Page 43 of Hybrid Heroics

Vaughn pinched the bridge of his nose, spreading his fingers to massage under his eyes. “There are so many things wrong with the decisions you’ve all made.”

“The biggest issue is that this was all hidden from everyone, not just Sloane or us,” Palmer added. “Alric has been poking at every realm and species for more than two centuries, and yet no one would have guessed off the top that he was bad. Because no one knew, or could have known, what he was doing.”

“We couldn’t tell the world about him,” Amelia told us, careful with her tone.

“Why?” Stone asked gruffly.

“We would have had to explain the prophecy and everything that went into making it happen,” she explained. “Part of that was keeping Alric contained until Sloane was ready.”

Palmer mumbled under his breath, “Great job there.”

“It’s easy to pick apart what we’ve done,” Amelia assured him, taking that pissy mom tone with us all. “But you don’t know why we did it, what corner we were backed into. What you’ve done affects everyone just as much.”

“What have we done?” York asked her. “Other than helping Sloane clean up a mess that wasn’t hers to fix?”

Amelia waved her hand at Sloane’s body as if to showcase example A. “Why would you let her—”

A round of obnoxious laughter rolled through us at once. Her parents grew quiet.

I took a deep, controlling gulp of air before I spoke. “Listen. Sloane does what Sloane wants to do, when she wants to do it. Let her? You make it sound like we can stop her. I couldn’t even stop her from eating raw cookie dough. I literally chased her through the cabin, and the only reason I caught her was because she wanted to be caught.”

York snorted. “If anything, she and Alric are currently in a battle of wits. And she’ll win. He probably thinks he has the upper hand, which is a grave mistake that she’ll let him believe until she just can’t keep that serious composure anymore. Who knows when she’ll finally crack and laugh in his face? The only thing we know is that it will happen.”

“You’re probably right.” Rig sighed. “I don’t disagree with most of what you guys have said.”

“Rig,” Amelia chastised.

“What? She can handle Alric. I have no doubts about her abilities. I’m concerned about something a little different.” Rig stared at York, then turned his attention to all of us. “The fae crystals? Does anyone know how many he’s got?”

“No,” York answered. “We haven’t even seen him in person yet.”

Palmer shook his head. “Not since all this started. He never mentioned it to me, but why would he?”

“He’s using the crystals from the drains to power himself up,” Rig informed us. “I imagine he kept more than a few for himself, which is likely how he got into Sloane’s head. He’s using an angel’s magic.”

“Oh,” I drawled, knowing he needed more information so he wouldn’t blame himself. “She invited him this time.”

“Excuse me?” he whispered, almost like he didn’t believe what he had heard.

York shrugged, floundering for the right words. “When we were in the fae realm, he had breached her mental security, but he hadn’t gone far. We did a deep dive, and well… It didn’t turn out great, though it did give her this idea.”

“Don’t feel bad, Rig,” Novak cautioned. “I know you think this is somehow your fault, because you assume he’s using your magic, but it’s not. When he was acting on his own, he wasn’t powerful enough to get to the core of her mind, which makes me think he didn’t have enough angel magic saved to do what he wanted.”

“You say that now,” Rig complained. “What if she doesn’t wake up? Will you say it then, too?”

“Yes,” Novak replied vehemently. “She knew enough about the risk she was taking when she made the decisions that led her into this stasis. Sloane is a critical thinker, even if she doesn’t always make sense to everyone else.”

“I have to agree with him, Rig,” Sam acknowledged. “She may have made the decision in a split second, but I bet she ran through twenty scenarios in the blink of an eye.”

Nate sighed. “He’s trying to make you feel better. Sloane would dive head-first off a cliff and assess the landing on the way down. She is a critical thinker, but she also thinks on her feet. She doesn’t sit around and contemplate, and when she does, she never uses those plans anyway.”

“Nate,” Charlie admonished.

“What?” he grouched. “Tell me I’m wrong, and I’ll apologize.”

Charlie scratched at his jaw. “You’re not wrong, but neither is Sam.”

“I didn’t say Sam was wrong,” Nate defended.