“I don’t know who ‘they’ are but please don’t ever say that again.”

  “Whatever, I’ve seen Fast and Furious. I know the lingo.”

  “Come on, Vin Diesel. Let’s go find you an extra-strong seat belt.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luca and Carlos were waiting in the main office when Milo and I arrived. Beyond them, through the window, I spotted the others assembling on the ground floor. The garage doors were open for once, and in the parking lot beyond, there was nothing but cars.

  “Don’t worry,” Luca said. “Emilio’s glamoured and spelled the whole place. We’re safe.”

  So far, we’d kept the power signature of so many supes gathered together off the radar by staying underground. But today’s plan meant putting us all out in the open at the same time.

  “How long will it last?” I asked.

  “Long enough,” he assured me.

  “Well,” Milo said, stopping to stare at the sheer number of vehicles crowding the space, “Raguel’s either figured us out or doesn’t know what’s coming next.”

  “Let’s hope it’s the second,” Luca said.

  “I see you were able to fill my order,” I told him.

  “You could have told me this part of the plan a few days sooner,” he said, “Made my life easier.”

  “Not my style,” I said, and he scowled, but we both knew it didn’t matter.

  Luca could make it happen, no matter the ask, if he wanted it bad enough.

  “I owe a lot of favors for this,” he said. “So don’t forget the one you owe me.”

  “You got it,” I said then turned to the cutout window and stepped up beside Milo.

  “Are the numbers going to be enough?” Milo asked.

  “They’ll have to be.”

  “And the Nephilim?” Luca asked. “John says his output is too low yet.”

  “Raph will come through,” I said firmly.

  He had to.

  Down below, my eyes caught on a familiar Acura. The exact same one that had been crushed in the parking garage explosion.

  “Is that my car?” I asked.

  “Juice had it restored and brought over,” Carlos said. “Some kid named Billy Fresh dropped it off.”

  My head whipped to his. “Did you say Billy Fresh?”

  “Uh. Yeah?”

  “He’s a supe?”

  “Fox shifter, I guess. Why?” Carlos looked nervous like he was worried I’d shoot the messenger.

  But I wasn’t looking at him anymore. My eyes narrowed as I searched and found the face to go with the name. A fox shifter. Wily as hell. Made sense. I hadn’t seen it because I’d been so caught up in the adrenaline. The speed. And then my dad…

  “Fucking Billy,” I muttered.

  Then marched out and down the stairs, straight up to the wiry punk who was practically petting Juice’s Skyline.

  “Hey,” I called.

  Billy looked up. When he caught sight of me, his expression shuttered.

  “Hey,” he said warily.

  I stopped in front of him. “I heard you brought my car over.”

  “I didn’t get crazy,” he assured me. “Not a scratch on her.”

  I cocked my head, studying him. “You still race like you have a death wish?”

  “Uh, I…”

  He looked over my shoulder where I knew Milo was watching.

  “Do you?” I demanded.

  Billy looked back at me. “Maybe?”

  “Good. You’re with me today. I have a very special cargo for you to carry.” I turned as surprise flickered, moving on before he could say something stupid and ruin it.

  “Jax.”

  He looked up from where he stood, talking to Faith. Both of them looked antsy already. I couldn’t blame them. This part of the plan required them to leave their monsters tucked tightly away. Not Jax’s strong suit.

  “How many did we pull in?” I asked.

  “A couple hundred,” he said, and I stopped, staring back at him in complete shock.

  “Did you just say hundred?” I asked.

  “Luca put out the word.” Jax shrugged. “My pack too. I think Luca expected more, honestly.”

  But I couldn’t quite believe it.

  “Two hundred,” I repeated.

  “Most of them are armed, too,” Faith put in. “Not just beasts but guns. Human weapons. Whatever we need.”

  “No shit,” Milo said.

  I tried wrapping my head around that, but the fear from last night rose up, and I had to move on before the reality set in and fucked with my head.

