* * *

  Sarah set aside her tablet and glanced at her watch. It was almost nine o’clock.

  Oops.

  She had three minutes to make it to the garden. Walking as fast as she could without her flip-flops echoing through the hall, she rehearsed her excuse in case Pegasus was already there when she arrived.

  But why would he need her to be punctual when he wasn’t sure when he’d be done with work? She should’ve checked if he was still upstairs before rushing out like that. Well, too late now.

  She opened the door to the garden, or rather, barreled into it. With how she put all her weight into it, if it had been locked, she would’ve been a funny spectacle. As it was, she breezed into the room—more like a hurricane than a harmless summer breeze—then almost stumbled. Someone was there, but it wasn’t the person she was expecting.

  Zeus, who had been sitting at the small table, looked up. “Yes, the family resemblance is obvious.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone would be here. This place is usually empty.”

  “I know.” A trace of a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. “That’s why I like it. That and the chess.”

  A knight dangled from his hand, his compatriots on the board below showing signs they’d moved since the last time she was there.

  Sarah wondered who he was playing against, or if he was one of those people who played against themselves. She never really understood how that worked.

  “Did you expect to find someone else here?”

  She had yet to move from in front of the doors. “I was supposed to meet Pegasus.”

  “That brat.”

  The word itself didn’t surprise Sarah as much as the smile that followed. She’d never seen Zeus interact with any of them outside an official setting. Done with the knight, he summoned her over with a wave of his hand. “I normally stop by for a few minutes around this time when I can.”

  Sarah took the chair facing him, feeling she was sitting down for dinner with a particularly unapproachable professor.

  Had Pegasus known he’d be here? His smile as he told her to be here on time came to mind. Yeah, he totally knew.

  “How are you doing?” he asked.

  “About the same, I guess.”

  “No more nightmares or visions?”

  She reached out and grabbed one of the discarded black pawns. Was that her role in it all? “None that come to mind.”

  Should she tell him about Wolf’s name showing up in her notes? But she didn’t even know why it was there. “Sir, why haven’t you given Pegasus permission to show me Lore’s photo?”

  All feeling was gone from his face instantly, expression turning as blank as the pieces on the board. “Because you want to see it.”

  And he was saying Pegasus was a brat. “That can’t be the only reason.”

  “It’s not an easy answer. Do you want it to prove something to us? That’s unlikely to work. As long as we suspect you, we can suspect you’ve had access to Lore’s information like the details on the hostage situation. Do you want it to verify what you’ve seen for yourself? That is the more innocuous option, and there would be no problem with showing you the photo then.”

  She twirled the pawn, passing it from hand to hand. “In the first case too. If I’d already seen it, it wouldn’t matter if you showed it to me.”

  He nodded. “The third option is the one that concerns me. What if someone wanted you to get that information?”

  The pawn almost slipped from her fingers. “Should you be letting someone you think is a traitor walk around freely?” She glanced at where the cameras were. Well, free-ish.

  “Let’s say I’m exercising caution, but also trying not to raise too many alarms. It wouldn’t be good for any of us to draw attention to this matter.”

  Not that she wanted to advertise to the world that there might be something wrong with her, but… “Why do you want to keep it a secret?”

  He leaned back in his chair and looked at her for a while, either deciding whether to answer the question or deciding whether she was an idiot for asking. “If we report this, more powerful people will get involved. Some won’t believe what you say, but would trust that you believe it. Some won’t believe or trust you at all. Some will want proof. And others would consider the possibility of you being sincere enough to try to make use of you.”

  Sarah wondered which of those groups Zeus fit into. She’d guess one of the latter.

  “And there will be many who will wonder if this is what Robyn meant when she said you could endanger an entire world.”

  Sarah squeezed the pawn in her closed fist, feeling it shift along her sweaty palm.

  “In every one of those scenarios, you get taken away from this place, likely by force.”

  Sarah drew in a deep breath. It had been a while since she felt like this place was a prison, but the uncomfortable feeling bubbling in her throat felt a lot like it.

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  “In exchange for showing you Lore’s photo, I would like your cooperation with an experiment. You said you saw Lore on your way to the Foundation Day party?”

  “Yeah, she was going with Mermaid and me. In the dream. I think she’d been visiting or had been transferred here for some reason.”

  Zeus’ gaze narrowed slightly at that last part. She realized she might’ve not mentioned the possible transfer before. “I’ll arrange for Mermaid to take you out to the location where you had the party then.”

  Maybe this was his idea of a gamble, giving her access to the outside and seeing what she’d do. Would he play it safe by making sure she didn’t have access to Lore’s info before going outside? Or let her see Lore’s photo beforehand as a test?

  And by sending Mermaid with her instead of Pegasus, who knew what was happening, wasn’t he placing Mermaid at risk? Unless he was planning to warn Mermaid about his suspicions in case Sarah decided to attack her and escape. Sarah placed the pawn back onto the table, but didn’t let it go.

  Zeus gestured at the board. “Care to take the next move?”

  Was he that desperate to win?

  Sarah looked down at the pawn. Was she thinking too much about what would happen if she truly were the villain? She pressed her lips together to hold back a laugh. Soon, she really would start thinking she was the villain in this story.

  “I’m horrible at chess.”

  “What do you say then? Are you willing to try to trigger that specific vision?”

  “Sure.” It wasn’t like she had figured out a way to summon these things on her own. Though she wasn’t entirely comfortable with it, she’d play as one of his pawns. For now.

  The doors opened and Pegasus strolled into the room carrying a folder. “I was held up.”

  Looking like he didn’t believe a word of it, Zeus rose, walking right past him. “Come see me when you’re finished catching up.”

