"'Top Ten Stupidest Bets to Make at a Casino,'" Morgana read from the screen. "You know, I liked it better when our last-minute heist prep was things like making sure we had enough lockpicks. And when I could shoot the things that were going to try to kill you if anything went wrong."

"It'll be fine." Akira returned to studying the screen and tried to ignore the creeping cold in his gut. Caution kept a good thief alive, but worrying about what would happen if he failed would just make him stupid. "And we have gadgets. My cufflinks? Combination camera and comm. Futaba will be in my ear the whole time. All I need is a pair of sunglasses and I'm practically a secret agent." That and the matching necklace for Sae had given Iwai's contact fits. If he was going to go broke, he might as well do it in style. "I even have the beautiful woman on my arm."

"You are a true gallant, my friend." Morgana flinched. But could you try to keep it down at night? Your offending my poor, delicate ears."

"Sorry." More like himself. He looked in the mirror. The man staring back at him had a loose, easy posture and an embarrassed smile on his face. He actually looked like the Phantom and not a boy pretending to keep his head down or a student who had settled for merely existing. Had Sae done that? He'd discovered there was power to be had in sex. Not in breaking someone like Shido or Kamoshida, but in learning how to make Sae lose control, in knowing that he was doing exactly what she wanted, in knowing that he didn't have to hold back. That the woman he wanted wanted him.

"Akira?" Sae called from her bedroom. "Can you come here for a minute?"

Morgana nudged his hand. "Go on, lovebird. Just remember you've got a schedule to keep."

His mouth went dry when he saw her. Sae stood with her back to him staring at her reflection in the vanity, head held high and her eyes hard. The hostesses had advised formalwear, and Sae had apparently decided that if something was going to force her into a dress, she might as well be the most gorgeous person in the room. The purple material seemed to shimmer and catch the light, and the dress was cut to flatter without being tasteless. The pendant around her neck drew just the right amount of attention to her chest. No one would ever guess that she was recording everything. And that slit up the side of her leg… He licked his lips.

"You can put your tongue back in your mouth now." She smiled at him, but there was something distant and slightly annoyed in her voice. "Zip me up in the back?"

He closed the distance between them. Up close, he could see fatigue and anxiety mixing with the defiance in her eyes and the cold in his stomach was suddenly hard. "She's here?" He had a brief, wild fantasy of picking up the jewelry case on the dresser and smashing the mirror into a million pieces.

"And making it an absolute nightmare to do my makeup." She looked down. "Do I look like her?"

"What?"

"Do I look like her in this dress?" Her voice was soft and a little panicked. "I keep thinking I do, that the slit is too much or that I shouldn't wear purple heels."

"Well, I don't think green would've gone too well with the dress."

"Don't joke."

He sighed and put his arms around her. Please, forgive yourself. I wish I could make you see what I see. And maybe he could. "You both are tall, have medium-length gray hair and wear earrings and purple shoes. Other than that, you're gorgeous and she's hideous. And don't say it's because I'm sleeping with you. I thought she was ugly even back then."

She looked at him in surprise. "I've been getting a good look at her for the last fifteen minutes. Are you absolutely sure that you were a teenage boy?"

"Believe it or not, even teenage boys can have standards. Sometimes." How to explain it to her? "I think you're sexy because I know you. That you were smart enough to figure out that Shido was behind everything and dedicated enough to run across Japan trying to prove that Personas exist for the sake of one man. And she was ugly because she was an insecure bully on a power trip. At least when you play games with me, it's about making us both feel good."

Akira ran a hand down her side and she shuddered. Screw you, Leviathan. If you want to be jealous of something, be jealous that there's more to her than your spite and bitterness. And then, very slowly and deliberately, he planted a kiss between her shoulder blades. Another. Another. Over onto her shoulders and down her spine. His teeth scraped her skin, and he could almost see the yellow roses disintegrating with every kiss and nibble. You can't have her.

