17th December (Wednesday), Late evening

I'd already talked with Sophie about leaving Liora with her on Earth—about how to care for him and what he really needed—and all three of us had agreed it'd be better to let him roam my or Peter's Domain most of the time, spending time with Soph whenever I was around. As much as she adored him, his needs were bigger than what our apartment could offer. Sophie, my girl, took it like a champ.

Lio, on the other hand, dimmed his scales as decisions settled, the vibrant sharpness of his colors fading into soft pastels. I wished he'd react the same way whenever I left him.

Today however, since I was staying on Earth, they were together. Nick was visiting Sophie at our apartment, and she was buried in research, rummaging through the internet to prepare for the tasks she'd set herself as my new right hand and Liora stayed to keep her company.

I, on the other hand, had a different mission. I'd procured leftovers of some of Lebens' magical energy crackers, and now I waited outside the main entrance of Edge of Tomorrow, pretending to be cold so as not to stick out. I'd texted Zoe a few minutes earlier and sat at the bench in their little plaza, reminiscing about the short time I'd spent here as Elle.

Beneath my feet, an entire lab filled with monstrous shadows. Creatures I now realized weren't just mindless manifestations of dreams, myths, or legends—they were alive, aware, and caged. Experimented on. Tortured. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. Should I try to get them out? Or was it a fool's errand, one that would only get me dragged under with them?

I had been taught to be ruthless when it was needed—and I could still be that. I didn't mind. As Peter had helped me realize, not everything Penrose had drilled into me was wrong. Yet it wasn't entirely in my nature to just walk away from those in need when I knew I could help.

I'd done it before. For the policemen chasing a car on the bridge, back when I tried my body-painting for the first time. For the memory boy threatened by Red in the Castle on that same bridge. For Malik, more than once, even when I thought it foolish. I'd run across the world after Jason. And I'd chosen to help the Shattered despite the obvious, glaring differences between us.

Had I always been like this?

Phillip would tell me I'm soft. That compassion is a weight that drags the great down to mediocrity. But truthfully, each time I stepped between the unfortunate and the forces trying to end them, I got hurt—yet I also felt whole. I felt good about myself.

Maybe that's what my way really is. Not ruthlessness for its own sake, but stepping in, even when it costs me.

Acting would require a plan. Charging into that laboratory in a blaze of heroics would end me faster than the operation itself, so—for now—the cruelty had to continue. I'd have to wait until I had both the time and the capacity to do something about it.

Such a cruel world, I thought, just as Zoe Harper appeared, breaking me free from the spiral of my own thoughts.

She'd dressed down for work, as if trying to disappear into the crowd: plain blue jeans tucked into high boots, a long brown coat cinched at the waist, and a bright red scarf under a winter hat. She looked like a typical New York woman on a winter stroll—and yet, as always, people's eyes slid toward her the moment she emerged. Confidence like hers bent the air around it. That constant attention must be exhausting, but she moved as if she didn't even notice.

I stood as she approached and hugged her. She returned it, warmth radiating off her like a charge, and some of my own energy flowed back into me. I half-feared she'd hold Peter's arrest against me.

"Hi, girl," I whispered in her ear as we parted.

"It's good to see you whole, Lex," she murmured back. "I left you on… uncertain terms, back where… you know."

"I'm sorry for not calling. I knew Peter had it covered, and my head's been… full. I'm trying to do better now."

"I can see that." She sat with me on the bench. "I don't have much time. Work's been swallowing me whole. Which was a blessing—I didn't have to think about what happened—but it's wearing me down now."

"That's actually why I came here today. Shocker, I know."

Her eyes flicked to mine. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I usually came to you when I wanted something."

"That can't be true." A faint smile. "I never felt it that way."

"Good to know. I have crackers for you."

I handed her a small lunch box. She accepted it, setting it on her lap, then leveled her icy gaze back at me.

"They're made by Nick's mother," I said. "Eat one when you go back to work. They'll wash away exhaustion better than coffee."

"Seriously?" Her eyes widened.

"Yes. And that's all. I just wanted to see you and give them to you. I'm looking forward to Friday night with you."

"Movie night, right?"

"Mhm."

"Not my favorite thing, but with the right crowd it could work." She winked. "Thank you for the gift, Alexa. And for coming just because. It means a lot."

"You're welcome. I've neglected my friends long enough."

She laughed—a melodic little ripple—and then said, deadpan: "That'd be true if you had any."

I laughed in turn. "True."

But her expression stayed serious, eyes narrowing slightly. "Listen. I wanted to check that thing you gave me, but I couldn't. It had a tracker inside. Would've switched on the moment I plugged it in or turned it on."

"Oh. I forgot about that. What did you do with it?"

"I still have it at home, buried deep. You want it back?"

"Yeah. Maybe I can try it somewhere else, out there. Think the signal would still work?"

