“You didn’t think you were the only one angry at the status quo after Nico, do you?”
Jo glanced behind her, confirming her desk chair was there, before falling heavily into it. She laced her fingers, suddenly feeling like this had become a business transaction she hadn’t asked for but definitely wanted.
“I didn’t take you for the type to stand against orders,” Jo confessed.
“I’m a soldier, not a robot.” Takako’s eyes fluttered closed and she gave a soft sigh, the tension in her shoulders easing some. “I’m a soldier by choice, at that. But this fight . . . I was drafted into it. And I don’t know if I can trust the place my orders are coming from anymore.”
“I think Snow is as much of a prisoner as we are.” Jo was a little too eager to rise to his defense.
Takako made a soft humming noise, but didn’t comment on the matter. Instead, she asked, “What’s your plan?”
“I’m still working that out,” Jo confessed. “Wayne is helping buy me time, so I can work on the side.”
“Where are you starting? Give me the debrief of what you have so far.”Tactical. Jo could use a mind like Takako’s. By the moment she was appreciating her decision to let Takako in on her machinations more and more.
“So far, I’m trying to grab information on the Society. I’ve gone and asked Eslar and Samson about some things . . . but my leading theory is that there may be something to the fact that the lore of the Society lingers across the ages.”
“You mean the fact that even when the world is rebuilt, the information about a Wish Granter and circles to summon him lives on?” Takako clarified.
“Exactly.” Jo nodded. “Why?Why does that live on when everything else can get destroyed and rebuilt?”
“Because the Society needs wishes to survive?” Takako surmised.
“Yes, but . . . is it Snow that makes sure it lives on? Or is it something else?” Jo shook her head, not wanting to return the topic to Snow. “Furthermore . . . there’s the Age of Magic.”
“When Eslar and Samson are from.”
“Indeed.” Jo began pulling things up on the computer, pleased to see that her set-up was exactly how she left it. . . including the still-fried monitor. Jo cast a wary eye, but didn’t give it too much attention, as if that would tempt her magic to act out again. “There’s other lore, about gods and mythologies, that has lingered through the ages, like the Society. Well, not quite like the Society. Information on the Society seems to remain in perfect condition. This other lore seems to be fractured while still persisting. I’m thinking maybe there’s something in there.”
“Like what, specifically?” Takako crossed to the futon across from Jo’s desk. She gave a little bounce, pushing on the seat, clearly impressed by its comfort.
“I don’t know yet. It’s still formulating in my head. . .”
Takako folded her hands, resting her elbows on her knees. “If we operate under the assumption that the mythology of the gods persisting has something to do with the Society. . . Then are you saying you think the Society has something to do with these aforementioned gods?”
Demigod, a step up from prince. Jo recalled the words from when Snow had first told her snippets of his history. A demigod was ruling their Society. Demigod. From the Age ofGods. Surely, that was significant.
“Maybe. . .” Jo said slowly. “Maybe I am. Maybe there’s something to lore, memories, divinities, that lingers through the ages even after the Age of Gods.”
“Age of Gods?” Takako arched her eyebrows.
“Oh . . . it came before the Age of Magic.”
“Where Snow is from, then,” Takako said without missing a beat. At Jo’s surprise, she added, “I figured it was a reasonable assumption, given how close you are.”
Jo nodded, turning back to the monitors. She didn’t want to talk about Snow. And yet. . .
“Does he know?”
“What?” Jo’s fingers stilled and she looked over her shoulder as though she’d been caught red-handed.
“Does Snow know what you’re doing?”
“Not yet,” Jo confessed.
“When will you tell him?”Not if, when.
“I don’t know.” Jo shook her head. “I don’t want him to stop me.”
