He grinned. “Come on, I’ll introduce you. Hook you up.”

  I followed him back to the kitchen, not quite sure if I was up for socializing, but then Juice called her name, and Sonia turned, and I blinked in surprise. Whatever I’d been expecting out of the woman who’d managed to hook Juice, it wasn’t her.

  Braids hung like pigtails over each of her shoulders, hair every color of the rainbow in bright, bold hues. Blue, purple, green—it reminded me of Rainbow Brite’s outfit. But the dark, charcoal eyeliner and fitted black leggings and tank gave her an edge that made me decide not to mention the Rainbow Brite thing out loud.

  Sonia was colorful and tough.

  “Babe, this is Gem,” Juice said.

  At the mention of my name, her resting bitch face transformed, and she lit up, smiling at me as she held out a dainty hand with nails painted glittery black. “Oh, hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you. Juice talks about you all the time.”

  “Nice to meet you too,” I told her, intrigued by her whole energy.

  “Juice tells me you’re the best racer he’s ever trained,” she said.

  I laughed. “Juice likes to exaggerate. Especially when he’s taking credit.”

  Her eyes sparkled with affection as she shot him a look. “You’re not wrong. But I also have a feeling your driving skills are badass.”

  “Thanks, maybe when this is all over, we can take a drive sometime.”

  “I’d love that.”

  “Babe, can Gem have a plate?” Juice asked.

  “Oh, sure.” She went to work, a ball of energy that never seemed to stop, as she piled a tray high with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans—the works. “How’s this?” she asked, handing it over.

  “Enough to feed me for a week,” I said.

  “You need to keep up your energy if you’re going to kick Nephilim ass,” she said with an easy smile.

  Her words knocked the cheer from me, though.

  Shit.

  Is that what everyone here thought?

  That I was just swooping in to save them like it was no big deal?

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I managed. “Thanks again.”

  I turned and started for the dining area.

  Behind me, Juice and Sonia said goodbye, and I heard her promise to save us both a slice of her death-by-chocolate cake when it was ready.

  Juice joined me at a table, and I went to work stuffing my face.

  “She didn’t mean to pressure you,” he said finally.

  “She’s good for you,” I said around a mouthful of homemade meatloaf that was damn good. “Lots of energy, doesn’t take shit.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I like that about her.”

  “And she can cook,” I realized after a few bites.

  “Doesn’t hurt,” Juice said, looking pleased with my praise.

  I went back to my food, and we ate in silence for a few minutes.

  “I heard about Adrik,” he said.

  I didn’t answer. What was there to say?

  “I’m here if you want to talk,” he added.

  “Nothing to say. He sacrificed himself for me, and now he’s too weak for me to kick his ass for his stupidity.”

  “Sounds like you love him.”

  I didn’t answer, and Juice let it go, but his words only reminded me what was really at stake here.

  I put down my fork. If there was anyone I could be real with, it was Juice.

  “What if Luca made a mistake?” I said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Me.” I gestured to the half-full room. “All these people think I’m here to save them. Like some knight in shining armor or something. But what the hell am I supposed to do against a Nephilim who, by the way, has the power of two Nephs inside him now?”

  “Didn’t you just cure one of the demons you brought with you?” he asked.

  “That was Raph,” I said, shrugging it off. “All I did was hand her a cocktail of tears and newt’s eye or whatever Emilio added.” I shook my head. “I’m going to let them all down, Juice. No, worse, I’m going to get them all killed. Starting with Adrik.”

  “Luca doesn’t make mistakes.”

  I stared at him, waiting. “That’s all you’ve got?” I demanded.

  Juice stared at me, brows furrowed in thought. “Do you remember your first race?”

  I blinked, shifting to the memory. “Yeah. I’d only had my license two months, and you said no.”

  “I said hell no,” he corrected. His lips twitched. “But then you did it anyway.”

  He shook his head.

  “Carlos distracted you so I could get down to the line without you noticing.” I smiled, remembering how scared I’d been. “God, I almost shit my pants on that first turn.”

  Juice laughed. “So did I. But then, I realized your lines were cleaner than the regulars who’d been driving for years.”

  I appreciated the compliment. Juice never blew smoke.

  “You’re brave as hell, Gem, but more than that, you know how to choose a line and stick it.”

  “Are you saying all I need is a plan? Gee, why didn’t I think of that?”

  “I’m saying your strength is in the follow-through. Always has been. That’s why these people count on you. From the moment you show up, they know you’re going to follow that line all the way to the end.”

  “I hear you, but what kind of plan is there? He’s a Nephilim, Juice. Stronger, better, faster.”

  Juice shook his head. “No one’s faster than the Hawk.”

  He winked, and my comeback died on my lips as his words hit me.

  “No one’s faster,” I repeated slowly, a plan forming.

  It was stupid, reckless, and crazy as hell.

  But the Hawk had never done anything less.

  And Juice was right, my strength was in the speed.

  It was all this sitting around that was getting into my head.

  Juice’s eyes gleamed. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking you’re right and we need to pick our line.”

