I made a pit stop at Mallow on my way home, figuring it was the least I could do since Amelie couldn’t buy for herself, but Cletus stopped me in the parking lot with a gnarled hand on my shoulder. I was about to ask what his deal was when I spotted the issue sitting at my usual table with ruler-straight posture, wearing a pensive expression and a cream pantsuit with black beading in geometric patterns.

A prickle of unease raised the hairs down my arms, but it’s not like Eloise could have followed me from work since she beat me here. Maybe sweet teeth ran in the family. This could still be a coincidence.

“She’s not going to assault me in public,” I assured the wraith. “She probably wants to talk.”

Cletus moaned a rattling warning, but he released me.

“I’m not going to approach her. I’m going to the counter, placing my order, and then I’m going home.”

Unhappy with my plan, if his snapping cloak was any indication, he drifted behind me to the door.

I pushed inside and hit the counter, ordered our usual, then took a seat in a chair beneath the picture window so Cletus could keep an eye on me. While I waited for my name to be called, I texted Neely, who I only saw when reporting to Cricket on the Cora Ann’s progress.

Going to Atlanta for a few days.

>>Boaz taking you out on the town?

Nope. Family stuff.

>>*Yawn* Will you have any downtime?

Maybe. Not sure yet.

>>Call if you want company. I could drive up and surprise Cruz with dinner.

He’s gone this week?

>>Always.

I hear you. Boaz is never home either.

>>All the more reason for us to get together.

Let you know tomorrow?

>>Works for me. Drive safe!

The worst part of being kicked out of the Haint’s main operation wasn’t the hard labor required aboard the Cora Ann. That I actually enjoyed. It was the severe shortage of Neely. We hadn’t made much of an effort to get together since the whole livestream incident. He thought I was still mad, though I wasn’t, and I had my hands full with the million things happening in my personal life.

I missed him. There was a gaping best-friend-shaped hole in my heart in need of filling. Not that I expected him to take Amelie’s place, but an uncomplicated friend with mundane drama would be nice right about now. I bet a visit would cheer up Amelie too. We would just have to work on our cover story, so he wouldn’t be suspicious of finding her crashing with me.

“Grier?” a hesitant voice ventured. “I thought that was you.”

Busted.

I set my phone aside and braced myself to play nice with my cousin. Cousin. How weird was that? Linus was the closest thing I’d had to one growing up, but I never viewed him as family. For most of my childhood, I had simply considered him the nerdy son of Maud’s snooty big sister.

“Hey.” Glancing up, I gave her a finger wave. “I see you found my favorite café.”

“Is it?” Her left hand tightened around her cup, and I noticed her grape was missing. The evenness of her skin tone made me think the engagement must be recent since there was no pale band to indicate otherwise. Maybe she needed a break from hauling around that rock. I could picture her spraining her wrist lifting her hand with each sip. “I don’t drink coffee, but I wanted a place to sit and think. This fit the bill.”

Smiling politely through my disbelief, I attempted to make amends since this might be the last time I saw her. “About the other day…” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I was rude.”

“No, I get it.” She sank onto the empty chair beside me. “I should have called or emailed before inviting myself to your house.”

“A heads-up would have been nice.” Maud had never stood on ceremony among friends, and neither did I. But there was a difference in having Amelie or Boaz let themselves in my home versus an unknown quantity inviting herself for a visit. “Things are crazy lately, and I get nervous when strangers appear on my doorstep.”

The word stranger made her flinch, but I wasn’t sure what else she wanted me to call her. We didn’t know each other. The rift in our family hadn’t affected her. No, it had been my mother who paid the price for Dame Marchand’s decision, and she was past worrying if I ever kissed and made up with her family.

“I’m heading home tomorrow.” She picked at the lid on her to-go cup. “I couldn’t decide if I ought to say goodbye or just leave, so I’m glad you’re here.”

Ah. Her vigil at Mallow began to make more sense. Though the only way she could have known where I hang out was by following me. That wasn’t creepy at all.

“Look, Eloise, I’m not saying we can’t be friends. We can start small, with emails or texts. You can call me when you want to chat. We can fill each other in on our lives and go from there.”

