She thought back to their previous discussions about the Society. About her conclusions that he was as much a prisoner here as the rest of them. But the way he’d said it minutes ago. . . “Snow—” Jo stopped him, catching his sleeve “—did you make the Society?”
“What?” He stilled, his voice dropping to a whisper.
“Did you make the Society?” Hers dropped as well to meet his and she did another visual sweep of the room—though where someone could possibly hide, Jo did not know.
“Jo, questions are dangerous here.”
That was a no. Jo remembered what he’d said about Pan. What Jo had deduced on her own. There were eyes everywhere within the Society—eyes with cat-like irises.
Jo relinquished his sleeve, straightening away. How did a demigod get ensnared in a Society against his will? And not just a demigod with his own powers, but half of Jo’s as well. By his logic, that should make him almost as powerful as a full god.
Then again, when did logic ever matter when it came to magic?
With the lightest of touches on her sleeve, Snow summoned her attention back to him. Looking at him was almost enough to make her forget everything else.Almost.
“We’ll talk more later,” Snow said in a definitive tone, starting for the door. “For now, wait here. I’ll call a meeting to discuss the status of the wish.”
With one final squeeze of her hand, Snow headed out the doors and Jo fell heavily into one of the plush chairs. As if on cue, not moments after she sat, the doors to the briefing room opened. Jo had been hoping for a few moments of reprieve alone. But she was wrong. A head of neon-yellow hair turned to face her.
Pan’s cat-like eyes seemed to flash red. She’d tied a black bow in her straight locks and donned a ruffled red dress—like an alternate-Wonderland Alice who’d decided to say “screw it” to the Mad Hatter and join the Queen of Hearts instead.
In rare form, Pan met Jo’s silence with silence. The air grew heavy, filled with expectation of something unsaid. But whatever Pan was thinking, she didn’t feel like sharing and Jo didn’t inquire.
Clarity broke on Jo like dawn: the tension, the fact that she felt no surprise at Pan’s presence, or the way Pan was staring her down almost hungrily. They both knew what the other knew. While Snow had yet to confirm, Jo would bet everything on the idea that Pan was also a demigod.
Jo opened her mouth to speak, though she hadn’t gotten far enough to know what to say. She wanted Pan to know that she was no longer a blind sheep waiting for slaughter. She knew what her power was and she’d levy it against Pan if she had to. That thought stilled her.
If Jo had the chance, she’d unleash every bit of the destructive force inside her on Pan. She’d do it for Nico.Nico. . . a disturbing sensation, one of magic fracturing like ice in the Prime Minister’s office, came back to her. Jo slowly closed her mouth and pressed it into a thin line.
Pan’s lips curled into an almost cartoonish smile, as if she could read Jo’s mind.
The silence was finally broken when Snow opened the double doors, the entire group in tow behind him. Jo leaned back in her chair, away from Pan, and made a desperate attempt at looking casual. Her hands had no clue where they wanted to rest and her legs kept folding and unfolding. Just acting normal seemed impossible.
Takako gave her a nod, Samson a small smile, Eslar a look that Jo had come to associate with casual acknowledgment, but Wayne. . . He narrowed his eyes slightly at her. There was an unfamiliar uneasiness about him, as though he knew she’d gone to Takako instead of him. Had she said something to him? Or was it just intuition?
Either way, Jo knew she had to clear the air with him, and soon. At the very least, she needed his good graces long enough to keep his silence.
“I realize this wish has tensions high, making what was already a bad situation far worse, especially following our last wish.” Snow wasted no time. He wasn’t even at his chair when he began speaking. “I am also well aware that everyone has their own opinions on the wish and its proposed outcome.” He rested his hands on the table, looming over them. “It is not our role to have opinions or pass judgment. We are the Society of Wishes, and granting the whims of those who invoke us is our sole duty. Nothing more or less.”
He paused, taking the time to look every individual in the eyes. Suddenly the whole team was shifting in their seats, looking anywhere else, fidgeting. Jo’s awkwardness seconds ago was effectively masked in one deft move from Snow, and the gratitude she felt toward him had her off-balance once more, now that she was the only person in the room seemingly able to relax.
“Am I clear?”
The group muttered a communal “Yes.”
“Good.” Snow leaned away from the table, folding his arms over his chest. “Jo has informed me of her failed attempt at hacking the android’s terminal.”
She didn’t have to fake or force a wince and a bow of her head in shame; those came naturally. Though the result of her inability to do so had paid secret dividends.
“Since the time we have left to close the Severity of Exchange is steadily shrinking, I propose we take a different approach.”
“We were talking about that while you two were off.” Eslar jumped into the conversation. “And we think we have a proposal.”
Snow made a motion for the elf to continue, but Takako spoke instead.
“Wayne and I will go forth and engage in activities that would throw off the police and task forces working on the case.”
Jo wasn’t the least bit surprised that it would be Wayne and Takako continuing to spearhead the action on the wish. It seemed that, regardless of Wayne’s growing skepticism toward Jo and her plan, he was still helping her. That was all she needed, for now. That, and his silence.