"Phones don't, so maybe not. But on the other hand, that's the tech they're working on… so maybe?"

"I'll ask Pete to get it for me next time he's at yours, okay?"

"Sure. Sorry for chickening out."

"No, that's good. That's smart. I'd hate to be the cause of another batch of trouble."

"Alexa, I'll say this only once, and I hope it's the last time. I'm not a sagely type of person, and I hate to preach." Zoe's eyes locked on mine, sharp but not unkind. "Get over yourself, girl. Just because you're part of people's problems doesn't mean you're the cause. Jason's disappearance? That's on him—he's been uneven for a while, and they took him. Peter's arrest? On him too—he decided to protect Jason. Malik's got his own issues, from what I've heard. So far, it looks to me like you're not the root of anyone's problems, but a solution to a lot of them."

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"But—" I tried.

"No buts, girl." She cut me off with a flick of her hand. "I told you I'd only say it once. I know your people skills. I saw you use them in the Castle. Consider yourself one of the people—and figure out what makes you tick."

She stood up.

"It's not as easy when I'm the target," I muttered, following her with my eyes.

"Life's hard. I know." She gave me a small, devastatingly pretty smile over her shoulder and waved. It was almost impossible not to feel better about yourself when Zoe Harper gave you a smile like that.

Only when she vanished into the building, I drifted toward the island's train station at a slow, deliberate pace. My boots scraped through the thin skin of snow clinging stubbornly to the concrete—tiny remnants of winter melting over this monstrous testament to human engineering and ingenuity.

I thumbed Thomas's contact on my phone and listened to the beeps echo softly against the cavernous station. Night already. If not now, I might miss my chance, and something in me said this couldn't wait.

The beeping cut off, and his voice filled the hollow space it left behind.

"Alexa?"

"Yes. Could I come now?" I asked, stepping into the underground station and angling toward the restrooms.

"To the car?" he responded. "Yeah, now would be great actually. Give me a few minutes, I'll park somewhere."

"You're driving it?"

"Yes."

"I can come anyway. You don't have to park."

"True. Forgot about it. Come in."

I slipped into a public restroom stall. With one thought, I summoned my spellbook; with another, I steadied myself, focusing on the painted interior of the camper as my anchor.

The world lurched. Momentum twisted inside out. My boots hit the RV's floor and, for a second, gravity tried to throw me forward. My new reflexes—mobility sharpened by shadowlight, agility tuned tighter than before—let me reposition mid-step. I stayed upright without having to grab anything.

The camper, though, had changed. The cozy suburban vibe I remembered was gone. In its place: racks of pistols and assault rifles, boxes of ammunition, matte armor plates stacked like grim puzzle pieces. It was a mobile armory now, smelling of iron, oil, and scorched metal instead of coffee and upholstery.

Up front, Thomas drove steadily down a highway, headlights slicing through the dark as he slipped past slower cars. I thumbed the button to end our call, my mind flicking briefly to the cell towers—how did they even register my jump across space?

"You there?" Thomas asked as I moved toward the passenger seat.

"Were you expecting another mage?" I slid in, fastening my seatbelt.

"To be honest, Alexa, lately I'm expecting the unexpected." His tone was tight, brittle, like someone waiting for a blow.

"What do you mean?" I kept my eyes on the road ahead, the highway a smear of lights and shadows.

"That's why I wanted to talk to you." He exhaled hard, knuckles white on the wheel. "Since Penrose got in bed with this arcane fuckery, he's changed. Considerably."

"I know."

"No, fuck, you don't." He barely took a breath between words. "Excuse my language, but that's the truth. You've got it easy—you can ghost away. I'm stuck with him. It used to be simple, Alexa. A job, a trade, maybe some extortion. Sometimes I took care of the dirtier business, but at least I knew the man above me had principles. Values. As long as I did what was expected, I'd be a wealthy, happy man. Now? Now I don't know what's expected anymore. These past few days have been a rollercoaster. We kidnapped some old woman, gave her away to a corporate bitch. Penrose killed his seer. He sent me to this artificial island to speak with the woman who took the old lady—she tells me we've got nothing she wants. Penrose gets mad. Fucking mad, Alexa. Have you ever seen him furious?"

"No. He's almost always composed, even when he's angry. How did it look?"

"You remember Norah?"

"She worked with you during that bank job?"

"Yeah. I took her to the meeting on the island and later back to Penrose to report. He asked me a question, she answered."

"Oh no."

"Yeah. Normally he'd tear her apart with words, make her feel small, teach her a lesson. But this time? He got angry. So fucking angry he shouted."

"He killed her?"

"Yeah. Beheaded her with a note."

"A note?"

"He turned a hundred-dollar bill into a guillotine. Long, wide, sharp as hell. Beheaded her with Benjamin Franklin."