Sae's eyes were closed and her head was thrown back, her breathing ragged and her skin flush. She looked younger, some of the lines smoothed from her face. He wondered, sometimes, why he was the one allowed to see her like this, to make her feel like this. "Stop," she whispered, but without much conviction. "You were supposed to zip me up."

He pulled back, and with the greatest reluctance, did as she asked. He opened the jewelry box and handed her the diamond and pearl earrings. It was only then that he noticed a second box, somewhat larger, but the wrong shape to be the necklace. "What's this?"

Her hands shook almost imperceptibly as she put on her earrings. "It's for you, actually. A gift." She breathed in. "I was going to give it to you after we got back from the casino in one piece, but I suppose now is as good a time as any."

He opened it. It was a pocket watch. No, the pocket watch. Sitting there on black felt. "You got me the watch," he said stupidly as if it would turn into a unicorn or something if he didn't say it out loud. A dozen different emotions flooded him, fighting for dominance like kids fighting over an action figure. Shock. She had remembered that he wanted a watch in the first place. Anger. Didn't she know that he was going to buy it for himself someday? Just because he was broke right now—helping her—didn't mean things weren't going to turn around soon. She knew how he felt about being some toy for her. Pleasure. He really did want that watch. "I don't know what to say, "he whispered. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to? I... friends give each other presents. Even friends who...do what we do." She ran her fingers through her hair. "This was going better in my head."

The anger receded slightly. "It's just a bit much."

She twirled the pendant between her fingers. "And how much did this cost? I'm thinking the spy camera cost more than the engraving I had done."

He looked down. Akira Kurusu, Author. "I've never seen someone's eyes light up the way yours did when you talked about the book," she continued. "Not even Makoto when she talked about the Thieves. I wanted you to remember what you were. She put her hand on his arm. "With or without Mementos, I think you must have magic. To look at me and see what you do. You matter, not the Phantom. You matter immensely. And I want you to remember that when your voices get too loud or when I'm not there or...please, won't you say something?"

Akira's vision wavered, and a lump filled his throat. Other women looked at him the way Sae did; he knew he was good-looking. The people who knew were grateful for everything he had done against Yaldabaoth. He knew his friends loved him. But no one else had ever told him he might matter as a writer—that he had been right to forsake the security of a normal job and create his own worlds instead of exploring others. And Sae Niijima—the woman who had scratched and clawed to climb her way up the ladder only to throw it all away—was the one who saw.

He spun her around and kissed her, hard and closed-mouthed. There were tears on his cheeks, and he felt as if they had stepped into a great void. Fling. Affair. Friend. Those were the words they used. And people who had flings might have hot sex. Friends gave each other gifts. But this? He didn't know what to call it? It wasn't the quiet, friendly, cute thing Ryuji and Ann had where he just wanted to scream at them to get married already. It wasn't like what he had had with Hifumi, all blushing and dates at the Ferris wheel. This was too intense, too fast. Like waking up from a coma and discovering you were starving.

This was...a whirlwind romance. "I—"

"Guys, schedule!" Morgana hissed and glared at them. "Futaba will be expecting you any minute. Have you even checked your equipment yet? Get your hormones under control already."

Sae stepped back. "Even I know when he's angry. We should finish getting dressed."

"You know," Akira said as he shrugged into his jacket under Morgana's watchful eye. "I think I suck at having flings."

"And water is wet. The only thing that surprises me is that one of you hasn't dropped to one knee yet." Morgana smiled. "You should ask her out. For after you get back to Tokyo. I suggest dinner and a movie."

"I don't know."

"You don't know? You're more romantic than I am and you don't know?

"She wants something temporary. I agreed to that." And honestly? He wasn't sure what he wanted. Suppose they did start dating. That wouldn't stop the women harassing him. It would probably get worse once they knew he was "taken." There would be gossip, whispers that she had had an inappropriate relationship with him five years ago. His mother would wonder if dating someone who made more than he did was his backup plan if writing didn't work out. It would become the kind of relationship that had to work out, just because of all the extra crap they'd have to go through. And in his novel, they would. But then if he had been writing a story about a young shogi player and the unjustly imprisoned thief, they would have worked out. Whirlwind romances ended one of two ways: a fairy tale marriage or someone dying. He thought he could bear losing the romance as long as they could stay friends, but them yelling at each other like his parents was too much "I don't want to pressure her."

