“No, Indigo.” Gage pointed at me. “You're not—”
“Gage,” Gideon said with a heavy look. “We lost her last time because we left her alone. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to bring her along.”
“But she can't go invisible.”
“She can stay back until we clear the way,” Garret said.
“So, I'm going?” I asked.
Gage made a growling, grumbling sound, then said, “Yes, you're coming with us. But you're going to stay right next to me and obey every fucking command I give you. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!” I saluted him.
Gage snorted and got out of the truck. “I'm going to regret this.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Why don't we just summon Hades?” I asked as we prepared to attack. Or rather, they prepared to attack, and I prepared to watch them.
“He can't get involved until we have Silas in hand,” Gage said. “Now, remember what I said.”
“I know. Stick beside you.”
“And you have the magic-nulling manacles?”
I patted my pocket and the chains uniting the manacles Gage had charged me with carrying clinked.
Gage nodded as he looked me over. I had Garret's hoodie on. Luckily, he had an extra one in the truck because, without that hood up, my blonde hair was a beacon in the night. And the only chance we had was if they got to Silas before he saw us.
“Let's go,” Garret said.
Gage remained in his man's body, but the other two shifted into hound form and went transparent. Not invisible, although they were hard for even me to see, and I was a foot away. Ghosts in the night. We crept from tree to tree, blending with the shadows. The manacles were a heavy, clanking weight, and I ended up gripping them through my pocket to silence them. Then the trees dwindled to nothing, and we had to dashacross the lawn. I kept looking at the house, hoping that Silas wasn't staring back at me through one of the darkened windows. We crept around the side of the house and finally saw a sign of life—a light coming from one of the back windows.
Gage and I approached the window while the other two walked through the wall, going invisible as they did. Gage didn't look in the window, just pressed up against the wall beside it, waving at me to do the same. Then we listened.
Because Silas was talking to someone.
“—anything yet,” Silas said. “I don't want Hades to know that I have Host armies gathering all over America. We have to be quiet until we're ready to launch a united attack. After we take the States, we'll move on to Europe.”
I widened my eyes at Gage. But he wasn't looking at me. He was too busy squishing his lips together to hold back a curse. Probably a bad one.
“Stay here,” Gage mouthed as he pointed at the ground.
I nodded.
He pushed out of his pants and shifted, going right into invisibility. I remained pressed against the wall, listening to Silas continue his conversation with whatever minion he was speaking to—I assumed on the phone. Meanwhile, Gage entered the house to join his team. At least, I assumed he did.
I waited. It didn't take long. A few minutes later, Silas ended his call. The hounds must have been waiting for that, gleaning all the information they could before they attacked, because seconds after Silas went silent, he shouted wordlessly in shock. Then came the sound of growling.
Swinging away from the wall, I peered in through the window. All three hounds were visible, having gone into physical form to attack Silas. One of them already had Silas's ankle in his teeth. Another struck as I watched, jumping onto Silas to take him to the floor. As that happened, Gage shifted back into his man's body and ran to open the window.
“The manacles, Indie!” Gage said as he reached out.
But before I could hand them to him, light blinded me, bursting from Silas's body to send Garret and Gideon tumbling away. Since Silas had been on the floor he only slid a few feet backward, stopped by a table leg. Then he cursed and jumped to his feet.
Only Garret remained unaffected by the light show, his back turned on it. He spun and jumped onto Silas, taking him back to the ground. The two of them rolled and wrestled, Gage trying to bring Silas to the window where I waited with the manacles. Silas lashed out with magic, but whatever he used, it didn't seem to affect Garret. Then, as they passed a couch, he grabbed something off the cushion—a gun.
“Garret!” I shouted and threw the manacles at Silas's head.
