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Rome

“ Mr. Snyder?! ” From Kerry’s tone, I guessed he found this as surreal as I did. “What are you doing here?”

“Wanted to check on you. The divs are attacking everywhere.”

The old man shuffled into the room. His light brown eyes darted around as he took in the damage.

“How’d you get out of the Sanctuary during a lockdown?” I asked.

“I wasn’t in it, but that’s a story for later.” Mr. Snyder stuck his hands in his pockets. “Well, come on. Grab your gear. I want to get you somewhere safe.”

“I ain’t going back to the Sanctuary and you can’t make me!” Kerry snarled.

“I’m not planning to go back myself. At least, not anytime soon.” Mr. Snyder shrugged. “Best we get moving. Quick as you can.”

“How do we know we can trust you? If it was just me and Rome, it wouldn’t be an issue, but we have others with us. People who are vulnerable.”

“Hank and Gina told me you were here. You trust them, right? Call the outpost and have an Examiner sent here if you want, or have your friend John Morgen meet us somewhere. He can tell if I’m lying.”

Kerry and I looked at each other. I knew what he was thinking. We were out of options for safe places, and we could ask Josef for an Examiner or send for John. If it was a ploy to deceive us, it wasn’t a good one.

The next thing I knew, Kerry flicked his eyes on and was looking the man over.

Smart move. Even if it isn’t as effective as a messenger’s skill, he can probably pick up at least a general sense if something’s wrong.

“Well, I don’t see anything dark like I did when Travis was enthralled, and I don’t smell anything, either.” He blinked his eyes off and stared at Mr. Snyder for several tense moments. “All right. We’ll trust you for now, but if you betray us, I will kill you and take my time doing it.”

Kerry laced his voice with a little power, which made my heart stutter and it wasn’t even directed at me. Mr. Snyder looked like he might have a stroke.

“Fair enough.” The old man nodded frantically. “Let’s pack up and get under cover, hmm?”

#

Mira

I got Lilas to sleep and had gone into my room to clean up when Kerry and Rome came storming in.

Well, Kerry stormed. Rome strode in with a distracted look on his face.

“Can anything else go wrong?!” Kerry thundered. “I don’t need anyone else getting in my way, but now, here I am, saddled with an old man! I was already saddled with—”

I didn’t know what was going on, but I was not in the mood for another one of his tantrums.

“ Us?” I snarled. “You know, we are trying to help you, right? You can’t even be grateful for that?”

“I was gonna say a kid. Meaning Lilad.” Kerry scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Look, I admit that at first I thought I should ditch you all and go it alone. Ever since I was little, I’ve only had myself to rely on and no one I could trust. It’s hard to change that way of thinking in a few months. ”

I understood what he was talking about, but it still hurt that he thought of us as burdens.

“But I am grateful to have you all here,” he went on. “Your support means more to me than I can explain.”

“Good. I’m glad you realize that.” I shot him a narrow-eyed glare. “Now what is going on?”

Rome explained, and I frowned.

“Can we afford to trust he’s telling the truth? For example, how did he find us?”

“The Bishops told him where we were.” Rome came closer and took my hand. “There’s no way he’s the traitor. He is not physically capable of jaunting about as much as the traitor must be doing. You’ll see when you meet him.”

“He could be working for or with the traitor.” I squeezed his hand and looked up at him.

“Anything’s possible,” he agreed.

“We don’t have much choice. We need a base, and it has to be safe for Lilas. We need to find out what happened to Hank and Gina and meet up with Jax and Gigi and—”

Kerry interrupted himself with a string of curses.

“Rome, check in with Spin and Chance! I forgot all about them.”

Rome immediately pulled out his phone. Kerry dropped onto the edge of my bed, bowed his head, and dug his fingers into his hair. I gave Rome a look that he must have interpreted correctly; he nodded before going into my bathroom to make his call.

I sat next to Kerry as he rocked back and forth. His breathing became harsher and his body trembled. I wanted to hug him, but that probably wasn’t healthy.

Should I go get Gemma’s backpack? I don’t want to get my scent on it, but it would calm him down.

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re gonna figure this all out,” I told him. “If your teacher ends up being a bad guy, we’ll take care of it, okay? Don’t stress so much about it.”

He buried his face in his hands and rocked faster.

“I want my girl,” he whimpered. “Please. Please. I just want my angel!”

Sudden tears burned my eyes. If there was anything I could do to end his misery, I’d do it in a second, no matter the cost.