But still, nothing else has made me this happy. For as long as she wanted him, he would hold on. He put the watch in his front pocket. Every good knight needed to carry his lady's favor into battle.

When he made it back into the common room, Sae was sitting at the table, pale and fidgety. "Almost time." She smiled. "I'm glad you're not wearing your glasses. I might have had to hit something."

Work. Right. Okaba the murderous crime boss who could kill him as surely as any Shadow. "Well, I want to stand out. The young idiot who keeps making bad bet after bad bet trying to cover his losses. I'm thinking I'll be playing mostly craps. Easy to lose a lot fast."

"And roulette, if you can stand it." She flinched. "When we were first working the Okaba case, there were rumors he planted people who could control the ball with an infrared device. And use the Martingale system. More people went bankrupt by trying to double their money than anything else combined."

He stared at her. "I had no idea you knew this much about gambling."

"Knee deep in rigged games for a year. Where do you think that Palace came from?" she whispered. "We shouldn't keep Futaba waiting."

Akira tapped his cuff links "Oracle, are you receiving?"

"Affirmative." Futaba laughed. "Just like the old days, eh Joker?"

It was. It really was. The really old days, back before they understood what they had gotten themselves into and fighting for justice was actually fun. He looked over at Sae. "New team member, though."

"The paragon of law and order has finally graduated to fleecing crime bosses." Futaba's voice turned serious. "So what's her code name?"

"Code name? Surely there's no need for that anymore." Sae's face turned red.

"Actually, probably an even bigger one. Never know who could be listening in, and Makoto will kill me if you get disbarred over this." Silence, and then another laugh. "How about 'Empress?' Since Makoto is Queen and you're older?"

Akira and Sae stared at each other, and Sae's blush deepened. "I don't think that's a very good idea. She was the closest thing you had to a second-in-command. And I'm not really a thief anyway."

"But it'll be so much fun to tease her!"

"I think it suits you," Akira said. He gave his voice the low, slightly growly sound she liked and thought he saw her shiver. Please, see what I see.

Sae crossed her arms. "Fine. I swear you two are worse than children."

Akira cleared his throat. "Now that that's settled, is everyone clear on the plan? I'll be playing the idiot who is down on his luck and convinced his only salvation is craps and roulette. Thanks to some truly bad prop bets and the odds being more than usually skewed in the house's favor, I lose every last yen. Then I lose my credit line." He nodded to Sae. "Meanwhile, my increasingly panicked older sister is trying to get me to stop, without success. When we realize that I've lost absolutely everything, she breaks down and runs off to Okaba to beg for a loan. All caught on video to be delivered to Iori. Oracle provides information and assistance as needed."

"Got it."

"Older sister trying to calm down someone from a crazy plan?" Sae managed to smile. "I think I can handle that."

"Good. This may not be a Palace, but we're still Phantom Thieves and Okaba is just as bad as anyone who's heart we stole. We're not only going to save Hachiro Sato, we're going to save everyone Okaba is exploiting. Futaba, I need to go over a few last minute details with Sae. I'll be back on the channel once we're inside." He tapped his cuff link. "First I pretend to be Makoto's boyfriend, and now I'm your younger brother. Sojiro always said I got things exactly backwards." He sobered and took her into his arms. "Keep safe tonight. And not just from Okaba."

"Likewise." She buried her nose in his neck. "But if we win this, maybe we'll both be set free. And you always win." She planted a little kiss on his neck that made electricity jolt through him and tore a groan from his throat. "Because I won't be able to do that for a while. And once you do win, we are going to have a proper Phantom Thief celebration."

