Only the Strong, стр. 44

Zoe switched her interest from the woman to Titus. “Is he messed up or being deliberately obtuse?”

That was a very good question. “I’m not sure. He seems ... muddled. It could be my fault. I forced myself into his head because I was trying to figure out what they were up to.”

“And what did you find?”

I hesitated and then involuntarily shuddered at the memory. “A bloody mess. I’m not even sure he realizes what the people he’s aligned himself with have planned.”

“That’s a little pathetic,” Zoe noted. “No matter what, I don’t feel sorry for him.”

That made two of us. I folded my arms across my chest and fixed Titus with a pointed look. “What are you doing in this neighborhood?”

“I ... you ... I’m taking a walk.” He was flustered and yet managed to come up with a lie. I didn’t take that as a good sign, since the spell I’d cast was supposed to make him incapable of lying.

“You’re taking a walk, huh?” I lifted my hand and ignited my fingertips, causing him to jolt and take a step back. “I don’t have time for games. Either tell me the truth or I’ll figure it out myself.”

He swallowed hard. “That is the truth.”

“Fine.” I moved my hand closer but he jerked his head away. Before he could do it a second time, Zoe grabbed him by the ears and held him steady. This time when I made contact I went in deep and immediately started looking for answers.

What I found were gaps. “Huh.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zoe queried, giving Cernunnos a sidelong look. The god was busy putting the woman into a myriad of poses — each one more ridiculous than the previous — and he seemed enthralled with the endeavor.

“His mind isn’t the same as before,” I replied. “It’s ... different.”

“I’m going to need more information than that.”

“It’s ... hole-y.”

“Like ... religious?” Her eyebrows drew together. “I guess that makes sense. You said he was running a cult, right? Those things are always nutty.”

I choked on a laugh. “Not holy. Hole-y. As in ‘there are a lot of holes in this Swiss cheese.’”

“Oh.” Realization dawned on her face. “I take it that’s not normal.”

“Not really.”

“So, what is in there?”

“Fragments.” I dug deeper, frowning. “He knows who he is but he doesn’t seem to have a clear picture of what he’s supposed to be doing. He’s going through the motions.”

“So, he’s posable in his own way, too,” Zoe mused. “They must’ve realized you saw inside of his head.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they did something so I couldn’t see what’s in here again. Maybe they performed some sort of magic that I don’t recognize.”

“Is that possible?”

“Anything is possible.”

Zoe made a low humming sound as she glanced between Titus and the woman. “Do you know who she is?”

“Um ... .” I flicked through the memories in Titus’ head. “Julia. Julia Grimaldi.”

Zoe’s eyes went wide. “Is this the wife of the guy whose house we’re breaking into?”

I nodded. “Yeah. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Of course not.” Zoe hopped from one foot to the other, as if making up her mind, and then she nodded several times in rapid succession. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do ... you need to wipe both their memories of this event and then give them something to obsess about as they walk through the neighborhood.”

“Like what?”

“Like ... tell them to find a park and have sex.”

I was horrified at the thought. “I can’t do that.”

“Then tell them to go to the park and play a rousing game of euchre.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because we need them to be someplace else if we want to carry out our part of the plan.” She was calm, matter-of-fact. “They can’t be at that house, and it would really benefit us if they were off doing something naughty. That way, when questioned about their whereabouts this afternoon, they’ll look guilty for trying to hide something.”

“Oh.” What she said made sense. Still, I couldn’t do it. “That would essentially be sexually assaulting them both.”

“Good point.” She tapped her bottom lip. “Can you make them think they did it? I know that’s probably not much better in your mind, but we need to be able to protect our asses. They cannot go into that house and we need the focus to be on what bad liars they are if something bad happens.”

“What if I make them think they had a deep conversation about potential feelings they might have for each other?” I countered. “I don’t want to make them think they had sex either. Even though it’s not true, it’s also not right. This way they won’t have done something, but they’ll still feel guilty.”

“I guess, although ... no, that’s not good enough. New plan.” She brightened considerably. “All these old houses in neighborhoods like this have homeowners’ associations. They’re usually strict and obnoxious.”

“Okay.” I had no idea where she was going with this but anything was better than her first suggestion. “Then what?”

“Then have Julia narc on all her neighbors for whatever dirt she has on them. All these people keep tabs on what everyone else is doing. She’ll know plenty of stuff. If you want to get Titus involved, have him make up a few things. That will be enough to put them at war with the neighbors when they find out ... which is likely to happen this afternoon. It will draw attention to them and cause upheaval in the ranks because the neighbors are likely to start watching their every move.”

I was impressed despite myself. “That is diabolical.”

“Thanks. I’m good at torturing people.”

“Definitely so.” I focused on Titus first, propelling the suggestion into his mind. When I was certain it took, I moved to Julia and did the same thing. Her mind was equally as gap-ridden and it had me thinking. “Maybe they’re just using the two of them for cover now. I mean ... there’s nothing there that I can