The Grey God

"Sofi?" Jenn prodded.

"Caught me napping," the Oracle said sheepishly. "Hormones make me forget everything."

Jenn's gaze went to Sofi's protruding belly, and she was hit with both urgency and fear. The lives of the White God's mate, and her best friend's mate, were in her hands. The women weren't trained to fight as Jenn was, yet she was the only one of them without power. She stripped out of her long-sleeved shirt, leaving just her T-shirt on, then pulled out everything from her pockets she didn't need.

"I see he figured it out," Sofi's said, eyes on Jenn's neck.

Jenn glanced down self-consciously. She tucked the necklace back into her shirt. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think, except that last night, something she never thought would happen-did. She'd let down her guard to Darian after thousands years of rebuffing everyone else and had woken up feeling recharged, confused.

Hopeful.

"Work in progress," she said at last and turned away from both. "Won't matter if I can't get us out of here."

"They come by every two hours, that we can tell," Bianca said. "They're not Others or Watchers. Some sort of … soldiers, maybe?"

"Guardsmen," Jenn supplied. "On this side, Others and Watchers keep guardsmen. They can't evade each other the way they can in the mortal world, so they use bodyguards. This is actually really good for us."

"How so?"

"I can kill a guardsman in the immortal world. You just have to keep me alive, Bianca. I've got no magic, so chances are I'm gonna get myself killed a time or two."

Bianca was silent. Jenn scoured their cell. It was made of solid rock, even the heavy door. One small window was high up against the nine-foot ceiling, barely wider than the span of her two hands. There were no weaknesses to the cell.

"The door hinges are on the other side," she murmured. "Could be a good thing. Door opens out, not in."

"They usually come in pairs," Bianca said. "We got here … yesterday, I guess. It was evening in our world but dawn here. Their schedule seems pretty consistent."

"Ikira, any advice?" Jenn asked.

"Block low."

Jenn glanced at the Oracle. "I can do that. Anything else?"

Sofi appeared relaxed in the cell, her head resting against the wall and her brilliant eyes focused on Jenn.

"Jonny's not the only one who can get that thing off you," Sofi said.