“She slipped through our fingers!” Mr. Fields was livid. Robin had never seen him so angry. It practically shimmered in the air around him, like heat coming off tarmac. “You were supposed to get her and your brother and get out of there. Why the hell did you join the fight?” He poked his finger at The Scout’s chest.

“You seemed to be in trouble,” The Scout muttered.

“Me? In trouble? Ha! No, all that happened was you letting our most valuable asset go. Where are we going to find another seer, huh?”

The Scout looked at her, his eyes begging Robin to intervene, but she couldn’t.

The memory of what she had done made her feel physically ill. She had exchanged herself for the life of an oracle and her rescuers. She didn’t—no, couldn’t—draw any more attention to herself.

“I’m waiting for an answer, Norman!” Mr. Fields yelled, making Robin’s ears ring.

Even through everything going on, the fact that The Scout’s name was Norman surprised Robin. It seemed so old school and ordinary. Surely a professional kidnapper should have a name that sounded as dangerous as he was.

“I don’t know, sir. I can—”

“Damn right you don’t know! You and your sadistic brother are more trouble than you’re worth sometimes.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Don’t just stand there—go find your brother and find me another damn seer!”

“Yes, sir!” Norman muttered before he made a hasty retreat toward the elevators.

Robin stood plastered against the wall, praying Mr. Fields didn’t notice her. She watched as he sat at his desk and pulled a bottle of scotch and two glasses out of the bottom drawer.

“Come have a drink, and we can discuss the change in the terms of our agreement.” He didn’t even look at Robin when he spoke, but she knew that if she didn’t comply immediately, there would be hell to pay.

“Yes, sir,” she breathed, her heart kicking like a mule as she approached the desk.

When she sat opposite him, he shoved a glass toward her, the dark amber liquid sloshing to the point of almost spilling. She wrapped her hand around it as if it was her safety net. Mr. Fields’ eyes were on her; she could practically feel them skating over her skin, taking in her disheveled appearance. If she didn’t look up, he might just let her sit for a moment before she discovered the hell that her life was going to become.

“Ms. Murphy, you have been under contract for me for how long now?”

“Nine years, sir.” Her eyes flashed up and took in his face, briefly showing her the swath of jet-black hair that resided above equally dark eyes. A self-satisfied smirk momentarily resided below them before he raised the glass to his lips, sipping the aromatic liquid.

“Is it nine now? Well, time certainly has flown by. Your original term was set to be over in another eleven years. Is that correct?”

Robin nodded.

“So you were contracted to me for twenty years.” He tapped the edge of the glass against his mouth. “And now you’ve offered to take Katerina’s place for a year so you could save the lives of two worthless hybrids?”

She nodded again.

“Why?”

“You seemed so much more powerful than them. It didn’t look like a fair fight. I couldn’t just watch you kill them.” The surety in her voice surprised her.

“So you root for the underdog. Interesting.”

Robin got the distinct feeling that everything she said was going to be used against her later.

“Are you rooting for yourself? You are clearly the underdog in this situation.”

“No, sir. I know what I have to do, and I don’t need anyone stepping in to take care of it for me.” She didn’t know where this courage was coming from, but she knew she had to put up a strong front now. Otherwise, his threat of breaking her would be accomplished all too easily.

“And what do you have to do?” He quirked an eyebrow at her.

“Whatever it was Katerina did for you.”

“Do you know what that was?”

“I have a pretty good idea.”

“Well, then. Are you expecting me to use you for sex? Is that what you think she did for me?”

“Among other things.”

“Occasionally, but only if she wanted to.” He stared her down. “I’m not a rapist, Ms. Murphy, and I certainly don’t have to pay for sex. If you want to take it to that level, that is something we can talk about, but for now, I just need you to follow orders.”

She felt unstable, like her seat had one leg shorter than the others. Katerina had wanted to have sex with him? She had always just assumed it was part of what he paid her for.

Unwilling to back down from her newly discovered courage, she asked, “Then what are my orders?”

“For now, go and sleep. Rest and recover from the events of the past few days. I will send a new wardrobe for you with instructions on what to wear and when.”

A slow smile spread across Mr. Fields’ face as she downed the last of the scotch and got up to leave.

“Oh, and I am still going to sponsor you for the Order of Talos.”

Robin’s blood ran cold. She knew that whatever magic he’d been using to fight with had come from his connection with the Order. She also knew, with complete certainty, that she wanted to stay as far away from that organization as possible.

“Very well, Mr. Fields.” There was no question. He wasn’t asking her if she wanted to join anymore. Now he was telling her.

“When we are alone, I want you to call me Randall.”

“Very well, Randall.” She wanted to spit the words out, but antagonizing the man she had just agreed to take orders from was not a good plan.

As she walked out of the office toward the elevators, she felt the flash drive she had hidden in her bra shift. There was nothing she could do other than put up with it poking her in the boob for the rest of the trip back to her room. The flash drive was the most precious thing to her right now.

During her stay at The Farm with Randall, she had copied every single file they had, unbeknownst to them. When she was back at her workstation, she was going to dive into it and try to get it into the right hands.

The image of the guy whose life she’d saved popped into her mind. He was huge and basically looked the way she had always imagined Thor—tall, with long hair and muscles. He had been there to rescue Aster, the seer or oracle or whatever, from the torture they had planned for her.

She knew she had to get the information out as clearly as she knew Randall would be dragging her down the path to the Order of Talos. But maybe she could get information out to someone like the guy she’d been calling Thor in her head. Either way, she now had a plan, at the very least. She would take them down, all of them, piece by piece if she had to, and they would never see her coming.