The warehouse that held the gambling den and brothel was a cube of metal and plaster. A faded sign announcing it was in fact a warehouse seemed to be the only concession Okaba had made to secrecy. Men in dark suits with high collars loitered near the door, their prosthetic pinkies obvious. Akira took a deep breath and prepare to become someone else. Fidgety, with a little chip on his shoulder. Dressing better than what he could afford in a desperate attempt to belong. Willing to back the longest of long shots because admitting he had lost was worse. Willing to humiliate the last person who loved him. Beside him, Sae looked tired and annoyed and frightened despite her wonderful clothing. Shoulders hunched, brow furrowed. Desperately wanting her little brother to do the right thing and terrified of where she was going, but even more afraid of leaving him alone. At least, he hoped she was just getting into character.

He showed the pass, the doorman nodded, and they swept into another world.

Before Mementos, Akira had only seen casinos in movies and video games. This was what he thought Macau or Las Vegas must have been like. Felt-covered tables of all sizes and colors spread out before him. Lights flashed and beeped. Dealers in waistcoats and ties flipped cards while waitresses in short skirts brought drinks. There was even a row of slot machines in the back. People stood entranced as dice and cards fell around them.

Sae tensed beside him and Akira could read her thoughts as clearly as if she had spoken aloud. "The Palace didn't look like this," he whispered. "It was bigger, fancier, with chandeliers and a lot of neon." But the empty, hollow looks of the gamblers was the same. Just like in the hostess club where people had drank and talked to pretty girls, but no one seemed to be having any fun.

Figure that out, did you? The voice boomed in his head. Men like Okaba leech all the pleasure from the world until only hollowness remains. And you want to toss him to Kirijo? Take. His. Heart.

Oh no. He'd been so worried about bringing Sae to a facsimile of her Palace that he never wondered what might happen to him. And he had done everything but call this place a Palace with a target needed his heart stolen. The gamblers subtly shifted, becoming more plastic looking, like Shadows before he ripped their mask off. What should have been the thrill of a game well-played as they waited for the ball to drop had become empty addiction.

And you've already seen what he does to sex. I can bring him to justice, if you'll let me.

Sae put a hand on his arm. "Remember, you are an author."

Right. He shot her a grateful smile and tapped his front pocket. He was an author. A man with a life and a future who could do good on his own terms. He flagged down a waitress and grabbed a glass of bourbon. "You worry too much, sis! Let's have some fun!" He charged toward the craps table and put a wad of bills down on the center of the table. "Fifty thousand yen on hard sixes," he shouted.

The shooter rolled an eight. That was a nice start.

He lost steadily and dramatically throughout the evening and Sae's grip on his arm was increasingly hard. By the time he was down to his last ten thousand, there were tears in her eyes. "Please, don't do this. I—we-don't have anything left."

He summoned his father's snarl. "Don't worry about it. It's not like you care what happens to me anyway. All you care about is that job of yours. At the office from dawn till dusk and what do we have to show for it?"

Sae flinched as if she had been slapped. "I gave you everything."

"Well you need to do more," he snapped. "The problem is that the table's cold. I should've seen that before now." He stormed off in the direction of the roulette table. When he was a safe distance away, he lifted his arm and whispered into the cuff links "Keep talking to the dealer. We need Okaba invested."

"Roger that." Sae's voice softened with real tenderness and grief. "Remind me to tell Makoto that I love her."

"Er, guys," Futaba cut in. "Just for fun, I patched in to security's channel. I found something that I think you'll want to hear.

"You see that girl over at the roulette table, the one in blue? Boss wants us to make sure she keeps losing. A lot."

"Of course he does. She's pretty."

Akira looked. The girl was of average height and slim, with delicate features and long hair in a hime cut. Her dress was modest and a little faded. A wildflower, someone with more traditional tastes might have called her, everything a girl was supposed to be.

And everything that American with an Oriental fetish would love to get his hands on. Only one reason that Okaba would want to keep her losing.

He walked up to the table and placed himself next to the girl. "Rough night?" He threw the last wad of bills on black.

"You could say that. " She gave him a weak smile and put hers down on the first line of numbers.

"Joker?" Static popped, and it was difficult to make out Futaba. "Something…wrong...comm."

