I left him to work his magic, and scanned the room.
Of the eleven patients remaining, nine were sleeping. Amelia looked fairly engrossed in a thriller novel. But William was just staring out the window.
I approached the man I’d met at Nightdwellers, the spy who had lasted two long years in the underground prison. After being there so long, it was no wonder that his healing progress would be slow.
“Hey, Will. How’s it going?” I lowered myself into the seat next to his bed.
“Better every day.” He turned to face me, a smile on his thin face. “But I might be even better if you’d give me some of that coffee. I haven’t had coffee inyears.”
“Don’t give him any!” Alex called out, clearly having heard.
I laughed. “Sorry, healer’s orders. But I promise once Alex or Thorn gives you the all-clear on caffeine, I’ll buy you a venti.”
We chatted for a few minutes about the book he’d been reading and the shows he’d watched since breaking out of prison.
When the conversation dwindled, I could feel him wanting to ask about the battle and everything leading up to it. Truthfully, it was the last thing I wanted to discuss. I’d rehashed it a million times and it was so emotionally draining. But I did want to know something in particular and Will seemed to have enough energy to handle it.
“Can I ask you something personal?” I asked.
Will looked taken aback. Although we’d spoken at Nightdwellers, and occasionally since my friends and I had come here, we’d kept things very superficial.
After a few seconds, he nodded. “Sure.”
I inhaled deeply, preparing to ask the question I’d wondered about every single prisoner we’d found at Base Dulce. “Why were you imprisoned? Did you discover the PIA’s connection to the demons? Or something else?”
Will chuckled. “I’m surprised it took you all so long to ask. You’re so polite.”
“We didn’t want to cause extra strain on anyone while they were still weak, but you seem to be doing pretty well. And knowing how long you lasted in there makes me think that whatever you found drove you to survive.”
“Fair point.” Will nodded. “Your guess is correct. I discovered that a sector of the PIA was working with demons. They’d been doing so for years before I figured it out. But that wasn’t the only reason they threw me in a cell.”
I leaned forward, interested.
“I’d been doing research, and stumbled across a finding that stunned me. Had I shared it, my discovery would have rocked the entire supernatural world.”
“What was it?” I asked, unable to help myself.
I might not follow my childhood dream and become a spy, but I still loved learning secrets. It was in my blood.
“There’s a race of magicals that didn’t die out, like we thought.”
My spine straightened, but Will continued on, not noticing.
“I found an old book explaining that they are simply hidden, protected from the demons. And when the time is right, they’ll rise and bring justice to the world.”
My mouth went dry, and my heart thumped hard. “What race?”
Will shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe what he’d discovered. “Thegodlings. They exist. For centuries, we’ve thought they were dead, but their lines have just been hidden. Hidden in plain sight! Crazy, right?”
I sucked in a breath, meeting the man’s stare.
I knew without a doubt that he had been put in my path for a reason.
“Actually, I can believe that.” I scooted closer. “And if you wouldn’t mind, I’d love for you to tell me everything you know about the godlings.”
EPILOGUE
Igripped Alex’s hand tightly as we left the sweet little restaurant he’d taken me to for our date. We were about to join Eva and Hunter for a nightcap, but I wanted to savor every moment of alone time I had with him.
