"Nah. Twenty-one. With issues."
I lifted my head and glared at him. "Thank you so much."
"You did the right thing with Bryce. You had nothing to hold him on and you know that. You're just stressed out right now because of your powers and it's making all that latent stuff bubble up. It'll go away and you'll be back to your usual overconfident, reckless self."
"Really not making this better."
"Not my job. But I can distract you. You haven't asked about Hope's meeting with Kimerion."
"Right. What'd he want?"
"Apparently, just to make contact. Like seeking an audience with the princess when you want to curry favor with the king. In this case, the princess can't put in a good word with Daddy, but Kimerion seems to think that just being nice to her will please the old guy."
"And that's it?"
"That's what he says. Is it true? I don't know. It seems like a lot of effort just to say hi, so we're being cautious. For now, that was enough to keep Kimerion working on our behalf."
"Has he . . . said anything? About what happened to me?"
Adam took a long drink of coffee. "He's still looking. I told him about your close encounter with Balaam. He doesn't much like the idea that Balaam's out there hunting for the same answers. There are some serious battles over this reveal issue on the other side. Demonic and celestial."
"And Balaam and Asmondai are right in the thick of it. On opposite sides."
"Meaning either could be responsible for what happened to you, despite what Balaam claims. That's trouble. There's no positive spin to put on stealing your powers."
I thought of what the man in the alley said. Maybe there was a positive spin. I wasn't ready to tell Adam that, though. I needed to work it through a little more first.
"Kimerion says no demon can just take your powers. You need to surrender them in a pact. Making a rash wish, like you did, doesn't count. But he thinks deities might be able to. Maybe even eudemons." That seemed unlikely. Eudemons didn't share a cacodemon's chaos hunger, so they had little reason to interact with mortals. "I have found cases, but it's never clear who accepted the pact. It just happens."
"Djinn?"
He shook his head. "They don't cover those kinds of wishes."
"Maybe a loophole, then." I leaned over the table. "What if someone wanted to take my powers, and was just waiting for an excuse they could use at least until some higher power vetoed the pact."
"Possible. Anyway, Kimerion and I are working on that and we're getting closer to an answer. Now eat up, because I've got some work to do back at HQ before I show you what I've been up to."
thirty-three
Back to Cortez Cabal headquarters, where I had to help Cass with research. Lots of fun. Aaron was there, but he's not really a research guy, so he mostly trundled stuff back and forth from the Cabal library. Cassandra stayed with me, and I soon wished she was the one doing the shuttling, because she just read over my shoulder and pointed out all the places where the Cabal accounts got things wrong.
"Where is Adam?" she said finally. "Isn't research his job?"
"That's right," Adam said as he walked in. "I'm slacking. You guys should stop paying me. Oh, wait. You don't. Sorry, Cass, but you're stuck here a little longer. Right now, I need to borrow Savannah. I have something for her."
"Something more important that this?" Cassandra swept a hand across the table piled with books.
"You can read just fine, Cass," Aaron said. "Pull out a chair and let's get to work."
Wherever Adam was taking me, it wasn't within the walls of Cortez headquarters. Something so secret that he didn't dare discuss it where they could be listening in? When he pulled up to his hotel, I was sure that was it. We walked to his door.
I waved at the DO NOT DISTURB tag in his lock. "Better take that out or you won't get your room cleaned."
"I don't want it cleaned." He covered my eyes. "I told you it was a secret," he said when I objected.
He opened the door and prodded me inside. Then he took his hand away and I knew why he didn't want the maid service coming in. The bed had been pushed against the wall, opening up the middle of the floor. Using electrical tape, he'd "drawn" symbols on the carpet. Censers and candles and books were scattered over the tables.
"A black mass?" I said. "For me? You shouldn't have!" I hugged him.