Vacek's head snapped sideways at Aiden's blow, but he slowly rotated it back into place. His expression was measured rather than confused or angry.

"Well," he said. "I suppose I deserve that o–"

Aiden didn't let him finish. He hit him again, this time square in the middle of his face, hard enough for his nose to crunch underneath the force, and a trail of blood to drip down one nostril.

"Dad!" Lexie exclaimed, shocked by the show of violence. "What are you doing?"

Rather than address Lexie, he jabbed a finger in Vacek's face.

"You stay away from my daughter, you cold-blooded..." He couldn't seem to find a word bad enough, as his voice trembled from rage. "I told you Lexie was off-limits."

"She was the only one who could do this," Vacek said. "And you knew it. Which is why you never mentioned the possibility that this was all being controlled by a sentient dungeon."

"Is that true, Dad?" Lexie asked. "Did you know what was causing the UD's this whole time?"

Aiden's lips pressed together, and he gave Vacek one final glare as he barked, "Let's go, Lexie."

"Go where?"

"Home."

"But I have school."

"Not anymore. I thought the school would be safe for you, but it can't be that safe if they let him take you out without alerting me first. What nonsense! In what world do we allow first-year hero students to go on secret missions without their guardians' permission?"

"In a world that is slowly falling apart and growing increasingly mad by the day," Vacek answered smoothly. "We need to stop the madness before it's too late."

"That's your problem now."

"Dad, wait–" Aiden had grabbed her hand in the middle of his rant and began dragging her away at a speed that her little legs couldn't keep up with. Her feet kept kicking up stones and dust as she tried to hustle. "Just wait a second. At least let me tell him what I saw."

"What did you see, Lexie?" Vacek somehow caught up to them quickly enough to make Lexie start. She realized then that he hadn't been running at his full speed in the dungeon. He'd been downright slow then.

Why?

Had he wanted her to show off her cards? Did he want to test her, to see what she could do to defend herself?

She frowned at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "Tell me."

"Three people chanting a spell," she said. "One of them wasn't human."

"What was he?"

She hesitated to say Eldritch. "I'm not sure."

"Back to lying, I see."

Aiden scoffed. "You're one to talk."

"I never lied to you, Aiden," he said. "I told you I would keep your daughter safe, and I have."

"That's why you took her into a sentient dungeon? Are you out of your mind?"

"I had everything under control."

Aiden released a harsh laugh but didn't say anything else. When Lexie tripped on a stone, Aiden swept her up, walking faster and making Lexie's hair bounce with his agitation.

"Where are you taking her?"

"Somewhere safe."

"Nowhere is as safe as Victoire."

"You're wrong," Aiden said. "I'm taking her back to the Firebringers. She'll be safe there."

"For how long?"

The mention of the Firebringers reminded Lexie of Theo and his secret mission. Since her father was determined to outwalk Vacek, who was likely restricting his teleportation ability, Lexie took the chance to ask. "Where is Theo?"

Vacek raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You sent him on a secret mission, didn't you? At least that's what Mane said."

"I never gave any such instructions," he said, and Lexie's heart went cold.

She knew it. She knew something was wrong.

"Hold on." She started kicking her heels to be let down. "Wait, Dad, just wait a second!"

Thankfully, her father stopped walking, although he didn't put her down.

Nevertheless, she asked Vacek. "You don't know where Theo is right now?"

"As far as I know, he's supposed to be at his post in Capital City." His eyebrow raised. "Is he not?"

Lexie shook her head in horror.

"Shit." Vacek heaved a breath and shut his eyes in annoyance. "I leave Earth for two seconds, and everything goes to hell."

"He was looking for Lucy," Lexie said urgently because she had a feeling they needed to find Theo now or he would be in serious trouble, if he wasn't already. "He thought you had information you were keeping from him, and so he got into your office to check. And now he's missing."

"I don't have any information on Lucy Frank," Vacek said. "All I know is that they're keeping her alive for whatever reason, but where they're keeping her is a mystery to me." He paused. "What do you mean he got into my office? How?"

"I helped him," Lexie was unashamed to admit. "I made a card that—it doesn't even matter right now. We need to find Theo."

"Slow down. Explain to me exactly what happened."

Lexie took a breath and started from the beginning, relaying how Theo wanted to find Lucy and how she agreed to help him. She told Vacek about Theo's disappearance on Ansing and the fact that in the morning, Mane said that Theo had been called for a special mission. Lexie explained how she'd heard from Theo a few times through text, but he'd never called, and she'd had a terrible feeling this entire time that something bad had happened to Theo and she might have inadvertently led to his death.

Both men listened silently while trying to control their expressions.

Lexie could still sense that her father was dismayed and angry, and Vacek was stressed and also angry.

When Lexie was done, he nodded once. "I'll track it. It seems there are a few more rats in my organization than I realized."

