“Is that what you think we do in our free time? Sharpen our swords?”

She grinned. “Yes. Literally and figuratively.”

“You are incorrigible.”

“I know.” She sighed happily. “All the shit we’ve been through—all the shit I’ve been through—and I can still make lascivious jokes with the best of them. That’s impressive, Merit. That’s character. And I’m serious about the retreat idea. I might even let you bring Ethan for a night if you two make up. I bet he’d look fine in one of those tiny Speedos.”

I grimaced. As far as I was concerned, no one looked good in them. But I imagined Ethan would look good emerging from the ocean, body drenched and trunks riding low on his hips, striding across the sand like Poseidon.

I cleared my throat. “If we make up, I’ll talk to him.”

Mallory grinned. “You were thinking about him naked, weren’t you?”

“No. Maybe. Yes.”

“Good,” she said with a grin. “’Cause you got a baby to make. And I should get going. I need to run an errand. I’m going to buy a crucible, actually. I mean, technically it’s part of an old ceramics kiln. But I figure it will do the trick.”

According to the books the Librarian had provided, crucibles were a crucial part of alchemy. “Are you going to actually try a transmutation?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I’m thinking it would be worthwhile to try out one of the subequations—one of the shorter alchemical phrases. I was thinking that will help us fill in some of the nonsensical spots. But I don’t want to accidentally set Reed’s big plan in motion.”

“No argument from me there.”

“You gonna work on the symbols?”

I checked my watch. I’d spent part of the night on the road, part in a ball gown, part in a jail cell, and part in a cemetery. There wasn’t much darkness left. “I’ll at least stop by the library, yeah. I haven’t exactly been a very good assistant for Paige.”

“Since you’re usually the one doing the heavy lifting, I wouldn’t feel too bad about that. You’re working other angles.”

I nodded. “And speaking of, Ethan wants to meet here at dusk to talk. We told Catcher earlier.”

“Yeah, he texted me. We’ll be here.” She pushed to her feet, offered me a hand. And when she’d helped me lever myself up, she surrounded me with a hug.

“I love you, Merit. Just—maybe give me a call the next time an Apex shifter predicts you’ll have a bouncing magic vampire baby?”

I could practically see her gears working. “Don’t say vambaby. And you’ll be the first Bell I call.”

“Damn right I will.”

We walked back to the House over soft, cool grass, fell into a companionable silence.

“It’s Tex-Mex night in there, right?” she asked when we reached the patio.

“It is.”

“You think there’s any enchiladas? Maybe I could grab one to eat on the trip back? Catcher’s on a kale and quinoa kick. It’s horrible.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, and I’m not sure. But we can ask.”

Arm in arm, we walked into the sensual embrace of Tex-Mex night.

•   •   •

This time, Lindsey let me into the Ops Room. The fact that I’d brought guacamole probably hadn’t hurt, since the guards fell on it like wolves.

Double-dipping wolves, as it turned out.

“About damn time you made it down here,” Luc said.

“Sorry,” I said, and tried to remembered what I’d been planning to report before I was interrupted by a sorcerer and banned by a fellow guard. “Mallory had a personal crisis. Needed to get it resolved so we could all get back to work.”

I offered my phone, showed him the pictures we’d taken at Mount Rider. “Catcher took pictures, too. He’s going to ask Jeff to work them into that algorithm. And Ethan wants to meet at dusk.”

“I don’t think Ethan’s in a position to make any demands right now,” Luc grouched, spearing a chip into the bowl.

“Yeah, well, I’m not going to be the one to tell him that. But you go right ahead.”

Luc made a dubious grunt. “You told Catcher about the dusk meeting?”

“And Mallory.”

Luc nodded. “I’ll tell Paige and the Librarian.”

“I was going to go to the library,” I said, but when I checked the clock, I realized dawn was approaching. “But the night has wasted away again.”

“I talked to Paige while you were gone, made your apologies.” He ran a hand through his tousled curls. “Frankly, Sentinel, I don’t think your being there would have made much of a difference. She’s stuck, too. Said the equations still aren’t making sense. At least you got a new location tonight. Not that that helps with the scope of our problem. Just increases it.”

“I’ve asked Catcher to spread the word among the sups, have them alert us if someone finds more alchemy.”

Luc nodded. “That’s something, but Chicago’s an enormous city.”

“We need to tell the Houses.”

“They’ve got the basics,” he said. “Wouldn’t have been fair to keep the information about the alchemy from them. But requesting they jump in? Yeah. I mean, they aren’t Cadogan House—more Hufflepuff to our Gryffindor—but we could use the extra bodies.”