“That sounds fair.” She opened her arms and went in for a hug but froze halfway to embracing me like some elegant bird of prey swooping down on a grungy field mouse. “Are you a hugger? I don’t want to intrude on your personal space.”

“I’m down with hugs.” I embraced her quickly, and we stood. “It was nice meeting you, Eloise Marchand.”

Eyes bright with what I hesitated to label as hope, she backed out the door. “Back at you, Grier Woolworth.”

While I had it on my mind, I texted Boaz and Linus each an update. Eloise Marchand is on her way home tomorrow. That means Amelie and Woolly ought to be safe enough while we’re gone if she was involved.

There was always a chance she had been feeling out the wards to see what made them tick. Professional curiosity. Though Eloise hadn’t struck me as the ambitious type, the hungriest ones learned to hide their appetites early.

She came back? Boaz demanded.

Cletus mentioned you bumped into her at Mallow, Linus replied.

To the first, I clarified, Not at Woolly. At Mallow. To the second, I teased, That Cletus. He’s such a gossip.

The barista called my name, and I paid for my order while signing off with the guys. Packing my goodies on Jolene required ingenuity, but I was an old pro at food wrangling. By the time I got home, Linus was standing in the front yard, and my phone was ringing. Boaz, if I had to guess.

“Overprotective much?” I gathered my treats and met him on the lawn. “She didn’t follow me home.”

As if the smarty-pants comment had jogged his brain, he scanned the road. “Russo?”

“Her sedan was sucking on Jolene’s tailpipe the whole way to work, but I haven’t spotted her since.”

“That’s good news at least.”

“At least?” My pulse kicked up a few notches. “Does that mean there’s bad news?”

“There’s been another attack.” The grim cut of his mouth should have warned me. “I was checking the perimeter when I heard Jolene and came to meet you.”

“Is Woolly okay?” I took a step toward her before remembering we could commune without contact these days. “Woolly?” Curtains flipped in the window, a hearty wave to show that all was well. “What about Amelie?”

“Woolly is fine,” he answered, unaware of her presence in my head. “Amelie is woozy and nauseated. She crawled out onto the back porch after the attack, the same as last time, but whatever Heinz gave her must still be in her system. She didn’t black out, and she’s able to talk.”

Not even the scents of hot chocolate and marshmallow perked me up. “This proves there’s some type of connection.”

“Yes,” he allowed, voice gentle. “We’ll figure out how to protect her.” His fingertips skimmed my forearm. “And you.”

Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nodded. “Did you hear another boom?”

“No.” He lifted the cellphone dangling from his hand. “Woolly called me, and I came.”

His cell, not the carriage house landline. “How did she get your number?”

How will Boaz feel once he realizes you’ve got another boy’s digits? I projected at her.

The front door opened, and the hallway runner flapped like someone had taken one end and shook it.

I think my house had just stuck out her tongue at me.

“I gave it to her,” he said as though it ought to be obvious.

Okay, so it should have been. It’s not like I was jealous my house had his number. He could toss it out like beads at a Mardi Gras parade, and I wouldn’t care. The implications are what worried me—that the two of them talked when I wasn’t around to police their conversations. Woolly was smart enough to recognize the value in having his private line, but it still left me torn between happiness that they were mending bridges and concern over what an all-access Linus might be like if she greenlighted him to enter the house again.

As usual, he read me too easily. “Should I not have done that?”

“It’s fine,” I decided. “I’m sure it comforts her knowing she’s got a better way to get in touch with you.”

His expression told me he wasn’t buying the level of okayness I was projecting, but I wouldn’t relax until I put eyes on Amelie and hands on Woolly.

“I almost forgot.” I selected a to-go cup and held it out to him. “I brought you something.”

Linus accepted the cup, and a laugh escaped him before he cracked the lid and checked the contents. “It’s empty.”

“You don’t eat or drink. I figured chocolate-scented air was as close to a treat as I could bring you.”

“I do eat and drink.” He cradled the cup between his hands as if the nonexistent contents warmed him, but it must have been the thought that counted. “Just not much or often.” He brought the cup to his nose and inhaled, smiling. “Thank you for thinking of me.”

“You’re welcome.” I poked him in the side. “How come you can skip meals and stay fit while I work five nights a week on the Cora Ann but I’m a scarecrow?”

