“It’s done that before?” Sasha asked.
“Oh, yeah, plenty. Nobody’s found any of the stars, but for me? It’s always taken me somewhere I pick up something fresh on them, or confirm something, or just get an experience. This time? See how it’s shining?”
“It’s beautiful,” Annika murmured.
“Yeah, but that shining? That’s new. It would glow some, but not like this. I had to figure coming here was pretty damn important. Turns out it was. I was hitching my way here, and y’all came along. That made four of the six. That night, I went for a walk on the beach, and found Annika.”
He shifted to her. “Your turn.”
“I was sent to help. To be one of you.” She bowed her head. “I can’t explain. I don’t have a magick compass, or the powers like Sasha and Bran. I don’t have such a smart mind like Riley, but I can help. I don’t like fighting, but I will fight with you. Don’t send me away.”
“Hey.” Sawyer put an arm around her shoulders. “Nobody’s sending you anywhere.”
“I came to you.” She turned into him. “You found me.”
“That’s right. We can leave it at that for now.” He looked over at Bran as if daring him to disagree.
“You’re one of us, Annika, and that’s more than enough. Not all stories need telling at once.”
“How about you, McCleary?” Riley sat back, studied him. “What’s your story?”
“A family thing, and the duty that comes with it. And here? An urge I couldn’t shake led me to Corfu, then to the cave. It’s the closest I’ve come. It’s the closest I’ve ever come.”
“Where are you from? What do you do?”
“Nowhere in particular, and whatever needs doing. You haven’t had much time together, but more than a couple hours, so that’s all I’m going to tell you until I decide to tell you more.”
“You don’t trust us. Why should he?” Sasha glanced at Riley. “It’s true we haven’t had much time, but it’s been intense, even intimate. And today, in the cave, it was life and death. Both you and Sawyer brought guns, but you didn’t tell the rest of us.”
Sawyer shifted. “Shit. Combat knife, too.”
Riley pulled a wicked blade out of her boot. “Throwing knife.”
“Which only proves we’ve yet to reach the point where we’re fully honest. We know about Bran only because he . . . used what he has to get us all out of the cave alive. And we know about the compass because Sawyer felt guilty not telling us after we found out about Bran. Annika’s not ready, and Doyle? You’re still annoyed we got in your way.”
“You’re right on that.”
“You’re not, because we didn’t get in your way, and you know that, under the annoyance. We were all where we were supposed to be today. We all made the choice to go into the cave.”
“What? Wait.” Riley’s gilded eyes narrowed. “Do you think it was a kind of test?”
“I don’t know. I’m really new at this. But I think gods are pretty demanding. We all went into the cave. We fought. Well, all of you did.”
“Sasha.” Bran reached for her hand, but she drew it away.
“I didn’t fight. I froze. But it won’t happen again. Still, we got out, and we—six now—are sitting right here. I haven’t heard anyone say they want out. We faced down a god, and not one of us is walking away from doing it again. So I think we passed the test.”
“Smart brain there, too,” Riley said to Annika. “You’ve got a point. Throughout lore and legend, gods are notoriously demanding. And fickle, and often bloodthirsty. No quest is ever completed without tests and sacrifice and battle.”
“Sasha’s blood woke the dark.” The moment she spoke, Annika looked distressed. “I’m apology—”
“No, don’t be sorry. You’re right. I felt it myself, and maybe it’s part of the reason I froze. I don’t know. I know she wanted to drain me.”
“Because she’s not running on full power,” Riley pointed out.
“If she was, you’d be dust.” Doyle took another beer. “Mortal against god? Who do you lay your money on?”
“I’d bet on myself,” Riley tossed back, “and my four friends here. I don’t know about you yet, big guy.”
“We’re more than mortals,” Bran pointed out. “So I’d say, however fickle, the gods gave us some edge. We’ll use it.”
“The star isn’t in the cave. I spent considerable time looking,” Doyle continued, “before things got interesting.”
“There are other caves.” Riley frowned into her beer. “I’ll make some calls, get us a boat, some gear. We talked about trying some of the underwater caves. Maybe that’s the next step.”
“I have some things I can put together, in case she goes at us again. We weren’t prepared enough.” Bran pushed to his feet. “That’s the bottom of it. We weren’t prepared, and we need to be.”
“Then we will be. I’ll take care of the dishes.” Sasha got up to clear.
She had some ideas of her own.
CHAPTER NINE