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But then, when had one of my plans ever worked?

I saw Mircea shake his head slightly at me before I could admit to anything, and yeah.Telling Jonas that we still didn’t have full control would not be wise.But then, actually losing it would definitely not be!

Which was number 872 of the reasons why I was miserable.I didn’t like keeping things from an ally, especially not when he was offering to take the brunt of an attack by a few hundred gods on him and his men.Damn it, we had to hold it together.

Ihad to!

“Cassie will be fine; you have my word,” Mircea said.

“Yes, and the word of a master vampire is so reassuring to me,” Jonas retorted spitefully.But I guessed he didn’t have a better idea, and we were out of time.So it was agreed.

The different groups—Corpsmen, dark mages of all descriptions, witches, and the demons under Rosier’s control—would make a dozen assaults along different sections of the city’s perimeter, not giving the gods any idea which group I might be in and forcing them to divide to conquer.Our forces would use every trick in the book to kill, maim, trap, or otherwise seriously inconvenience the trash that would initially be thrown at them, forcing those with more of a mind to have to get off their godly asses and do some work.

It wasn’t mentioned that, once that happened, I would have a very limited window in which to reach my objective because that kind of opponent...well.Our forces wouldn’t last long against them.Not long at all.

This is it, I thought blankly.If we failed, there wouldn’t be a second chance.I had to reach Rhea and hope against hope that she had a way to help us, or else the only other choice would be to go hunting.And without Pritkin’s incubus, getting enough power to take even me back in time was likely to drive me completely mad.

I wouldn’t care about what happened to everyone after that.I wouldn’t care about anything but the hunger.And gaining enough power to meet Zeus head-on when he returned, and fight to unseat and replace him.

And if I succeeded, to become even more of a monster than he had ever—

“Cassie.”

I realized that I’d moved without realizing it, away from the knot of leaders and off to one side.They were still close enough that keen ears, or ones helped by a convenient spell, could overhear us, and Pritkin did nothing to interfere with that, possibly because a silence spell would have raised suspicion.And because he didn’t need it.

He, Mircea, and I had already said everything there was to say back in town and knew this was the only plan.I was just losing it at the last minute, and I couldn’t do that.I had to project strength even if I didn’t have any left, had to look confident even if I didn’t feel it, had to bePythiainstead of the scared, overwhelmed girl I’d once been.

I already know, I thought, looking up at him angrily.

And was enfolded in arms that were everything I needed right then.Mircea was there, too, standing off to one side and gazing at me with a confidence I completely lacked.Our small group of fey was also drifting over and towing a dazed-looking Alphonse along with them.

And finally, one more addition: Zara, sweeping down the incline to where my little group stood and getting in my face.

“I know,” she told me, low and even.“If anyone ever has, Iknow.It doesn’t matter, do you understand?What that old fool thinks, what anyone says, none of it.You have this responsibility and you alone, andyou can handle this.If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s don’t underestimate a witch with her back to the wall.And whatever else you may be, you are a witch, Cassie Palmer, and a good one.

“Go in there and prove it.

“She’s waiting.”

And yes, she was.Rhea was waiting, and she couldn’t come to me.I had to go to her, and there was only one way to do that.

“Come closer,” I told them, and the group moved in.And to my surprise, that included Zara and her little knot of witches.

“We’re coming,” she told me stubbornly.“The others know what to do; the war party has waited for this, lived and breathed and dreamed about nothing else for years.But I’m doing whatI’vedone for years and protecting my coven.”

“But...I’m not your coven,” I whispered.

“If you’re not after all this, I don’t know who is,” Gray Curls said testily.“Now, what’s all this about another path?”

Everyone looked at me.

“Come close,” I told them again.“And stay close.Do not get distracted by anything you see or hear.Stay with me, anddon’t use magic.It’ll only attract them.”

“A-attract who?”Enid said nervously, looking around.

“Ghosts,” I said, and grabbed Hansen.

It wasn’t hard, as he had been right on my ass this whole time, he and a mass of his friends, like a cool, vaguely clammy mist.Not because I was a ghost magnet or because I was Pythia, a human designation that the dead could give a shit about.Not even because Billy Joe had told them to before leaving with a smaller group for the city and Rhea earlier.