Hyejeong and Seolhyun didn’t talk for the rest of the day.

Somehow, they ended up stretched out on the bed, and Hyejeong finally drifted off into a sleep. It was late, but Seolhyun couldn’t sleep. Her mind raced with everything. If she was crazy (which she had a good feeling she was), how could she lead the AOA against Ares? This had trouble written all over it.

And Jimin was awake.

She wasn’t trying to communicate with Seolhyun, but she was up, and she was antsy.

And so was Seolhyun.

As quietly as possible, she pulled herself away from Hyejeong and dressed in the dark. She figured if she ended up putting her shirt on backwards, she could blame it on her lunacy.

She crept from the room and closed the door behind her. Every part of her knew where she was heading, especially the annoying cord inside her. It was buzzing around like a mad puppy that needed to be smacked on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper.

Actually, Seolhyun needed to be smacked with one.

Moving through the shadows, it took no time at all to make it to the Council building. The entrance to the housing cells was heavily guarded. None of the Guards looked thrilled with the idea of stepping aside and allowing Seolhyun access to the First.

Dawon moved up the narrow stairwell, his eyes narrowing as he spied her standing before the Guards. “What’s up, Seolhyun?”

“I need to talk to Jimin.”

He positioned himself in front of her. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Do you have any other suggestions other than knocking her out every couple of hours?”

His lips quirked into a grin. “I really don’t see a problem with that.”

Seolhyun laughed, but it felt and sounded forced. “Neither do I, but I need to talk to her to figure out what the hell she’s really doing here and if the Linuses on the other side of the gate are going to be a problem.”

“They’re probably going to be a problem,” Dawon replied. He was a fountain of reassuring comments.

Seolhyun shifted her weight impatiently as she tucked the shorter strands of hair behind her ear. “I’m not here to connect with her,” she said in a low voice. “She doesn’t hold that kind of power over me anymore. And besides, I won’t let her get close enough to even try.”

Dawon looked away, his jaw working overtime. “I don’t like this. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think you’re going to turn Evil Seolhyun on us, but it’s the middle of the night and Hyejeong isn’t with you.”

Two brows rose. “And what does that have to do with the Elpis locked in our cell?”

“I just feel a hundred times more comfortable when Hyejeong is around, especially if you’re chit-chatting with Jimin,” he admitted.

“Hyejeong’s asleep, and she needs to rest. Besides, I don’t need a babysitter.” Of course she did, but she sure as hell wasn’t admitting that. “Come on, Dawon, don’t make me make you do this.”

He regarded her closely and then exhaled through his nose. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“What faith you have in me,” Seolhyun muttered as he stepped aside and she walked past.

“It has nothing to do with faith.” Dawon was right on her heels as Seolhyun went down the steep stairway. “And no offense, I don’t trust anyone. I learned the hard way many years ago, and I see the reminder of that every time I look in the mirror.”

Seolhyun bent under the low archway and stepped into a wide chamber. Jimin wasn’t here. Her gaze fell to the titanium door across from her, and then she glanced over her shoulder. “Your scar?”

Dawon leaned against the wall and folded his arms. “I didn’t get it shaving.”

“I thought you got it fighting Demons.”

He gave a slight shake of his head. “I got it when I was nineteen.”

As wrong as it might be, Seolhyun was morbidly curious. “How did it happen?”

There wasn’t an immediate response. “I was out one night patrolling, and toward the end of my shift, I met this woman. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. One thing led to another and, well, I was a nineteen year old guy. It was a one-night stand, no commitment or exchange of names, and all that was her idea, not mine. Sign me up for that.”

“Of course,” Seolhyun said, figuring out where their meet-and-greet had ended up, but not how a hook-up had resulted in such a scar.

“But she wasn’t an ordinary woman, Seolhyun. She was a Goddess.”

Seolhyun’s mouth dropped open.

“Aphrodite,” he said, tipping his chin down. “Apparently, she was bored and decided to pay a visit to the Mortal realm. Wrong place, wrong time kind of thing. Or right place, depending on how you look at it, and who was I to turn that down?” One side of his lips tipped up as Seolhyun gaped at him. “As you can imagine, good old Hephaestus wasn’t too happy about that.”

“I would think not,” she said slowly.

“He gave me this scar.” He gestured at his right cheek. “And he would’ve killed me if Aphrodite hadn’t intervened. I have to say a couple of hours with her was worth it.”

