Holy. Freaking. Shit.

I clutched the heavy fabric, wanting to let it go before the numbness spread even farther up my arms, but I was afraid to lift the artifact off the golem in case it returned to life. The Carapace had sucked out its magic, but would that magic return if—

Metal creaked—and the golem plummeted face-first toward the pavement.

Hoshi shimmered out of nowhere and her tiny paws seized the back of my jacket. Weightlessness washed through me and the golem fell away from my legs. It smashed down with a horrific bang, and I landed on its back, my feet touching down so softly they didn’t make a sound on its hollow torso.

With a flick of her long tail, Hoshi let go. My limbs regained their usual weight as she faded away with a silver shimmer.

I looked down. Clutched in my hands was the purple fabric, magic rippling and sparkling off it in spectacular waves, its light washing over everything. As I raised it, the draping fabric fell into its proper shape: an ethereal purple cloak.

“Wow,” I breathed.

“Tori?”

I looked around, belatedly realizing the cacophony of combat had quieted. The only sounds came from the golem limbs scraping on the pavement and the crackling flames spreading through the guild headquarters, the orange light competing with the Carapace’s indigo radiance.

Cautiously approaching, Izzah sheathed her twin knives, her wide eyes on the Carapace. “Celaka, Tori. What is that?”

“Uh, this? It’s … on loan from a friend.” Giving the cloak a shake, I folded it in half, then folded it again. It should’ve taken ages to gather it into a tiny square, but it shrank unnaturally with each fold, and before I knew it, it was an innocuous square again. Shoving it in my pocket, I jumped to the ground.

A faint splash accompanied my landing; dark liquid had leaked from the fallen golem’s joints. Nose wrinkling, I hurried to Izzah. “Is everyone okay?”

“Ya-lah, we all got out of the building, and the rogues were no problem.” She glanced over her shoulder at the final canine golems, lying on their sides, legs scrabbling uselessly for purchase. “It took a few guys to tip them, but we managed it.”

“Good.” I rubbed a hand over my face. The distant sound of sirens was growing louder. “Did someone call MagiPol?”

She nodded. “Agents are on the way. We also have …”

As she trailed off, I followed her gaze. Shane Davila, who I hadn’t glimpsed during the fight, was crouched beside the super-golem, his bare palm pressed to its head. After a long moment, he lifted his hand from the steel and touched the liquid pooled under its torso.

Shifting my weight nervously, I picked my combat belt off the ground. “Robin and I need to get back to our guild.”

“I’ll be in touch as soon as we’re done with MagiPol.” Izzah’s cocoa eyes locked on mine. “We’re the third guild now. You know what that means-lah, right.”

Unease twisted through my gut, and I nodded before hurrying away.

Robin stood at the edge of the parking lot. Her demon was still out of her infernus, standing passively with a blank expression as she fussed over his hand. Her fingers were smeared with the dark blood leaking from his split knuckles.

“I don’t think it’s broken,” she mumbled, gently prodding the back of his hand. “The bones seem solid.”

Joining them, I frowned. I’d never seen a demon contractor show the slightest concern for their demon’s wellbeing. Fenton, the Keys contractor, hadn’t batted an eye when his demon had been gored half to death. He’d been angry that it couldn’t get up.

“Can he feel pain?” I asked quietly, remembering the sound of him punching a golem in its steel side. “Demons look so blank all the time, like puppets …”

She glanced at me, then back down at her demon’s bleeding hand. “Yes, they all feel pain, contracted or not.”

Not wanting to think too hard about that, I brushed the dust off my pants. “We need to go. We have to get back to the Crow and Hammer.”

She released her demon’s hand. “We do?”

“You should come with me. We might need you.”

“Why?”

My anxious gaze flicked to the massive golem. “Because three combat guilds have been attacked in three days. That means the Crow and Hammer is probably next.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

An hour later, I stood behind the Crow and Hammer bar, not because I wanted to work a shift but because it’s where I felt most in control. Aaron and Ezra sat on stools across from me, their backs to the counter as they watched the rest of the pub.

Voices buzzed in low, terse conversation. I counted over a dozen of our best combat mythics, from mages like Alistair and Laetitia, to sorcerers like Andrew and Gwen, to the telekinetic Drew and telepath Bryce. Another dozen members were non-combats, including Sin, Sabrina, Kaveri, and her boyfriend, Kier.

Tension clung to everyone, unease palpable in the air. With the attack on Odin’s Eye, it didn’t take a genius to figure out the pattern: the rogues were targeting combat guilds.

