Brenon crossed the room and opened a cabinet on the wall. Inside were bottles and glasses.

"Do you think now is the time for that?" I asked.

He kept his back to me while he poured a drink, then walked over to where Gia and I were standing.

Brenon handed each of us a glass. "It's going to be a long night. And you're still bound by your Sayge habits. The whole sleeping at night thing."

I took the shot glass of orange liquid from him. "Is this the same thing you gave me before?"

He nodded.

Gia tossed back the drink and handed the glass to Brenon. "Your turn, Ara. You're going to want it."

The sweet, orange liquid went down easy, just like it had last time. Without a word, I handed the glass back to Brenon.

He took it from me. "I'd never hurt you, Ara. I know I've broken your trust, but you have to at least believe that."

Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I gave a slight nod. I wasn't ready to resume friendship with him, but I did believe that he'd never hurt me.

After setting the glasses down, Brenon walked to the exterior door. "Gia, can you get us there quickly?"

A smile lit up her whole face. "I still have the bug."

I wasn't sure how Gia's clunky old bug was going to get us back to wherever my Aunt's house was quick. Terra's place was in Denver, and my aunt had to be at least a day's drive away. The thought of a road trip with Brenon and Gia wasn't my idea of a good time. At least I could sit in the back of the car and let Brenon ride shotgun, so I didn't have to be too close to him.

Brenon slid open an exterior door, and a rush of wind whipped my hair around me. I'd forgotten the train was moving. My eyes watered as cold air assaulted me, and I stood frozen in place. There was no way I was going to jump from a moving train.

"Gia?" Brenon called over the wind.

She nodded, then leaped from the train. My heart seized up with fear, and I looked up at Brenon, wide-eyed.

"I'll help you." He offered a hand to me. "Remember what I said. You know I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Swallowing against the lump in my throat, I set my hand in his. He closed his fingers around my hand and pulled me closer to him. His other arm wrapped around me. We pressed together, and every inch of my skin felt like it was on fire. Cheek to cheek, his lips brushed against my ear. "Hang on tight."

He urged me forward, and I forced myself to move my body in time with his. The wind grew stronger as we stood at the edge of the door. I took a deep breath in and held it as if I was about to plunge into a pool of water instead of jumping from a moving train.

Right as I thought the anticipation would boil over, we were in free-fall. I squeezed my arms around Brenon's waist and buried my face into his chest. A second later, we were standing on solid ground.

I was breathing too quickly as I watched the Circus train continue down the track.

Brenon smoothed the hair away from my face and tucked the loose strands behind my ears. His smile was soft, eyes kind as his fingers lingered too long in my hair.

My breathing had returned to normal from the jump, but now my pulse was racing from his touch. My willpower wasn't going to hold out much longer, and part of me wanted to just succumb to him. To feel his mouth pressed against mine. To run my fingers through his hair.

Beep beep. Brenon dropped his hands, and I spun around to see Gia's bug pulling into the dirt road alongside the tracks. Hadn't we left that at the station in Colorado?

Brenon reached for my hand, and this time, I let him lead me. He opened the passenger door and moved aside for me to enter. I crawled into the back seat and Brenon settled in next to Gia.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Let's go," Brenon said.

"How did you get your car here?" I asked.

"Watch," she said.

The engine roared to life. It wasn't the same puttering noise I'd heard before. This was like a race car. Then I felt like something was squeezing me, I felt a pull at the back of my navel. For a moment, everything went black. Just as I was worried that I had passed out, the pressure eased and the world returned to view. "What just happened?"

"Teleporting spell on the car," Gia said.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" I asked.

"Takes a few hours to recharge that kind of magic." She turned around and looked at me. "Following you takes a lot of my energy. I was exhausted after following you from here to the desert to Terra's."

At her mention of the word here, I looked over to the window. We parked in front of the white farmhouse.

The three of us left the car, and I stood for a moment staring at the house. The door that had been broken down was no longer there. In its place, was a shiny new red door. As if nothing had happened. No signs of the battle were present. I hoped that meant that Joe and Aunt Kay were safe.

Just then, the front door swung open and Maggie came running out, baseball bat in hand. Without time to think, I moved in front of Gia and Brenon. "Maggie, it's me. Stop!"

She paused, baseball bat raised above her head. "Did they make you bring them here? Are you under duress? Blink twice if you want me to kill them."

My eyes burned as I focused on not blinking. Now that she'd mentioned it, all I wanted to do was blink. "No, I brought them here because we think there's a way we can work together to defeat Terra."

"We?" Maggie crossed her arms over her chest, baseball bat being held by her side. "You're with them now?" She shook her head. "I should have known. It's that damn Stockholm syndrome thing, isn't it? You do realize you were their prisoner. I mean, I heard the rumors about you and the Ringmaster, but I didn't want to believe them."

I pressed my palms into my temples and tried to get over the fact that the whole world seemed to know that Brenon and I had been at least a little intimate. I wondered if they thought we'd done more than we had. "Look, I need to talk to Kay, and I need to know if Joe's safe. Can we come in, please?"

"You're not supposed to be here, traitor." Aunt Kay was standing in the doorway, glaring at Gia.

"Nice to see you too, Kay," Gia said.

"What did you do to my niece?"

