“What does Kumarbis expect is going to happen?” I asked.

Sakhmet said, “The final ritual will destroy Gaius Albinus, Dux Bellorum.”

The first ritual had worked—I knew it had worked. Why shouldn’t the second? And what would be the cost?

Enkidu said, “You say you have met gods. Real gods, not avatars. Chinese, yes? The Monkey King, the Queen Mother of the West.”

“You know some mythology.”

“I’ve read a few books,” he said, with a crooked half smile. The closest thing to a smile I’d seen on him. “Tell me, how is that possible?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Right place at the right time. Or wrong place, depending on how you look at it. But they had power. I believed.” I’d come to believe so much over the last few years, since doing the show and meeting people like Kumarbis. But I couldn’t believe him. Sun Wukong had inspired me. This … this was something else entirely.

Enkidu’s gaze turned downcast, somber. “We’ve lost so much of the power that we had in ancient days.”

Sakhmet added, “Once, long ago, our kind were worshipped as gods. We were revered.”

“If we still had some of that power,” Enkidu said, “Dux Bellorum would not be as strong as he is.”

“And that’s why you’re here?” I asked. “To get back the power of the gods?”

They didn’t answer. They must have known what it sounded like from the outside. But still, they kept on, because … because what else could they do? If they had any hope that these rituals could defeat Roman, or at least give them the power to defeat Roman, they had to stay. That, I understood.

“You can’t do what Zora’s doing—you can’t work that kind of magic that pokes and prods at someone without drawing attention. Scrying, searching—it works both ways. We might have learned something about Roman, but you can bet he learned something about us. If we know where he is, he might also have discovered where we are and what we’re doing, and if he doesn’t, he at least knows that we’re looking for him. If he thinks we’re a threat, he’ll do something about it. He’s been studying magic for two thousand years, and I don’t care if Zora really is channeling Zoroaster, she’s not as powerful as he is.”

“We’re safe here,” Sakhmet said, soothing. “Zora’s put many protections over this place. We’re underground, hidden—”

“Any shield can be broken with enough time and effort,” I said.

“What do you know about magic?” Enkidu shot back.

“Nothing,” I said, a mad grin on my lips. “But I know some great magicians.”

Sakhmet gathered calm to herself, folding her hands before her, closing her eyes. “We will be watchful. I will speak with Zora about it.”

“Will she listen to you?” Enkidu said.

“I’ll speak gently.” The opposite of me, in other words. Giving me a sidelong look, she bowed her head to us and left through the tunnel to find the magician.

Enkidu studied me. The attention felt like a challenge. I was tired of meeting his challenges, but I did, because what choice did I have? I glared until he lowered his gaze. As if he wasn’t aware he’d been staring. He was just like that all the time.

I said, “The next time Zora works a ritual against Roman, he’ll be ready. He’ll strike back at us. We’re waging war, there’s going to be a battle.”

“We have to have faith that her magic will protect us.” The words came rote, without any belief behind them.

Faith. And what was that? “Because that’s what you do when you’re dealing with gods. Have faith. Right?”

“If her magic fails, we have our claws and teeth. We are ready.”

One of the bottles of water Sakhmet had given me sat by the wall of the antechamber. It still had water in it, and I was desperate to wash the smoke and soot off my face and out of my eyes. I could imagine that the coating of grime and smoke I felt on me was really a layer of residual magic clinging to my skin, suffocating me. All the washing in the world wouldn’t get rid of it. But I’d start with my eyes, and I’d take a long, much-needed drink. Since I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I sat on the tunnel’s dusty floor, clutching the bottle of water. When it became clear I wasn’t going to try to flee, Enkidu left me alone to another day of trying to sleep, trying to calm my Wolf, who was anticipating the growing moon and ready to burst.

Can Change, can fight our way out. Yes, we could, I reassured her—myself. But not right now. Antony had thought facing Roman was worth risking his life. I couldn’t do any less.

Chapter 18

SAKHMET AND Enkidu were right, I’d mostly gotten used to the silver, like I’d gotten used to the darkness-induced headache that never really went away.

The couple must have had their own space in the tunnel system, and they could have stuck me in that holding cell, but they didn’t. Sometime later, they returned to the antechamber, as if together we might feel safer. A surrogate pack or pride. Surrogate for me. Enkidu and Sakhmet already had the kind of pack Ben and I had—our pack of two, I used to call it, when we’d first hooked up, before we’d returned to Denver and taken charge of the pack there.

Sakhmet brought a small drum with her, a bowl shape on a stand that tucked under her arm. It must have been one of the drums I’d heard my first day here. The two of them sat together, and she played softly while humming a melody I couldn’t make out. The drumming was slow, off-rhythm, sounding a little like water rushing in a creek. Soothing. Her gaze distant, she seemed to play for her own comfort. To dispel some of the anxiety that had settled over us. Enkidu watched her, smiling vaguely. His arm settled over her shoulders.

It was a lullaby before bedtime. A way to bring peace before trying to sleep. After maybe twenty minutes, she set the drum aside, and the two of them curled up together. Enkidu wrapped his arm around his mate, she nestled against his body, and he nuzzled her head, breathing in her scent and kissing her above her ear. Eyes closed, she smiled, an expression full of calm and pleasure. I got the feeling she didn’t much care what happened, as long as she and Enkidu were together. I’d felt that expression on my own face often enough, when Ben held me like that and kissed me just to kiss me.

I had to stop thinking about it before I started crying.