Jase snagged a water bottle and dropped down beside me. “Why are you asking me? You’re the brains of the operation. I’m mostly here as eye candy and the occasional witty retort, much like Thor in The Avengers.”

“First, Thor is a god--”

“You’re the one who said I’m Jesus.”

“--Secondly, if you’re Thor, then I’m Loki. I don’t really approve of this comparison.”

“Nah. You’re not Loki. Your horns are too small. I’m thinking that role goes to Angel. Can’t you see her trying to take over the world just because she can?”

“The difference between Loki and Angel is Angel would succeed, and probably have three quarters of the world happy she did.” I could already see her sitting on a giant pink throne, issuing out orders. Most of them would have to do with making the world as pretty as possible. As far as absolute rulers go, the world could do a lot worse. “And third, you’re the one who has been getting all buddy-buddy with her over the past nine months. Surely you’ve got a better idea of how her brain works than any of the rest of us.”

“Scout, I’ve known you since I was eight weeks old, and I have no idea how your brain works. What makes you think I figured out Sarvarna’s already?”

I started to put my head on my knees, but then my ribs reminded me why that was a bad idea.

“You know,” Jase said, “I could just call her and ask.”

“That’s quite possibly the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Charlie said, saving me the trouble.

“No, think about it.” Jase tilted forward with excitement. “We can do like those cop shows. Set up a tap. Let the smart people analyze everything she says and the background noise. Trace the call.”

“We don’t have phone tapping equipment, or a team of analysts,” Toby pointed out.

“We’re Shifters, and the full moon is tomorrow night. We don’t need actual phone taps. And Joshua can handle the phone trace, right?”

“I could do it in my sleep.”

“Toby’s a cop,” Talley noted. “He could probably pick up something from a conversation.”

“Hey, I’m not a--”

“And don’t forget about you and Scout and your complete nerdiness.” Jase was literally rubbing his hands together.

“This idea sucks.” I looked to Liam for support. “Tell him he’s being stupid. He never actually listens to me.”

Liam, the traitorous jerk, just shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s worth a try.”

I kept up a running argument against what Jase was calling Operation: Phone Call until the moment we were sitting around the dining room table, a phone in Jase’s hand.

Even knowing Sarvarna possessed normal human hearing, I was afraid to so much as swallow.

“Good afternoon, your majesty.” Jase leaned back in his chair, his posture reflecting the same casual ease as his voice. Beside him, Talley sat stiffly, her hand in his. It was a condition he insisted on, wanting to make certain Talley always knew which part was a show for Sarvarna, and which part was real.

“Jase, dear, I’ve been trying to call you for days. I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

I fought to control my breathing. It was bad enough everyone in the room could hear the way my heart kicked up at the sound of her voice. I relaxed my face, hoping they would interpret the increased heart rate as excitement instead of the fear creeping up my spine.

“How have you been, Sari? How is the renovation of The Den going? Got my room done yet?”

I listened intently to the background noises. She wasn’t alone, although those around her were taking as much care as we were to be quiet. I tried to count how many hearts I could hear, but it was impossible over a loud droning noise.

“The noise in the background, what is it?” I mouthed to Liam.

He cocked his head, listening. Then a hint of panic shot through me. “Airplane,” he mouthed back.

“Your room is very near finished. It makes me sad you will never see it.”

So she wasn’t playing dumb. Good.

“Yeah, well, I guess my priorities have shifted.”

And neither was Jase. Thank goodness. I can only handle so much lying and subterfuge before my head starts hurting.

“I don’t understand,” Sarvarna said. “You could have had so much, yet you align yourself with those who want to destroy our entire society. Why would you do that?”

Toby, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, held up six fingers. Liam shook his head and jerked his thumb up. More than six people on the plane. It was the general impression I was getting, too. Eight was my conservative estimate, though there could have been more, too far away from the phone to be heard.

“The system is broken, Sari. We’ve got to fix it.”

“By declaring war on your race?”

Joshua spun a laptop around. The page looked like some sort of official Homeland Security type thing I did not want to know how he accessed. On it, there was a list of flights. He pointed to two, both of which were private planes taking off from Romania with final destination in the northern part of the United States. One landed in two hours, the other in six. He highlighted the one landing in two hours and wrote “80% probability” on a piece of paper.

“We’re not declaring war. We’re simply seeking a regime change. You could end this all by stepping down and handing over the leadership to someone who deserves it.”

“And whatever makes you think I don’t deserve it?”

You’re an evil, hateful witch?

“You tried to kill my sister.”

Oh, yeah. There’s that, too.

“You know this will end badly for you all, don't you, Jase?”

“I don’t know about that.” Jase met my eyes and smiled. “I’ve got Lilith and Wolf on my side. Something tells me, you’re the one looking at a not-so-happily-ever-after.” And with that, he disconnected the call.

***

“They’ve got eight or more on the plane,” I said as soon as Jase sat the phone on the table.

“And if the Immortal is right…”

“I generally am.”

“…She’s landing in Odom Pack Territory. I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Liam said.