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“But the important thing to remember is that you cameback.And it wasn’t Pritkin—any part of him—or Mircea who did that; it was you.You standing there with all the power in the world, or at least enough to get clean away before the god brigade showed up, yet you stayed.Like an idiot, you stayed,” he amended because this was Billy.“And risked your life to save Asshole and Company from the results of their own folly.

“I’d have expected nothing less.Cause you’re Cassie Palmer, and you may go down one day, but it won’t be like a little bitch, crying in a car.It won’t be to one of the morons waiting in that city and probably pissing their godly pants right now.It won’t be running away because you’re too scared to be who you were born to be and to do what you were born to do.

“No.It won’t be that way at all.Now, will it?”

I blinked at him through yet more tears because that’s all I seemed to do anymore—cry.“Pritkin said the same thing, more or less,” I whispered.“But—”

“But it didn’t hit the same way, coming from him.”Billy nodded.“Understandable.”

“Why understandable?”

“He’s just the toy boy.I’m the real man in your life.”

I rolled my eyes.“He isn’t a—”

“Sure.And if he didn’t have all those muscles and, uh, other things, and those incubus moves—”

“That’s enough!”

“—would you still be hanging around Mr.Moody Pants?Oh, Billy, his eyes are soooo dreamy—”

“I never said that!”

“You didn’t have to.You get all cow-eyed.It’s honestly embarrassing.I’m embarrassed for you—”

“Goddamnit!”

This is so bizarre, Bodil said to someone else.

What is?Enid asked, her voice echoing distantly in my head.Did you find her?What is she doing?

Arguing with a dead man.

What?

“Get out of my head!”I told her angrily.

“So, what happened to the prizefighter?”Hansen asked.

“Oh, him.”Billy shrugged.“Like I said, he won.Turns out the ritual was just something he’d convinced himself he needed ‘cause, I don’t know, he’d been punched in the head one too many times and thought it was a requirement.When the only real requirement was for him toget off his assand go do what heknew how to do better than just about anybody else—”

“I said I got it, okay?”I snapped.

I hope so.We’re supposed to be leaving in less than an hour, Bodil commented, causing my blood pressure to rise precipitously.

“I’ll be back in a minute and get out of my goddamned head!”I snarled and felt the connection finally drop.

“Willyou be going back?”Billy asked archly as I climbed to my feet, feeling cold, sore, grumpy, and faintly stupid.

“Yes!”

“Good.Then we can talk about what I came here to talk about, but was interrupted by the angst-fest.”

“Are you going to tell her about the army?”Hansen asked breathlessly, or maybe he always sounded like that.

Then his words sank in.

“What army?”I demanded, looking back and forth between the two of them.