Page 208 of Psycho Pack

And now the creepy little porcelain doll who just might be our only chance at getting into Reinmich without getting ourselves killed. If she really is the daughter of some obscenely rich bigwig, that is.

"If you earn it," I tell Valek flatly.

He flashes me that devious grin of his, but the glimmer of hope in his eyes alongside it keeps me from rolling mine too hard.

Whiskey shoots Valek a wary look before rolling his shoulders and glancing around again, still clearly on edge. "About that omega's little horror story," he says awkwardly. "Are we sure she's bullshitting?"

"I doubt she'sbullshitting," Plague replies in a dry tone. "Her fear was real. She's just clearly suffering from some sort of delusion."

"Yeah, well, she knew about the teeth," says Whiskey, drawing jagged lines in the air in front of his mouth. "I had no fuckin' clue that kind of shit was possible before…" He trails off, gesturing awkwardly at Wraith and glancing at me like I'm going to bite him if he says the wrong thing.

A valid concern.

"It is strange," Valek admits, leaning on a doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

Whiskey looks over at him, then at Wraith. "You sure you never saw anything like that at the lab? What does the Knight look like under his mask?"

Wraith shakes his head.

"His mask is soldered on as far as I can tell," Valek replies. "I don't think it comes off. But I suppose it's technically possible something like that is hidden beneath it."

"We arenotentertaining the possibility of a psychic omega," Plague says, not hiding his irritation at the conversation. "Can we get back on the subject instead of wasting our time wondering about things that aren't possible?"

"I fuckin' hope not," Whiskey mutters.

"He has a point," Thane says, pacing again. "We got out of the mission alive, but we still don't have Monty. Or our army."

"No," Plague muses, clearly glad we're discussing plans again. "But we might have something better. If Cosima really is Arthur Maybrecht's daughter, he should be willing to exchange her for my brother. And if Azarel has been there for so long, I guarantee he knows something that could help us win."

"There's still the army," Thane reminds him. "The queen was clear we need to come up with something before she's willing to risk Surhiiran troops."

Plague falls silent. He clearly doesn't have an answer for that.

"I might know someone," Valek chimes in.

Thane gives him a silencing glare. "Yourlast contact fucked us over."

"Technically, Raven came through," Valek muses. "He just left out a few important details."

Thane gives a weary sigh, but he doesn't argue, which speaks to just how fucked up our odds are. "Who is it?"

"It's someone we all know, actually," he answers. "Nikolai."

"Nikolai?" Whiskey blurts out. "That flashy psychopath with the red glasses?"

"We need an army," Valek says with a shrug. "He's the most feared mercenary in the Outer Reaches. What better army than one for hire?"

Thane looks as if he takes personal offense to that.

"Even if we trusted Nikolai, he thinksyou'rePrytel. And how the fuck are we gonna pay him enough to keep from double crossing us?" Thane demands. "In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have access to the Council's funds anymore."

"No, but wedohave a prince," Valek says, gesturing to Plague. "And as you said, Nikolai's loyalty can be bought. He won't take the deception personally as long as we bring a fair price."

"Why do I get the idea his idea of fair is everything in the Surhiiran vaults?" Plague asks dryly.

Valek simply shrugs. "It was merely an idea."

Plague sighs that sigh that tells me he's actually considering it. "I suppose it's not the worst idea."

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