“Kerry, I’m going to put my arm around you.”

He didn’t respond, so I hugged him around his shoulders and pulled him closer. He tensed up for a second, then melted against me. His face still in his hands, he folded over, laid his head in my lap, and wept.

“I’ve got you, Kerry. Go ahead and cry.”

Holding him as tight as I could, I ignored the tears streaming down my own face.

#

Mr. Snyder reminded me of a bloodhound with his wrinkled face and droopy, tired eyes. I saw right away what Rome meant when he said the teacher wasn’t physically able to be our traitor. The man was pale, gaunt, and shaky.

He took us to an ordinary-looking house in the Bronx. After we had Lilas settled in a bedroom, we gathered around the kitchen table and started asking questions. Kerry went first.

“So why were you out of the Sanctuary?”

“Someone accused me of being the turncoat. The Council was planning to call me for questioning. Things weren’t going through the proper channels, though. That, combined with some other things, gave me the sense that I was being set up.”

“Who would do that to you?” Kerry asked.

“I’m 431 years old. I’ve had some time to make enemies.” The old man spread his hands out and smiled. “Anyway, Clem sent word that wardens were coming for me, so I skedaddled.”

“An Examiner would have seen the truth,” Rome pointed out.

“What’s an Examiner?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“My dear boy, do you really think I would have lived long enough to stand before one? In the current charged climate?” He clasped his hands and his eyes went far away.

“I’ve lived through a few witch hunts. I remember the mob mentality and the hysteria, and the Sanctuary has the same feel right now.

I’d have been executed. Oh, they might have called it an accident or suicide, but that’s the order Henry Gaines would have given his dogs. ”

“Henry who ?” Kerry’s face screwed up in frustration.

“Gaines. The president of the Council of Wardens. Level seven wrangler and a second,” Rome rattled off.

“Henry has a secret.” Mr. Snyder dropped his eyes to his rough, wrinkled hands. “I had the misfortune of discovering it a few weeks ago, and I am convinced that’s why he was so quick to brand me the traitor without the benefit of a trial or an examination of the evidence.”

“What’s the secret?” Kerry asked right as Rome said, “That’s illegal.”

“I’m not going to tell you , and I know it is.”

“Isn’t he more likely to be the traitor then? Mr. Gaines, I mean.” I looked from Mr. Snyder to the boys.

“Maybe.” Rome shrugged. “We’ll get our Sanctuary-based team to look into that.”

I nodded. That would be a good job for Tara and the others, since they seemed to have hit a wall with their current assignments.

“Well, Mr. Snyder, you’ve got yourself into a mess.” Kerry drummed his fingers on the table. “I guess you could always contact the International Council. ’Course, they might send in a Purifier if there’s corruption among the Council members.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Rome muttered.

“What’s a Purifier?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you later.”

“I’m not joking.” Kerry looked puzzled that Rome thought he was.

“You don’t seem too concerned about this.” I raised an eyebrow at Mr. Snyder.

“As I told you, I am an old, old man. Death isn’t so fearful when you’re as close to it as I am. However, I’d prefer not to leave this world with a sullied reputation because someone has set me up to hide their wrongdoing.”

“Well, what are you doing to clear your good name?” Kerry asked.

“Nothing. Helene Chapman and August Richter are dealing with it back at the Sanctuary. Clem’s helping, too, as he can.”

“Why not tell the truth to the world about Henry Gaines?” I asked. “If it is such a dangerous secret, getting it out in the open would switch the target from your back to his, right?”

“It’s … a delicate situation,” Mr. Snyder replied. “At this point, the best thing I can do is trust my friends to see it through on my behalf.”

After another half hour of talking, we called it a day. We were all exhausted and emotionally drained, Kerry especially. As the others went to their individual rooms, I followed Rome into his to get a few more answers.

“Okay, it’s later. What’s an Examiner?”

He ignored my question to ask his own.

“Could I please hold you for a little bit? It’s okay if you need to say no.”

I didn’t hesitate. In his arms was right where I wanted to be. He wrapped me up tight and nuzzled his nose into my neck. His rough stubble scraped my sensitive skin, and I shivered. He knew what he was doing, too, because he chuckled and pressed his lips to my throat.

Then he took a deep breath through his nose like he was smelling me.

“Stop that,” I whined. “I haven’t had a shower yet. I probably smell like div ichor and sweat and Hinge dust.”