A surprised laugh burst from Seolhyun, and Dawon’s uneven grin spread.

He remained in the circular chamber, and Seolhyun walked down the narrow hall lit by torches on the walls. Come to think of it, the Elpises both were dangerous beings created by the Gods, and they could and had everything and everyone around them at one point or another.

Maybe their violent natures were the product of those who created them. No one else in this world was more off their rocker than an Olympian God.

Seolhyun tucked away Dawon’s story as she rounded a corner and saw the cell several feet in front of her. The light from the flames flickered across the titanium bars. A darker shadow was pressed against the bars, and it took her a second to realize it was Jimin, her back to the hall.

Stopping a few feet from where she sat, Seolhyun ignored their connection.

“Are you coming to knock me out again?” Jimin asked.

Seolhyun crossed the remaining distance, stopping just out of her reach. “I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“You can save yourself the effort. I’m not plotting a daring escape, and I don’t have any plans to rain down chaos and destruction.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Is it?” Jimin turned her head, and her profile came into view. Her eyes were closed, and the long lashes, darker than her hair, rested against the tops of her cheekbones. “Does Jaejeong know you’re down here?”

Seolhyun’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not talking about her.”

One side of Jimin’s lips curled up in a quick grin and then vanished. “Good, because I really don’t want to hear about how happily in love you two are. I rather you’d knock me out.”

Seolhyun inched to the side and knelt down out of Jimin’s reach. “Let’s be real with one another. You never loved me like that. You know that, right?”

Jimin didn’t respond for a long moment, and then she tipped the side of head back against the bars and let out a weary sigh. “You’re right, but I never had the chance.”

Again, Seolhyun was knocked off-guard by her bluntness. Jimin was like the queen of vague and unhelpful responses, worse than a God most of the time. She stared at her profile for a long, tense minute… then the words sort of just burst from Seolhyun’s mouth like a dam breaking under pressure.

“I loved you. It’s not the same way I feel about Hyejeong, but I loved you, and you betrayed me. You sided with Jonghyun and practically held me hostage so that I would be forced to connect with you. And I still had hope for you. I still defended you. And then you turned me into Evil Seolhyun and started a war alongside Ares. People have died, Jimin.”

Her voice rose and cracked as her legs weakened. She sat down, hands limp between her knees as she stared at her through the bars.

“And not just recently. How far does all of this go back? To my Mom? To the Demons that were at Ephti Island and killed Chanmi? To all of those who died at Seoul Ephensy? Were you and Jonghyun using Demons then? You were, weren’t you?”

There was another pause, and then her eyes opened. “I’m sorry.”

Seolhyun’s chest tightened with pressure. “People are dead. People I loved. People I’ve never met, and for what?”

“If I could go back and change it all, I would. I’d never take that post guarding Jonghyun,” Jimin said quietly.

Seolhyun’s mouth opened as she shook her head. This Jimin… this regretful, apologetic creature… was not the Jimin she knew. “Your personality disorder is starting to show.”

Her lips tipped up in a wry grin. “Look who’s talking.”

“You have no idea,” Seolhyun muttered, and then louder, “Where did all of this go wrong?”

“When I was born.”

Seolhyun’s shoulders tensed. “That’s not true.”

“Actually, it is. You were supposed to be the First, Seolhyun. All the Elpises came from Apollo. I was created for this… for what Ares wanted. It was the same with Solaris and her First. So, yes, it’s true. Everything went wrong at that moment.” She laughed, but it was like all Seolhyun’s laughs after Ares. There was no warmth behind it. “Hell, things went wrong hundreds of years ago when Ares decided he wanted to rule the world.”

“No,” Seolhyun said, swallowing. “You’ve always done what you wanted, Jimin. And you didn’t know about any of this when we met. You made these decisions. You went–”

“Have you ever tasted Alch?” She flipped around so quickly that Seolhyun’s heart thumped. Facing her, Jimin gripped the bars until her knuckles bleached. “Not like how a Demon feeds, but to have so much Alch in you that you could do anything you wanted and feel everything you never could before? Did you know that it feels like lightning in your blood? Have you experienced the taste of supreme and ultimate power? Have you?”

Seolhyun shook her head slowly.

