Cian stepped closer to the hunter. “What is it?”
“Oh, hell.” The color drained out of Jeff’s face. “We weren’t the only ones hit. London, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Rome were all attacked tonight. London thought they were close to finding one of the rings. Rome reported that they had found one of them still in the Vatican. I was going to tell you tonight, but...”
“Let me guess,” Eduardo said in a flat tone. “The Summoner has them.”
“The Vatican is on fire,” Alexia said, looking up from her own phone. “It’s on Yahoo news.”
“The Assembly group in Bristol is reporting the destruction of the group in London. Portland has taken in one survivor of the group in Seattle. Boston...” Jeff faltered.
“Another fire there,” Alexia said, staring at her phone.
“New York managed to fight off the attack with no losses, but they’re heading underground,” Jeff finished.
Cian gave the group a sharp nod. “So he’s on the move.”
“We’re losing,” Samantha murmured.
“Fuck.” Cassandra frowned, shaking her head.
“That’s four possible rings he has,” Amaliya said, then ticked them off on her fingers. “He has one. Etzli has one. The one in the Vatican. Maybe one in London.”
“But he doesn’t have all of them,” Baptiste pointed out. “We are still ahead in the game.”
Cian appreciated the reminder. “Very true.”
Jeff stood and continued to scroll through his phone. “Don’t you get it? He’s just not going after the rings. He’s killing our allies. The Assembly. The Vatican even.”
“Cian,” Samantha asked, lifting her eyes to gaze at him, “how many of The Summoner’s children are still alive? What if they have the other rings?”
“Rachon doesn’t have one,” Baptiste pointed out.
“Yeah, but he didn’t trust her.” Amaliya lowered her head so that her dark hair shielded her face. “Or Cian. That’s why they don’t have rings. But Etzli has one. What if he has favorite kids out there?”
The thought of The Summoner’s surviving children assisting him was uncomfortable for Cian. He’d not met the survivors of The Summoner’s games. “I’m uncertain how many might be alive.”
“But Rachon might. Until their falling out, she did know more about him than you did.” Baptiste shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Cian supposed it might be difficult to accept how close Rachon had been to the man who wanted to destroy the world. “But Samantha is right. What if his other children have the other rings already?”
“Then we might possess the last one.” Cassandra widened her eyes dramatically. “Great.”
To his surprise, Cian was hit with the impulse to comfort her. Yet another indication of his growing attachment to the daughter he didn’t raise, or even know about until recently. “Baptiste, see what you can get out of Rachon.”
“I’ll speak to her tonight.”
“So now what?” Benchley asked, his voice a bit higher than usual.
“We keep focused,” Cian said. “Same as before. And we learn, adapt, and try to beat him at this game.”
“Do you really think we can win?” Eduardo’s inquiry was laced with sarcasm.
Cian pondered the question, then answered truthfully. “Yes.”
Ch
apter 13
“You really think we can win?” Amaliya asked, staring at Cian skeptically.
Standing at the end of their bed in only his pajama bottoms, Cian gave her a short nod.