“You’ve been through a lot, Grier. Recovery takes time.” His shoulders hitched, and I could tell he was suppressing laughter. “Besides, you love food. Would you really give up churros?”

“No.” I recoiled from the very idea. “Churros are my favorite food group. I couldn’t live without them.”

There had been too many years spent living on drips of water and scraps left over from the guards’ lunches. Treats, sweets, churros—those were things about as likely to appear on your food tray in prison as the goddess herself.

“Then leave it be.” He put it gently, but I sensed the firmness behind the command. Lifting his cup, he turned toward the carriage house. “Make sure you’re packed and ready to go. Our ride arrives at dusk.”

A sour tang splashed the back of my throat. Our ride. I hadn’t put any thought into how we would get to Atlanta. The urge to volunteer Jolene almost overwhelmed me, but we had luggage to consider. There was nothing for it. I had agreed to go, I had made the preparations, it was time to suck it up and endure.

I took the stairs and kicked off my shoes, wiggling my toes against the flaking planks. The symphony that was Woolly’s wards rose around me, blanketing me in her love, and I exhaled with relief that she was unharmed.

“That’s odd.” I twisted around until I faced the steps. “Another hit in the same spot?”

Last time, when vampires had been at fault, they had tested her wards methodically. This was a battering ram approach, blunt and obvious. No real harm was being done, so what was the purpose? Testing the strength of the new wards? How had they known about them to check them? Unless they assumed, rightfully so, that after Volkov, measures would be taken to protect me and my property.

The timing of the second attack cleared Eloise’s name. She had been across town at Mallow with me when it happened. Sigils could be activated after a countdown, but that felt like reaching. Time-delayed magic was complex, and therefore, rarely used. More than likely, this was the fumbling work of vampire goons the Master had set on my trail.

“Did you see anyone this time?”

A sigh moved through the decking as she flashed the same set of images at me: a fallen limb, a radiant starburst, two English peas.

“Thanks, girl.” I patted the nearest wall. “You did good. Those new wards have you snug as a bug in a rug.”

A swell of light was her answer, pride in her ability to defend us both.

Following the wraparound porch to the side, I found Amelie sitting with her back against the house, legs extended in front of her while she stared at the yard.

“How are you doing?” I mimicked her position. “Linus said you didn’t black out this time.”

“I wish I had some of those soft peppermints to crunch.” Her hands went to her middle. “I haven’t been this queasy in…” She inhaled then whipped her head toward me. “Mallow?”

“I thought you might—” I released her drink and bag before she ripped them from my hand, “—be hungry.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She gulped several times before smacking her lips. “That’s the good stuff.”

“What about your stomach?” I inched away to escape the splatter zone. “Can you hold it down?”

“I don’t care how sick I am.” She tipped her drink toward me. “I’m not wasting this.”

Laughing, I got to my feet. “I have to start packing. Want to keep me company?”

“Nah.” Her gaze slid past me to the yard that might as well have been on another planet for how far away it was for her. “I want to sit out here a while longer if it’s okay. Come get me before bed?”

“Sure.” I left her to enjoy the fresh night air and entered the living room. Dipping my fingers into my shirt, I fished out my necklace and rubbed my thumb across the raised emblem. “We’re home, kid.” I pulled the cord over my head and placed it on the mantle next to the silver box holding Maud’s heart. “Scat.”

Oscar materialized inches from my nose and yelled, “Boo.”

Clutching at my chest, I staggered backward until my knees hit the couch and pretended to faint dead away from sheer terror.

“Grier?” His small voice squeaked. “Grier?”

A prickle of energy along my arms told me he was within reach. I couldn’t stop my smile as I popped my eyes open, shot up, and grabbed an armful of wriggling, giggling ghost boy. “You scared me half to death.” I tickled him until he was gasping. “Is that any way to behave?”

“I’m a ghost,” he squealed. “I’m supposed to scare people.”

“Oh, sure.” I hugged him close then released him to float in the air. “That’s what they all say.”

