Chapter 133

“You know, we haven’t been putting this thing to good enough use,” Delta said. “Sure, we’ve been busy, but body swapping? There’s some fun we could have.”

“Let’s focus on the mission,” Zoey said—though she didn’t disagree. “What do you plan on saying to them?”

“No clue. Just gonna bullshit my way through.”

“Right.”

“And get ready to run if things go poorly,” Delta added with amusement. “I give us fifty-fifty odds. We’re going in a little blind.”

Zoey shook her head in exasperation. It wasn’t like she had a better plan, though. They knew far too little about, well, anything related to this cult. Maybe formally joining with the organization would have been a safer path, but that would have taken too much time—and who knew what initiation would have included?

And Delta at least seemed to know what she was doing, in the sense she was comfortable ‘bullshitting’. She strode forward with perfect confidence, Zoey accompanying her at her shoulder, and she looked every part the image of Jacquelyn. She even seemed to have adopted her posture and mannerisms. Had Delta been studying the woman in preparation for that?

“Small boob girls have all the luck, don’t they?” Delta said suddenly. “These are so much more manageable. I kinda forgot about it since I was last inside Rosalie.”

“Inside her? Don’t phrase it like that.”

Having rejoined the main hall where the soirée was taking place, Delta beelined for one of the black-masked individuals who were full members of the Church. They had picked the person out beforehand; he seemed relatively important by the way he held himself, and they hadn’t already pestered him in an attempt to get into contact with the mysterious wayfarer. He shouldn’t have a reason to suspect them. Some tactical eavesdropping had also gotten them a name.

His eyes latched to Delta and Zoey—or to his perspective, Jacquelyn and Zoey—well before they arrived. Delta’s serious face and quick stride had drawn his attention.

“Issac,” Delta said. “We have a situation.”

“We do?” He didn’t sound perturbed at the announcement, though he did tense slightly. “Who is this?”

“Zara. She’s brought me some troubling news.”

“Of what sort?”

“The kind best discussed with the higher ups.” Delta hesitated, then said, “She’s a first advancement wayfarer. She’s run into something similar as that artifact of ours.”

Surprise registered on Issac’s face. “She has?”

“Doesn’t want to share the exact details. Not except with anyone but...” Delta hesitated, as if she’d almost accidentally revealed the mysterious wayfarer’s name. She falsely corrected herself, preserving the stranger’s identity—though Delta obviously didn’t know it. “You know. Our friend who found the original.”

Issac considered the two of them.

“Someone should relay the message to her,” Delta said. “See if she’s interested in meeting.”

Zoey wouldn’t say Issac looked suspicious, but he did seem dubious. He couldn’t know that Delta had stolen Jacquelyn’s body, but rather, he probably suspected that Zoey was simply lying. Delta’s tone of voice, though, implied that whatever Zoey had told her had been convincing, which lent Zoey credibility.

She didn’t know where Jacquelyn stood in this Church, but she had enough influence—or the story wasn’t suspicious enough—that Issac only studied them for another few moments before nodding.

“Follow me.”

Nervous, Zoey did so. She hadn’t even gotten a word in. Delta was doing all the heavy lifting in this encounter, and Zoey was more along for the ride than anything.

There was the option of actually fetching the broken artifact from Fe, which would obviously give them an audience with the Church—but that would have taken more time, and Delta and Zoey had been doubtful how much of a run-around they would be given. By stealing Jacquelyn’s body, they were fast-tracking the whole situation, though with much higher risk. With luck, they’d be able to speak directly to the mysterious wayfarer and have a frank conversation. Whether they’d be able to get anything out of her was up in the air, but it seemed like their best bet.

Issac led them to a small meeting room deeper into the building’s interior. She wasn’t sure whether this structure was rented for the event alone or the Church’s property. Issac, at least, seemed familiar with the place, which indicated the latter.

“Take a seat,” he told Zoey. “We’ll relay what you had to say.”

Zoey paused. She shared a glance with Delta, who seemed utterly unconcerned with the development—that she would have to accompany Issac to go talk with ‘the higher ups’.

Zoey could hardly imagine a reason to insist that she stayed with Delta, or Delta with her while Issac handled it alone, so she nodded and settled into a chair. Issac and Delta exited, closing the door behind them, and Zoey was left alone with her thoughts.

Minutes ticked by, and she realized how poorly this could go. They had a significant safety blanket in the form of being third-advancement wayfarers, and were many times stronger than a typical person, but Delta had acknowledged that there might be stronger fighters than them in this organization. And if they did, then Delta had probably just gone to see them—while wearing the body of one of their recruits.

Delta seemed to be generally good at ‘bullshitting’, but would it take her that far?

Was Zoey going to have to mount a desperate rescue attempt?

What a disaster. She was supposed to be practicing spellcraft with Maddy right about now. Instead, she was seated, alone, in the bowels of a cultist’s potential headquarters, waiting for her teammate to infiltrate their leadership and convince a mysterious wayfarer—who had apparently survived through a corrupted shard—to come and talk with her. There were so many ways for this to go wrong it was nearly comical.

Ten minutes later, the door opened, and two people walked in. Delta—in Jacquelyn’s body—and a new woman. Issac didn’t join them; Delta trailed in second and closed the door behind them.

Delta shared a quick look with Zoey, who had risen from her chair, and her lips quirked in self-satisfaction. She gave a short, nearly smug nod, to let her know that everything had gone well. Or at least non-disastrously. Zoey was as impressed as she was relieved.

The newcomer was a tall woman, though a few inches shorter than Zoey herself. She had short, wavy blonde hair. Her brown eyes were calm and collected, and she surveyed the room as soon as she entered, noting the occupant—Zoey—and checking for anything suspicious, a habit nearly all wayfarers shared. When every delve meant possible deadly traps around any corner, it became ingrained instinct to check out one’s surroundings, even in the safety of the city. Delta did it too. Even Zoey was starting to.

Based on that, Zoey suspected Delta had somehow managed to convince the mysterious wayfarer to come talk to Zoey. Whether that had been simple or difficult, she didn’t know. The Church hadn’t seemed eager to let Delta and Zoey simply meet the woman without any kind of vouch—and without a reason why—but maybe now that Jacquelyn had been the one to request the meeting, joined with the claim that Zoey had found something similar to their own artifact, they were apparently more than willing.