“So... let me get this straight. You’re a witch.”

Samantha Harris nodded and studied the man in front of her intently, looking for any sign that he was about to freak out or pull his gun on her. But Captain Voss should handle this news better than anyone, considering their history. A history that would be more helpful if he could remember anything about it.

“And I recruited you to help with a case?” he asked skeptically.

“You were very insistent that I look into the Tommy Collins murders.”

“You made her work with me,” added Derek.

Without looking behind her, she could feel the tense energy from him. She should’ve added that part. She winced at the omission. Captain Voss wasn’t the only one who had his memories messed with. Here she was, trying to convince Voss about their shared history when huge parts of it were blank to her as well.

He pointed to the blonde who stood toward the back of the office, obviously trying to stay out of the way. “Did I make you work with Parker too?”

Detective Angela Parker held up her hands as if to excuse herself from the conversation. “Hey, I’m new to all this.”

“But she saw it for herself.” Derek stepped forward so he was side by side with Sam. Even though they were in a room full of people, the slight electrical current she felt as his shoulder almost touched hers caused her to fight back a smile. She caught herself immediately, and her guilty eyes cut away from him only to see Claire, the last person in the crowded office, looking at her knowingly.

“The point is”—Sam tried to get the conversation under control—“there are things going on in the city right now that could be dangerous for everyone involved. So we think it’s important that at least someone higher up in the police force knows about it.” It had taken a lot of arguing between her, Derek, and Angela, but eventually she had to concede that they were right. Her family had already caused too much death and destruction in the past few months, and now the city was about to be inundated with more exceptionally powerful witches.

Derek couldn’t do all this alone.

“If what you’re saying is true”—Voss narrowed his eyes at Sam as he spoke, letting her know he wasn’t fully convinced yet—“then you’re aware that I already know a little bit about all this magic shit.”

When he’d first asked her to help Derek, he’d mentioned that one of his relatives had married a witch, but she’d never found out anything else before his mind had been wiped clean. But knowing magic exists and believing that the city could be going up in flames any minute were completely different. Voss continued, “But what do you want me to do about it?”

Sam pursed her lips and looked over at Derek. That was the same point she’d made. Repeatedly. Luckily, Derek took it from there. “I want you to let me and Parker work together. Move her over to homicide and if there are any cases that seem more... unnatural, give us the collar.”

It took everything in her to keep her disapproval from showing. Her family had nearly killed Derek countless times already, and here he was volunteering to throw himself in the line of fire again.

Voss sat back in his chair, considering the offer. “Narcotics isn’t going to want to let Parker go. She’s a closer.”

“They owe you enough favors. I’m sure you can work something out,” said Parker.

Sam was more than grateful for the woman’s help, but she wished like hell that she wasn’t just as self-sacrificing as Derek. At least Derek was getting regular sex out of the deal. Angela Parker had only seen magic when Jackson was using it to try to awaken a darkness that could overtake the entire city. Sam would really appreciate it if the people she knew started having less of a hero complex.

Everyone was silent for a few moments as Voss mulled the situation over. Finally he said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

A collective sigh of relief went out in the room and Sam just wanted to roll her eyes. She knew that this was a great thing for the city and for any innocent people who might get hurt by her kind, but hadn’t Derek already risked enough?

Voss looked to Derek and pointed an accusing finger. “Now stop wasting time with your girlfriend and go get some work done.”

“On it,” said Derek before he ushered everyone out of the office. As soon as they were out of the office and walking along the cubicle section of the detective floor, Derek and Angela talked in hushed tones about what their next move would be while the captain got things moving.

“Well, I feel unneeded.” Claire fell in step next to Sam.

“You were backup,” insisted Sam. She was stronger than ever, but her powers were still unpredictable. If Voss had demanded some sign or proof, Claire, now flushed with power since she took down Jackson, would be able to give him any magic trick he wanted to see.

As they reached Derek’s office, he and Parker kept whispering to each other and Sam stayed put. She really didn’t want to hear what the two heroes were talking about.

“That doesn’t bother you?” Claire leaned in close.

Sam blinked in surprise. “What doesn’t bother me?”

She pointed to where Derek and Parker were talking. “Your super-hot boyfriend and the super-hot girl who’s about to be his partner.”

Sam snorted. Angela Parker was definitely a looker. Her naturally dirty-blonde hair was pulled back in a no-nonsense ponytail, but even her loose-fitting shirt and dress pants couldn’t hide her considerable curves. And, really, super-hot was the only acceptable way to describe Derek Pierce. He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome, and his perpetual five o’clock shadow just made him hotter to her. But was she really threatened by him spending so much time with Angela Parker?

