“I’m not going to say that,” he said. “That might be the way to go, I don’t know. I’m working with limited information, with a really distorted view of my own, and I hate that. What I do know is that the situation is unsalvageable like this.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“We need one sane person to report to people in the know. That means we get people out.”

“If you’re talking about going against Goddess, we might have a bit of a problem,” Monokeros said, and her voice was low.

“He isn’t,” Tristan said. “The situation’s a mess. The prison is totaled, and some complete scumbags are now going to be free. We need to talk to the key people so they can rein those guys in. The guys who aren’t going with Goddess.”

He sounded so natural saying it. Not one hint of a lie or falsehood.

All the same, there was a pause as Monokeros locked eyes with Tristan.

“Woah!” Crystalclear barked the word, loud enough to startle us. He threw himself between Tristan and Monokeros. “What was that? You used your power on him?”

I tensed. Monokeros awed people, like my awe power turned up to maximum. She gained protections against that target, as well as insights into their personality and mind. It was that last thing she had used against Tristan.

“I wanted to see if he was being genuine,” she said. “He’s loyal but not genuine. I’m not stupid, Capricorn. You know deep down inside that everyone is going with Goddess.”

“Shit,” Crystalclear said.

“Once the dust settles, she will come for you and any others who aren’t on her side. As soon as it’s not pointing her to any immediate threats, her danger sense will tell her if there’s any corner of the world where enemies lurk. She will find them and bring them in line, starting with the closest or the most severe.”

I saw Crystalclear draw in a breath. Fingers ran along a crystal near his elbow, nervous.

“Do what you need to do, tell us what you need, and I, at least, will trust you,” I told Crystalclear.

“I wish I had a big plan. Maybe I’ll come up with one—”

“You won’t,” Monokeros said. She took a step forward, limping. She’d hurt her leg earlier.

Crystalclear ignored her. “But for now, I think my number one priority is making acquiring me as hard as possible. I’ll see who I can round up, you do what you need to do with your team, and whoever gets to the authorities first tells them everything.”

There aren’t even any good authorities to go to. The Wardens are in shambles, the major teams are either here or dealing with their own disasters.

“It won’t work,” Monokeros said. “You won’t get away.”

“I’m going to try,” Crystalclear said.