The register beside us ticked as Woolly scolded us both, but her lights brightened, making it impossible to hide her pleasure. She was thrilled having guests in the house and on the grounds. Those early days hadn’t been full of fear only on my behalf. Without me, Woolworth House had no heir. I was the last. The best she could hope for was Linus moving in, but he was a Lawson. Maud’s blood or not, it wasn’t the same to her. Her whole existence was wrapped up in the family legacy, and that meant me.

“Float with me.” I gestured that he should follow me up to my room. “I’m going on a trip tomorrow. I’ll be in Atlanta for three days. Amelie will be here, and so will my friend, Odette. You’re welcome to stay here with Woolly, or you can come with me. Your choice.”

“I don’t sleep good in new places.” He trailed me so close I shivered. “I want to stay with Woolly.” He bumped into me when I stopped at the landing to open my door. “You promise to come back?”

Heart in my throat, I glanced over my shoulder at the desolate certainty he was being abandoned again.

“This is my home, and you’re part of the family.” I tweaked his nose. “You’ve got nothing to be scared of. I promise.” Still skeptical, Oscar hovered over the threshold. “All right, all right. I wasn’t going to do this, you’re too young to have a cellphone, but let me show you how mine works.”

Though his appearance had frozen as the six-year-old boy he had been when he died, that sad day had occurred more than a century ago.

And yes, I was rationalizing.

Ten minutes later, Oscar was wide-eyed and mesmerized by the phone. All those years of haunting the dining room on the Cora Ann had given him only a partial education. Most folks tried to behave during meals and kept their phones muted or in their pockets or purses. Thanks to the hardcore addicts, he had seen enough of them to know what they did, but he had never gotten to play with one.

I might have created a monster.

But at least he knew how to call me if he was ever in danger.

Thank Hecate, it required so much energy for him to go corporeal, he exhausted himself quickly.

Once Oscar scampered off to tell Woolly all about his adventures, I flopped on the bed and made a packing list. Thirty minutes later, I stood over my choices where they covered the bed in mismatched outfits. I wasn’t impressed with the selection.

Society training was kicking in, the urge to look my best, to look my part, when in the presence of peers.

Ugh.

Jeans and T-shirts were fine when I was at home, so they would have to be fine where I was going.

Money might not be an object these days, but I wasn’t going to buy a new wardrobe just to walk the grounds at Strophalos. Who would do that? That would be insane.

* * *

I was insane.

In a moment of total weakness, I texted Neely and invited him to join us. As my unofficial fashion consultant, I wasn’t comfortable shopping without him. He would stay with his husband, which spared us the awkwardness of explaining why he couldn’t bunk in Linus’s building. It was a Society holding, and humans weren’t allowed.

The discrimination might have bugged me another time, but it was for their own good. Non-predatory species had no place in a building that housed necromancers, vampires, and various other supernaturals. Animal instincts were at their highest in their dens.

“You ready to go?” Amelie asked from the doorway of my room. “Linus is waiting in the driveway.”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I turned another circle, ticking off my mental checklist. “I always feel like I’m forgetting something.”

“Whatever it is, you can buy another one when you get to Atlanta.” She hefted my suitcase in one hand and linked her other arm through mine. “Try to have fun, okay? Don’t let Linus keep your nose stuck in a book the whole time.”

Fiddlesticks.

Linus hadn’t mentioned if we would continue our lessons on the trip or not. I was hoping for field exercises instead of classroom busywork. But I had packed Eileen, ink, brushes, my modified pen, and a few other things that ought to get me over the hump if he assigned homework.

“It’s only three days,” I reminded her, and myself. The more often I said it, the less anxious I felt leaving her and Woolly. “That’s not much time to go sightseeing.”

“Forget sightseeing.” She dragged me down the stairs. “Hit the clubs. Drink in the bars. Live.”

“I’ll think about it.” I hadn’t been to a bar (except to pick up takeout) or a club since I turned legal. I wasn’t keen on doing it the first time alone, and I would be alone. Linus was not the kind of guy who club hopped or bar crawled. Neely might go out on the town with me, but if he was missing his husband, he would drag Cruz along, and Cruz was not a big fan of mine. “You can text me a list of your favorite spots. Maybe I’ll hit one.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” She deposited my luggage at the front door then cupped my shoulders. “Everything is going to be fine. The house, me, Odette. Everyone and everything. Fine.”