“Sure, Jonghyun promised me a lot of things, and so did Ares when I met him in Seoul, but those promises were nothing in comparison to what it felt like once you had Awakened. It was like tapping into pure power.” A feverish glint brightened her eyes as they latched onto Seolhyun’s. “After that, I didn’t need their promises, because I knew… I knew I could get whatever I wanted, I had the power to do so. And that power…” She let go of the bars and rocked back. “There’s nothing like it, Seolhyun. I became addicted to it, and it blinded me to everything else. It was my weakness. It is my weakness.”

Seolhyun didn’t say anything to that, because a part of her had always known the power wasn’t Jimin’s strength.

“You have no idea how hard it is to even be near you right now. The connection calls to your Alch, everything.” Jimin shot forward, wrapping her fingers around the bars once more. “It’s all I think about, and if I did manage to transfer your power to me, I don’t think even Ares could control me. It would all be over.”

Seolhyun lowered her gaze. “You’re better than that.”

“I’m not, and you know that, so cut that out.” She laughed that cold laugh again. “But you are.”

“I’m not better than you.”

“You are,” she insisted quietly. She shifted, and Seolhyun looked up. Her forehead was resting against the bars. A haunted look crept into Jimin’s face. “You are.”

The back of Seolhyun’s eyes burned. “In case you don’t remember, I shot a man in the head earlier just because I wanted to.”

“He deserved it.”

Seolhyun flinched. “I didn’t feel a damn thing, Jimin. Not an ounce of remorse or regret. Nothing. That’s… that’s not right.”

“He deserved it, Seolhyun. You have no idea what he was doing, what he abused with his power.” Their gazes locked, and Jimin took a deep breath. “But I never wanted to see you do something like that. Maybe I did before, but after what Ares did to you? After seeing what I’ve done to you? I don’t want any of this. I want it to be over, and the only way we can finish this is if you take on the power of the First. You need to become the God Killer.”

Seolhyun gaped at her.

Wait. There was no way Jimin knew their plans.

“It’s the only way to stop Ares, Seolhyun.” worked as she swallowed heavily. “And I can’t do it. If I take on that power, I can’t promise what I’d do. It has to be you, and I know it can be done. You have to–”

“I know,” Seolhyun cut her off as she scooted forward. “I know how to do it, Jimin, but…”

Her lips parted. “But you can’t do it until it’s damn close to time, until we are face-to-face with that son of a , because the longer the power is in you, the crazier you get. Trust me.”

“I’m already crazy,” Seolhyun whispered.

“What?”

“I’m not the right person to be doing any of this. There’s something wrong with me. Ever since I fought Ares, I haven’t been right. I don’t feel things the way I used to. I don’t feel anything half of the time. I froze in a fight, and I mean really froze. I thought I saw Ares earlier and pulled a gun on Hyejeong.”

Her brows rose. “What’s wrong with the last part?”

Seolhyun’s shoulders slumped.

“Hey, I’m kidding. And I’m also curious why you’d do that. The sun rises and sets out of Hyejeong’s , according to you.”

Nice imagery. “I thought she was Ares.”

“Like you saw Ares in place of her?”

Seolhyun nodded numbly. They sat like that for a few minutes, neither of them speaking.

Jimin’s sigh shuttled through her thoughts. “I saw your father.”

Seolhyun didn’t think she heard Jimin right at first.

Slowly, she lifted her head and locked her gaze with hers. “What?”

“I saw your father when I was in Seoul,” she repeated quietly. “Not before you Awakened. I didn’t see him when I was there at that time, but when we arrived about a month ago, he was there… is still there.”

“A month ago?” Seolhyun’s mouth worked, but there was no sound. She scooted forward, coming closer to Jimin than she probably should have. She drew in a breath, but it got stuck. “Did you… how is he? How did he look like?”

“I didn’t talk with him, but he’s there with the other servants–“

“So he is a servant?”

Jimin nodded. “He can’t leave. None of them can with Ares there.” She paused, and Seolhyun’s heart dropped. “He appears to be okay, but Ares knows who he is, Seolhyun.”

Seolhyun stared at her as those words sunk in. “But he’s okay for now?”

“For now.” Jimin reaffirmed silently.

Closing her eyes, she squirmed under the sudden pressure in . “And Ares knows he’s my father?”

“Yes.”

“Does he have any plans to use him against me?” Seolhyun asked out loud, already knowing and fearing the answer.

“I would like to give you the answer that would make it better.” There was a pause, and then Seolhyun felt Jimin’s fingers graze her arm. Electricity passed from her skin to hers, her head jerked up. She backed out of her reach, watching the marks of the Elpis glide up Jimin’s arm and onto her neck. Jimin pulled her arm back through the bars. “He will use any means necessary. He can’t get to you right now, but the moment he can, he will dangle your father in front of you.”

