"She used to love the Sphinx," Bracken reported.

Stiffness filled every muscle of Vanessa. Her face hardened. In front of everyone, Bracken exposed her most shameful secret. That asshole. He saw a desperate need for affection that had been assuaged physically by the Sphinx and called it love. She could feel everyone's eyes on her. Her colleagues, children, Warren. Embarrassment and rage competed for top spot. She pursed her lips. "Did I hear the past tense?"

"After he betrayed her, she became a true ally to us," Bracken confirmed. Finally, something clean came out of his dirty mouth. "She still worries about the Sphinx. She cares about his welfare now that Graulas has taken over the Society, but not in any way that would harm our cause. Her affection is now directed elsewhere."

Oh. Oh. If it wasn't for years of compartmentalization and practice of emotional control, Vanessa would have tackled Bracken by this point.

Sure, she logically worried that the Sphinx would be hurt. In some ways, she knew him very well. Even when you hate someone to the depths of your core, your body cannot forget the memory of the care. Vanessa knew this. It had been the same with her mom.

And, to say her affection was now directed elsewhere? His bold words ratcheted up in recklessness. He took the opportunity of proving her loyalty to embarrass her instead. Would a pure magical being do something like that? Obviously not. She knew this. Unicorns sucked. But, no one ever believed her. Their top-notch propaganda painted them as fucking messiahs.

"Careful," Vanessa warned, a million more words of increasing intensity included in her tone.

Bracken glanced at Warren, and her stomach dropped. Shit. "Blix or not, we can trust her."

"Did you look at Warren?" Seth blurted, his eyes flickering between the three in question, childish delight lighting up his eyes. "Does Vanessa like Warren?"

Vanessa closed her eyes slowly, grimacing. She could not blame Seth's youth. Bracken had set that up. Her newfound conviction not to kill allies wavered in the face of this burning humiliation. She hated that damn unicorn.

Warren coughed uncomfortably. That rubbed salt in the wound. So much for being professional and unentangled.

Vanessa opened her eyes and glared at Bracken, careful not to look over at Warren, afraid of what she would find. "Very tactful. Warren and I have some history from when I served as a Knight of the Dawn. I'm glad that's out in the open for everybody to whisper about."

She had understated said history, but Vanessa did what she needed to do. Everyone was already going to assume she slept with her mission partners now. But, she had been called a whore before. It didn't sting anymore. But, usually, she could break the noses of the people who slung names at her. Maybe she couldn't quite do that, but it would be unfair to let Bracken leave unwounded.

Ammunition rose to her lips immediately. Her eyes flickered to Bracken's hand on Kendra's shoulder, and the slight strawberry coloring across the girl's cheeks. She had obviously noticed how Bracken acted around Kendra—a child. Again, something horribly typical of unicorns. She hadn't planned to say anything considering the imminent end of the world, but he had asked for it. And by god, he deserved it. "By the way, Bracken clearly has strong feelings for Kendra. Sometimes it doesn't take a mind reader."

Bracken opened his mouth, paused, and then closed it. Triumph burned away some of her embarrassment. She relished her ability to tear people down with words and slice them to pieces with a sword. She wrapped it around herself like a comforting blanket, her back straightening under the familiar weight.

"Don't be shy," Vanessa teased, prodding his chest with her finger. "It really is the end of the world. Time to unbottle those hidden feelings. People make such a fuss about age discrepancies. Your attraction to Kendra is kind of like me having a crush on a newborn infant. Perfectly natural."

Bracken reddened. "I think your imagination is running away with you. I'm very fond of Kendra, but not in the way you're describing."

"You're right," Vanessa chuckled. "My mistake. It isn't quite like I described. After all, Kendra looks much more mature than an infant."

The look on his face was worth it. Still, a little guilt crawled in at the sight of Kendra's blush deepening into embarrassment. Not enough to make Vanessa regret her words, though.

Trask cleared his throat noisily. "Enough with the blix-unicorn rivalry. I'm afraid we have larger concerns."

Rivalry? If that was what Trask called coordinated ethnic cleansing of a magical species, sure. A rivalry.

Vanessa swallowed her screaming retort, feeling like a young girl trapped in a fake suburban identity by the threat of the outside world. She had to contort herself to fit the whims of oppressors who desired to kill her and all her family. In fact, she got to spend the last days of her life with one of them. Great. Amazing.

The plank of that oncoming ship was beginning to look very attractive.