"It's the infrared remote that I told you about. Send a signal on the right frequency, and you can make any number you want come up."

See? He's just going to enslave that girl, and you puny mortal can do anything to stop it. You going to let her be raped or worse for what? Pride?

He was going to stop Okaba. They would turn the tapes over to Mitsuru and everything would be all right. He didn't need Mementos for that.

That's not going to help her now. It's not going to help any of them. Look at these people. Do you think they don't know what's going on here? They do, but they don't care, just as long as they have their fun. They didn't give a damn when Shido confessed on live TV, they don't give a damn now. When are you going to realize your precious freedom is garbage?

The ball spun and clattered. "Thirty-two, red," the croupier called. "Thirty-two, red."He raked in both Akira and the girl's money. Akira bowed his head and put his hands on the table as if to steady himself.

"We're ruined," the girls whispered. "Ruined."

The table shifted before him and Akira lifted his head. He was no longer in the casino. Or rather, no longer in this casino. He stood in Sae's Palace as it had been the night the police came for him. The dealer's mask looked as if it had been partially melted away. Demons stood where the customers had once been, giant snakes and enormous lions bound with chains. All except one. The girl of course.

The demons advanced on her. "You are a slave, just like us. We will show you. Everything beautiful and good, we will crush."

And you're just going to let it happen.

"Fourteen, red. Twenty-three, red."

The scene shifted to a prison. More Shadows rattled the bars of their cells. "People don't care who leads them," said Shido's voice from someone. "As long as they have a leader. As long as someone promises to take care of them."

It might as well be you. At least you would be benevolent. Freedom is slavery. Akira felt something hard on his face. His own mask. All he had to do was rip it off and Satanel would be his to command. He could undo the mistake he had made five years ago. He reached...

...and his arm grazed something metal. The watch. No. He couldn't do this. He couldn't betray everything he had fought for, everything Sae believed him to be.

You have no choice. If you don't act, she suffers. You will just be another weakling who watches as innocents suffer and calls it principle. The voice was like a knife. Do you think Sae could love a weakling? A little boy who will be depending on her charity and will have nothing to show for it? At least throw the world at her feet.

No. No. "Help me." There was always another way. Wasn't there?

"Akira?"

No, there isn't. Mortal flesh is not enough. Love is not enough. The world needs the Phantom. Take. His. Heart.

He stepped away from the roulette table. "I need a way to win. She can't…I can't just stand by and do nothing."

"You're...—ing up."

Well, that was a sign, wasn't it? When he needed help most, he didn't have it all because of the stupid infrared—wait a moment. "If the remote is screwing with the comm, could I use the comm to screw with the remote?"

"Ris—" Futaba said. "...—pends on the model."

The girl put the last of her money down on seven.

"I'll risk it. Tell me how to get a seven."

Wait...do you really think this will work?

"If it's like what Okaba used before," Sae sounded like she was about to throw up. "Frequency 107.92."

He took a deep breath and adjusted his cuff links The comm went dead.

What are you doing? What are you DOING?

The ball clattered against the wood as the wheel spun round and round. The casino stilled and went silent, or maybe it was just Akira's imagination. Clack. Clack. The ball settled into place.

"Seven, red."

Akira gripped the edge of the nearest table keep from falling. He'd done it. He'd actually done it. He watched through blurred vision as the nameless girl collected her winnings. It wasn't quite as flashy as shooting a glass pane, but it would do. He just barely resisted clicking his heels and walked back over to Sae.

Sae was in low, frantic conversation with a man in a dark suit. For the briefest of moments, pure relief washed over her face before dissolved into a furious, miserable glare. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" she rasped. "What I'm going to have to do to save you?"

If I'm a sap, she's a ham. I think we both may have missed our callings on the stage. Akira threw up his hands. "Well maybe if you'd supported me in the first place, we wouldn't be here."

"Mr. Okaba believes an arrangement can be made. He's asked to speak to your sister. Alone."

