Sunny loomed over Aaron by at least half a foot, doing the most accurate demonstration of foaming at the mouth I’d ever seen. Despite the intensity, Aaron seemed unaffected, almost bland, hands shoved in his pockets even as Sunny bore down on him.

“It’s too fucking soon to move on the tower,” Sunny said.

“I’m aware of your opinion on the matter. And if we’re bitching about expediency, care to explain the User you just railroaded through the process? The same User who apparently just broke protocol and appeared in the central compound.”

Sunny stuck his finger in Aaron’s face. A long trail of Lichtenberg figures spanned from his third finger to his forearm. They hadn’t been there earlier. Apparently, Seer was telling the truth: anyone outside the Order couldn’t see the mark. “I recruit whoever the fuck I want.”

Aaron glanced at me, though Sunny hadn’t realized I’d returned yet. “An allowance the retainer granted both of us. But I think it’s a little odd that the User you bring in last-minute assaults and seriously injures members of the team taking part in an operation you vocally opposed.”

Sunny grinned so widely it looked as if his face might split. “They attacked him first. And if I wanted to put some of your people out of commission, Aaron, I wouldn’t send a recruit. And he sure as hell wouldn’t be unarmed.”

Aaron’s brow furrowed as he pivoted toward me, directly acknowledging my presence for the first time. “You did all that without a weapon?”

I shrugged. “They were inexperienced. It didn’t seem necessary.”

“Right…” Like I hadn’t even spoken, Aaron focused back in on Sunny. “You see how this looks? And with the timing, there’s no way I can know how much you coached him.”

“Stop talking out of the side of your fucking mouth. If you want to accuse me of something, say it. We can have it all out in front of the Court and Sibyl and be done with it.” Again, Sunny stuck his finger in Aaron’s face, a hair’s breadth from touching his forehead.

There was enough tension in the room that it felt like either of them could snap at any moment. I was half-tempted to just leave. If I had the elevator code, I might have. Wash my hands of it, take the non-zero chance they might kill each other and save me the trouble. Instead, I unbuckled my gauntlet. When Azure played Myrddin in Aaron’s backyard, he’d done so with some cheek. I saw no reason to discontinue the trend.

I held my bare forearm up to the light. “There a trader with ointment? Shit itches like a motherfucker.”

Aaron’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, while Sunny appeared completely unsettled. From their reactions, I filled in the blanks. Neither expected Hastur to actually talk to me.

“I stand corrected,” Aaron murmured.

“Right, uh…” Sunny attempted to regain his balance, though his eyes kept flicking to the mark. “See? Clearly legitimate.”

“He who I think he is?” Aaron asked.

“Uhuh,” Sunny confirmed.

“Solid get. Though it’s unfortunate you were the one to bring him in.”

“You—” Sunny bristled and took a step toward Aaron, the tension in the room rising. Aaron held up a hand and placed it on his chest.

“I understand why you skipped the background. That tracks. But you’re not skipping containment and analysis. He’s not going anywhere for at least two weeks. And once he does, he needs to be observed.”

Sunny’s eyes narrowed, and he shifted his body slightly. He slowly reached toward his inventory with his out-of-sight arm. Aaron caught the movement and openly smiled, all but daring Sunny to make a move.

There was a part of me that wanted to let him. Watching Aaron be reduced to a bloody smear on the ground was a personal fantasy of mine. But something about the scene was wrong. Aaron was here, unescorted, yet seemed entirely too confident. He had something up his sleeve. Either way, what Aaron was proposing couldn’t happen.

I cleared my throat. “Personally, I don’t give a fuck, but I’m surprised you’re willing to put the research off indefinitely.”

The tension flagged as they both stared at me.

“What research,” Sunny growled.

“I’d like to know as well.” Aaron took several long strides toward me, putting himself in my space. “I certainly hope you don’t intend to violate your geas so soon after invoking the oath. The results of that would be… categorically unpleasant.”

I cocked my head. That was a subtle warning for my benefit, disguised as a threat. So Aaron wasn’t sandbagging trying to keep me tied to the compound. “Is power-leveling the Necromancer tied to the Advent?”

“Not directly.” Aaron shrugged.