  Juice clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “Damn straight. What do you have in mind?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  After outlining my idea, I left Juice in charge of rounding up the usual suspects and went in search of Luca. For the first time since coming to the Underground and agreeing to lead, I felt hopeful. Like I might actually be capable of doing something about what we were up against.

  Carlos stood at the top of the stairs, a conspicuous guard dog. Good. That meant Luca was around.

  “What’s the latest, Carlos?” I asked, climbing the steps.

  “Luis called out today, so I’m on fucking door duty. Grunt work is what it is.”

  Luis was one of the Diablo cousins. Loyal and a dirty fighter. Good guy to have on your side in a brawl. Or a game of Capture the Flag. If he was calling out of a shift, it wasn’t a small thing.

  “Is he okay?” I asked.

  “Some rodent took a chunk out of his calf during his midnight patrol.”

  A wave of recognition then dread washed over me. “Shit.”

  Rodent could mean actual vermin. Or it could mean a tiny toddler demon with peach fuzz for hair and canines for teeth.

  “Eh. He’s had worse.”

  I thought of Fergie’s ability to eat through flesh and kept my mouth shut. Carlos was right. Could have been a lot worse.

  “Is the boss in?” I asked.

  “For you? Sure.” Carlos waved me through, and I clapped him on the shoulder before making my way through the tunnel I’d come in that first day.

  At the other end, the door to the office hung open. Luca sat at the small desk inside, doing paperwork.

  “Hey.” I stepped into the doorway and stopped. “Can we talk?”

  Luca looked up from the papers on his desk.

  He frowned. “Hmm. Something about the face you’re wearing tells me I’m not going to like where this is headed.”

  Still, he gestured to the seat across from his.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “I know how we’re going to beat Raguel,” I said, sitting.

  His brows shot up. “I’m listening.”

  “Before I tell you, I need to know; how much of this was you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The Underground, this rebellion—was it something you took over, or did you start the whole thing?”

  He leaned back in his chair. “I don’t see how that matters.”

  “It matters.”

  “Because?”

  “The protests,” I said, leaning forward. “The inside information being fed to the public. Are you behind it?”

  “The public has a right to know what their government is doing.”

  I hesitated and then said what I’d come to say. “When this is over, I’ll have to arrest you.”

  “Excuse me?”

  His surprise was absolute. Under other circumstances, it might have been funny.

  “Luca, I’m SSF. And if we win, Angel balls, if we survive, I’ll be the one cleaning out corruption from the top down. You’re a career criminal and leaking classified information to civilians. I can’t be both the poster child for your movement and turn a blind eye to crime.”

  For a long moment, he stared back at me, obviously considering the wisdom of my words. I hoped he agreed because, when the time came, I’d have to do my duty whether he liked it or not.

  Finally, he straightened in his chair. “Okay.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “I’ll let you arrest me.”

  “I wasn’t asking permission.”

  He grinned. “You wouldn’t have gotten to me if I didn’t allow it, and we both know it.”

  I rolled my eyes but exhaled in relief. At least, he wasn’t going to fight me on it.

  “You can arrest me and then pardon me. Those are my terms.”

  I stiffened again. “I don’t have the power to pardon you,” I said.

  “You will.”

  Something about the way he said it—so sure, so easy—unsettled me. But now wasn’t the time to argue possible futures. Not when ours was so uncertain.

  “Fine, if I’m alive and if I have that power, I’ll pardon you. Now, who’s your informant?”

  “Ah. That’s what this is about.”

  His eyes gleamed, and I knew Luca loved this back and forth more than anyone. My patience, however, was thinning. Now that I had a plan, I wanted to put all the pieces in place. I wanted to act.

  This morning, I’d woken without much hope of saving Adrik. Now, I was drunk with that hope. And impatient to get to work making it a reality.

  “I need him or her to help feed something to Raguel,” I said. “Or this won’t work.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “I’m not telling you.”

  “You don’t trust me.”

  “It’s not that.”

  “Then what—”

  “Criminal, remember?”

  He scowled.

  “Besides, you’re the one who gave away your job as rebellion leader. We do it my way.” He started to respond, and I added, “I’ll read you in before we make our move. After the informant plays their part.”

  He hesitated and then said, “Rigo Garcia.”

  I stared at him, lost for words.

  “You seem surprised.”

  “I’m… Rigo? Seriously?”

  He shrugged. “He didn’t want to at first, but what can I say? I’m convincing.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t threaten him.”

  “Okay, I didn’t threaten him.” His words were empty, though.

  “Liar.”

  He grinned.

  “What do you have on him?” I asked, but in my heart, I knew.

  “You ever meet an ogre in the depths of the Tiff?”

  My jaw dropped. “You know him?”

  “Ollie and I go way back. My family helped harbor him until we got his pardon papers from official channels.”

  “You got Ollie pardoned.”

  “I’m not just a pretty face.” He grinned.

  I rolled my eyes. “Forgive me if I need a minute to accept you going by the law instead of around it.”

  Pardoning anything with demon blood had turned commonplace after the purge of shapeshifters decades ago. It was discriminatory and terrible to even require a pardon of anyone simply for existing. But what surprised me now was the idea that Luca had done it for someone else.

