“Yeah,” Dec muttered. “But even with the cameras hacked, our plans haven’t exactly turned out great lately. Ask Cormac how well our last big adventure went.”
The words pelted Tharion like stones. The memory of the Fae Prince immolating himself slammed into him. A flash, and Cormac was dead—
“It only failed because Rigelus knew they were coming,” the Hind said, not unkindly. “Celestina sold them out.”
Shock rippled through the room. But Marc murmured to Declan, “I told you: Archangels are creeps.”
Flynn threw up his hands. “Am I the only one who feels like they’re on a bad acid trip?”
Tharion scrubbed at his face. “I’m still on one, I think.” Flynn snorted, but Tharion mastered himself, clearing his throat before saying to the Hind, “Allow me to clarify a few things: You are the Asteri’s most skilled interrogator and spy-breaker. You and your dreadwolves tormented us nonstop not so long ago, in this very city. You are, not to put too fine a point on it, pretty much the soul of evil. Yet you’re asking us to help you free our friends. And you expect us not to be suspicious?”
She surveyed them all for a long moment, and Tharion had the good sense to sit down before she said evenly, “I’m Agent Daybright.”
“Bullshit,” Flynn spat, angling his gun at her again.
Daybright, who was high up in the Asteri’s innermost circles. Daybright, who knew of their plans before the Asteri ever acted. Daybright, the most vital link in the rebels’ information chain …
“She smells like Ruhn,” Ithan murmured. They all blinked at him. The wolf sniffed again. “Just barely. Smell her—it’s there.”
To Tharion’s shock, a bit of color stained the Hind’s cheeks. “He and I …”
“Don’t for one fucking second believe this,” Flynn snapped. “She probably rolled around in his blood in the dungeons.”
Her teeth flashed in a snarl, the first hint of a crack in that cool exterior. “I would never hurt him. Everything I’ve done recently, everything I’m doing now, has been to keep Ruhn alive. Do you know how hard it is to keep Pollux at bay? To convince him to go slow? Do you have any idea what that’s like?” She screamed the last part at Flynn, who backed away a step. The Hind heaved a breath, shaking. “I need to get him out. If you don’t help me, then his death is on you. And I will destroy you, Tristan Flynn.”
Flynn slowly shook his head, confusion and disbelief stark on his face.
The Hind turned to Tharion, and he withstood her blazing look. “I made sure the Depth Charger was there to pick you up after Agent Silverbow sacrificed himself, trying to bring the Asteri down with him; I filled Commander Sendes in about Ruhn and Athalar and Baxian being captured, and Bryce going missing. I’m the one who’s kept Rigelus off your scent, kept the Asteri from killing anyone who has ever meant anything to Ruhn, Bryce, or Athalar.”
“Or you’re the one,” Tharion said, “who got the information out of the real Agent Daybright and are here to entrap us, too.”
“Believe what you want,” the Hind said, and true exhaustion slumped her shoulders. For a heartbeat, Tharion pitied her. “But in three days, I am going to free them. And I will fail if I don’t have your help.”
“Even if we believe you,” Declan said, “we have families who the Asteri would kill without a thought. People we love.”
“Then use this time to get them into hiding. But the more people who know, the more likely we will be discovered.”
“You can’t be fucking serious,” Flynn said to Declan. “You’re trusting this monster?”
Declan met the Hind’s eyes, and Tharion knew he was weighing whatever he found there. “It makes sense, Flynn. Everything Ruhn told us about Daybright … it adds up.”
“Does Ruhn know what you are?” Flynn spat.
Lidia ignored him, and instead looked to Tharion. “I need you, too, Ketos.”
Tharion shrugged with a nonchalance he didn’t feel. “Unfortunately, I can’t leave the building.”
“Find a way out. I need you to be my ally and advocate on the Depth Charger after we have completed the rescue.”
Holstrom said, “The Viper Queen’s apparently your drug dealer—why don’t you ask her to let Tharion go?”
Lidia held his stare with a dominance that belied her deer-shifter heritage. “Why don’t you, Ithan Holstrom?”