Jilly nodded vigorously, but Sera sighed. “Still, it seems to me that us coming together is an opportunity the league hasn’t had before.”
“The league did have female talyan before,” Jilly reminded her. “And kicked us out.”
“We won’t be letting them do that again,” Nim said.
“When I first showed up,” Sera said, “Jonah was adamantly against female talyan.”
Jilly harrumphed. “Self-righteous bastard. As if the choice was his.”
Sera tsked. “It’s obviously not conceit. I think he holds women in too high esteem to believe they—we—should be vulnerable to possession.”
Nim slouched lower in the chair. “Not a problem with me. The esteem thing, I mean. That’s how he ended up with me. To teach him a lesson.”
She meant to sound snarky, and Jilly chuckled as intended, but Sera just gave her a long look. “The demons do resonate, with us and with one another, but for once, it’s not meant as punishment.”
Nim shrugged and held on to her dismissive tone. “You’d have to ask him about that.”
This time, Jilly didn’t laugh. “Liam said he’s never understood how Jonah was possessed. Oh, he’s pieced together the spider story over the decades, but it doesn’t explain why a demon chose him. He had a job and a wife he loved. He was involved in his community. Such connections usually offer protection against possession.”
“Maybe he wasn’t as connected as he’d want us to think,” Nim said. When the other two women stared at her, she shrugged. “Just a guess.”
“You’d know,” Sera said.
“No, I wouldn’t.” Despite her best effort, Nim couldn’t bury the bitter note. She’d woken up alone, after all.
“Regardless,” Sera said soothingly. “We’re all in the same place now.”
“Right. Somewhere between doomed and fucked,” Jilly mused.
Nim snickered when Sera frowned. “You sound like Archer.”
“Your mate’s a clever fellow.”
“Tell me that again when you find out he masterminded an end run around Liam’s decision to wait on finding Corvus.”
Jilly shrugged. “They’re both big boys. Emphasis on the ‘big.’ ”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“They’ll work it out.” Jilly shook her finger at Sera. “And I think you’re unfair to rat on him. Especially when I suspect you have plans of your own, to go with your theories.”
Sera’s blush was bright on her pale skin, and Nim murmured, “Busted.”
Sera shot her a look and shifted uneasily on the bed. “Well, there’s no point in them risking their lives and their souls for no good reason.”
“How about an evil reason?” Nim asked.
“I propose a training run before we tangle with Corvus,” Sera said. “The three of us and our teshuva, of course. The lure, the trap, the end. Let’s give the demons a chance to make us what they intended us to be.”
“A weapon,” Jilly said.
“An end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it weapon,” Sera confirmed. “But we’ll start smaller. I know Ecco will help us round up a few malice. We can handle those individually with minimal danger. If together we are something more, it’ll be obvious against the poor malice.”
Nim snorted. “Poor monsters.”
Jilly sighed. “She feels bad because she hears them screaming when she seals them behind the Veil again.”
Sera wrinkled her nose. “Will you do it?”
“It gets me out of this bed.”
Sera stood. “Tonight, then. When Liam takes his crew out hunting, I’ll send Ecco to catch a few malice. One quick and easy test and then we’ll take our findings to the males. That’s when we’ll go after Corvus.”
“Set it up,” Jilly said. “I’ll be done bleeding by then. And Nim will have some clothes that fit.”
Nim plucked at the oversized T-shirt. “You’re letting me go through your closet? We must be BFFs.”
“I just don’t think any woman should have to face death and damnation in sweatpants.”
Sera headed for the door. “I’ll let you know when and where.”
Jilly waved her off. “I’ll be here,” she said sourly. She turned to Nim. “I’m shorter than you and got more bootie, but if you don’t mind hip-huggers . . .”
In the end, Nim found everything except shoes. Jilly wore a half size smaller and her tastes ran to thick-soled boots.
“Not sexy to dance in,” Nim said as she backed out of the closet.
“But damn good for feralis stomping.”
“Ah, a career-minded girl.”
Jilly gave her a look in the mirror as Nim zipped her new black capri pants. “In some ways, this was an easy transition, both for me and Sera. We already had a history of helping others.”
Nim adjusted the straps on the tank top. No support, really, but she was used to that. On several levels. “Oh, I was in the service industry too.” She turned away from the mirror. “Don’t worry. I might not have been a dogooder like you two, but I’ve always been a survivor. If this is what I have to do to survive, then this is what I’ll do.”
Jilly’s frown didn’t abate. “And I thought Jonah’s zeal was unnerving.”
“It is. That’s where we match. Or not so much match as fit together. Missing puzzle pieces.” Nim studied the other woman. “Would you have chosen Liam? If the demon hadn’t done it for you, I mean.”
Twin spots of color flagged Jilly’s wan cheeks. “I’ve never met a better man.”
“That wasn’t an answer, was it?”
“Then let me be clearer. Yes, I would have chosen him. It wouldn’t have mattered even if my mother had been the one to introduce us. I wanted him. I think I was waiting for him and no other.”
Nim shrugged. “Then if it was meant to be, how can we lose?” She waited a moment, knowing Jilly wouldn’t speak. “Oh, right,” she answered herself softly. “Because love doesn’t conquer all. It just seems that way because it’s your whole world falling apart. I’m going to go see how my shoes are drying.”
“We’ll call you when it’s time.”
As she let herself out of the room, Nim wondered how she’d gotten on board with Team Double X. At least she could be sure Sera and Jilly wouldn’t steal her eyeliner.
In the sterile hall, she leaned her back against the wall and sank to her haunches. Who was she kidding? The fantasy had gotten more violent and otherworldly, but still she was just another weapon, to be nailed to the wall when not in use.
She didn’t like having nothing to do. Idle hands were the devil’s tool, or so she’d heard. Maybe that explained Jonah’s excessive goodness; having only one hand kept him too busy for naughtiness. She’d always kept herself busy with stripper intrigues and shopping. Now . . .
Well, she could still go shopping. Jonah had left his wallet in the room. And he owed her for that first lap dance.
“. . . But when I woke up, I tried the door, and it was unlocked, so I got the hell out.” Andre finished his tale in a rush. One hand clutched his slipping pants; the other he held fisted above his heart, as if only his white-knuckled grip kept him from falling apart.
Behind him, the lake glittered like a broken bottle, the smooth blue-green spiked with light sharp enough to pierce the eyes.
“Just walked out of the league stronghold, eh?” Corvus sprawled in his chair, the hinge of his jaw cradled in his palm as he studied the young man. He tapped one finger thoughtfully against the dent in the back of his skull. “And with your soul. Lucky you.”
Lucky too the cloying heat had chased most of the late-afternoon crowds into the air-conditioned comforts of the Navy Pier shops, and only the two of them remained in the overheated wrought-iron tables. Andre’s voice had risen exponentially as he’d detailed how the female talya had tried to steal his soul.