Alone into the lion's den, just as they had planned. He wished suddenly, desperately for his knife. He wondered if this was how she had felt when they had entered Shido's Palace: knowing that everything hinged on this one moment but that you had to leave success or failure to someone else. This might be the last time you saw them alive, and there was nothing you could do.

"Good luck, my Empress," he whispered, but his voice was swallowed up by the din of the casino.

Sae had spent a year of her life dreaming of entering Shuji Okaba's office. Of course, in those dreams, she had been flanked by police officers, not his guards and Okaba watched her with terror in his eyes instead of sneering at her from behind a desk. The guards shoved her forward none too gently and slammed the door behind them.

Sae bowed. "Thank you, Mr. Ok—"

He lifted a hand. "Save it. Did you think I wouldn't recognize you? You're that prosecutor. The one who charged Shido. And I happen to know that you don't have a little brother."

So this was how she was going to die: chopped into pieces by a sociopath because he had seen her face on the news for the one good thing she had done in her entire career. Fate had a sick sense of humor.

Futaba let forth a stream of curses Sae hadn't even known that she knew. "Empress, we need to get you out of there."

"To where? And how? It's not like she can jump out a stained-glass window!" Akira's breath came out in choked gasps. "If anything happens to you..."Wait. If he knows who you are, why did he bring you into his office for a chat? There may be a way out after all. Do whatever you have to do, just keep yourself alive."

The tiniest glimmer of hope, just enough to be cruelty. Sae didn't bother to hide the tremors in her hands and voice. "I am. Or I was. I'm a defense attorney now. I have no interest in prosecuting anyone."

"I know. That's the only reason you're still breathing right now. So tell me why a lawyer from Tokyo would come all the way out here. With a young man."

"I—" He was still staring at her with that contempt. As if waiting for validation of some personal hatred. He had looked at her like that the other night when she had asked for sex. "Isn't it obvious? I can't be the first attorney with hobbies she needs to indulge out of sight. He's one of my hobbies. Or he was."

Okaba bared his teeth in a smile. "I don't believe it. The great crusader for truth and justice got herself a prettyboy! Who stuck her with his gambling debt."

"Yes, well, I found over the last few years that justice doesn't suit me."

"The bar is just going to love this. Might even throw you out."

Well, gloating beat stabbing. She sniffed. "What can I say? He was handsome. Artistic. Young. And the sex was…well, it doesn't matter now." She crossed her arms. The contempt was still there in Okaba's eyes but there was pleasure too. The no-nonsense attorney proving that she was a sniveling, lust-addled fool who really should have been married and stopped playing lawyer by now. "He just wanted my money."

Akira hissed. Forgive me.

"And now I have your money. And then some. He ran up quite the debt."

"Don't you hand out loans for that sort of thing? At a very high interest rate, I'm sure."

"I do." His voice was light, but there was steel behind it. "You know, some of your old friends put some of my old friends in prison once upon a time. And I just lost a major investment at the roulette wheel. So I'm afraid the interest rate for you is going to be very high indeed. Twenty-six percent. Compounded daily."

Sae took a deep breath. There. He had admitted to loansharking on tape. As long as she got out of this room alive and Junpei kept his word, nothing else mattered. But she could do the math just as well as Okaba. "I'll never be able to pay that back."

"Oh, you will. On the day you retire. But until then, Niijima, I will own you. Whatever freedom or power or whatever you thought you were getting when you left SIU, that's over. I hold all the cards now." He took out a pen and surprisingly professional-looking contract. "Sign."

"No, you will not take the last bit of power I have away from me! I will kill you first!" A rocket launcher and sword grew from where her arms once were. No one would ever call her weak again. "Behold the true form of Leviathan!"

"No, Sae! If Mitsuru doesn't come in time, if he gives that paper to someone, you are worse than dead. I'll find a way into Mementos. I'll—what have I done?"

Akira's lips traced her shoulders and down her spine. With every touch, the reflection in the mirror grew fainter. "You're sexy because I know you." No one had ever said such a thing to her before. Just now, she believed that the Shadow within wasn't all that she was. "Where do I sign?"

