Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1)(118)
Author: Richelle Mead

Because you’re connected, said Magnus. And he knows things about you.

He could help if you’d give him a chance, added Horatio. Probably with this. Most certainly with your calling. You need to start learning the craft.

“Justin?” Mae leaned toward him, eyes concerned. He realized he’d spaced out. With a feeling of dread, he made his decision. He had only a few days left. Desperate times and all that.

He sighed. “Excuse me a moment.”

He went outside, leaving the rest of them looking confused. “Call Demetrius Devereaux,” he told his ego. “Voice only.”

“Justin,” boomed Geraki when he answered. “Look at that. And here I thought I was going to have a boring day.” Even without seeing him, Justin could imagine the smug look.

“You claimed you wanted to help me last time. Is that still true?”

“No small talk, huh? What kind of help could a megalomaniac like me offer?”

Justin gritted his teeth. “I’d like to know if there’s an unlicensed religion in the Pan-Celt grant. One serving the Morrigan.”

“Haven’t heard that name in a while. Why would I know anything about unlicensed religions? You’ve made some mistake—a rarity, I know.”

“Goddamn it! We all know you’re lying. I’m not asking you to give up anything on yourself and whatever nonsense you’re running.” Justin paused to take a deep breath. “I won’t say anything to SCI. But I need to know about this group. They’re killing innocents, and even if you’re crazy, I don’t think you want death on your hands.”

“‘Crazy’ is an arbitrary term. And someone like you isn’t in a position to judge sanity.” But Geraki didn’t outright refuse. “If I could do this—and I’m not saying I can—what would you give me in return?”

“What do you want? And don’t ask for something illegal.”

“All I want is for you to do what I asked the last time we met.”

“You asked for a lot of things. Most of which I didn’t understand. Because they made no sense.”

“You understood what I meant by yielding your stars and flowers.” Geraki’s voice was low and dangerous. “That doesn’t sound too bad to me. A good bargain for information about a group you claim is killing people. If I can even find out such things, of course.”

Something in Justin’s chest tightened as Geraki’s previous words rang in his head. Yield your stars and flowers and accept the clever compromise.

“I know what the stars and flowers mean but not the rest. I can’t do what I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure our master will make it clear. When he does, promise you’ll do it.”

“Fine,” said Justin, wondering just how much he’d regret this. “I’ll do it—if you can even find out anything.”

“Swear you’ll do it,” said Geraki. “And that this isn’t being used as entrapment.”

“I swear it,” said Justin promptly.

“What do you swear by?”

“Does it matter?”

He could tell Geraki was smiling. “No. Your word will hold you, so don’t try to break it. Hang on, and I’ll call you back.”

The call disconnected, and Justin wondered exactly how long he was supposed to “hang on.”

He got his answer a few minutes later, one that was surprisingly detailed, if slightly ridiculous. But Justin made note of all the information Geraki gave him, promised to make good on the enigmatic deal, and then returned to his friends inside.

“Well,” he declared. “I may have our hit. Turns out there’s a grain warehouse in the Pan-Celt grant we might be interested in.”

“Classy. Are you going to call in a raid?” asked Leo.

“I don’t know.” Justin leaned against the wall and passed his ego from hand to hand. “I could, but if nothing shows up, I’m going to face a lot of heat for sending military to a grant based on circumstantial evidence—especially if I really do keep Geraki out of it. I had a pissed-off voice mail this morning from Cornelia about what happened last night with the Nordics. Public shootings don’t go over well. If I do something else spectacular that doesn’t pan out, I could be in a lot of trouble.”

Mae met his eyes, knowing what was on the line, despite how angry she was with him. “What if we did a preliminary visit?” she asked. “Unofficial. It can’t be that hard getting into a warehouse. We look, and if you get your proof, then you go in for the kill. If nothing’s there, we quietly leave.”

Leo gave a harsh laugh. “Bold, but how exactly do you plan on breaking in? Do you have some technical expertise we don’t know about, prætorian? Even a grain warehouse has a security system.”

“One that’d be easy for a technical genius like yourself to crack,” said Justin. It was a crazy plan, no question, but they’d passed the point of sanity a long time ago.

“You and I have different definitions of ‘easy,’” said Leo.

“Leo…” Justin’s voice cracked a little. “I don’t want to sound melodramatic, but getting to the bottom of this might be essen—beneficial to my job. I wouldn’t be suggesting something this drastic otherwise.”

“She suggested it.” But everyone could tell Leo was considering it.

Dominic nearly choked. “You’re all crazy! Do you hear what you’re saying?”

“We’re saying we potentially have the chance to crack open this case and bust a cult that’s killing people and conducting illegal genetic procedures.” Justin shifted into sales mode. “All we need is one hint of that. Hell, if we just find evidence of an unlicensed religion, it’ll be a good day’s work. That video becomes irrelevant. We’ll see what schematics we can get in advance about the place. It should give you an idea of what we need to get in, Leo.”

Dominic still looked dumbfounded. “If you’re going, then I’m going. Not that you should be going.”

He and his husband locked eyes for several tense seconds. “Okay,” said Leo at last. “We’ll take a car. Dom doesn’t like public transportation.”

All of Justin’s dislike for Dominic returned. “A car will take forever!”

“Just twenty-four hours,” said Leo. “We’ll sleep along the way.”