Eddie sat down and crossed his legs, then patted the ground to have the girls follow suit. Ryan couldn't believe that worked, to be fairly honest. Maybe she misjudged just how much he cared. The look in his eyes when he glanced up at her told her Eddie knew.

"Craig's gone." Ryan stated simply.

Eddie froze. "What?"

  "Whoever took the Queen took him and another one of our companions with them. We need your tracking skills and information. Who is the masked figure?"

Eddie's fingers curled the fabrics of his leggings. "Oh."

Ryan's eyes flicked around his tent. The axolotl poked her head out from the top of the tank and slid across the floor to Eddie's lap where he stroked her offhandedly. She was a dark grey color with a bright orange spot on her back, and one mismatched orange eye.

"Have you ever heard of Thanatos?" His eyes were dark.

Three of them shook their heads. Sky stared darkly at him and scoffed.

  "I heard a Katestra member talking about it once. Nothing more."

Eddie nodded. "It's an island. It's uh... well it's a nightmare."

He held out his hand and curled around his fingers was a small flame. It danced and set the shadows on his face in such a way that made him look ever more tired somehow. Ryan's eyes widened even though she had seen this displayed so may times before, it never ceased to amaze her.

"I'm a Daímonas." He said plainly. "And so is Craig, but he's not considered one because of double standards. We, the bad ones, are hunted down and sent off to that island. The person behind the mask is Bundi, they're... a rebel, and a good person. They got me off the island. Craig's safe... probably. Bundi wouldn't hurt him, though I'm sure some of the other kids would love to have a go at him."

  "Why?" Aurora was mildly concerned again.

  "Because it's not fair?" Eddie glanced up at her, anger burning in his eyes. "You wouldn't understand."

Ryan felt and uncomfortable chill run down her spine.

"Does the Queen know about this?" Eryan asked.

Eddie scoffed. "It was Persephone's order."

"What? No." Aurora insisted. "She wouldn't do something like that, she's the Queen."

He looked unimpressed. "Do me a favor and while you're here don't bring up Persephone. Most of us hate her."

"While we're here?" Sky demanded.

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "Do you not want to get to Thanatos to recue your friends?"

Ryan glanced back at them. Aurora seemed uneasy, but that was normal for her. Eryan looked ready, if not a little nervous. Sky spat on the ground and whipped out a small dagger, she was born ready.

"Rude." Eddie glanced a her.

"I'm not apologizing, demon." She said firmly.

Aurora frowned. "Perhaps we should tone down our prejudices while this... alliance is in effect."

Eddie and Sky glanced at each other. "No." The both said in unison.

Ryan and Aurora shared amused glances. Sky's face scrunched up into something of disgust and Eddie simply stuck out his tongue at her. Ryan couldn't believe they were the same age sometimes.

Then Eddie cracked his knuckles and stood up. "Okay, I'm going to go see the head about getting you some living quarters for a few days, then I'm going to try and catch up with Apophis and tell her about Thanatos-"

"No!" Aurora cut him off. "Is Apophis here?"

Eddie seemed startled. "She's a few days ahead of us. She broke off from the group to chase after the masked people."

"You can't tell her about Craig." Ryan insisted.

"I... I have to." He struggled. "If she finds out I've been keeping information from her I'll be punished."

Ryan stared at Eddie, trying to gather more information because she found this reaction to be quite unlike anything she's ever collected from him. He was strangely still, and she could have sworn there was a green sheen to his eyes, like the oily feathers of a raven. They hadn't looked that way until he started talking about disobeying Apophis.

"How would she know?" Eryan asked softly.

Eddie looked away. "She would find out. She always does. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe you should leave."

Ryan grabbed his arm and Eddie's gaze flicked over to her. She didn't flinch away from his angry glare and instead met it head on, like two rams butting heads. The crash was audible from the while mountainside.

"Think about Craig." She told him under her breath.

Eddie blinked, and the oily sheen seemed to fade away from a moment. "Oh. Okay I won't tell her that Craig is with Bundi. I can't promise she won't get it out of me some other way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan asked.

He shrugged. "I'm not allowed to tell."

Ryan could almost taste the bitter energy of foul magic at play here. Judging from the way Eddie was holding himself he was either vastly uncomfortable or possibly in pain, possibly both. She would ask him about it later if the opportunity presented itself, when he was alone. Aurora opened her mouth to protest but Ryan held up a hand and she paused.

"Thank you, Eddie, it's appreciated." Ryan said.

He nodded. "Stay here, I'll be right back with more blankets."

He stood up and disappeared out the beige tent flaps. Aurora reached forward and tapped Ryan's shoulder, throwing the younger girl a confused look.

"What's going with Eddie? Why'd you stop me?"

Ryan folded her hands. "I think he's under some sort of magical influence."

She received three pairs of wide eyes from the other girls. Ryan sighed and flicked through her mental folder of evidence to narrow it down for them.

"It's a look in his eyes, also, he started acting off."

"I wasn't aware we knew him well enough to make the judgement." Sky's brow furrowed.

"I do. At least well enough to read him." Ryan argued. "I bet it was Apophis's doing."

Eryan bit her lip. "I didn't know that was something magic could do."

"Apophis is dangerous, I wouldn't put it past her." Aurora agreed.

"Ugh, I wish Craig were here. He probably learned about this stuff from his mom." Ryan groaned, and rubbed her forehead.

"I kind of miss Jason too." Aurora admitted. "I mean, he was blunt, annoyingly flirty, and at sometimes frustratingly edgy but... he was funny and I don't think he has many friends."

"I'm not. I've never been more relived to rid myself of a boy in my life." Sky scoffed, crossing her arms. "Boys are untrustworthy."

Jason was cool, that's all Ryan had to say. She approved of him as a possible date for her brother, even if he hadn't showed much interest. She knew he was keeping a secret, but she had watched him carefully and deduced it wasn't something that threatened Craig's safety, or her girls. Eddie on the other hand showed lots of interest, and she didn't approve of him at all. Ryan felt a little guilty for manipulating Eddie like that, but her family came above anything else in her life. Besides, it was never going to happen, he had no chance.

"I'd drink to that." Ryan smirked at Sky.

"Nobody is drinking anything, especially you minors." Aurora shook her head at them.

They laughed, it was a joyful sound in their rather desperate situation. That moment Eddie came back, blankets in hand. He passed them around and started chatting with happily. It was almost amicable.

  "I can make the tent a little bigger and you all should fit. I don't know if I trust the other girls to take care of you, some of them are pretty ruthless, especially in this division." He was saying.

"They won't mind a boy sharing a tent with a bunch of girls?" Eryan tilted her head.

  "Oh." He froze up, just a little, then laughed it off. "No, we're pretty chill over here. That stuff... it doesn't matter."

Ryan could tell he was uncomfortable again so she decided to spare him. "Hey Eddie? Is Felix here?"

He blinked. "Oh, no. He was still up north last time I saw him, which was a few weeks ago."

"Is he okay?"

He shrugged. "He's still a goner, but if you're asking if he's alive, the answer is yes."

Ryan nodded, that was good. As soon as they collected Craig and the Queen they could continue on with their mission. Maybe Eddie would even help them, if talking about Craig got them this far she could only imagine what would happen with him physically present. Eddie wished them all a good night as the sun started to set, which was an unnecessary gesture, but appreciated. They were still very much on opposite sides, but perhaps for tonight, they were at least friends.