Page 72 of The World Undone

Everyone else in the room, besides my team, was largely ignoring Bishop, even during the moments when they’d occasionally spare him a glance, trying to pretend otherwise.

Their focus kept collectively snagging on Ralph who was seated at my side.

Even though he was sitting, and I had the height boost from the conference room chair, he still towered over me.

“That’s great, Bishop,” Haley said. Her expression was unreadable, but it didn’t escape my notice that her body was simultaneously tight and loose, like she was poised to defend at the drop of a hat if she needed to—it was a stance I’d grown used to with Darius and Atlas around, “but can we maybe first talk about the giant hellhound casually seated at our table?”

“Fucking wild, isn’t it?” Jace let out a deep laugh, then leaned forward so that he could better study Ralph across the table. “I’ve never seen one before. Honestly, thought they’d gone extinct.” He nudged Evelyn with his elbow, “not sure even The Guild has record of one in this realm, right?”

“Appears the little firecracker is full of surprises.” Levi leaned against the wall, his eyes that saw too much lasered in on me with a focus I didn’t want to dissect. “Daughter of Lucifer, companion to a hellhound,” he let his voice trail for a moment, “any other secrets you want to share with the class?”

I didn’t bother offering a response. I was too exhausted and intrigued by whatever plan Bishop had brewing to play any of Levi’s games.

“Is he safe?” Charlie asked, eyes narrowed as they reluctantly swept away from Ralph to look at me. There was no fear in her voice, only concern. “We’re fine with him staying here. But we need to have your word that he won’t hurt anyone. Even with our rather diverse group here, none of us know much about hellhounds.” Her expression flashed, briefly, with a small bit of wonder as she spared another look at Ralph. “Bishop had never even bothered mentioning them before. He’s a freaking giant, isn’t he?”

I couldn’t help but smile. Charlie was always so in control, organizing everything around here, that I often found myself forgetting that the supernatural world was actually quite new to her. She hadn’t grown up knowing that fantastical creatures from story books were real. I wondered if she always had to fight the urge when she met a new being—caught halfway between excited indulgence and the steady control she tried to mobilize for this community.

That brief glimmer warmed me towards her even more. I’d grown up on the outside too. I knew that balance well, though I was far less poised when trying to maintain it.

“He’s safe.” Eli, Atlas, and Dec all clipped the two words out in tandem, while Darius muttered a hushed, “far safer than that white furball you let you run rampant around this place.”

Wade was seated on Ralph’s other side, keeping up a steady flow of pets and scratches whenever Ralph nudged him for having the audacity to stop. “Safe and an asset.”

Ralph made a friendly little chirping sound, but then growled when Evelyn reached a hand forward to pat him. She jumped and pulled her hand back to her chest, her usual stoic mask slipping for a moment, into fear.

“But he doesn’t like to be touched by strangers,” I added with a wince, “I should’ve started with that, sorry. He’s good at creating those boundaries. And,” I studied the hellhound, trying to see him through the lens of someone who didn’t know him, who didn’t see how playful and sweet and goofy he was, “I know he can be intimidating. He’s very independent. And good at staying out of the way. He won’t intentionally go near anyone here, and he won’t harm anyone who isn’t harming those he’s chosen to protect.”

“And he’s chosen to protect you?” Levi added.

“Obviously.” Eli sniffed, and I could feel him trying to pull back his annoyance with his little brother. “I mean, yes.” He took a deep breath before meeting Levi’s eyes. “How’s my dad?”

Levi arched a brow, studying him, whatever cryptic musings passing through his head were locked away from my interpretation. “No changes.”

Eli nodded, gaze now dipped to his lap as Bishop impatiently tapped his fingers on the table.

“Your idea, then?” I said, urging him to change the topic.

“Er, right.” Bishop glanced briefly at Evelyn and then back to me. “As Evelyn mentioned the other day, she thinks she can locate three council members. Or at least knows where they are most likely to be found. And we know that once we attack one, we lose the element of surprise—we can basically assume that all information and intel we currently have about locations and what not will be null from that moment on. They move quickly, and if they suspect that Levi and Evelyn have been playing them the whole time, that they’re still alive, they’ll waste no time.”

I nodded, my hands lazily running through Ralph’s fur. It hadn’t been super long since I’d seen him, but I’d missed him. And something about having him near soothed the chaos constantly flooding my brain. “So, we need to choose wisely—where we start, I mean. We need to determine who of the three is most likely to have or know the whereabouts of the stone.”’

Jace and Haley kept darting glances at the spot where my hand scratched Ralph’s chin, their faces twin expressions of shock and horror, like they half expected Ralph to casually snap my hand clean from my wrist at any moment.

“Or, we do a tandem strike,” Bishop said, his eyes glimmering with the embers of excitement.

“But we need Max at each one.” Evelyn leaned back in her chair, the picture of calm now. “She’s our best hope at both sensing the stone and getting out safely with her powers. Like I said before, you all have a target on you. We need the anonymity teleportation brings, once any of you are caught on surveillance, you can’t come back here. You’ll risk jeopardizing this entire operation.”

Bishop’s face cracked into a smile—maybe the first true smile I’d seen him wear since meeting him.

And damn did it do things to his face. It was like a beacon of light, softening his usual sharp edges into something quite beautiful.

I understood why Charlie always stared at him like he was the sun now.

“That’s just it. Max doesn’t need to be at each confrontation. Her powers will be.”

“No,” Darius said, following Bishop’s plan to its conclusion instantly. “Absolutely not.”

The others tensed around me but said nothing, not yet.

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