  Pegasus nodded.

  Right before the doors closed, Zeus called back: “Queen’s knight to bishop 3.”

  Pegasus pulled the other chair around and sat down next to her to examine the board.

  “I didn’t know you were the one playing.”

  “He usually wins.”

  For some reason, Sarah expected as much. “Why didn’t you tell me Zeus would be here?”

  “It was a hope more than a certainty.” He kissed her. “I didn’t want you stressing about what you’d say. Your surprised self would be much more genuine.”

  “I’m not sure what good that did, but he is letting me look at Lore’s photo.” Sarah roughly told him about her conversation with Zeus, including the part where she was supposed to go back to the site of the party with Mermaid. “I didn’t mention anything about Wolf’s name popping up. Do you think I should have?”

  “Were you worried he might overreact?”

  “I guess I didn’t want to throw it out there without having a reason. But we’re limited in what we can look at by ourselves, so having him do it would be easier.”

  “He’d have an easier time looking at Wolf’s record as well.”

  “Okay. Can you mention it to him then?”

  Pegasus nodded. “By the way, we have a training session scheduled for tomorrow. You’re supposed to join us for that. Details will be in your calendar.”

  Sarah didn’t question the usefulness of having her train with them. She’d welcome the chance to do anything that didn’t involve being locked up in her room. Besides, she realized she missed their antics when the group wasn’t around.

  Pegasus was frowning down at the chess board, looking very concentrated.

  Sarah placed her arms around his waist, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Is he gonna win this time too?”

  Pegasus smiled as he moved a rook into position, directly in line with a bishop’s path. “Doesn’t stop me trying.”

  * * *

  Suppressing a yawn, Pegasus plopped down on a chair facing Zeus. “Having me come here instead of letting me get to bed is payback for setting you up to talk to Sarah, isn’t it?”

  Pegasus pulled out a pen from his pocket, twirling it between his fingertips.

  Zeus stared at him, unblinking. “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  Pegasus relaxed in his seat. “I hope this wasn’t why you called me over.”

  Zeus waved him off. “I don’t want a repeat of the last time you went and got your heart broken.”

  Pegasus threw the pen up and caught it. “I’m not going for a repeat.”

  “No one ever is. I was hoping to make use of her attachment to you, not have you get lost in yours.”

  Pegasus scoffed. “Because everything is always so easily calculated.”

  Zeus rose from his seat and walked over, grabbing the pen from him and setting it down on his desk.

  “Do you have a drawer full of confiscated pens?”

  “I release them again into the wild after a few days.”

  Pegasus sobered. “You didn’t call me here to talk about my feelings, did you?”

  Zeus went back to his chair. “The oversight committee is rumored to be looking at some irregularities.”

  “Such as?”

  “Our trouble with Robyn last year, your many issues with following plans, that mishap with the freighter a few months ago, and now this latest incident involving Phoenix.”

  Pegasus sat up at that. “Will they want to talk to her?”

  “There’s no need to worry about a witch hunt yet.”

  Pegasus tapped his fingers against his thigh. “I doubt a newbie messing up is enough to trigger an oversight visit.”

  Zeus said nothing, his face impassive as a statue.

  There was no reason for them to be placed under a microscope right now, especially looking back at prior events from a year ago. Unless the real game was being played out of their reach. “Does this have anything to do with General Moore trying to shake things up? I heard he’s been calling for the President’s security advisor to resign since everything’s been going to hell lately with all the protests.”

  “It was unlikely that General Roussef would be able to keep his position when he lost public support. We’re going on five weeks of protests now.”

  The top of their chain of command hadn’t changed for the past six years. “Then he’s done?”

  “I’ve been told he’s already handed in his resignation. It should be made public within the next week or so.”

  “Is General Moore lobbying to get someone he trusts appointed?”

  Zeus nodded. “We’ll have another set of eyes on us very soon. But I expect any bigger changes will take longer to ripple down towards us. The fact that this oversight committee is coming here might not be related at all.”

  “You really think that?”

  “I think nothing and everything at once,” Zeus joked.

  Pegasus grinned. “Why do I bother?”

  “Either way, you don’t have to concern yourself with politics. Let me worry about that. As for Phoenix, I only ask that you consider the consequences of getting close to her.”

  “If she’s not being truthful, I’m as good as dead. But I believe her.” Pegasus shrugged. “That makes me the worst person to report on her, but maybe the ideal person to look into her visions. I’ll do my best to do both.”

  Zeus was obviously playing a similar game. He was giving her enough rope and waiting to see if she’d get herself tangled up.

  “Aren’t you coming at it from both ends as well? By pressuring her into giving you something useful, even if her visions are lies and she’s a spy, you’re hoping for a crumb we can use. Trying to get her to prove her worth and maybe betray herself.”

  The corner of Zeus’ lips twitched, the closest thing to a confirmation Pegasus would have.

  “I wish you wouldn’t push her.” His own heart couldn’t take seeing her so distressed.

  “It’s unavoidable.”

  Pegasus sighed. “There was one thing she forgot to mention. She saw Wolf’s name. No context, no nothing. She’s not sure if there’s something wrong with him or he’s in danger. I couldn’t find any red flags when I looked at his recent missions, but I didn’t dig too deep.”

  “I’ll look into it. In the meantime, I’ve given you temporary access to our database of Center personnel. Check with Cypher.”

  “Thanks.”

  Zeus tossed his pen back at him. “Keep an eye on Phoenix.”

  Pegasus flipped the pen once over his thumb before shoving it into his pocket. He had no intention of leaving Sarah’s side.