Page 150 of Gates of Tartarus

“... Maela’s on board. Elizabeth sent over an invitation and offer via courier last night to my home – well, Lachy’s house. Babylon couldn’t match it if they tried. What she’s offering… if I had seen that a couple months ago, before I knew what I know now…”

The room is silent. Six stunned faces stare back at me, mouths agape. The lot of us are sitting around the massive dining-room table at Lachlainn’s house, and the guys and Gemma look like someone’s punched them in their faces. I’d tried to call a meeting last night but had been afraid to say too much over the phone and couldn’t convince them to drop what they were doing and rush out to Vashon without being obvious. Smith offered to have us meet at the precinct, but I wanted to be somewhere Iknewwas safe, so we agreed to have everyone come out to the Island this morning. Well – Gemma was at our,her, place overnight, and Walker, Jonah, and Lachy all slept here last night, evidently, though I didn’t see them before passing out when I got home.

I woke early this morning to a flurry of activity in the kitchen – the arrival of Hideo and Maddox changing our usual routine, so it was a few minutes before we were all sitting with coffee in front of us, and I was able to fill them in on everything that happened the day before. And now…

“Cole?” Maddox asks, stunned. “I had money on her assistant – we’ve been running deep background checks on her. Little Ms. Agnew was misrepresenting herself quite a bit, it seems. Came from a really upper-crust family in England, went to a prestigious boarding school, Danvers… at the same time as one James Tennireef. Quite the pedigree, really. But when we started this entire thing, when webroughtCole into this, Babylon ran extensive checks on her, and everything, every single detail, panned out.”

Walker looks equally as poleaxed next to him. “She’s been helping every step of the way!”

“Has she though?” Lachy interjects thoughtfully, and Maddox glares at him. Smith had fought against having Lachy stay at the meeting, but, as it’s Lach’s house, it was either let him stay or leave altogether. Plus, Jonah, Walker, Gemma, and I voted to have him, so only Hideo and Maddox were against it in the long run. But the two men butted heads, which, any other time, would have been funny. Maddox is a leader by force – he’s a presence, a real Alpha male, so to speak. He commands attention and is used to being in charge. Lachy – well, he’s the opposite, really. At first, anyways. He’s gentle and quiet, but people gravitate to him, and he just naturally slides into that lead position. He’s careful and calm, and people just instinctually step back to let him speak. I think part of it, too, is that Maddox is used to being the biggest guy in the room, and while heisthe most muscular, and larger than any of the other guys, my own personal Paul Bunyon matches him.

“How tallareyou?” Maddox bursts out out of nowhere, and, despite the seriousness of the situation, I start laughing, meeting Jonah’s twinkling eyes across the table.

Lachy grins, white teeth flashing in his auburn beard. “6’6”, he rumbles. “Feeling short, Viking?” Flexing a little, he shows his lumberjack biceps. “Played offensive tackle at University of Wisconsin. All-American.”

Smith’s head snaps up at the statement, realization dawning. “You’rethatBaird? I thought… No. He was…”

Lachy shakes his head. “Joseph Baird? Right? Middle name. I didn’t go by Lachlainn until I transferred. Played three years at Wisconsin, then transferred to do Chemical Engineering.”

Smith looks equal parts awestruck and bewildered. “But… but... you could have been first in the draft. Everyone said you’d go pro!... I mean…” His voice is strangled. “I had your jersey!” he practically whispers. “Kai!” he turns to me accusingly. “Did youknowabout this?”

“Yeah?” I ask, confused. “I mean, I’ve seen his little trophies and stuff.”

Maddox chokes on his coffee, as Walker, Jonah, and even Hideo burst into laughter. Lachy just sits at the head of the table, grinning.

“Little... little trophies?” Maddox barely gets out, and I nod seriously.

“Yeah. Like the shiny football one?”

“TheHeisman? Baird was the only offensive tackle inhistoryto win it, and you’re calling it alittle trophy?” His head whips between me and Lachy, looking offended on his behalf.

“Don’t let her tell you about when she played dress up with my niece and let her wear my Bowl rings so she could feel like the Queen.”

Maddox groans, and I grin at Lachy. “Shelovedthat!”

Lachy grins back, but then schools his face into a more serious demeanor. “We can revisit my glory days later, Viking. But for now…” The amusement that has briefly taken hold fades away just as quickly, and everyone falls silent as Lachy continues speaking. “You said Cole was helping the entire time? Was she? Or was she using you to anticipate your moves, controlling your directions?”

Maddox frowns. “She wasn’t read in on everything, but definitely enough that she could see our course.”

“And if she had someone inside the station who could listen in or plant devices?”Lachy asks, and Maddox sighs.

“We considered the station to be a safe place…” he replies thoughtfully. “I swept the room daily based on the trouble they’d been having, but only in the morning when I got in. If someone came in while we were out... I mean, we usually left at least one person in the room, but it’s definitely possible.”

“So what’s the plan?” Jonah asks quietly, looking at me, and I think he can already tell he’s not going to like what I have to say.

“Maela and I have decided we’ll join Gaia.”

The uproar around the table is instantaneous, like lions on the Savannah, words tumbling over each other in rapid staccato. I resist the urge to cover my ears like a child, determined to wait it out, but Gemma’s sharp, clear voice cuts through the noise.

“Oh mygods, dudes. Testosterone much? Clearly she has a plan. Christ. Kailani?” Turning to me, she inclines her head slightly, and we have a moment of symmetry, before I continue.

“Elizabeth is convinced that Maela and I want to leave Babylon and join Gaia. Their largest fundraiser is next week, in London. All the major players from Gaia around the globe will be there, and Elizabeth wants to introduce us to the heads of her Psychic Science divisions. You guys are invited because we’re not due to sign on the dotted line until the following week, as I have to give two weeks’ notice.” I smile, though there’s nothing nice in the twist of my lips. “Ithink, and it’s just a guess, that Elizabeth likes to win, and she considers stealing Maela and me a win. She’s also been much nicer to Jonah than the rest of you, so I’m guessing she has eyes on him as well.” Shrugging, I exhale deeply. “I’m pretty sure she wants to see the win, see the effect. But also keep doors open with you all until the Tennireef deal closes, and he gets access to Babylon. She doesn’t want to burn bridges, and, as long as she keeps the gates open, you’ll ask her when you need help, and she’ll keep being read in. She’sjustreluctant enough,justannoyed enough at your asking that it will never seem like she’s pushing, or too eager. But she’s also helpful enough that you’ll keep going to her, right?”

Maddox nods thoughtfully. “It won’t be safe for you to infiltrate, though, Kailani. The second she has you, you’ll be a test subject.”

“Yup. That’s why we’ll arrest her at the end of the night.Afterthe fundraiser. But it should give us enough time to get reads on the others, to get good lists of who is connected to Gaia versus who is connected to Kronos.”

“This isn’t an ‘arrest’ situation, Reed,” Maddox replies slowly. “This is a longer-term infiltration. We have no grounds at the moment to arrest anyone – you’ve seen how slippery Tennireef is. Cole will be five times that. You and Maela, this isn’t a one-off. Are you prepared for that?”

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