The murmurs turned to angry yelling, and before I could react, Evangeline had Tristan pinned to the ground. A gray blur flew past me, and a wolf joined Evangeline, teeth bared at the downed Tristan.

"Stop," I yelled as I ran to Tristan. "Jasper, back off."

The wolf took a step away but growled at me. I turned to Evangeline. "Get off of him."

"If we kill him, Terra can't use him against us," she said.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already," Tristan said.

"Can't you see he's not fighting you? Let him speak," I said.

"Since when do you take his side?" Evangeline said, not loosening her grip on Tristan.

"Since I found out he's my father."

A unified gasp sounded from around me. I'd kept my connection to Tristan a secret from the Rose Circus, but now the truth was out.

"Let him go, Eva," Brenon was standing next to me now.

"Did you know this?" Evangeline asked Brenon.

He nodded.

A pained expression passed over her face for a moment before she eased up, then stepped away from Tristan. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't my secret to tell," Brenon said.

Tristan stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "Well, I must say that's not quite the reception I expected from a group that did an all-call for support against Terra. You may want to rein in your kitty-cat."

Evangeline hissed at Tristan. "Watch your tone, Bird-boy."

Tristan smirked at her, then looked from me to Brenon. "I suppose this is the best I can expect from the notorious Rose Circus. Can any of you even use magic anymore?"

"What are you doing here, Tristan?" Brenon asked.

"Can't a father stop in to say hello to his only daughter?" he ruffled my hair, and I batted his hand away.

I smoothed out my hair. "Listen, I stood up for you because you helped me get away from Terra and because you're blood. It doesn't mean that I like you."

"Fine, I'm used to having less than a warm welcome. Reminds me of home, actually." He shrugged. "Listen, I want to take out that crazy sister of yours more than you can imagine. If you want to do that, you need me."

"He did help me escape," I said, looking at Evangeline.

"Because it must benefit him somehow. Like making you take his side now." Her eyes were still locked on Tristan as she spoke to me.

"You can't take her down without me," Tristan said. "We used to be friends once, remember, Eva?"

"Don't call me that," she said.

He put his hands up in mock surrender. "Whatever you say. Just let me talk, if you don't want me to stay, I'll go. You know I always keep my word."

Evangeline was quiet for a moment, and both Brenon and I stood in silence next to her. There was a past between her and Tristan and whatever it was, it was enough to keep Brenon from interfering.

"Fine," Evangeline finally said. "But you step one toe out of line, and I'll show you just how much damage my claws can do."

Jasper, still in his wolf form growled from beside Evangeline.

"Got it." Tristan winked at her. "I like women with a little fire."

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "In your dreams."

"Let's take this inside," Brenon said. "Eva, I need you out here with the others. Give us a few minutes to talk to Tristan."

Brenon went up the steps back into the train car where we'd spent the last few days, followed by Tristan, then me. Once inside, Tristan and Brenon took the two folding chairs that had been brought in, and I sat on the bed, watching the interactions between the two of them.

They seemed familiar, like they knew each other well. I recalled the reference that I'd heard about Tristan and Terra and their romantic past. Had Brenon known Tristan back then, too? Was it possible they'd even been friends? There was a lot of history I didn't know about the Fae, and I wondered how much I should know.

"What are you doing here, Tristan?" Brenon asked.

"I told you, I want to help you. I assume that if you're finally taking the offensive, either you're ready to go home, or you know how close Terra is to getting that gate open." Tristan leaned back in the chair. Looking totally at ease in the tension-filled room. Maybe it was just me who was tense.

"What do you mean?" I wondered how close I'd been to guessing Terra's plans. "How will she open the gate?"

"Her original plan was to have my help. Now I'm pretty sure she'll come after me for my magic," Tristan said.

"Now I see why you're here," Brenon said. "You need to save your skin."

Tristan shrugged. "Why do you care as long as you get an ally out of it? You think she's going to stop chasing after Ara once she gets the gate open? Doesn't matter if Ara is needed anymore, now it's personal. You know how she gets."

Brenon glanced at me. "Yeah, I know how she gets."

"Besides," Tristan leaned forward, looking over at me. "Would it be so hard to believe that I don't want to see my daughter killed? Even if she wants nothing to do with me."

A pang of guilt echoed through me. At first, I'd considered finding Tristan, I'd wanted to talk to him, find out the truth, but once I had, I never considered forming a relationship with him. I'd been too worried about my survival. About my current relationships. I looked down at my hands, feeling like a kid caught it a lie.

"I can see that," Brenon said. "Say you are here to help us. What would you propose? How do we finish off my sister?"

"You have to break the curse," Tristan said.

