So much for a day in the city, I huffed as I leaned back in my seat. I glanced at Shadow, was that his plan from the beginning? Or did he just react when he saw them threaten the crowd?

Worshippers were defined by their perversions, what defined the Warriors?

We drove back in silence. I wanted to say something; I should have said something. What happened wasn’t normal?

At the compound he beckoned me to follow him. I guess this was big news because he dragged me in front of Toni and motioned for me to spill my beans.

Her eyes were saucers as she stared at our blood soaked clothes, “What happened?”

Shadow did the throat cutting motion with his thumb again.

“You killed someone?” Toni’s voice grew shrill, “Who?”

“The Worshippers, the Peacock’s Worshippers,” I said.

Her jaw dropped, “You killed them,” she stared from me to Shadow and back again, “you’re not even fully healed yet.”

Shadow gave me a funny look, eyeing my injuries. I rolled my eyes, “The wounds from the Peacock were different,” I answered his unspoken question. It was one thing to heal a broken bone; quite another to heal from something that should have torn me to shreds.

“What?” Toni looked confused.

I waved it off, “It doesn’t matter, what matters is that they won’t kill innocent people anymore.” It made me remember the madness in the female Worshipper’s eyes, was that just Worshipper crazy? Or did losing their god drive them off the brink?

I tried to think about the possibility of the Prince’s death, it was like swimming an ocean of molasses; I found myself panting.

Hands on my shoulders seemed to be simultaneously shaking me and holding me up, “Emma, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

I crouched on the ground, getting my breath back, “Yeah,” I looked up at Toni, not sure if I could or should explain, “Yeah, I’m fine, need a shower.” I tried to smile.

I received identical frowns for that, I turned to go before realizing I had no idea how to get to my room, “Um, a little help?”

A few minutes later water beat down on me. If I closed my eyes I could see the events of the afternoon in slow motion. The perfectly round hole the dart left in the man’s head. The feel of the woman slamming into me, bones snapping.

I opened my eyes, hyperventilating against the shower wall.

Nathan walked into the coffee shop at 11:45am like clockwork. I smiled at him, an unexplainable anxiety starting at the pit of my stomach.

He smiled back, shy and kind. The only time I have seen him smile. I paused, why did I think that?

He sat at the usual corner table waiting for me to have a free moment to sit with him.

Finally the tide of faceless customers subsided. I made a cup of his favorite, a cinnamon, caramel latte, and sat across from him. He seemed sad.

I took his hand, so perfectly smooth with long, elegant fingers, and tried to make eye contact, “What’s wrong?”

“This is what you want?” He whispered, “A job you loathe and a human man who will wait for you like a puppy?”

What? I drew my hand back. Something nagged, I looked around at the faceless customers.

Faceless!

Oh God! They really were faceless.

Before I could jump up, run--anything--the Prince grabbed my hand. Claws replaced his clean trimmed nails. I looked up at him, his eyes still seemed sad, “Come back to me Princess.”

“No!” I tugged on my arm.

And the scene changed.

We were in the bedroom I couldn’t leave for a year. “No,” I stumbled against the wall. The room was lavish with silk sheets on a king size bed, wide open spaces between the furniture. A large armoire, desk and plush chairs decorated the room. But the room might as well have been on fire, the panic that swept through me.

The Prince was right in front of me, I cringed shutting my eyes. He brushed the hair off my face, his touch light as a feather.

“Fine, wake up,” he snapped his fingers.

I sat up in my bed at the Warrior’s safe house, heart pounding, fully alert. Oh God, I doubled over as tears threatened to overwhelm me. Why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

In the morning I was summoned back to the conference room. Toni headed off the round table practically vibrating with excitement.

“I have our next move. We are going to rid Florida of gods and their Worshippers.”

By the looks of surprise on the others’ faces, at least I wasn’t the only one out of the loop.

“We can’t even get close to Kitty in practice, how do you think we’re going to kill gods on their own turf?” Mercy asked.

“Emma,” Toni turned triumphantly towards me, “I understand what Kitty meant, we can take the fight to them with her.”

I shook my head, “The Peacock was just luck--”

“Not just the Peacock, but now his Worshippers too. Enough. Just listen.” Toni pulled out files for each of us, “Next would be the Blade in Miami, he has one Worshipper, Katana.” Photos spilled out of my file folder. I recognized him, the Blade; he made a pilgrimage to the Price during my transformation.

He maintained an outward appearance of a Japanese Samurai, who knows why. His Worshipper was a woman of Asian descent, her face always impassive. I couldn’t picture either of them killing indiscriminately but they were god and Worshipper, that was just what they did.

Neither Kitty nor Ethel made an appearance, but if that meant they blessed the plan I had no idea.

Toni laid out her plan and a week later we were “ready” to go.