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“My brother will want to see us to gloat. He’ll think he’s won. So I guess we wait for him to show up and hope Leomaris has a plan for that too.”

“Huh . . . Is he nice like you, your brother?” Zander asked.

“No,” Zee replied. “Spyros is worse than frogs. He’s like . . . if Gideon Cain were a frog.”

“Syros,” I corrected. “And he’s the most powerful Lost One this side of the veil, besides me.” Although I didn’t feel very powerful locked behind warded bars.

The bell rang, signaling the end of dinner. It hadn’t been long enough. “Stay strong, my dear.” Victor squeezed my hand again, then got up to leave. “I suspect an end to our troubles is near.”

Zee blew me a kiss and winked. “Tom Collins is an asshole, but when has he ever let us down? I mean, he threatens it, a lot, but he comes through. We’ve got this.”

“Yeah. We do.” I wanted to seem strong, to be confident, and so I smiled in a way I hoped showed that. But inside, my heart ached, especially when I watched them split up and head back to their blocks.

Tom Collins and Agent Leomaris had been working together to lure my brother and our allies here, to me, into a highly warded prison with countless super-powerful Lost Ones. All of whom were reduced to shadows of themselves . . . as my brother would be when he stepped through those prison gates.

Inside these walls we were powerless, vulnerable.

But Syros would be too.

And he’d be alone.

I had Zee and Victor, Wesley, Hooper, and Zander. I was not alone. Hopefully, I also had Leomaris and Tom Collins on the outside.

Could this be my one and only chance to finally end Syros?

All I had to do was not mess it up.

* * *

A few uneventful days passed, made brighter by Zander’s boundless enthusiasm. Tiny cell? Super cozy. Can’t sleep? Zander had a dildo story to pass the time. Who knew the history of dildos was so interesting? Zander knew.

“Stand back from the door,” the automated voice said. It usually signaled exercise time, or time to eat, but we’d already had dinner, and it was getting late.

“What’s going on?” I asked the guard as he snicked on the cuffs and ushered me outside and through the main population, then took a right, using a keycard to unlock a string of doors.

“Special arrangement,” the guard finally said.

We headed outside via a covered walkway, and toward some kind of trailer unit.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Conjugal cabin,” he replied without turning. “Someone pulled strings.”

Conjugal what now?

“Orders from above.” He stopped at a small set of steps that led up to the trailer’s door. “One hour.” He unlocked the cuffs and smirked. “Have fun.”

What the heck did conjugal mean? Was this a trap? Was my brother behind this door? I climbed the steps, grasped the handle, and eased open the door to get a quick look inside. There wasn’t much. A modest room with a bed, a small bathroom, and little else. But I barely cared, because Victor and Zee were inside waiting.

“Kitten!” Zee’s face lit up. His wings too, unlocked and loose behind him.

Victor stood with perfect posture, but relief softened his eyes. “My dear.”

The door closed behind me, the lock clicking into place. “One hour!” the guard repeated, then stomped off.

“What—” I began, but Zee crossed the room in two strides and pulled me into a crushing hug.

“I missed you.” He patted my head, then stroked my hair.