"You don't think…" Lexie swallowed. "What if it's the guy who wants me dead? What if he has Theo and he's going to kill him?"

"He won't kill him yet. And don't think about that. Just go with your father and don't tell anyone what you just told me. No one needs to know that we're on to them because I need to find the rat before he goes into hiding." He bent and met her eyes, giving her an almost comforting look. "I'll take care of everything."

Lexie distantly wondered how much charisma Vacek had. While his tone and expression were convincing, it wasn't enough to ease the tension in her gut.

He straightened and met Aiden's gaze. "I'm sorry. I know what I did was inexcusable. It was a desperate attempt to crack a case that is quickly becoming more twisted the more I unravel."

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"I don't care how twisted it gets," Aiden said. "Lexie is not going to be your tool. You will not use her the way you used Lara."

Lexie thought she almost saw something like hurt in Vacek's gaze, but it was gone before she could pin it down.

"You're right," he said. "I won't do it again. If there's anything your family deserves, it's peace. Take her back to the academy. It's the safest place for her. You can look into her having a Firebringer guard or two on campus, but I don't think she should stay at the Firebringer residence, not when it has been clearly compromised."

Aiden's gaze was hard but conflicted, which meant that at least some of what Vacek was saying was right. "You're not just saying that so you'll have access to her again?"

"No. I mean what I said. I won't take her off campus again without your permission, Aiden, and if you want, I can sign a blood oath to that effect."

Aiden's eyes flared. That certainly shocked him and Lexie, too. She vaguely knew about blood oaths, mostly because Elvira had mentioned them to her long ago when they'd met. She'd never actually seen one in action, though.

Was she about to?

Vacek looked like he was serious about his offer. His gaze didn't waver, and he didn't flinch even when Aiden's expression tightened.

"You can set the terms for the oath," Vacek said, "So that you're sure there's no manipulation involved."

"With you, there's always manipulation. You can't help it. It's in your blood."

Vacek didn't deny it. He accepted it with an easy shrug. "You're not wrong, but I do try to be fair when I can, believe it or not. And I would never endanger your daughter. You know that, right?"

Aiden paused, then rubbed his hand over his face. "I'll take her back to school. We'll talk about this later."

Vacek nodded, and Aiden picked Lexie up again. But Lexie wasn't done talking, not as Aiden finally opened the portal, and it took them to an abandoned alley near the Capital City station.

"Is it true?" Lexie asked the second they landed.

"Is what true?"

"The sentient dungeon. Vacek thinks it's being controlled by someone, possibly the people behind the UD in Hartville and Hovelton, and the guy who wants me dead."

"Vacek has a lot of theories."

"But this one makes sense, doesn't it? Nothing like this has ever happened before, which is why you and Naem couldn't figure out what was going on. And you're not even sure how it happened, but you think there is someone controlling the dungeon. If they can do it, that means I can control it too."

Aiden's expression tightened. He shook his head. "You don't even know why you're saying Lexie."

"Yes, I do. Don't treat me like a kid. I'm not one."

"Yes, you are," Aiden snapped. "You are a child getting mixed up in adult games, and I will not let it happen. As long as I'm alive, Lexie, I'm going to give you a good, safe childhood, so help me."

"You can't protect me from everything."

"Watch me," he said stubbornly.

Lexie sighed. It sounded like her father wasn't quite ready to be reasoned with.

"I'm going to ask the bodyguards to stay with you on campus, and they will report your every movement to me."

"You can't do that," Lexie said. She was already enough of a spectacle at school. She didn't need bodyguards to add on to that. Besides, she wanted her privacy finally. That was the only thing she hated about being with the Firebringers. "I don't want that."

"You need that clearly since I can't trust you to stay put."

Lexie gaped. He couldn't trust her? After how she'd been honest with him about practically everything, even the stuff she didn't want to reveal?

"Are you mad at me right now?" Lexie faced her father as he paused before stepping out of the alley into the street. "I didn't do anything wrong. It wasn't my idea to leave school and go to the dungeon. It was Vacek's."

"You could have called me at any point and told me what was going on. You promised you wouldn't go inside any dungeons, Lexie."

A splash of guilt stained Lexie's conscience, but it was nothing compared to the anger that roared to life within. "And you promised that you wouldn't keep secrets from me anymore, especially when it's something that could help Uncle Max. You didn't tell me about the sentient dungeon dad. You knew I could communicate with it, and you knew I could use it to find my uncle."

"I didn't know for sure."

"But you had a hunch, and it was a good one because it was right. If that dungeon controls all the other dungeons, then I can communicate with other dungeons through that. I can find out where Max is!"

"Your uncle Max is–" Aiden cut off his speech, but the implication was still hanging heavy in the air.

"He's what?" Lexie said softly, icily. "Say what you were going to say. You think he's dead, don't you?"