  “Look, I didn’t say I didn’t cut a few corners to get it done. But that’s not the point.”

  “I should have known. Okay, fine, what is the point?”

  “Point is, Ollie has a soft spot for goat jerky.”

  I knew that to be true personally but I didn’t say so. “What does any of this have to do with Rigo?”

  Luca shrugged. “Ollie sees things. Things that happen when no one else is looking. Things that might get a training officer fired.”

  “So, Ollie gave you some dirt on Rigo, and you used it to blackmail him into feeding you information.”

  “Why don’t you look more interested in what the dirt is?”

  “Unfortunately, I’ve experienced it for myself.”

  Luca’s eyes flashed with violence. “Rigo’s a perv who deserves way worse than my blackmail.”

  “On this, we agree.”

  Luca sat back, studying me. “Rigo made a pass at you, and he’s still walking upright? Does this mean you’ve gone soft?”

  “Hardly. I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment is all.”

  Luca’s grin was lethal. “I can’t wait to witness it.”

  “In the meantime, Rigo—will he feed information back to Raguel?”

  “If we ask him to, of course.”

  “You sound so sure. What if Rigo decides to call your bluff.”

  Luca’s eyes lit like he sort of wished Rigo would do just that. “Because if he refuses, I’ve attached a shock collar to his wrists and …other regions. He’ll work with us. Or I’ll electrocute him until he’s too limp to stand at attention. Much less put his hands on another female ever again.”

  I shook my head, past the point of surprise and, honestly, not even mad at Luca’s methods. Of all the possible informants, it just had to be Rigo. Then again, it made sense—the weird behavior, that big ass jacket he’d worn, the cryptic comments.

  “That’s why he didn’t out me,” I realized. “When he found out I was a shapeshifter.”

  “He’s under strict orders that you’re not to be harmed in any way.”

  I thought of his threat the last time we met. And how he’d only requested to work with me so he could get me fired again. Luca would probably zap him just for saying so.

  “You know that order only made him want to take me down more,” I told him.

  “You know I don’t give a fuck, right?” Luca shot back.

  I chuckled.

  I should have felt bad, considering the speech I’d given Luca earlier about upholding the law. But Rigo had brought this on himself, over and over again. For Fiona, I thought to myself. He’d made a pass at her and then gotten her kicked out of the academy. And in the end, that had been the exact opportunity Raguel had needed to turn her to his side.

  Rigo deserved a shock or two. I owed Fiona at least that much.

  Luca leaned forward. “So, what will you have Rigo do?”

  “All in good time,” I said, forcing thoughts of Fiona and Tony away. If this was going to work, I had to focus. “Do you still keep in touch with that bat shifter clan from the swamp?”

  “I have a connection, yes. Why?”

  “We could use some winged friends. Do you think they’ll help us out?”

  “If it means no more level six demons impersonating them, yes.”

  “Good. Reach out.”

  “Consider it done.”

  “Oh, I do need to ask one other favor.”

  “Name it, gorgeous.”

  “Put your best tracker on Gran. She keeps disappearing, and I need to know with who and where.”

  I pried Taboo off my shirt and looked down at the substance now staining us both where our bodies had pressed together.

  “Is that jelly?” I asked to no one in particular. “Please tell me it’s jelly.”

  “Shit, sorry, someone brought donuts.”

  Jax took Taboo from me, and my mother handed me a napkin. I took it, dabbing at the stain that was, thank the angels, in fact, jelly.

  “Donuts? Who would bring donuts?” I wondered.

  “Some of the other residents have started coming to visit the triplets,” my mother explained.

  “They’re being nice, right?” I asked, immediately nervous.

  “They’re very accepting,” she assured me. “Mostly curious. But very kind.”

  I looked over at where Taboo remained stained with the mystery substance. She bent low, trying to lick it off her own leg.

  “They probably don’t know it’s jelly,” Milo put in, which just made me gag.

  “Please don’t say what they think it is,” I begged him.

  Milo grinned.

  Jax chuckled and started talking in some kind of baby language to Taboo. The jelly-lipped monster gurgled back with something that sounded like, “Baby daddy.”

  I looked up, and Jax met my eyes.

  It took me all of four seconds to give into the laughter, and after that, we all cracked up.

  “She’s brilliant,” Milo said. “Obviously.”

  “A child genius,” I agreed.

  After that, Fergie started singing the word “fuckery.” Probably for attention, and Apple did some sort of intricate hip hop dance that, according to my mother, Gran taught her.

  “Speaking of which, where is Gran?” I asked when we’d all recovered.

  I’d spent the entire afternoon with my family and hadn’t once seen Gran.

  “I haven’t seen her,” my mother said, and my curiosity turned to worry.

  “Me neither,” Jax said.

  Hmm.

  “She’s been MIA a lot lately,” Milo said. “Since we got here, I’ve barely hung out with her. Well, except for the soap incident.”

  I frowned, hoping Luca’s guy could track down her movements. Gran’s participation was key to the plan. If she didn’t help, we had nothing. And if she was gone, well, I didn’t want to think about that.