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“Come alone.” She hung up.

—

Loren was far too aware of how much time was passing as she walked through the tunnels below the city.

About a dozen of the imperator’s men surrounded her, Klay at her right. She hoped she would be in and out of Spirit quickly enough to meet Darien, to not cause a delay in showing him what was going on by not meeting up with him on time.

She did her best to keep her breathing steady as she walked through the dimly lit space, past men armed to the teeth. There had to be at least a hundred of them down here. The overspray from the waterfalls misted her face and dampened her clothes.

When she caught sight of the person waiting near the entrance into Spirit Terra, she froze. One of the men guarding her nudged her in the back with his gun. But her feet wouldn’t move, and she couldn’t tear her startled gaze from the man standing near the imperator.

The golden hair struck through with silver. The ocean-blue eyes, the rich shade so similar to her own. The way he constantly had trouble looking at her, as if he spent every day of his life in shame.

“What is this?” Loren managed to say, pinning the imperator in place with a look that could cut. “Why have you brought him here?”

The imperator stepped forward. “Motivation,” he said simply. “Our options were to either bring your father here, or to bring Darien. And something tells me this is the decision you would prefer.”

Loren bared her teeth. Her next words were shouts that echoed. “You promised to not involve anyone I care about!”

“You’re right,” Quinton began. “But you’re not accomplishing our mission quickly enough, Loren. Your father is here to serve as a reminder of what will happen if you try to step out of line.”

Erasmus spoke up. “I’m also h-here to help you, Loren. I know you are trying your best to learn how to use your magic—”

Loren interrupted, the words she directed at the imperator volleying off the walls. “He doesn’t need to be here to help me, I’ve learned enough on my own—”

“Then perhaps you would be willing to show us,” Quinton said. He gestured to the rippling wall at his back. Was it just her, or was the tear in the Veil getting wider? It was beginning to look less like a doorway and more like a giant, gaping mouth that was tearing at the edges. The wall around it was cracking, and so was the high ceiling, bits of stone scattered across the floor. Quinton finished, “Get ready, and we will bring you to your next task.”

Loren’s eyes flicked to the table. Among the weapons and boxes, there were briefcases. One of those briefcases was wide open, revealing the syringes inside, all of them forming neat rows.

She walked over to the table, dropped her purse and tote bag on the floor, and began to unzip her hoodie.

But she stopped. Glanced around at the guards, the imperator, Klay, her father. Johnathon Kyle wasn’t here today.

“I’m not wearing anything under this,” she lied, gesturing to her hoodie. “Please turn around so I can change.”

Erasmus did so without delay. A few of the men did as well, though their smirks didn’t escape her notice.

Quinton didn’t turn, and neither did his son, their expressions revealing nothing. A few of the guards who were still watching looked far too amused, showing no sign of looking away from her.

She crossed her arms. “The longer we stand here, the more you delay your goal,” she said to Quinton. “Is a little privacy too much to ask? Or are you going to strip me of that too?”

Silence swept through the tunnels, broken up by the rumble of distant thunder in Spirit Terra and the splashing of the waterfalls.

Finally, everyone turned. Even the imperator, though Loren could tell the bastard wasn’t giving her the full amount of privacy she’d asked for, which meant she would have to do this very, very carefully.

Because she had lied. She had a shirt on under the hoodie, and she couldn’t risk the imperator spotting it and wrecking her plan.

Quickly, she crouched before her bag, dug out her rain jacket, and turned to Klay.

“Klay,” she called.

He turned his upper half slightly, eyeing her over his shoulder.

“Will you hold this up for me?” she asked, gesturing to the rain jacket. “Since a few of your father’s men seem to have curious eyes.” She shot a glare at one of them, causing him to turn back around.

Klay stepped up, took the jacket from her, and did as she’d requested, turning his head the other way.

Quickly, she took off the hoodie, pulling it over her head instead of unzipping it. As she pulled it off, she removed her shirt too…