One particular time, however, her interrogator broke the cycle and offered novelty to the usual game of cat and mouse. This was exciting.

When she opened her eyes, a dead man filled her vision. It was Patton Burgess in the flesh. He looked exactly like his old portraits. But how? How could he have traveled to the future?

What could have offered him that power?

In seconds, knowledge sobered Vanessa. They had found another artifact—the one rumored to control time.

There were two artifacts in play, now? The Sphinx must be rushing to the finish line. So unlike him. Had some long-awaited opportunity arisen? And had Fablehaven weathered their plague?

In fact, how much time had passed at all since her last conversation with Stan or Ruth? It could be centuries. Patton's appearance was simply anachronistic.

Vanessa quirked an eyebrow. "I fear I may be out of the loop."

Patton studied her and gestured to a seat next to him. It was only then that she noticed the incongruously colorful table and chairs in the dim dungeon hallway.

This was all he had brought with him. He must have assumed he wouldn't need any handcuffs or coercion. He was right—there was no way she was going to pass up the opportunity to talk to a mythic legend.

"I'm curious, Vanessa," Patton said as he sat down. "Of your opinions on lightness and darkness. As you know, the vanquished plague manipulated that dichotomy."

Okay, so the plague was over. Recently. Thank god. She really did not want to spend the rest of the newborn 21st century in the Quiet Box.

Vanessa took a seat. It creaked underneath her. "I do."

"And, as a narcoblix, you're a uniquely human magical creature. For all intents and purposes, you act like a human. You look like a human. Mayhaps you even love like a human. Now, do you feel an intrinsic pull to light or darkness or do you have the human capability for both?"

She laughed. The academic discourse would be appreciated if the true motive wasn't so thinly concealed.

"You're trying to decide if I can be trusted." Vanessa crossed her legs and leaned back. "Did Stan send you down here?"

"No. I'm simply curious."

The celebrity of it all stunned Vanessa and she had a hard time being contrary. She felt like she knew Patton so well from his writings. All his adventures, his love story. Everything culminated into the man in front of her. "I don't believe you."

"Fine, you caught me. It wasn't just curiosity." Patton grinned and Vanessa had a funny feeling she was the one caught instead—like a rodent entering a cage for a nibble of cheese. "I spoke with Warren Burgess—a distant relative of mine. Do you know him?"

Vanessa narrowed her eyes and kept her mouth shut in a firm line. This wasn't fair. The journals had outlined Patton's charisma, intelligence, and sleight of hand. It had been fun to read about—not to experience.

"Ah," Patton said with a quirk of his lips. "You do."

Vanessa leaned forward, annoyance propelling her. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to know your motives. In the before and in the now. Why did you join the Society?"

"They saved me from a threat when I was a teenager." Vanessa's mouth twisted. "Except I only found out recently they were also the threat." She rolled her eyes. "I should have known."

Patton hummed. "Why did you stay after you discovered such treachery?"

She didn't know how to answer his question. The only answer was that she had had nowhere else to go, but that wasn't sufficient because anyone could point out a number of places she could have squirreled away to with her fat paychecks.

Maybe, if the uncomfortable crawl on her skin as she neared this thought was any indication of its truthfulness, it was that the Society was all she could call home. Even when they had burned her, they remained her only semblance of family. Her other homes—her blue suburban nightmare and Warren—had been gone by that point.

Vanessa studied Patton's irises. They gazed into her, and she could see her reflection in the brown. The truth was that he was just a normal human, and he probably was not going to release her. With that in mind, she didn't have to endure this interrogation. Instead, Patton could be her captive audience. She thought back to the burning questions she had had while she had been researching his journals. "How did you slay a dragon?"

"Who says I did?"

Vanessa sighed, leaned back, and stayed silent. He needed her far more than she needed him in this moment.

Patton broke into a grin. "Fine. How about we trade secrets? I'll answer your question, and you answer mine."

She shrugged, while excitement bubbled behind her disinterested mask. "Well, did you?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Patton wagged a finger. "That's another question. It's my turn. How did you discover the Sphinx's treachery?"

"I used my inherent abilities."

"I'd prefer if your answers were not something I could guess."

"There's no use getting more specific than that."

Vanessa would be six feet in the ground before she would recount her illicit activities with the Sphinx or Dougan Fisk to Patton fucking Burgess of all people.

Patton waited patiently, but when she stayed silent, he grinned. "Fine. I slayed a dragon using my inherent charm."

Vanessa's mouth curled into a humorless smile. "This is almost worse than the monotony of the Quiet Box."

"But not quite, yes? Most people prefer my conversation to infinite silence."

"I would love to experience your conversation. Unfortunately, I'm trapped in an interrogation."

Patton shrugged. "Sometimes, that's a natural consequence of trying to overthrow someone's home."

Vanessa scoffed and let her gaze wander over the damp darkness of the dungeon. This horrible piece of real estate was her new home. It was a new low.

Patton rolled up his sleeves. "I used poison to slay a dragon. Built rapport with his feeders and soiled his food."

Interesting. Vanessa sat forward and picked out the only detail of her investigation not bathed in shame. "The Sphinx has a favorite pen. Golden with suns decorating it. Very gilded. Very recognizable."

"A pen was all it took?"

"It was the last puzzle piece."

"Fascinating." Patton twisted the end of his mustache. "Do you know more about the Sphinx that would be important to our cause?"

Vanessa grinned. "Undoubtedly."

"Care to share?"

"Care to convince the Sorensons to spring me out of my cell?"

"If you are willing to provide me with something to convince them with."

"There is nothing more I will do to prove my loyalty from this cage. I have already done enough as a prisoner." Impatience coiled around Vanessa and sharpened her words. "The Sphinx is a traitor. They should find out soon enough and know that I gave them the correct information."