“Then I’m not violating jack,” I said. With all the posturing going on in this room, it was hard to keep my body language neutral, not favoring either of them. “Wasn’t exactly keen on joining the Illuminati without a few cards up my sleeve. I only have a handful of User cores on me. Your Necromancer will run through them in less than a week. I stashed the rest somewhere safe. If you want more, well, I’m not really down for twenty-four seven cult life. Hastur seems chill, but I’ve got my own shit to handle.”

“… chill.” Aaron twisted back to look at Sunny. “Are we the Illuminati?”

Sunny grunted noncommittally. “Secret society bound by oaths and magic, nascent god, fingers in almost everything?”

“Guess we are,” Aaron said.

“Severely lacking in the triangle department,” I pointed out. Whatever caused the rift, the rapport between them was still there. I needed to make sure they didn’t resolve their differences.

Aaron’s smile faded. “As much as I applaud your cleverness, we’re still at an impasse. I can’t, in good conscience, let a railroaded recruit roam freely. Even if Hastur himself gave his approval.”

I breathed out slowly. As I’d always suspected, Aaron was a fantastic liar. There was no trace of deception in his body language or voice. Problem was, he was effectively hemming me in. Either he was doing it on purpose, or he couldn’t find a way to let this go in a realistic manner that Sunny would safely buy.

An idea formed. “I’m not sure what he’s already told you about me, so I’ll just say this. There’s only one thing I care about. Winning this fucking game and getting the hell out of Dallas. Short of that, acquiring as much power as possible to make the over-arching goal easier.”

“Do you have an alternate endgame in mind?” Aaron’s voice changed when he asked. More authoritative and demanding.

I was already answering before I received the prompt from Azure. “Is that an official query?”

“Yes,” Aaron said.

“Then no. My patron isn’t exactly a bullet-point planner. I originally intended to win the events, carrying a single region to the end, getting to know their strengths and weaknesses intimately in case the final stages get… unpleasant. If Hastur can follow through on his claim—end this before the second event—that won’t be necessary.”

“Your patron being the Allfather of Entropy?” Aaron asked.

“Yes,” I admitted. There was no point in denying it, especially when the lie could be so easily conflicted with all the chatty gods going around.

“Did you get the feeling it’s going that way without Hastur’s interference? Last man standing?” Aaron asked. I felt genuine interest in the question. Realistically, he’d only spoken to Hastur, who probably revealed little beyond hints and riddles.

“Count yourself lucky,” I groused. “The Allfather is infinitely more cryptic than the Retainer. He mentioned nothing to that effect.”

“I didn’t ask what the Allfather said. I asked what you felt,” Aaron corrected.

I considered it. If this was really about reformation, as the Overseer implied, I couldn’t see it. The system—and for that matter, the last event—prioritized strength over all.

“They’re burning through casualties at an unsustainable rate. At the very least, it’s flamethrower eugenics. Within our dome, I could see a few hundred people left at most. The real question is whether this is the semi-finals.”

“And the survivors get pitted against each other after the dome comes down,” Aaron said thoughtfully. “I’ve considered that possibility myself.”

I silently noted that he hadn’t asked me if I was working with Sunny. Either using his authority to inquire directly about a member of the Order with similar authority to his own was off limits, or he knew it was pointless, meaning confirmation that Sunny had found a way to circumvent the geas.

“Putting the theoretical aside, for the moment, I fucked up one of your teams right before an op. That wasn’t my intention, and if you want to shift the teams around and find a spot for me, I can more than make up for the three I dropped. Of course, on the condition you drop the isolation requirement.”

“What—” Sunny’s face turned red.

“I think that’s an excellent idea,” Aaron said smoothly, all but leering at the taller man. “Anything for the Advent. Isn’t that right, Sunny?”

Sunny paused. He seemed to realize why I was going this route. But he didn’t look happy about it.

What Aaron said next surprised the hell out of me. “Our high-level teams are well-balanced. In both powers and personalities. There might be a space for you on one of them in the future, but I don’t want to fuck with their composition right before an op.”

“Meaning…” I trailed off, bracing for it.

“I’m putting you with Zero-team. Make preparations, swing by a vendor if you need to, then report to the Ceaseless Knight. You roll out at sunset.”