Aiden's head dropped forward. He shut his eyes, then stared at Lexie gravely.

"There is almost no chance that Max is alive."

"Because of you!" Lexie exploded loud enough for the people passing to hear her. "You kept that secret from me. If not, we could have been working towards finding the sentient dungeon and communicating with it. I could have learned to control it. I could have saved him! You let him die!"

Hot tears pushed behind her eyeballs now, bitter bile in her throat.

Aiden was staring at her. So was anyone who passed the mouth of the alley. Lexie could hear their whispers now, but she paid no attention to them. She kept her eyes on her father, and he was staring into her eyes, soul searching. A heartbreaking realization spread across his face.

"They were right," he whispered. "You have changed."

Lexie had no clue what he was talking about, but she coldly responded. "So have you."

This wasn't the Aiden she'd met in Hovelton two years ago, the one who had sacrificed his time and health brewing a potion for Evan. That man had tried to save everyone, even to the detriment of himself.

That man never would have let Max die.

But Aiden had barely moved a muscle to save Max. Even when he had information that could have helped, he'd kept it to himself.

The fact that he did it to save her didn't soften the blow. It only made her more resentful.

A tiny voice in Lexie's head told her she wasn't being rational or fair with her father, but rationality didn't exist here.

Lexie was hateful, and she was angry, and she felt alone.

She didn't say anything else to her father as they made their way back to school.

Aiden dropped her off at the gate and didn't come inside, but this time Lexie didn't ask him to. She didn't respond to his goodbye either.

Biufur could sense the tension between them, but he simply shook his head.

"Teenagers," she thought she heard him mutter as he closed the gates.

Lexie stormed across the courtyard with anger on her mind and in every line of her body. The courtyard was teeming with people, but none of them approached her, thankfully. She wasn't in the mood.

When Lexie got to her room, Xena, Dewie, and Jace were there at the table in the common area.

They were talking, but fell silent when Lexie walked in.

"What happened?" Xena asked. "Did you get punished?"

"I'll tell you later."

"But wait, Lexie–"

"I'm not in the mood, Zee. We'll talk later."

She entered her room, shut the door, and hoped they would all be smart enough not to enter.

She just wanted to cry alone.

It felt like her world was crashing in increments, and she didn't know how to stop it.

Ava was sitting at her desk when Lexie arrived. She had her headphones on but turned to stare at Lexie.

"What?" Lexie demanded.

The girl raised both eyebrows. "Welcome dinner is at six. They announced it."

"Alright." Lexie got into her bed and put a blanket over her face

"Thanks," she muttered belatedly.

Ava didn't respond.

Lexie wasn't sure when she dozed off, but she welcomed sleep if only to see Naem again. Today might be the day she finally achieved whatever it was that he wanted her to achieve with Ganor. Lexie wasn't sure what that would look like, but she knew that she was angry enough to slay a billion shadow creatures today, no matter how many times she died.

She would almost welcome the fight.

But instead of Naem, she had a dream, her first dream in a long time.

It was a continuation of the dream she'd had with her mother in the kitchen, when her mother told her they would be meeting someone, and Lexie had to keep it a secret.

"Secweet!" Baby Lexie clapped, delighted.

Lara then scooped her out of her high chair, got her cleaned up, and put her in a baby stroller. They went out and, by dream magic, the next scene was outside a coffee shop, where a very familiar man sat within.

It was Vacek.

"Secwet!" Baby Lexie declared again. "Mommy secwet!"

And then something happened.

The dream changed.

Lexie was back in the dungeon, her hand against the cool wall, sifting through images.

Her mind stopped on one, a recognizable face of a man slung over the shoulder of another man.

Lexie's breath caught. It was Theo.

He looked wet, like he'd been drowned, and he was unconscious.

Opposite them stood a man Lexie was growing to loathe more than she feared.

Vulcan.

The image was not a still. It began to play like an old movie.

"Where do we put him?" the giant holding Theo asked. "It better be in one of the terrible ones that gives him nightmares for the rest of his life. He made a whole mess when we got him. Wiped out all my men and almost all of Jagger's men too."

"I already have someone cleaning it up," Vulcan said smoothly. "Sierra managed to get into his system, right?"

"Yeah. She used the SLO. Worked like a charm."

"Great work. I mean, I knew it would be perfect, but you never know when you're dealing with this girl." He sighed. "Well, since he wanted to meet his girlfriend so much, I suppose I should reunite them."

The signal was interrupted when Lexie was shaken awake.

"No!" she gasped because she didn't want to be taken out of the dream. "Let me go."

"Lexie, wake up. It's time for the welcome dinner."

"I don't care about the welcome dinner," Lexie wanted to say.

But even as she fought, she was dragged out of the dream realm and back to the human one.

And away from Theo.

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