  Two hundred supernaturals plus the members of the Underground.

  That put our numbers closer to three—no four hundred total.

  And that was how many people would die if we failed today.

  No, that would only be the start.

  I squared my shoulders, turned away. “Juice.”

  “Yo.”

  “Get everyone together,” I said. “Let’s go over this one more time.”

  “Do you want to wait for your mother?” he asked.

  “She and Raph already left,” I said. “Headed to the river to get the head start we need. The spell Z and your father did will keep the current circling back so we don’t have to produce a thousand gallons of Neph tears.”

  “Am I the only one that finds it kind of pathetic yet badass that the one Nephilim in our ranks has a singular job in this battle to literally cry himself a river today?” Milo asked.

  I gave him a look and decided not to bother answering. It felt rhetorical anyway.

  After that, Jax directed the protestors and pack members into the warehouse, or as many as would fit.

  “You going to give us a battle speech?” Milo asked in my ear.

  “I’m going to go over the plan,” I said.

  “Okay, but if you need inspiration, remember that scene in Independence Day when the president—”

  “Milo.”

  “Or that part in the movie 300 right before they—”

  “Milo.”

  “Ooh, what about in High School Musical when—”

  “Milo, no.”

  He backed away. “Fine. Do it your boring way. Go ahead and tell us the plan.”

  I looked out over the sea of faces assembled, battling back the migraine from earlier. Already, my back was stiffening again, and I had to fight the urge to just get into my car and drive off.

  But this couldn’t be avoided or ignored.

  Literally, the weight of the world was on me.

  On us.

  “Thank you all for coming today,” I began. “Today, we take on an immortal being who, by all rights, can’t be killed or stopped. And even knowing that, you’ve taken the first brave step by showing up. Standing for your family, your friends, your community. There’s no more courageous act than this one.

  “But we can’t stop here. We have to push on. Through fear and uncertainty. Through whatever comes at us today. We can’t stop. We can’t give up. And we refuse to let that monster Raguel hurt our friends and family even one more day.”

  Cheers went up.

  “But there’s one last thing before we move out,” I added.

  Everyone fell silent.

  My heart pounded.

  This was it.

  Telling them was one thing. And for the members of the Underground, accepting a shapeshifter as their leader was par for the course. Most of them were friends with or had a family member who was now a blue demon, thanks to Raguel. But the crowd assembled here included civilians. Supernaturals who weren’t an official member of this movement. Just every day supes who wanted change. Who were sick of the status quo.

  I had to trust they’d be just as accepting as the rest.

  If they weren’t, they wouldn’t ride with us. Not today. Not ever.

  Before the noise had died off, I shifted.

  First, my griffin. Wings spread wide, I rose to my full height. The crowd murmured at the sight of me, and I waited a long beat, letting them get a good look, and then shifted again. This time, a wolf. Standing upright, much like Wolfrick. In fact, hopefully exactly like Wolfrick.

  The murmurs rose sharply.

  My skin rippled again.

  The fur fell away.

  And then I was Fergie.

  Or something like her.

  There was a tightness in my little t-rex arms that suggested I hadn’t gotten it quite right.

  I shifted again.

  This time, as a blue-skinned lizard demon.

  Some in the front of the crowd shrank away.

  “Whoa,” Milo breathed. “Going big then.”

  While I continued to morph from one shape to the next, the silence from the crowd gave way to whispers.

  Then muttered comments.

  I steeled myself against it all and waited, listening to their exclamations. If this wasn’t going to work, if they were going to run, I needed to know now.

  “Emilio,” I called, settling once again on the blonde-haired female figure they all knew as Gem.

  The warlock stepped forward and caught my eye.

  “Ready?” I asked him.

  He nodded and Gran lifted off his shoulder, hovering in the air.

  “It took a warlock to make me like this,” Gran said. “Guess it’s only fitting another one undoes the damage—Aayyy.”

  Her words were cut short by a quick cry and then, Gran the June bug was no more.