I wavered in my belief. “What if there’s another—?”

“Neither attack has done any damage. I doubt the third time will be the charm.” She held up her phone. “I’ve got Heinz on speed dial in case I kiss the floor again, and Boaz will be checking in with me at regular intervals.”

Trying not to think about how I hadn’t heard a peep from him since bumping into Eloise at Mallow, I smiled rather than show my hurt.

A knock on the door brought our heads up as Odette strolled in with a small bag over her shoulder. “Thank you for your hospitality, Woolly.”

“Odette.” I launched myself at her, wrapping her in my arms. “Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s no hardship, bébé. I will keep myself busy in the garden.” After a moment, she pushed me back to see my face. “That is, as long as it’s all right with you. I don’t want to overstep.”

“I would appreciate any help I can get out there.” I had trouble meeting her eyes. “I keep meaning to clean up, and I do tiny chores, but it’s like…”

“Everything is as she left it.” Odette nodded in understanding. “Only nature has changed things since she passed.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, voice hoarse. “That.”

“I will honor her memory.” She kissed both my cheeks. “I promise.”

I savored her mothering while I had the chance. “Are you sure you don’t need anything before I go?”

“Amelie and I can entertain ourselves.” She reached for Amelie and took her hand. “Can’t we?”

A peculiar expression flickered across Amelie’s face, a close relative to panic, but she schooled her features before I could be positive. “Sure. Yeah.”

I collected my bag from Amelie, stepping on the porch as Odette led her into the house. I watched them walk arm in arm toward the kitchen, wondering what Odette had up her sleeve and wishing I could linger and be part of whatever treat she planned on concocting. I was trying to banish the annoying sensation I was forgetting something important when an impact to my spine slammed me against the rail.

“You didn’t say goodbye.” Oscar cinched his arms around my neck until I couldn’t breathe. “I was hiding, but you didn’t come find me.”

Ah, that would be the thing I was forgetting.

“Sorry.” I pried him away from my throat and sucked in oxygen. “I searched for you through Woolly earlier, but I couldn’t sense you. I thought you must not be home.”

One day I ought to ask if he made a conscious decision to go wherever ghost boys went or if he simply dissipated when his reserves petered out, but I wasn’t sure he knew, and I didn’t want to upset the kid.

“I was in the basement,” he announced proudly. “It’s the best place to hide ever.”

Safe behind Maud’s wards, wards he shouldn’t be able to cross to a basement he shouldn’t be in.

“I bet.” I glared up at the porch light, but Woolly pretended not to notice. “We’re having a chat when I get back.”

Woolly flickered the bulb in a so what gesture that had me second-guessing—or was that tenth- or eleventh-guessing?—the wiseness of this trip. I couldn’t afford for my house to start sassing me now.

“The Odette lady has a bright glow,” he told me. “Is she nice?”

“She’s the best.” I collected my suitcase, ready to try again. “Remind her you’re a secret, okay?”

Odette was known for talking to herself, or at least to things outside our perception, so Amelie wouldn’t think too much of it if she got caught chatting with Oscar, but there was no sense in taking unnecessary risks. With Boaz only a phone call away, I wanted all mentions of the little terror far from her thoughts when her brother called.

There was no reason to believe the Elite, let alone Boaz, would have a problem with me keeping the kid, but they had wanted to use him as dybbuk bait, so I wasn’t keen on that crowd learning of his continued existence.

Better to ask forgiveness than permission, or something along those lines.

“I’m tired of being a secret,” he pouted. “You said I’m family.”

“Yes, you are.” I patted his cheek. “But you’re also family that not everyone can see or understand. It won’t always be like this. Amelie will move out in a few months, and you’ll have run of the house. After that, I can bring over friends who can see you for you to play with. How does that sound?”

He sank like a lead weight had been attached to his ankle. “Like Mr. Linus?”

“Yes, Linus is one of them. He’s a good man, Oscar. I promise he won’t hurt you. He’s the reason why you got to leave the Cora Ann. He wouldn’t have—” found his remains then returned them to his family, “—relocated you if he didn’t want you to have a better life. Afterlife. Whatever. That doesn’t make sense, does it?”