She found Akira slumped against a streetlamp. His skin was ashen and his eyes were dull. His legs wobbled dangerously. "That was a stupid thing to do."

"Better than dying. Once he recognized me, it was the only way out."

"I know." He smiled at her, tight and hollow and a little crazed. "You insane, wonderful Niijima women putting everything on the line for justice. You officially do not get to say anything about the one million yen ever again."

"It's not like I'm intending on letting him collect." She smiled sadly and tapped the pendant. "Oracle, tell me you got all that?"

"Already uploaded." There was a long pause. "Wait. You're telling me that Kirijo wasn't bankrolling this? You used your own money? Joker, you idiot! You insane, noble idiot! Give me a minute."

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing your mess." Another pause. "There. Okaba liked to hide his money in the Cook Islands too. One-and-a-half million yen from his account to yours. I think you earned at least that much."

Sae opened her mouth and closed it again. Just like that, a wrong righted and a debt repaid. Akira wouldn't have to worry about forcing himself into that little box. One less thing to worry about as he battled the force that conspired to drive him mad. She looked at him, already standing straighter. "Thank you."

"That's why we're the Phantom Thieves. Bringing justice to rotten adults. Even though we are the adults now." She laughed. "Now, go get some sleep before you pass out. I've never seen you call one of us by our real names on a job. You must have been really out of it."

This time Morgana was waiting up for them. He sat on the armrest of the couch, his tail swishing back and forth. He jumped down and rubbed Akira against the leg. Akira bent to scratch as Morgana meowed in what sounded like a worried manner.

"Yeah. We got it. We're fine, promise." Akira looked at Sae. "I'll tell you all about it in a minute. Just let me help Sae out of her dress." More, less annoyed meowing. "No that's not a euphemism!"

Sae lasted until Akira closed the door behind him before her legs gave out and she tumbled into the chair. They had conned Shuji Okaba. Twice. In one night. No one at the prosecutor's office had even come close to bringing him down, and they had done it with cuff links and sheer nerve. And he was going to kill them or worse if he found out. "Is this what it was like for you?"

"Facing something a lot more powerful than you, surviving through dumb luck and doing just the right thing at the right time and wondering how on Earth you're alive right now? Welcome to the Phantom Thieves, Empress." He sobered and knelt in front of the chair. "I'm sorry I panicked on the comm. All I could see was Kaneshiro. I had nightmares about what he would do if I failed."

Sae had a pretty good idea of what those nightmares were like. She guided his head to her lap and stroked his hair. "I'm here. Safe. You have to stay safe, too."

"I will. The watch helped tonight. Really pissed off whoever is in my head . You keep doing things like you did tonight, and I'm going to start owing you."

I could give you everything, and it still wouldn't begin to be what you deserve. "If it gives that thing hell, then I consider it the best gift I ever gave. Besides, every good thief needs a magic trinket to protect him." She looked at the ceiling, where she imagined the god who plagued Akira lurked. You will not take him. I am tired of losing people I love. I may not have powers, but that doesn't mean I can't fight.She bent to kiss his temple. "You aren't a toy or a hobby. I have very few good thing's in my life. This is one. So you have to win."

"So do you." The visible half of his face curved into a sad smile. "I guess there's nothing to do but hope that this is a fairy tale after all."

Her phone chimed. "I should probably get that." Sae managed to stand and shuffle to the dresser. The text message was brief.

O taken care of. S will see you on Sunday. -J

"It's over," she whispered. "We won." The mortals had taken on the darkness and won. As close as he might have come, Akira hadn't gone mad. She had stayed herself. Okaba was either dead or gone. And in a few short days, she would have her proof and Hachiro Sato would go free. "We won."

Akira came up behind her and together they stared back at her warm, brown human eyes.

"And that's another wager you've lost. And not only has my Wild Card failed to go mad, he's found love. I should thank you. Wait. Why are you smiling?"

"Because the game isn't over. I was delighted when they discovered their infatuation, even if it makes me want to vomit. You of all entities should know that humans are never more vulnerable to temptation than when they have something to lose. I think it's time to get a little more direct."