  In her place was another me.

  I caught Gran’s elbow as her knees buckled and hauled her upright beside me.

  She straightened, sucking in breaths like she was hyperventilating.

  “Feet…are fucking weird,” she said.

  “Just breathe,” I said, my arms firmly around her elbows as she worked to get her bearings.

  “Shitbricks, I forgot what it was like to have these big-ass lungs. Damn,” she said, exhaling deliberately. “I guess June bugs really are mouth breathers. This is much better.”

  She wiggled her hands. Fluffed her—my—hair. Pushed up her boobs.

  “Do I look as good as you do?” she asked.

  I smiled at her. “Better.”

  Finally, it dawned on me that no one else was making a sound. Together, we looked out over the crowd.

  “Shit,” Gran said loudly, “we already struck ‘em speechless.”

  “Just wait until they see this next part,” I mumbled.

  “This shit is going to be lit,” Gran hooted.

  “How do you even know—never mind,” I said. Then I turned to Emilio and, beside him, John. “Is this really going to work?” I asked.

  “Only one way to find out,” Emilio said.

  I looked back at the stunned crowd and raised my voice so that it carried all the way to the back. “It’s true that I’m a shapeshifter,” I said. “Maybe the last of my kind. But I’m not what the council wants you to believe. I’m not evil, and I don’t use my ability to hurt people. Unless that person is Raguel.”

  Some chuckles.

  That was a good sign.

  “We know you’re one of the good guys,” someone yelled. I looked down and spotted Aiden, Jax’s pack doctor.

  “He’s here to support me,” Milo whispered. “Isn’t it hot?”

  I ignored the question.

  Below, another familiar face stepped forward. A pixie with shiny black hair streaked with purple highlights. Matching purple wings were tucked away inside her jacket.

  “We’re with you, Gem,” she called.

  Violet. And beside her, Leedle. Both of them had been classmates of mine from the Tiff.

  “But how can this help us against someone like him?” Leedle asked.

  My heart surged with warmth.

  “That’s the question I’m about to answer. Today, if you’ll trust me, you all get to feel what it’s like to be me.”

  Beside me, I caught sight of Gran, her hand firmly wrapped around her left boob.

  “Gran,” I hissed.

  “Sorry, but you’re packing some heat, missy.”

  Milo choked back a laugh. Even Luca made a weird snorting sound.

  I looked down at Aiden, who’d obviously seen Gran.

  Too awkward.

  My eyes landed on another face. Midway through the crowd.

  Way too familiar. And completely unexpected.

  No, impossible.

  “Z?” I choked out. “Is that you?”

  I shoved past Milo and down the steps. Z met me at the base of the stairs. I used my fae senses to poke at his energy.

  “Is it really you?” I whispered.

  “In the flesh.”

  My senses told me he wasn’t lying. This wasn’t a glamour or a trick. He was really here. Alive.

  “But I saw you die,” I said.

  “I’m harder to kill than you think,” he said then glanced at John, recognition flashing.

  “Noted,” Milo called, and Z smirked, but our eyes remained locked, and his smile softened. It was different. Not a smile he’d ever used on me before. This one was real. Open. Raw. “I keep a vial of Neph tears in my jacket,” he admitted. “I used it after you left the other day and took a few days to recover. But I’m here. Alive. It’s not a trick.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  He cocked his head. “You realize you love me and you’ll leave all this behind to run away together?”

  “Not quite.”

  “There goes Plan A.”

  “Z…”

  “I know I was an asshole, and I definitely never deserved you, Gemmy. I’m sorry.” This time, I didn’t have the urge to punch him when he used my nickname.

  “I felt guilty,” I admitted. “That I got you killed. So I’m pretty glad you’re alive.”

  “That makes two of us. But it wasn’t your fault. It was Raguel.”

  His expression darkened with rage as he said the name.