"Oh. Wow."

"Wow indeed."

"Sorry—bad choice of words."

"No, I get it. It's incredible. But it's unnerving, Alexa, when you know one mistake can get you killed. And he's always playing with a coin or a stack of bills now. His account's so full he's already elevated himself above fucking 1%. I can't keep working for him. I'm looking for an out—like you did."

"Where are you going right now?"

"Boston."

"You're disappearing?"

"What? Are you crazy?" Thomas gave a humorless laugh, eyes locked on the road. "There's no place on Earth I can hide from a man with all the money in the world and then some. If I ditched him, he'd find me and make an example out of me. I'd rather be killed quietly than turned into a spectacle."

"You're running an errand for him, then?"

"Yes. USG's headquarters are in Boston. I'm supposed to meet an archmage there and hand over Penrose's proposal. They don't want to talk on the phone. Apparently there's some rogue archmage on the loose, killing others through his Domain of Calls or something, so they're going old-school for now."

"I could get you into Ideworld, Thomas," I said quietly. "He'd have a much harder time finding you there. It would be more dangerous, though."

Thomas's grip on the wheel tightened. "I don't think anything is scarier to me than that man," he admitted. "But I need to do this delivery first. If I'm about to disappear, I don't want any debts or extra reasons for him to hunt me down. I'll arrange a fake death and vanish after."

"Sounds like a plan," I murmured.

We drove in silence for a while. He never asked me to stay, but I couldn't bring myself to leave him like that—not when he had never left me. I should have seen this, whatever it was, as another ruse of Penrose's, some subtle trap meant to cage me. But I trusted Thomas to be his own man, despite the unwavering loyalty to Phillip he had shown before. I had been like that too, only weeks ago.

My mind drifted toward my own plans, as the highway lights flickered past, one after another, casting us in their brief, passing glow.

"I gotta tell you, man," I started, leaning back against the armrest, "I'm a little insane in the membrane."

Thomas flicked me a sideways glance and nodded. That confirmation made me chuckle.

"As soon as you said 'Guild headquarters,' I wanted to be there with you. Check them out. Why mingle with New York's branch when I can go to the source? Mad, right?"

"Why would you want to do anything with them anyway?"

"I've been thinking about that," I said. "And you know what? I want power and knowledge. I want to learn the deepest secrets of the world. No, scratch that, of the both worlds."

"You think they'll share with you?"

I arched a brow. "Are you kidding?"

"You want to steal it." His tone had no question in it.

"Of course."

He snorted. "How do you even steal someone else's magic?"

"I've learned there are a lot of pieces to making a Domain powerful," I said. "Most of those pieces are tangible. Movable. And I bet that's just the tip of what people in these generational organizations hoard for themselves."

Thomas's mouth twitched. "Maybe your impulse isn't that insane. But on the other hand, those people are probably deadly as hell if they're at the top."

"You think I should go or pass, then?"

"You?"

"Not me as me," I said. "I've decided to dust off Jess Hare as my proxy for dealing with those witches."

"Good choice. She's hot as hell."

I tilted my head. "Are you hitting on me now?" Would I mind it?

"That was just an observation. Based on her hair color and demeanor."

"You're not attracted to me?" I asked quickly, but even before all of the words left my mouth I already knew the answer.

"Alexa," he said, with a small laugh. "You're a beautiful young woman, but you're not my demographic."

The realization clicked into place, fully confirmed. "You're gay."

"Yeah. Gay as fuck." He laughed outright now.

"I can't believe I never noticed before."

"I have another confession to make on the subject of noticing. I have a hard time seeing it's you when you switch personas," no shit Tommy.

I smirked. "We both have blind spots for each other."

"That we do."

"You have anyone special in your life, Thomas?"

"I've had a few flings. Mostly sex. No one I'd drag into my mess."

"Makes dying easier," I murmured.

"Yes. But will Penrose believe it?"

"He could—if we make it right."

Thomas looked at me then, eyes dark and tired. "So you'll help me disappear?"

"From him," I said.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't want you completely gone. I like you. I like working with you. You'd waste yourself hiding in some hole Reality only knows how long. Besides…" he glanced at me, "you didn't really answer my question. Should I go meet those assholes in wizard hats at headquarters?"

"You planned to meet them in New York anyway. If you want, you can come with me."

"Our city's branch wants to keep me on indefinite hold—show me who's boss—before they'll let me meet the big hats. Skipping that step probably won't end well for me."

"I don't see it that way." he leaned back, "If you get leverage at headquarters, they'll have to bend. They're hostile from the start anyway, so you've only got upside."

"If only it were as simple as game theory," I muttered. "It can go wrong on so many levels it's hard to predict. And I know nothing about those people yet."

Thomas smirked faintly. "We'll see then whose people skills are better, then."

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