“Watch this.” Sam walked toward Derek and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, Claire and I are going to head out.”

He held up a finger to signal that he’d be back with Parker in a second and then he closed the distance between him and Sam, taking her mouth with his in a devastating, soul-searing kiss. Her eyes were just drifting closed when he pulled away. “I’ll see you tonight?” he asked.

She nodded wordlessly as she tried to get her bearings back.

“See you later, Derek.” Claire trapped Sam’s arm and started to pull her away. “Angela,” she said with a nod.

Sam gave a weak wave good-bye as she and Claire both made their way to the elevator.

As soon as they were a few steps down the hall, Claire asked, “What the hell was that?”

Sam shrugged innocently. “Hey, ever since we killed Jackson, Derek has been like that.”

“Hot and horny?”

Well, as far as she knew, that was just Derek’s default setting. “No. Every time we touch, it’s like he’s never going to see me again.” They reached the elevator and Sam hit the button for the lobby.

“So... not threatened by Angela then.”

Sam shook her head as she checked her phone. Angela could be the most famous swimsuit model in the world and Sam wouldn’t care whether Derek was working with her twenty-four hours a day. Which was good, because she already had a thousand things to worry about. She didn’t need to add an unfaithful boyfriend to the list.

“Want to grab lunch?” asked Sam as they stepped into the lobby of the police precinct and made their way to the streets of Manhattan.

“No. I need to get back to work,” said Claire, not sounding nearly as depressed as she should be about going back to work at the DMV.

But Sam knew exactly why Claire was more than happy to go there. “And is Dante working today?”

Claire tightened her lips as she tried to prevent a smile. “Why, yes, Dante is working today.”

“Fine. Abandon me for your boyfriend and respectable job.” At that moment, Sam’s phone, which was still in her hand, chirped, alerting her to a text message. She quickly read it and cursed. “It’s Garrett. He wants me to check on Abigail.”

Claire winced. “How’s your mom doing?”

Well, there was no easy way to answer that. “Her mother just used her one daughter’s boyfriend to shoot her other daughter in the head. So I think ‘bad’ would be an understatement.”

“Ugh, that’s so rough.” Then Claire frowned. “Want me to go with you?”

“No. Abigail is old-fashioned. She’d want family business to stay in the family.”

“I hate to say it, but it’s nice to know that with you around I’m not the most messed-up person in the room.”

Sam raised her brows. “Well, I live to serve. Can you get to work okay?”

Claire nodded. “I’ll call a cab.” She was quiet for a second before she added, “And what about you? How are you doing?”

Now that was a loaded question. Sam looked out at the street where people were going around as if everything were normal. As if they hadn’t so narrowly avoided utter destruction. As if Sam hadn’t just seen Heather’s life flare out right in front of her face.... She blinked away the thoughts and looked at Claire. “I’m getting there. I have Derek.” Which helped more than anything, really. He was such a strong, steady presence. Despite their murky past, she didn’t know what she’d do without him. “And I have you. Everything else will... work itself out eventually, for better or worse.” She could see the sympathy cross over Claire’s face and Sam quickly changed the subject. “Claudia said the families are starting to arrive, so soon enough we’ll have a better idea of what’s going to happen.”

Sam didn’t even want to think about it. She already knew that the Collinses would be there, and considering Sam herself had gunned down Tommy Collins, they were going to be going after Claudia with a vengeance. If they could get enough people to support them, Claudia wouldn’t be able to stay on as the matriarch of the families.

But Claudia wasn’t there because she was appointed. She was there because she was the strongest. It wasn’t as though they could just politely ask her to step down. But every time Sam started to become worried about Claudia’s fate, she remembered the bullet hole in Heather’s head. A bullet hole that Heather had more than earned, but Claudia had put there. Fuck, she needed to get out of town. She wasn’t equipped to deal with all this. Was anyone really equipped to deal with all this?

Sam took a few steps back before Claire could see how much things were getting to. “I have to take care of this.” She held up her phone as some sort of strange evidence. “I’ll text you later tonight.”

Claire didn’t look comfortable at all, but she gave a forced smile and waved good-bye.

Sam sighed as she walked back to her car. She could do this. One day at a time. After all that had gone down with Heather and Claudia, things had to start getting easier, right?