"Well, let's see, I've saved her life a few times, that okay with you?" Gia's words came out calmer than I would have expected.

Aunt Kay looked at me. "That true?"

"Yeah, she's the one who helped me get out when Terra had me, and she just helped me get away from Terra again. Please, Aunt Kay. And I need to see Joe."

I walked to the front steps and stopped at the bottom, looking up at my aunt. "Please tell me he's okay."

"Who's Joe?" Brenon said from behind me.

Aunt Kay put her arms out, blocking the door. "Hold on, if we're going to talk, this house will be a magic-free zone."

"Kay, you know my magic is gone," Brenon said.

"Don't lie to me, Fae. I know you've got more left in you than most of the Sayges in this house. No magic or no talking." Aunt Kay's face was stern, it was an expression I'd seen from her many times over the years. It was one of the only expressions I'd seen from her.

"Come on, Kay, I'll help you cast the spell. No magic. Just talk," Gia moved to the bottom step and held out an open palm to Aunt Kay.

To my surprise, Aunt Kay dropped her arms and nodded. Then she took Gia's hand and closed her eyes. Gia did the same. The two women murmured words under their breath that I couldn't make out.

I leaned nearer to Brenon. "What are they doing?"

"Closing off the magic inside the house. The spell will bind to each of them and keep magic away from the house as long as they both remain in its walls. It's a sign of good faith," he said.

When I looked back over at the two Sayges, I let out a gasp. They were both glowing. A bright pink light was radiating from them. It was a more extreme version of the glowing I sometimes saw on the supernatural creatures I encountered.

"That's the magic," Brenon said. He smiled. "Sometimes I forget that this is all new to you."

The pink glow intensified and spread up the steps, past the door, and up around the house until the entire structure was lit up like an overly elaborate Christmas display. An instant later, the glow faded, so it was lingering around the structure just barely visible. If I hadn't seen it, I probably wouldn't have even noticed it was there.

Gia and Aunt Kay let go of each other's hands, and Aunt Kay stepped away from the door. She swept her arm out, inviting us in.

I ran right for the door. "Joe? Joe you in here?"

Movement coming down the steps drew my attention, and I raced to the bottom of them. Joe was climbing down. He caught me in a hug, lifting me up and spinning me in a circle. He set me down and started talking at a rapid-fire pace. "I was so worried. Your aunt didn't know what happened and said if you weren't back by tomorrow, you weren't coming back. But I didn't want to give up. I stayed. I waited for you. Thank god you're back. What the hell happened?"

Placing my hands on his chest, I took a deep breath in. "Deep breath, Joe. I'm okay. I'll explain everything, but you need to calm down and tell me if you're okay."

"I'm fine. The wolves left as soon as Tristan took you." His eyes focused on something behind me and his whole body tensed.

I glanced behind me to see Brenon and Gia standing a few feet behind us, watching us.

"Friends of yours?" Joe lifted his chin in the direction of Gia and Brenon.

"Yes, they helped me get back here."

"Now that that's over," Aunt Kay said. "Let's have a seat. I don't like being in a home without magic for longer than I have to. I want to hear what is so important that my own niece brought a Fae into my home."

Joe grabbed my arm and pulled me into him. "Fae? The scary looking dude with the scars?"

I raised an eyebrow at Joe. "Scary looking?"

Joe's cheeks flushed. "Whatever, all I know is that you said they were the bad guys and you've brought them here?"

"She better have a damn good explanation for it," Maggie said, baseball bat over her shoulder.

"I do, I just need all of you to give me a chance, okay?" I looked around the room at the people gathered. Aunt Kay, Adam, Maggie, and Joe looked at me like I was crazy.

Gia had already settled into the paisley love seat, and Brenon stood in front of the door as if he was ready to make a quick exit.

"Just sit down and hear me out." I motioned to the seating.

Maggie let out an overdramatic sigh and landed heavily on the couch. Aunt Kay, Joe, and Adam squeezed in next to her as if they were afraid to sit too close to Gia or Brenon.

I took the empty paisley chair my aunt had sat on the night I arrived, and Brenon moved away from the door, standing right behind the chair as if guarding me.

"I had hoped the rumors were wrong about the two of you," Aunt Kay said.

Heat filled my face, and I was sure my cheeks were red. Without looking behind me to gage Brenon's reaction, I narrowed my eyes at my Aunt. "There's nothing going on between us other than the fact that we aren't going to let past histories get in the way of getting rid of all of the Fae."

My aunt straightened and scooted to the edge of the couch. "What do you mean?"

"You've been so concerned about maintaining a hatred of all the Fae, you haven't stopped to think about what you could do to help them. They're stuck here, you know. They don't want to be here just as much as you don't want them here." I paused, noting the uncomfortable shifting of the people seated on the couch.

"She's right." Brenon was next to the arm of the chair now, leaning against it so that his hips were nearly touching my arm. The closeness felt too intimate in this setting, and I pulled my arm away, twisting to give him more room.

If he noticed, he didn't react. "There might be a way for the Fae to return home, leaving your realm free of our magic."

"How?" Aunt Kay asked.

"First," I said. "We'll have to defeat Terra. It won't do anyone any good to have her gaining more power when the gates open. Then, I can open the gates and the members of the Circus and all the other creatures that came to our realm can return home."