“I guess not.” He sighed in the way only small children can, as if all the oxygen in their bodies has been expelled, leaving only a boneless sack of meat behind. “I’ll be nicer since you like him.”

“I do like him.” I collected my bag. “You will too once you get to know him.”

Movement drew my gaze to the front yard and the man standing there, who had probably overheard our whole conversation.

“It’s time for me to go.” I waggled a finger at him until he laughed. “Be good for Woolly. She’ll tell me if you misbehave.”

“I’ll be good.” He squeezed me so hard I decided he must have been a boa constrictor in his previous life. “Promise.”

After disentangling from Oscar, I leaned against the wall and rested my forehead on the siding. “I’ll be home soon. Call me if you get lonely or scared, and I’ll come straight back. Okay?”

The porch light flared with sudden warmth as good as a hug, and when I straightened, I noticed the curtains in all the windows shooing me toward Linus.

I took the hint and met him in the grass, cringing at his sleek Tumi carry-on in black. Mine was also Tumi, an older model, but still serviceable, despite its custom purple shell being spackled over with Lisa Frank stickers that shouted tween me’s eye-gouging taste for all to see.

“Now I know how Maud felt when she left me behind with a sitter.” I toyed with the telescoping handle. “I never thought of myself as particularly maternal but…”

“They’ll be fine,” a voice promised from the darkness.

“Taz?” I jogged toward her as she stepped from the shadows, only the twinge in my jaw reminding me why it was never smart to rush Taslima. “Hey.” I stopped six feet away. “It’s good to see you.”

“I owe you an apology.” Head bowed, she planted her feet at parade rest and pinned her arms behind her back. “I assured Boaz I could handle this assignment, but I failed you.” Unable to glimpse the fire in her eyes, I didn’t recognize her. “I have trouble separating the past from the present sometimes. It’s why I had to leave the army and go sentinel. Only my own kind understands the switch that gets flipped in my head.”

Slowly, I approached her. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” She shook her head once. “It’s not you, it’s me.”

“You hang out with Boaz too much if you’re spouting his favorite lines.”

The laugh I expected never came, and she raised her chin to look at me. Measure me, more like it.

“My baby brother was all mouth and not willing to bow to his betters.” Lingering fondness curved her lips in a bitter smile. “He sassed the wrong boy and was killed by a High Society punk when he was eleven. That boy used magic to trap him one day on his way home from school so he couldn’t run away, and then the punk beat Rajib to death. I almost returned the favor. I would have if my father hadn’t peeled me off him.”

A sour taste clogged my throat. “I had no idea.”

“It was a long time ago.” She peered up at me. “I like you, Grier. You’re different. You’re like us, not like them.” She cut her eyes to Linus. “But I can’t spar in your gardens, in front of your talking house, with the Grande Dame’s son playing referee, and pretend you’re one of us when you’re not.” A thread of anger wove through her voice. “You’re the farthest thing from it.”

“Why would Boaz do this?” Pairing us up to fail. “He had to know how hard this would be for you.”

“See?” She laughed, a crazed sound. “You don’t think the way they do. You care about others.” She tugged on her earlobe. “Boaz thought that goodness might fix me, that you might—I don’t know—heal me.”

Never in a million years had I expected her to say that. As often as I had to peel him off the ceiling when I did something he disagreed with, I had no idea he thought I was capable of more than getting in trouble.

“I’m going to take some basic self-defense classes for a while,” I found myself telling her, “but I’d like to train with you again when I’m ready. You’re amazing, and I want to learn to move the way you do.” To flow like water and kick like a freaking mule. “We can rent space in a dojo if meeting here is too hard.”

“I’ll think on it.” Her posture relaxed, and she squinted up at me. “What about Boaz?”

I packed as much defiance into my smile as it would hold. “What about him?”

Cackling, she bared her teeth in a sharp smile. “You’ll do, Grier. You’ll do.” She saluted me as she faded back into the shadows. “Call me when you’re ready. We’ll see what you’ve learned.”

Feeling smug over my minor rebellion, I strolled to Linus, who shook his head at me. “What?”

“I still don’t understand.” He jerked his chin toward Taz and started walking down the driveway.

