She moved her right ankle. The hard nylon holster was gone, and obviously the blade with it. Interesting. The woman had done a light frisk, but hadn’t checked Daisy’s cleavage. That bespoke a man more than a woman. When there was no purse to be had, the bra was a great place to store something. Ladies knew about this hiding place, especially violent ladies. Bria was adamant about that.

She crinkled her brow as a muffled voice rolled through the door. The words didn’t take shape. There would be no eavesdropping in here. That gave her a big blind spot. She also didn’t know what kind of magic she was dealing with, not to mention how far the treachery in Kieran’s camp went.

If you can save yourself, don’t wait. Being on the run gives you better odds than being locked in a box.

Daisy nodded as Zorn’s words faded from her mind.

She needed to free herself. If anyone could find her, it was Kieran—he was wicked smart, cunning, and extremely knowledgeable—but what if Kieran had flipped on them? What if he’d realized leading a territory would be easier if he took a page from his father’s book? Daisy wouldn’t put it past him. Men often lost themselves to greed and power. Hell, all the human kings in Lord of the Rings had become Ring Wraiths. J.R.R. Tolkien had known what was up.

And yet…she found herself thinking of Jack’s strange, jerky movements. The way he’d dropped her. The woman who’d scooped her up had moved like that too, in jerks and jolts, as though she weren’t totally in charge of her body.

Daisy shook her head and gritted her teeth against the dull agony of her wrist while she worked her left hand within the holds. None of that mattered right now. She didn’t have enough information to piece everything together. She had one purpose: get free and get out.

Magnus

“Sir, we have news and a possible situation.”

Magnus looked away from his computer screen. Gracie stood in his doorway with a severe expression.

“What is it?” He clasped his fingers.

She crossed the room and stood behind the chairs in front of his desk. “Aaron made his move, and it was just as blunt and shortsighted as we suspected it would be.”

Magnus listened in silence until Gracie had finished, giving him a moment to process.

“He thinks nothing of the child Demigod,” Magnus surmised, leaning back in his seat. “He thinks the child tearing down his father was a fluke.”

“Many do, sir, as you know,” Gracie said, tapping her fingers against the top of a chair. “They think Valens was too close to the situation to properly judge it.”

“Which is undoubtedly true, to some extent, but Valens was not a trusting man. He kept his son on a very tight leash.” Magnus allowed himself a smile. “This is excellent. We can see, firsthand, how the child deals with the situation. If he moves to strike quickly and harshly, as I am sure he will want to, he’ll get flagged by the Directorate. I’ll personally push for his…removal. That would solve many of my problems.”

Gracie knew enough about the Directorate, a secret society of Demigods that monitored the magical world and worked to maintain its balance, to know removal would mean demise. The Directorate was small and hand-selected, and not even the leaders who attended the Summits knew of its existence. If any one ruler stepped too far out of line, pushing for the grandeur of world domination as in times of old, the Directorate would swiftly and silently tear that ruler down. They’d been watching the child closely, understanding of the situation with his father but ready to block him should he attempt to expand his territory.

“And if he does nothing?” Gracie asked.

“Then I will know he is thinking of the long game, and I will need to continue with the plan we currently have in place. Either way, he will need to be removed from his position. I need access to the girl. Too bad. If he were to remove Aaron, it would help me out greatly. I’m sure no one would bat an eye if Patricia took over as sole ruler. She already handles all the details in their territory.”

A little smile slid across Gracie’s lips. She knew Patricia was fond of Magnus. Too fond. She welcomed his opinion and his roaming hands. It would make for a great alliance and possible merging of territories. Patricia certainly didn’t mind looking the other way when her husband found lovers, as long as she was kept in a certain lifestyle. Magnus liked to spoil his women. Win-win.

“Now for the stickier situation, sir,” Gracie said, and her humor fled. “Amos slipped into one of the child’s men during Aaron’s attack. His goal was to get the child killed in a way that would put the blame squarely on Aaron. But no one expected the Spirit Walker would be on the front lines of the battle. He had to improvise, so he decided to drag the wards out into the battle and ensure they were killed. The Spirit Walker is partial to those kids, and as we know, the child is partial to her. It would’ve escalated the retaliation and created chaos that Amos could later exploit.”

“Yes, sound planning. What happened?”

“The wards fought back more than expected. Amos had to kill one of them, and he was dragging the other out, intending to use the back door and slip into the battle from the rear, when he ran into one of Aaron’s staff. She apparently did a number on the body he was using, so he had to jump to her, something that really taxed his energy.”

Magnus scrubbed his fingers through his shoulder-length hair. “Aaron is a fool. Did he not study the situation at all before bumbling into it?”