“You smell amazing , baby girl.” His lips brushed against my skin with every word, making goosebumps pop up everywhere. “An Examiner is a messenger who can not only tell if you are being truthful, but also see any form of taint on your soul. The Council uses them during trials and investigations.”

“Handy.” I slid my hands up his back and gripped his shoulders. “While we’re talking about probably taboo subjects, tell me what a Purifier is.”

“It’s not a taboo subject, just a scary one.”

My eyebrows flew up. I’d seen Rome take on djinn, stare down nephs, kill rivens, fight divs, square up with sheba, battle giants, and deal with Kerry’s meltdowns all without so much as blinking.

“Purifiers are sent in to clean house. They leave nothing alive,” he explained with his face still tucked into my throat.

“So they’re what? Exterminators? Only instead of roaches and rats, they exterminate nephs?”

“They exterminate everything evil or corrupt, baby girl, right down to the roaches and the rats. You’ve heard of Sodom and Gomorrah, right?”

I blinked. What kind of people had I gotten involved with?

Rome finally raised his head and stared into my eyes.

“I didn’t get to ask before, but are you okay? After the peris left, I saw you with the kids and thought everything was all right, which is why I went out to check on Kerry instead of you three. When we came back in and I saw Lilas—”

His body turned to iron against mine and his jaw clenched. After a few seconds, he continued.

“You’d tell me, wouldn’t you, baby girl? You’d tell me if you were hurt?”

“Sure, I would. Just like you told me you had busted ribs from a behemoth attack.” My smile was wide and sparkly.

“Jeez, Mira! Just answer me! Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I relented with a real smile this time. “Just a bruise on my chin. Well, and one on my heart, too. Poor Hinge.”

“I know. That was one of the most heart-wrenching things I’ve ever seen.”

I laid my head on his chest and tightened my arms around his waist.

“I wanted to say thank you,” I murmured. “You earned a lotta points today. For trusting me. For knowing I can handle myself in a fight. For not getting yourself killed trying to protect me.”

“You’re welcome, baby girl. You were hot, by the way, taking on those divs.” A chuckle rumbled through his chest. “I never guessed I’d get turned on by a woman swinging a giant hammer in a fight.”

I hid my burning cheeks in his shirt.

“Mira, can I have a kiss—”

The door burst open and Kerry rushed into the room with his phone held in front of him.

“Missed a lot of calls from Hank and Jax,” he said. “Stop that and tell me what these messages say.”

He shoved the phone in Rome’s face, and I bit my lips as my man’s eyes glowed with aggravation.

“Later,” I whispered in his ear.

That made his eyes light up with something else entirely, and I giggled.

“Come on!” Kerry demanded. “Untangle yourselves from each other and read these.”

“All right, all right!” Rome released me and took the phone. “Mine’s probably been blowing up, too, but I have it muted.”

As Rome silently went through the messages, I sat on the bed, took off my boots, and wiggled my toes. I wanted to go get a shower, but now I was too curious about what had happened with the others and didn’t want to wait even fifteen minutes to find out.

“Okay. Hank, Jax, and Gigi got caught up in the divs’ attack on St. Pat’s and pitched in with the Huskarls to fend them off.”

He read in silence for a few minutes, then picked up his summary.

“When Gina ’ported over there with Lilas, a div broke her arm and some ribs. That’s why Gina brought Lilas back and dropped her off with us. She went back to St. Pat’s to help and get healed afterwards. They’re all fine, and no casualties among the Huskarls.”

Rome looked up at Kerry.

“What do you want me to text back?”

“Say we’re with Mr. Snyder at a place he says is safe. Tell them we lost Hinge, but the rest of us are okay. Are they still at St. Pat’s?”

“Yeah. Hank says they’re staying the night.”

“Tell him we’ll meet up with them there first thing tomorrow morning. Right now, we all need to catch some sleep.”

“Got it. I’ll copy Jax, Spin, and Chance, too, just to keep everyone in the loop. Want me to let the Sanctuary team know?”

“Tomorrow.” Kerry waved one hand. “Ain’t nothing any of them can do about it but worry.”

While Rome typed out the message and Kerry paced, I stood up and grabbed my boots.

“I’m going to shower now,” I told Rome’s bent head. “Come tuck me in later, Sir Serious, and I’ll give you what you asked for.”

Seeing the tops of his ears turn bright red, I grinned, threw Kerry a wink, and skipped out of the room.