Seolhyun looked away, pressing closed until her jaw ached with the effort. She knew she wasn’t feeling everything she should be considering how much danger her father was in. She let out a ragged breath.

She had to find Yuna.

The Next Day

Yuna appeared in the doorway in the morning, dressed in slacks and a white sweater. Her hair was perfectly coifed, in spite of the fact the world had gone its crazy pants. The woman was always awe-inspiring.

She glanced at Sleeping Hyejeong and smiled. “Care to join me for some coffee?”

How could Seolhyun ever turn down caffeine? Nodding, she started out of the room, but backtracked to where Hyejeong rested and fixed the blanket she’d draped over her a few hours ago. The girl must have been exhausted, because she didn’t wake up, which was rare.

She followed Yuna into the common area and watched her make quick work of the coffee. With their steaming cups in hand, they went into some room for the privacy it offered. They sat on the window seat, legs tucked toward each other.

Finally, they were going to talk about her father, and Seolhyun had no idea what was going to come out of the woman’s mouth.

She was even a little scared, stupid and weak as that was, and her stomach was flipping all over the place. She knew nothing of her father, only discovering that he was a servant and alive a few couple of hours ago.

Yuna took a sip of her coffee and blinked several times. “First, I want to apologize for what happened to you at the Council. I didn’t get the chance–”

“You don’t have to apologize. That wasn’t your fault.” And it wasn’t, right? Yuna had been compelled to give her the y potion. “And I know you don’t remember who did it. It’s okay.” She sat her coffee on the small wicker table as her stomach tightened. “I want to know about my Dad.”

A remarkable change occurred in Yuna. A different kind of sheen misted in her eyes. She took another drink, her pointer finger tapping off the glass. The anticipation was killing Seolhyun.

“Nicholas is a… an incredible man, Seolhyun. You should know that above all else.”

Hearing her father’s name spoken for the first time, it felt strange and oddly wonderful.

Her breath fell short. “I know.” Seolhyun did know, because he had to break the rules and love her mother. “The concoction didn’t work on my father, did it?”

Yuna smiled wistfully. “Your father, well, he always had a strong will, much like you. I do not know how, but he resisted it from the beginning.”

Seolhyun clasped her hands together. “I think I saw a man during the attack, standing next to you. I thought he was a Genuine, but he’s holding a dagger instead of using the elements. He was fighting…”

“You did see him.” Yuna’s gaze moved to the window behind them. Early-morning sunlight sliced over the glass. “He was in the library the night we spoke of your mother and him.”

Seolhyun could only stare. She knew someone had been in there. “The books that fell over– that was him?”

She nodded.

How many times had Seolhyun been close to her father without knowing? A hurricane of disappointment swelled inside her. “And… and he knows I’m his daughter?”

“Yes, he knows.” Yuna reached out with her free hand, gently touching the skin of Seolhyun’s face, near a bruise that was already starting to heal. “He would recognize you anywhere. You look so much like your mother.”

That bite of sadness strengthened and she pulled back. “Then why didn’t he talk to me?”

Yuna looked away, her chin lowering.

“Why didn’t he come up to me in the library? I know he couldn’t just announce who he was, but why…” Seolhyun’s throat tightened. “Why didn’t he want to talk to me, at least?”

“Oh, dear, he wanted to talk to you more than anything, but it’s not that simple.”

“Seems simple to me. You open your mouth and talk.” Seolhyun struggled to sit still. Had he heard of her escapades? Gods know rumors of her problems with authority had traveled far and wide. Had he been embarrassed as a trained Myx? Worse yet, as a father? “I just don’t understand.”

She took a breath. “He was close to you a lot when you were there and you didn’t know, but it was also very dangerous for him to be seen around you. The truth of what he is, what your mother was, and what you are, was too much of a risk. You already had too many eyes on you.”

The conversation Jimin and Seolhyun had overheard came back to life. “We already have one here.”

Anger sparked and was quick to ignite a fire inside her. Heechul… Heechul had known, and now that it was all out in the open, they were so going to talk about that.

“What I told you in the library that night? That he would be proud of you because of who you have become and not what you will become?” Yuna clasped Seolhyun’s fisted hand in her gentle grip. “That is the truth. From the moment you arrived back at the Ephensy last summer, I did my best to keep him up-to-date on how you were. Your mother… she didn’t know what had happened to him and he wanted it that way. In a way, death was easier than the truth.”

