“Hades people are never what they seem,” Dylan said, taking a spot at the window. “Even if something is against their personality type, don’t rule out the possibility. They will bend a lot to get what they want. They are cunning and treacherous with their words, and they will take greater risks than others. Hades is the king of the dead—what do they have to lose, you know? They already rule the dead. At least, that’s how it has always been described to me. I don’t know much about Lydia, but Magnus is the master of trickery. He has no honor. All the Zeus Demigods are wary of him.” He shot me a glance and mumbled, “That I knew of, anyway.”

“That’s a very Zeus way to see Hades, that’s for sure.” Bria huffed out a laugh.

“Could the mice have been a distraction?” Thane asked as Henry clacked on his computer keys. He’d be making sure there was no surveillance in this room. There hadn’t been earlier that morning…but that had been hours ago. Apparently no one cared enough to halt the conversation.

“In a different setting, sure,” Bria replied. “But we weren’t doing anything interesting. There was nothing to distract us from.”

“There was plenty to distract us from, but a few mice wouldn’t do it.” Daisy rubbed her eyes.

“If anything, the mice made it worse,” Mordecai said. Daisy nodded.

“What about how they were treating Lexi? I’d like to hear more about that,” Kieran said, sitting on the couch.

“We’re clear,” Henry said, leaning back in the chair pushed up to the little round table that held his laptop. He didn’t close it, though, clearly intending to keep monitoring.

Bria explained how people had been greeting me and waiting on me, all while mostly ignoring Jerry, Red, and her. I felt the uncertainty within Kieran grow, and he rubbed his fingers along his chin, his dark five o’clock shadow giving him a rugged look.

“What’s your take?” Bria asked him when she’d finished.

Kieran shifted and propped an ankle over his knee. “The reason she invited us here was because we caught her loitering in spirit. At the time, she seemed appropriately abashed and receptive. I had high hopes of good communication. That’s not what I’m getting. I am getting a Demigod firmly entrenched in her territory and status, who speaks of politics delicately, who speaks of the future with the correct amount of vagueness, and who is carrying on how I would expect someone to carry on with a Demigod of my standing. She’s doing everything by the book.”

Grim expressions covered faces, and as usual, I felt like a dunce.

“Why is that bad?” I asked in a small voice.

“She is a Demigod of Hades—she invited us here because she fucked up and got caught on Demigod Kieran’s territory without permission, and you are of particular interest to her and her kind,” Henry explained. “She hasn’t spoken to any of that. It’s the proverbial elephant in the room.”

“She is actively avoiding speaking to any of that,” Kieran added. “I am here because of a few specific reasons, and she is acting as if we’re paying her a visit to acknowledge and admire her status. She is not generally thought to be inconsistent in her dealings, which means something fundamental has changed with regards to her invitation or her motives. I’m just not sure if the change is cause for alarm or annoyance.”

“It seems like there is a plan at work here, sir,” Thane said.

Kieran nodded slowly, staring out at nothing. “I am inclined to agree, but again, is that plan cause for alarm, or annoyance? Mocking my girlfriend is not enough of a slight to incite retaliation. She could still be feeling out my connection to Lexi, trying to suss out if the mark is legit. Alexis has no blood oath—that mark is my only claim right now. That mark, and her word that it was applied willingly.” He paused for a moment. “Until I know more, I will remain cautiously optimistic. There is still a chance I can turn this meeting around to our benefit. I’ve thought of a few ideas I can plant. At the same time, there is not a chance we can pull out without it reflecting badly on us. We don’t have cause. Until we do, we have at least two more days before I can make an excuse.”

“You might be green, but by Athos’s mountain cap, you have been trained incredibly well,” Jerry said.

“Athos’s mountain cap?” A smile spread across Boman’s face.

“That’s not in Canada, eh, Jerry?” Thane said, and Donovan started laughing. Jerry cracked a grin.

“This isn’t just training,” Dylan said from his place in the corner. “He has an affinity for it. If he had adopted Valens’s ruthless style…”

“I didn’t adopt my father’s…style, and if I ever try, Daisy has promised to burn my house down,” Kieran said.

“With you in it,” Daisy said.

“Right, yes, with me in it,” Kieran said. “How silly of me to forget that detail. But training and natural ability will only get you so far.” He rose and loosened his tie. “It won’t be enough to get us out of a trap. Only my crew can help with that. Look sharp in this place. Lydia has a firm handle on the rules of the magical world, and if things go poorly, I wouldn’t put it past her to use that knowledge against us. She mentioned the mark and said that many of the Demigods wonder if it was legally applied. Demigod Zander was one of those, apparently. His wife bears his mark, something he gave her on their wedding day, and because he had to defend it, he’s touchy about others who have it. I knew this, of course, and I expected he’d want me to speak on Lexi bearing my mark. That’s not a problem—he’s a sensible man, and Lexi’s testimony will do plenty to appease him. But for Lydia to bring it up in a meeting of the minds…”

“Through torture, one of the Hades Demigods could break Alexis,” Zorn said. “At that point, they could easily make her claim you gave her that mark against her will. That would be enough to discredit it, and since she doesn’t have a blood oath, they’d say she’s not really yours. They could make the claim that she wanted a new home with those of her kind. That’s that issue filed away for them.”

“Precisely. I’d then have political problems after I hunted them down and killed them all,” Kieran said as he shrugged out of his jacket. The confident, blasé tone he used when talking about violently avenging me sent a warm chill racing through me. I couldn’t say if it was fear or arousal. Maybe both.

“Except everyone who knows Lexi can vouch for her,” Mordecai said.

“Everyone who can vouch for her would be killed,” Donovan replied, his smile from earlier long gone.

“I’d like to see them find me,” Daisy replied.

“Nice sentiment, but you’re not magical, kid,” Bria said. “You don’t matter in their eyes.”

“I matter, and they wouldn’t find me, either,” Zorn ground out, his eyes flashing. “Even if they took out Kieran, I would not forsake you, Alexis. I would still protect you and your wards. And I’d get to do it my way.”

I gulped. Zorn was clearly not someone anyone wanted to piss off.

“That’s all well and good, but by then…” Kieran turned away, and agony ate through the soul link.