“Of course, she had stipulations,” I’m quick to add.
And I’m nice,Chloe spits it out like a rusty hook.
“And she says she’s nice.” A warm laugh circles the room.
Logan takes a breath. “So you see, we’re not exactly sharing this information with everyone.”
I nod. “If Rory goes off the rails, I don’t know what I’ll do. But I expect her to do something unbelievably stupid at any moment regardless.”
Ironic, isn’t it, Skyla?Chloe chirps.Rory will explode with enough foolish behavior to take down the planet, and no one will think a thing about it. How is her stupid behavior going to be any different than that of yours? People won’t be shocked or surprised. They’ll roll their eyes and say,there she goes again.
I give a tight smile to the people in the room. I’m not translating that little ditty.
Laken nods. “We won’t tell anyone. Least of all Gage.”
See?Chloe is quick to mentally jab me.Even Laken realizes that was a dumb idea.
“Gage knows.” I take a deep breath. “I couldn’t contain my rage, and I went right over and kicked his ass twelve ways to Sunday.”
Brody’s eyes bulge. “I bet my sister liked that.”
“She did. She was right there cheering me on. And anyway, I didn’t come right out and tell him—he guessed and I didn’t deny it. I can’t tell if Demetri knows.”
Wesley’s ears pull back. “If Gage isn’t telling Demetri, that means there’s dissension in the ranks.” He looks to the wall a moment. “Interesting.”
Coop folds his arms across his chest. “How do we get you back where you belong?”
“You don’t,” I say. “I’ll take care of that.”
Ellis slams his hand over the table. “That’s bullshit. You’re getting married in a couple of weeks. I’m sick and tired of this hell. You’re not really going to let her marry Logan are you?”
I pause a moment. “Yes, I am. Actually, I hope she doesn’t, but I’m willing to push Candace Messenger to sanity’s edge. She understands what a binding covenant marriage is. I want to see just how far she’ll go without intervening. And—I have something else in the works as well.”
Logan shoots me a curious look, but I’m not in the mood to share any hopes I might have pinned on Dominique’s potions.
“I just need you all to know”—my voice breaks—“I don’t want Rory’s actions to affect our friendships. The true Retribution League is now classified as a secret counsel and is open to discussion only for the people in this room. I’m sorry, Ellis, but I’ll have to ask you not to tell Giselle. I need to know nothing will rock this boat.”
Ellis postures in his seat. “Until Gage blows it out of the water—like he does everything else.”
“Yes, well, speaking of Gage, he and Demetri are up to something. I get the feeling Gage isn’t in the know quite yet, but Demetri came by the Landon house and hinted that something big is in the works.”
Wes shoots Cooper a hard look. “It would have to be big. Gage has bled out all of his people. The Fems are hanging on by a thread once again. He needs a way to get everyone’s attention, and fast. And he needs them to needhim. Gage is desperate, and that makes Gage dangerous.”
Logan takes in a never-ending breath. “Gageisdesperate.” He nods. “In a strange way, it seems he’s spent his whole life priming for this pinnacle of desperation he’s achieved. He’s never had the confidence that he wasn’t about to lose something.” His amber eyes meet with mine. “He knew of Skyla before I did. He was sure she was his. But you could see the hurt in his eyes even at that point. He knew that in some way he would eventually lose her. He could feel his destiny circling him. He could smell it coming. But he couldn’t see the big picture. He saw through a glass darkly. He was fed whatever the hell Demetri wanted to feed him, bits and pieces, just enough poison to turn him into a monster.”
“I don’t know,” I say, looking right at the blue-eyed devil. “I don’t care. And I can’t muster any pity for him either.” I glance Logan’s way because I know he can. “He killed me. He murdered the one he professed to love. That tells me his love wasn’t true. It was obsession. I’m not entirely sure he didn’t kill me to keep me from Logan. Yes, he wanted to keep me from infiltrating his throne any further, but I think maybe it was his way of sayingif I can’t have you, nobody can. That sheds a different light on our relationship, our marriage. And it builds Wesley’s case. Gage is dangerous. He’s a madman. A wild horse barreling through Paragon who needs to be put down for the safety of the people. And since that doesn’t seem to be a viable option, we need to castrate him every single day. We need him impotent. If we can’t send him back to paradise, we need to strip him of his power until he’s the equivalent of a celestial paperweight. And that’s why I’ve decided that even though we will continue to pursue a way to hide the markers permanently, we will never distribute it.”
A gasp circles the room.
I nod. “I don’t think Gage will reach that capability either. He can’t hide them at all without Wesley.”
Wes sits back in his chair. “It’s true. And this way the Factions will always need Celestra. Take away their need for us, and we might just play into Demetri’s plan. Once their markers are covered, I’m sure Gage will entice them with a good enough reason to cross the battle line once again. And we’ll be up a celestial creek without a supernatural paddle. Good job, Skyla. This is why you shine. But in the event we need it, we’ll finish out the production of the serum that allows us to have a lifelong inoculation. We’ll put it in the vault. Our ace in the hole.”
“I agree,” Logan says. “And that keeps us one step ahead of Gage. And if I’m right, Gage and Demetri won’t waste too much time unveiling their new campaign to try to woo the Nephilim back to their corner. And believe me, they’re pulling out all the stops. This is going to be big.”
Ellis nods. “One big runaway train straight to Hell.”
Laken huffs a dull laugh. “But they will market it as Heaven.”