Seolhyun blinked away sudden tears and wanted to pull her hand free, but like always, Yuna’s calming nature was disarming.

“Things are more complicated than you realize, Seolhyun. He couldn’t talk to you.”

Shaking her head, she tried and failed to understand that. She’d think that a father would’ve done anything to speak to his daughter just once.

Yuna squeezed her hands and let go. “The Masters always suspected that your father was different, and that perhaps he was influencing other servants. They treated him quite cruelly. He cannot talk to you. They removed half his tongue.”

Seolhyun balked at what she said. She’d heard her wrong. There were no other options. “No, no way. I might saw him talking with another servant in the dining hall.”

Yuna shook her head sadly. “If anything, you saw a servant talking to him.”

Shooting to her feet, she heard Yuna’s little gasp of surprise. Even she herself was a little shocked by how fast she moved. “They cut out his tongue?” Power surged over her skin.

“Yes.”

That was it. She was going to take out the Council and every freaking Master on this planet. Bad, dangerous thoughts, but Gods, how could they do something like that?

“How can I be so surprised?” Seolhyun said out loud, and then laughed madly. “How am I surprised by this, Yuna?”

There was no answer.

Turning away, she struggled to control her fury. Already she could hear the branches slapping along the side of the window. Well, she’d probably cause an earthquake.

Stepping away, Seolhyun ran her hands down her outer thighs. The breath she inhaled was harsh. “This has to change,” she said.

Yuna didn’t respond to that.

Shaking it off, she went back to her Dad. “You talk to him a lot?”

“As much as I can. Communication is one-sided at times, but he can write, obviously. I know he got your letter, but unfortunately with everything happening, I do not know his response or if he had the chance.”

Seolhyun nodded in a jerking motion. “Do you know where he is right now?”

She the lace on the edge of her sweater. “He is at the Seoul Ephensy.”

Jimin’s not lying.

“He’s still there?” When Yuna nodded, Seolhyun wanted to get up and figure out how to get to Seoul, but logic seeped in. Mighty Ares was there.

But she wanted to scream that she needed him here, in Gyeongsan, with her. Wasn’t she more important? His long-lost daughter?

“Does he still love my mother?” Seolhyun asked, peeking at Yuna.

Her expression was guarded. “I think a part of him will always love her.”

“Do you love him?” She blurted out.

Yuna swallowed and a long pause followed. In the gap, she heard someone moving around in the common area.

Seolhyun started to grin. “You like him.”

Looking away, her lips pursed.

Seolhyun nudged her with her elbow. “You like him a lot.”

She drew herself up. “Your father–”

“Is the love of your life?”

“Seolhyun,” Yuna snapped, but there was no real heat to her tone.

Seolhyun laughed as she leaned back against the couch. “Is he good-looking? Is he hot?”

Yuna’s lips curved up at the corners. “You are so much like Nicholas. Your stubbornness and tenacity.” Her gaze went to the closed door. The smell of fresh coffee grew. “And just like him, you dared to love a Genuine.”

Seolhyun’s mouth opened. “Well, I kind of walked into that one.”

She thought Yuna snickered, but she had to be wrong, because that would be so unladylike of her.

For some odd reason, some of the weight lifted from her shoulders. “I do love Hyejeong. I really do. More than… more than I probably should.”

Yuna patted her hand. “You can never love someone more than you probably should.”

Seolhyun wasn’t sure about that.

“She loves you just as strongly. It was obvious to me from the beginning.”

“It was?”

“The Hyejeong I knew, the one before she went to Namgu to find you, had always respected and viewed Myxs equally, but she never would’ve taken time away from her Linus duties to help any Myx.”

Knowing what had been done to her parents in front of her while she was a little girl, Seolhyun could see where Yuna would think that.

“And then I saw the way she was around you in Seoul.” Her smiled turned wistful again. “It’s all in the way she looked at you, the way she constantly looked at you. You were her world, probably before either of you realized that.”

“You could tell all that by the way Hyejeong looked at me?”

Yuna laughed then, the sound like wind chimes. “She watched you like a man starved for the only thing that could fulfill his hunger.”

Seolhyun’s eyes popped out and her body flushed about a thousand shades of red. “Oh, wow…”

And then it hit her. Yuna would know, because it was how she looked at her father… and probably had witnessed her father looking at her mother in the same manner.

