“Thane, Donovan, help him.” Bria jerked her head at Dyed Hair. “He doesn’t have a blood oath. That slam to the head probably smarts.”

“It does, yes.” The man put his palm to the wound. “Quite a lot.” He took a step away from the wall and winced. He motioned to me. “She can really load up cadavers and empty them that fast, huh? Without much effort?”

“Yeah.” Bria zipped up her backpack and snuffed out the incense with her boot, smashing the ash into the carpet. “The stuff she can do without much effort would blow your mind. You’d need a whole army of cadavers to take her on. She’s no joke.”

“I’ve never seen that.” I pointed where the rock and stone barrier had been. “You’ve really upped your game, and you were already one of our best.”

“Yeah. Boredom, it does things to a person.” Bria slung her backpack over her shoulder as Thane and Donovan finished piling up the other guys’ bodies. “You going to make it?”

Dyed Hair walked slowly to his cart, nodding his thanks at the guys. We all stopped near him, needing to pass him to continue into the fray. “Yes. I just need to make it back and then I can lie down.”

“Well, if these were all the spirits you had at your disposal, you’ll be off for a few days.” Bria hooked a thumb at me. “She scattered them beyond your reach.”

“Those were all the menial spirits, yes. Listen…” He looked around before leaning closer to her.

“Nope. Nope, nope. Wait a moment.” She held up her hand to stop him and looked at Zorn, standing next to Havoc and slowly stroking her head. “The cameras,” she whispered. “Do we know if they have sound?”

“Cameras?” Dyed Hair barely kept from looking upward, I could tell. “No mics on those. They are surveillance cameras only. Unless there is sound recording somewhere else, but I doubt it. I haven’t seen even a hint of that.”

“Go ahead,” she said to Dyed Hair, “but don’t look sneaky.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of cameras,” he said with a rumpled brow. “I can’t imagine the Demigods will be into that.”

“I doubt the Demigods are being recorded. This setup is to watch their lackeys, I bet,” she replied.

He nodded and sat down at the edge of the cart, palming his head. “Christ, this hurts. Your spirits are powerful. Anyway, listen.” He lowered his voice again. “You didn’t hear this from me, but we go way back. You’ve had my back plenty, so I’m returning the favor. I’ve been called in to help with a particularly strong spirit. Two level-five, experienced Necromancers, one with a blood oath, to handle just this one spirit.” He paused, not looking up.

Bria put her hand on his shoulder and peered at his wound in a performance for the cameras. She had no knowledge of patching people up. “What’s the nature of the spirit?”

“When they hired me, they didn’t say. I just know it’s an incredibly dangerous level five. Calling it will apparently be tough, and controlling it will be even tougher. Probably like that Apporter you have.”

Boman stepped forward and moved Bria out of the way. He reached into one of his cargo pant pockets and came out with disinfectant wipes. He did have experience patching people up, and apparently he’d decided to help this guy because he was giving us information.

“Two level fives, one of whom is outrageously expensive, means Aaron means business,” Bria murmured.

Ice slid down my spine. “This is Aaron’s crew?” I asked.

“He’s been desperate ever since Alexis came on the scene. You probably shouldn’t have taken this gig, bud,” Bria told Dyed Hair, ignoring me. “If he is saying it is dangerous, it probably means it is also very stupid, no matter how many Necromancers you have.”

“As you said, we’re both very experienced level fives—I think we can handle anything. But…” He winced at Boman’s ministrations. “From the whisperings I’ve heard around the lodge, it sounds like Aaron had to steal the item to call this spirit. Getting it was supposedly incredibly tough, and he’s tickled with himself for pulling it off. I heard someone drop Zander’s name as I came around the corner, but then everyone zipped their lips and scurried away. Aaron wants to make a big splash. He’s going to battle with this spirit, and he doesn’t think he can lose.”

The cold claiming my spine spread to the rest of my body. I shivered and saw my thoughts mirrored on the others’ faces.

Aaron was going to try to wrest control of Harding away from me, and I hadn’t brought the pocket watch. Was that why Harding was hiding? Did he know?

It was entirely possible Aaron could do it too, and once he had control of Harding, he would set his sights on me. Harding knew more than I did about this magic—plenty more. And he also knew plenty about me.

If Aaron managed to control him, I might end up being another “accident,” my death excused when Aaron’s people ran. There would be nothing Kieran could do about it.

12

Alexis

“He won’t be able to control Harding,” Thane said as we trudged down the hall, out of steam and completely over this whole thing.

It was five o’clock, the shadows outside were starting to lengthen, and still we kept going. We hadn’t been taken down, so leaving prematurely would make us look weak. Or maybe afraid? I didn’t know—the code didn’t make much sense to me, but everyone else agreed we had to keep going for a while longer. We’d barely even been hurt. Dylan absolutely couldn’t believe it.