  “Look,” he went on, “you’re the most amazing creature I’ve ever known, and I have full faith that you’ll be the one to lead us out of this mess. I trust you. Can you trust me?”

  I didn’t answer.

  He glanced out at the waiting crowd and then back as he said, “You want to make them all look like you. It’s a damn good idea, too. Raguel won’t see it coming, but it’s going to take some serious magic to get it done. Let me help.”

  “Z.”

  He turned to the guy beside him. I recognized Cliff, another former classmate from the Tiff.

  “Do you trust Gem?” Z asked him.

  “I do,” Cliff said without hesitation.

  Z laid a hand on Cliff’s shoulder, whispered some words, and a few seconds later, Cliff was a carbon copy of me.

  The people around him stepped back in surprise.

  “Holy shit,” Milo said from the top of the stairs.

  I looked up at Emilio and John.

  “Having his help will make the glamour stronger,” Emilio said. “It’s a large crowd.”

  “Hold up, is that Emilio Barboza, the warlock?” Z whispered.

  “It is.”

  Z stared at me. “That guy took out an entire SSF unit with only the magic in his pinky finger. Can you introduce me?”

  I sighed. Same old Z.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Okay you’ll introduce me, or okay you’ll let me help.”

  “Both,” I said and he winked, quickly climbing the steps to join us.

  He and Emilio shook hands and exchanged a few words where Z looked legitimately starstruck. A moment later, they all nodded then turned to me.

  “Ready when you are,” John said.

  It took another twenty minutes for the warlocks to sync their magic, but when it was done, an entire warehouse full of supernaturals had been transformed. Not a single one had turned down the magic we were offering. Not a single one had walked away when they’d learned what I was.

  Four hundred faces—all of them me.

  It was the weirdest fucking moment of my entire life.

  I looked out over the crowd, noting the eerily matching faces. It was like standing in the center of a funhouse of mirrors. Best not to look any of them straight in the eye.

  “The glamour won’t hold long, and Raguel is obviously powerful enough to see through it,” I warned them. “But we’re not using it on him. Find a car. If you don’t want to drive, ride shotgun with someone who does. We’re headed for the river. Use the routes you’ve been assigned so we can draw as many of them as we can. Today, we save our friends.”

  The crowd cheered, roaring with the adrenaline beginning to build. Luca shouted for his pack and Jax for his. Faith—I’d recognize her anywhere with any face thanks to those ice queen eyes of hers—stepped up and planted herself in my path.

  “I need a car.”

  “I thought you’d ride with Jax,” I said.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I don’t ride shotgun for anyone,” she snarled.

  “Of course. I wasn’t thinking. Billy.”

  He looked over.

  “Got any spares?”

  He tossed me a set of keys and pointed at a white Subaru. “That one’s available.”

  I handed Faith the keys. “Jax or Luca could use—”

  “I’m sticking with you,” she said, eyes daring me to argue. “We both know that’s where the real action will be.”

  I didn’t have it in me to argue.

  “Fine. Go see Carlos so you can get set up on comms.” I looked at Milo, who’d remained out of the line of fire earlier and was, thankfully, still himself. “You’re riding with me.”

  Faith gave him a haughty look, and he lifted his chin, peering down at her. “I’m not threatened by riding shotty. My confidence is bigger than that.”

  “Keep telling yourself that,” she said and sauntered off toward her car.

  “When this is over, I’m going to spell Bitchy Barbie’s mouth shut for an entire day,” he said.

  I gave him a look.

  “What? My dad owes me. I’m sure he’ll teach me the spell.”

  “Didn’t you tell me you tried a spell once that made all his hair fall out?” I asked.

  “Coincidence,” he said and then, at my look, added, “Probably.”

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  We made our way down to my car. Most of the others had already left. We had a ton of ground to cover if we wanted to draw out all the blue demons in the city, but I tried not to worry about the fact that a few hundred Gem lookalikes were now loose in the city. I knew Luca, Jax, and the other team leaders would make sure everyone stuck to their routes.