I looked up at him, mouth open. We couldn't do that. It was far too dangerous. Hadn't everyone said so?

"No," Brenon said. "We've got a whole group of Fae and supernaturals waiting to help. As soon as the blue pills wear off, we can go after Terra."

"No time for that," Tristan said. "It has to happen now. You've got to break the curse."

"We can't do that. It's too dangerous. We don't know what it would do to Ara if we broke it. Plus, we don't know what form our magic will take."

"That's bullshit, Brenon and you know it. You've retained more magic than most of the Sayges. There's no way you won't get enough back to at least make you a threat. As for Ara, what does she have to do with it? She's not human." Tristan looked over at me.

Had he not heard the rumors about Brenon and me? I was surprised to feel a bit relieved. Everyone else we had met seemed to know all about the two of us even if there wasn't much to back it up.

"She can break it with magic, but it's too risky," Brenon said.

"I'd never suggest that," Tristan said. "The curse was cast by a Sayge who could channel magic from both sides. It would take something similar to break it with magic. Everyone knows that's insane."

"We can't break it," Brenon said.

"It's not a big deal. You break the curse, the Rose Circus gets magic, the gates open, it's one and done. Terra will come to the gate to find her way in, and we'll be waiting for her. It's the only way." Tristan looked pleased with himself. As if the whole thing would go down without a hitch.

"It's not that easy," Brenon said.

"Sure it is," Tristan said. "Go into the city, find some girl. Even looking like you do, I know you've still got it. I mean, back in the day you'd get a girl with just a look. Can't be that hard to find some pathetic human to hook up with."

My insides squirmed. Picturing Brenon with any other girl made me nauseous.

Brenon was looking down at the ground, shaking his head. "I can't."

My heart felt like someone was squeezing it. I didn't want Brenon to go after some other girl, but I didn't know if there was another way. Would it help if we break the curse?

"I'll find a girl for you if you're worried about the scars, I mean, I guess I could see some girls being scared away..."

"I won't," Brenon said. "I'm not going after some random girl."

"Brenon, it's the only way," Tristan raised his voice, he seemed to be getting annoyed with Brenon's refusal.

Brenon stood, glaring at Tristan. "I said no."

"Why the hell not?" Tristan was yelling now.

"Because I'm in love with your daughter."

Brenon's words hit me like I'd been splashed with cold water, breath momentary taken from me. I sat frozen in my chair staring at the man who had my heart.

As the world started moving again, Brenon walked away from us, pacing the room. I wanted to say something to him, to run to him, to tell him I felt the same way but I was too overwhelmed to speak.

Tristan turned to look at me. "Is this why you're helping them?"

I stared at him, then turned away from him, rising to my feet to go to Brenon. What was I supposed to say? How was I supposed to react?

Catching up to Brenon, I grabbed his elbow, stopping his pacing. He looked down at me, face impassive. What was he thinking? What was I supposed to say? Didn't I feel the same way about him? For some reason, the words stuck in my throat. This was harder than it should be. I used to think love was pure, ideal, perfect. Weren't you just supposed to know? Why couldn't I just say it?

We stared at each other for a long moment, and I tried to make my mouth work to speak. Finally, I took a deep breath. "Did you mean that?"

He nodded, and his eyes met mine, the weariness in his eyes eased to reveal a soft expression. The kind look he reserved for when we were alone together. It was as if something inside me was melting, maybe the defenses I'd put up long ago. "I love you, too."

Brenon smiled. "We'll find another way to break the curse, when the time is right."

Tristan cleared his throat. "Well, then. This makes things more complicated."

For a moment, I'd forgotten Tristan was still in the room. I pressed my palms to my temples and spun around to face him. "We have the others to help. We're just going to have to wait."

"You'd forgive him if it was just sex, right?" Tristan said.

I scoffed. "If I thought that would work, I might go for it, but we all know that curse isn't just about sex. Chances are, if Brenon found a random girl to have sex with, it still wouldn't be enough. Besides, we can't risk Terra being able to take Brenon's magic."

"How long for the pills to wear off?" Tristan asked.

"Depends." Brenon shrugged. "Could be a few hours or a few days. Everyone is going to be different."

Tristan was pacing now. "We don't have that much time. She's going to try to open the gate in two days."

"She can't," I said. "She needs the magic of both worlds."

Tristan stopped moving. "She's got Gia already."

"But she needs a Fae, too, right? Someone powerful?" I started following his path around the room.

He shook his head. "She's waiting for you."

I stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"She didn't take Gia to help her with the spell. She took her as bait. And if you don't go for it, she's going to find something else, something that will make you come to her."

My blood ran cold. "Ryder."