Seolhyun was suddenly very sad for the woman.

Scooting closer to her, she wrapped her arms around Yuna’s slender shoulders. “Thank you.”

Tears filled Yuna’s eyes. She’d never shed a tear. “Talking to you about your father is the least I could do. If you like, there are many stories I can tell you. It will be a… joy to speak openly about them.”

“I’d like that,” Seolhyun whispered.

Yuna rested her cheek atop Seolhyun’s head, and in that moment, she reminded her so much of her mom that it was almost too much to keep the tears at bay, but she couldn’t stop the question that formed on the tip of her tongue.

“Do you think I’ll ever get to meet him?”

Her embrace tightened. “You will. Both of you are determined enough to make it happen. I have no doubt.”

The only good thing to come from it was that she knew Jimin wasn’t playing them.

***

Well, convincing everyone else would require nothing short of a miracle.

The first place Seolhyun checked for Hyejeong was the kitchen in common area. She wasn’t there, but Jennie was sitting at one of the tables along with Jisoo and Lisa.

And there was a mammoth plate of bacon and sausage links in front of them.

Lured by the wonderful, greasy scent, Seolhyun drifted over to their table, watering at the sight. Bacon made everything better.

“Want some?” Jisoo offered, knocking a mess of curls out of her face. “Because you look like you’re about to start eating our faces if we don’t give you some.”

Lisa’s nose wrinkled. “Ew.”

Seolhyun sat beside her and helped herself to a heaping of the crispy goodness. “Thank you.” She was munching away on her fourth slice when she felt eyes on her. Glancing up, her gaze met Jennie’s. Her cheeks were red, as if she’d been kissed by the sun. “What?” She asked around a mouthful of bacon.

“I don’t know how Jimin did it.” She sat back in her chair. “I remember being out by the cars and seeing a few Linuses I didn’t recognize, and then the next thing I know, I’m standing inside the gate and there you two were.”

“Compulsion,” Jisoo said, turning to Seolhyun. “I’ve been telling her that all morning.”

“She has,” Lisa threw in.

Jennie frowned. “I know it was a compulsion, but damn, I never felt something like that before.”

“I have.” Lisa looked at Seolhyun pointedly, and Seolhyun’s appetite vanished at the reminder. She speared a link with her fork. “And now we have another crazed Elpis– no offense, Seolhyun– locked in a cell.”

“None taken,” she muttered, and then sighed. “It really isn’t your fault, Jen.”

Jennie didn’t look relieved by that, but she grabbed a handful of bacon, so Seolhyun figured if she was eating like that, she wasn’t too traumatized.

“So what are we doing with Jimin?” Jisoo asked after a few moments.

“We aren’t going to do anything right now,” Seolhyun said finally. Everyone at the table stared at her. Her gaze lowered to the half-eaten plate of bacon. “Jimin isn’t working with Ares anymore. I’m not saying we should welcome her with open arms or invite her in for breakfast, but she’s not our big enemy right now.”

“What?” Lisa’s voice was an octave higher. “How can anyone be sure of that?”

“That’s a good question.” Jisoo slid Seolhyun her unopened bottle of orange juice. “Thirsty?”

She murmured her thanks and took a drink. “Well, for starters, that cell is only holding her because she’s not trying to escape. If she wants out, she’ll get out faster than any of us could, including me. Secondly, she doesn’t want to become the God Killer anymore.”

Jennie rocked back on her chair, eyes widening. “Come again?”

Lisa stopped with another sausage link halfway to and gaped at Seolhyun. She shifted in her seat. “She doesn’t want to be the God Killer. She wants me to transfer the power from her.”

“How did she find out that was our plan?” Jisoo asked, suddenly serious, which was a rarity for her.

“She didn’t. She suggested it without me saying anything. Jimin’s got… well, like I said, she no longer wants anything to do with Ares and Jonghyun…” Her brows pinched. “Jonghyun is no longer an issue.”

“I told them,” Jennie said under her breath and then louder, “But how can anyone, including you, trust anything that Jimin says? I mean, if she changes her mind…”

Then they were all screwed.

Seolhyun got that, but she couldn’t really vocalize why she trusted Jimin. No longer hungry or in the mood to convince them, she pushed up from the table. “I’ll see you guys later.”

She made it to the door before she realized Jisoo was following her. She fell in step beside her a