. “I know this is a lot to ask, and I’m sorry, but … I won’t be able to just take your word that you’ll help me. I need both of you to swear a blood oath.”

Jude stills. “What?”