She sighed. “There must be a way around it.”
I agreed. “I’m adding ‘find a way to imprison him or incapacitate him forever’ to my to-do list.”
Harley’s lip quirked. “How long is this to-do list?”
I stuck up my pointer finger. “Help boyfriend separate from his hellhound beast so I can kill it, and then Cael will have a chance to give him Lumen powers.” And just hoping that Gage had already dealt with whatever guilt had prevented Cael from gifting him with abilities before.
Middle finger. “Free souls Apollyon has trapped in the Netherworld and send them back to Tartarus where they belong.”
I stuck up my next finger. “Destroy Netherworld, which coincidently I think will happen once we release the souls.”
“We?” she said.
I nodded again and put up my pinky. “And then imprison Psycho Daddy for eternity.”
“Dayum, girl, that’s a lot of weight to carry. Do you want to go for a drink?”
I chuckled. “I don’t drink.”
She shrugged. “Me neither. Makes me feel sick. But seems like a good time to take it up.”
Was it just me or were we, like, bonding?
Harley must have felt it too because she stiffened. “Anyway, I’ve got a hotel across the street, I’ve been hunkered down there for almost two weeks coming to terms with everything and working up the nerve to come tell you all this. I’m tired, so I should hit the hay and we can talk more about this plan tomorrow.”
I frowned. She’d been right across the street this entire time? I wish she’d have come to me sooner.
“No, you should stay here. I’m sure Aurelia would be okay with it once I explain—”
“I’m kind of a lone wolf,” she said, but I could see something else just beneath the surface, a hint of sadness that made me wonder if she was that way by choice, or out of necessity. “I’ll keep the bracelet and meet up with you tomorrow?”
“Okay,” I said, realizing Harley needed her space. “We can brainstorm ideas for imprisoning Apollyon then.”
With a curt nod, she stepped away from the bed and crossed the room. When she got to the door handle, her hand stilled on it.
“Thanks for coming and looking for me once you heard Apollyon was after me. It was cool of you,” she said, and then opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind her.
A smile tugged at my lips. For Harley, she might as well have hugged me. Our, dare I say “friendship,” had taken a huge turn for the better, and if I weren’t such a nervous wreck about Gage, I might actually enjoy it.
Dash and Jacob burst into the room and Dash’s gaze raked over me and then fell to the light weapon on the dresser.
“No bloodshed. We have a truce,” I told them.
“I don’t trust her,” Dash grumbled.
“I think I’m in love with her,” Jacob said, and I snort-laughed.
Dash cast Jacob a wary glance. “Careful. Women like that will chew you up and spit you out.”
He walked over to his bed and sat down, starting to take off his shoes.
Dang, what girl had broken his heart?
I wrung my hands together as an unwelcome image of Gage being torn to shreds invaded my mind. There was no way I was going to sleep or eat until he was back safely.
“See you tomorrow,” I told them, and left the room.
I didn’t want to bother Drea by pacing all night in our room, so I decided to head to the media room and distract myself by watching some movies until morning. Crossing the courtyard, I made it into the academy building and past the cafeteria. It was quiet this time of night, which normally I would like, but right now being alone was torture. I knew I’d promised Gage I wouldn’t come after him, but what if I could bring Harley into the Netherworld and we could find him and she could… no. Apollyon could find us and kill us both. Harley and I hadn’t trained together. We weren’t ready to face him yet.
