Page 116 of Red Demon

“We need to plan the wording on the anti-SBO message carefully; ensure people trust it,” Telesilla said a while later.

“Perhaps we pick someone credible and announce that they endorsed it?” Mira said.

Hums of disagreements from Soren and Ash.

“Who else do you want to kill?” Soren’s voice was low and measured.

Crickets chirped, and children laughed in the nearby trees. I exchanged a confused glance with Asher. Mira, however, seemed to understand where he was going with this.

“If you give someone credit for this—generosity,” Soren explained, “General Alexander may not believe them when they say they weren’t involved in our hack. He’s not known for his patience. He’ll hunt them down. So, who do you want to kill?”

“No one. I’m trying to prevent more suffering,” Mira said, her voice firm.

“Perhaps we are overthinking it,” Asher said. “It only takes a few people to try it and confirm the mod works. Even with no name attached, word will spread.”

Soren shook his head in disagreement. “Not everywhere.”

Telesilla nodded. “Tomorrow. We’ll sleep on this and discuss more then.” She scanned the group. “But we must strike in two days, before Mahakal’s ultimatum, before the General’s ships arrive.”

We nodded.

“Our network is willing to host you here. There are rooms above the tea shop.” Telesilla eyed Mira and Ash, no space between their thighs on their moss settee, and then flicked her gaze at Faruhar and me. “Two rooms are sufficient, I assume?”

“Thank you,” Mira said, when the rest of us delayed.

Chapter 47

Yield

It had been almost two weeks since Faruhar and I had been alone together.

In the inn above the tea shop, I opened an oak door to see a bed more luxurious than any I’d ever slept in—huge, with a thick down comforter and way too many pillows. Across the room was a large stone bathtub big enough for two, with no curtain to shield it from the rest of the area. I froze just inside that door, wondering how that night would end, studying her for any clues as to how she wanted tonight to end. Faruhar could have asked for another room. She didn’t. Heat crept up my neck.

She stood by the sink, her back to me, running water. “Not the hospitality I expected from the Underground.” She went back to washing her face with a sigh.

Wondering if she wanted privacy to wash anything else, and too pigeonshit to ask, I told her I was going to go downstairs to ask about towels.

There were enough towels.

Just outside, I pinched my eyes tight, considering banging my head on the wall to clear my thoughts. I concluded Faruhar would hear that if I did.

A woman cleared her throat.

I opened my eyes to find Mira watching me with a blushing smile. Relief washed over me, a lifeline thrown into the churning sea of whatever the fuck my brain was swimming in.

“Jesse,” she said, a small bag in her hand. “I … I’m glad I caught you. Ash told me not to meddle, but prepare yourself for meddling.”

She pulled a small vial from that bag, her eyes darting between me and the closed door to my room.

I took the vial, its smooth glass cool in my palm. A label with typed script read “Silphium Y.” My eyebrows shot up. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Probably.” She bit her lip. “Shuts down fertility until you’re ready to make Galen proud. I suspect he already picked out names for all your future children in his head.”

A huff of laughter escaped me, then an incoherent sound. I shook my head, gesturing back at the room. “She doesn’t… She hasn’t…”

Mira’s lips twitched, and she covered her smile with her hand. “It takes twenty minutes to be functional.”

My cheeks burned. With a sigh, I uncorked the vial and downed the potion in one gulp, my thoughts as murky as it tasted.