Chapter Fifty
ENZO
I hover, noncorporeal, outside the front entrance to the Liar’s Den, perched over a newly constructed bomb that’s set to detonate in approximately forty-seven seconds.
St. James and his men are lurking in the shadows of the motel across the street, bracing behind the dumpster as they wait for the bomb to detonate.
I glare at them as I wait. I just need to stay here long enough to turn it noncorporeal with me right before it goes off so it doesn’t blow up the front wall of the Liar’s Den and, with it, my Tentacles just inside.
The past several hours have been spent foiling St. James and his henchmen’s plots to get into the casino, including one to break down the door with a motorcar and another to shoot out windows on the first floor with their assault rifles.
My Tentacles and I have been busy keeping them at bay, using Jade’s poppers to blow out their tires before the car could reach the doors and using our noncorporeality to steal the bullets from their guns before they could fire them.
Now, three seconds before the bomb goes off, Lola’s terror slams through me.
Just one more second . . . , I plead. Hang on, Lola.
I grasp the explosive, pulling away its physicality just in time.
The bomb bursts in my hands, but because it’s noncorporeal, it collapses into ghostly shrapnel. I release it, leaving behind a pile of twisted metal and smoking ash.
St. James leaps up, spitting curses. I charge back through the wall to my Tentacles.
“I have to go!” I shout, sprinting through the lobby. “Lola’s in trouble!”
“You can’t!” Jade drags on my arm, wheeling me around. “Laurel will just take over your body again. You go in there, you add to her arsenal.”
“Not if I don’t have a body for her to take over.”
Jade shakes her head. “You won’t be able to help Lola without going corporeal again, you dolt. The second you do, you’re a liability for everyone.”
I grind my teeth. “I can’t just do nothing.”
“Please, Boss,” Soren’s deep timbre rumbles behind me, and I turn to meet his dark eyes. “Jade’s right.”
I sigh. All four of them watch me, arms crossed as though convinced I won’t listen, as though they’ll need to fight me themselves.
And, honestly, how can I blame them? For the past four months, I’ve disregarded them over and over. Defended Lola when I shouldn’t have. Shoved aside their concerns.
“I haven’t listened to you for a long time,” I say softly. “But I’m listening now. What should we do?”
Jade’s eyes light up. “Distraction.”
“Tell me more.”
“We could use my poppers . . .” She pulls out her signature voratium pebbles.
“I’m not sure that’ll be enough,” Isla muses, pulling on her lower lip. “We have to weaken her, somehow . . .”
“Did you notice that when she took over Enzo, a few people in the back ran away?” Soren asks.
Arden nods. “Do you think she hit some sort of limit?”
“It’s probably harder for her to take over one of the Devious than a normal person because she’s having to control their magic, too, not just their bodies,” Isla points out.
“And . . . ,” I add, excitement thrumming through me as pieces fall into place. “If she’s anything like me, her magic has been diminishing the past couple of days thanks to Lola’s moonshard on the roof.”
“We just need enough people to max her out,” Soren says. “Past a certain point, she won’t be able to control all of us. At the very least, she would be sloppy.”
“Who, though?” Arden asks as a faint scream slices the air from deeper in the casino, sending another jolt of adrenaline through me. “The five of us won’t be enough.”
I spin, unlatching the multiple locks on the doors and swinging them wide open. “It won’t be just us.”
“What are you—?” he begins, but I’m already shouting into the night.
“Yoo-hoo!” I call. “Maggie! It’s me, the Thief !”
St. James swivels as several of his goons aim their pistols at my face. “Where’s Magnolia?” he barks.
“That’s actually what I need to talk to you about,” I say with a grin. “How many guards have you got, pal?”
Magnus scowls. “Twelve.”
I glance at Soren. “Think that’ll be enough?”
He grins. “It just might.”