Our guild was in danger, and we all knew it.

The front door thumped, then swung inward with a jangle of the bell. Zak stepped inside, his villainous coat sweeping behind him, its hood drawn up and the leather shining with raindrops. Every mythic looked at him, but before anyone could freak out, I raised my hand.

“Over here,” I called.

Pushing his hood off, he angled toward me. Dozens of eyes narrowed suspiciously, watching as he passed, but no one demanded to know who I kept inviting into the pub. They probably assumed he was with another guild.

“Well?” I demanded in a whisper as soon as he was close enough to hear it.

“She’s preparing her next move.” He leaned against the bar beside Ezra, “but I wasn’t able to learn more than that. The rogues who’ve joined her have all vanished, and the few I found didn’t know anything.”

I rubbed my hand over my face. “Damn it. So you have no idea where to find her?”

“If I did, I wouldn’t be here chatting about it.” He glanced around. “What’s everyone waiting for?”

“The meeting upstairs to finish.” I braced my elbows on the bar top. “Since we don’t know where to find Varvara, our options are either ditch the guild headquarters and let it get smashed to rubble, or gather everyone who wants to defend it and wait here until they attack.”

He grunted expressively.

“By the way.” I lowered my voice even more. “The Carapace came in pretty handy earlier, but a bunch of mythics saw me use it, including Shane, and I don’t know if they can guess what it is. You should take it back now.”

“Not here. I’ll take it when no one is watching me.”

Which wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. Around half the present mythics were eyeing him, some surreptitiously and some with “I don’t give a shit” boldness.

The conversation rumbling through the pub quieted, and a moment later, a group of mythics descended from the upper level: Darius, followed by Girard, Tabitha, and Felix, his three officers.

Last but not least came Kai and Makiko. After I’d broken the news of the Odin’s Eye attack, Aaron had called Kai. It seemed Makiko was loosening up, as Kai had not only answered his phone, but also convinced her to join forces with the Crow and Hammer. Common enemies and all that.

As Kai and Makiko stopped at the far end of the bar, I scanned the room again. No sign of Robin. She’d gone upstairs nearly thirty minutes ago, and I was surprised she hadn’t returned.

Darius moved to the center of the room, his officers flanking him. As he turned in a slow circle, surveying his guild with somber gray eyes, his gaze caught on my little group.

“I see we have a guest,” he observed.

The guild’s collective attention shifted from Darius to the druid. Zak tensed.

“This is Zak,” I revealed. “He’s a combat alchemist. Very useful.”

Darius smiled pleasantly. “And how do you know Zak?”

His question’s real meaning: Why is he here? Shit. How was I supposed to answer that? My head spun with wild theories, and only one made the slightest bit of sense to my scrambled logic.

“We dated,” I blurted.

Ezra and Aaron jerked as if Kai had zapped them, while the electramage stared at me. Zak’s mouth thinned but he refrained from shooting me any “you’re an idiot” looks, which I probably deserved, considering he’d specifically told me this cover story didn’t work.

“It was just a fling,” I added hastily. “Like, two weeks.” I’d spent two weeks at his farm, so it wasn’t that much of a stretch? Okay, it was a stretch. “Anyway,” I rushed on, flapping one hand, “he’s got contacts around here that I asked him to check out.”

“Did you learn anything interesting, Zak?”

Cool green eyes met equally cool gray ones.

“Nothing that can help your guild,” the druid rumbled.

“Hmm.” Darius’s smile widened unexpectedly, then he turned to the rest of the room. “We’re facing a dangerous situation.”

A shiver prickled my spine as I stared at the GM. That knowing smile. What … Oh.

Zak’s voice.

Those deep, distinctive raspy tones. After my kidnapping and abrupt return from the Ghost’s clutches, Darius had briefly spoken to a mysterious stranger on the phone—a stranger who sounded just like Zak.

As I hyperventilated over what Darius might’ve figured out, he continued somberly, “Here’s what we know. The dark-arts sorceress, Varvara Nikolaev, is currently active in the city. She’s recruited a large group of unattached rogues and is striking at combat guilds in the downtown area. Last night, she also attacked MiraCo, which some of you may recognize as an offshoot of the Yamada Syndicate, an international guild.”

Curious gazes darted to Kai and Makiko.

“The Yamada Syndicate is known for dabbling on both sides of the law, and to Varvara, they’re competition.” He tilted his head toward Kai and Makiko. “Miss Miura is the acting GM of MiraCo and has shared what she knows of Varvara’s activities.