“She doesn’t go easy on me because of who I am.” There was more, but it was hard to put into words. “She’s angry.” Until tonight, I hadn’t understood that anger was the well she was drawing her water from, but looking back, I should have guessed. “So am I.” Lost family, lost time, lost hope. “We might be good for each other.”

“Perhaps,” he allowed without pushing. “Would you like to meet your new instructor while we’re in Atlanta?”

Dread started creeping up on me in anticipation of the crimson Lincoln that ferried Linus around town, the model identical to the one Volkov had favored. “He’s not local?”

“Most of my contacts are in my city.”

Until that moment, I couldn’t have told you if Linus had ever referred to Atlanta as his, but I heard the possessive edge, the anticipation, like being parted from it was a physical ache. Proving once again I was a crap friend, I had never asked if he was magically bound to his city. Was his anticipation homesickness or a magically fueled compulsion?

He wasn’t meant to stay in Savannah forever. Only long enough to help me get my feet under me.

The sudden tick-tock of a countdown rang in my ears, and I shook my head to clear the noise.

“You’ll like Mathew.” After frowning at his watch, he scanned the road. “He offers basic self-defense classes at Strophalos twice a year, that’s how we met, but he travels all over the state.”

The suspicious part of me perked its ears at a resume befitting a spy for the potentate. But, to be fair, that’s exactly what Taz had been. The only difference being she reported to Boaz. Using that logic, I couldn’t strike Mathew from the list of potential replacements without meeting him first.

“You took classes from him?” Lessons would be a perfect cover to disguise any covert meetings.

“No.” He fiddled with the zipper on his bag. “But we spar on occasion.”

Linus sparring.

Linus.

Sparring.

While I understood he had hunted the dybbuk, which meant he must work in the field in Atlanta, I had trouble picturing him in the role. Even with Cletus for backup, I had difficulty wrapping my mind around him being the defender of a city. Atlanta’s own Bruce Wayne/Batman. Unreal. Picturing him in a mayoral role came easy, but down in the streets? Fighting? His elegant hands used as weapons?

No, that I couldn’t imagine.

“How are you going to entice him down to Savannah?” That must be his plan. “How long will he stay?”

“His home base is in Atlanta, but he doesn’t live there. He couch-surfs or stays in hotels. He hoards his money like a dragon.” He reached for his suitcase. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pay for anything.”

I wanted one thing clear upfront. “He’s not a dragon, though, right?”

“No.” Linus shook his head, amused. “He’s not a dragon. Those all live on the West Coast.”

The taste of dirt filled my mouth, which probably had something to do with my chin scraping the grass. “Dragons are real?”

“Most everything is real if you know where to look.” He grasped my wrist, turned it over, then traced the crease bisecting my palm. “We hold the balance of life and death in our hands. We can make, unmake, and remake humanity, and you can do so much more.” His thumb pressed over my pulse point. “Your blood is proof that all things are possible.”

The cold of his touch spiked chills up my arm. “I spent too much time with one foot in the human world. There’s so much I don’t know, so much Maud kept from me.”

Muted pop music blared at the same time an engine revved, the noise unheard of in this neighborhood of the quietly wealthy. A horn honked at the gate leading onto my property, and I gawked at the nerve. But Linus was on the move, so I followed him.

This couldn’t be our ride. The driver must be lost, and Linus wanted to hurry him on his way.

Beyond the glare of the headlights, I spotted a familiar white van coated in dust with profanity written across the hood and windows.

A young man with greasy hair popped his head out the driver’s side window and waved to us with a folded slice of pizza. “You guys call for a lift?”

I choked on a laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Do you approve?” Linus glanced over his shoulder, making certain I understood he was serious. “I thought you might—”

Catching up to him, I looped an arm through his. “This is perfect.” I chuckled again. “I can’t believe you’re going to let people in Atlanta see you arrive in this. What will your friends think?”

“They won’t be paying attention to him.” The stiffness that always seized him when experiencing unexpected physical contact began to melt, and he softened against me. “They’ll be looking at you.”

Shoulders hiking up to my ears, I wished he had kept that to himself. “I hope not.”

“You’ll be arriving with me,” he said, an odd smile flirting with his lips. “People will be curious.”

“Well, in that case, I’m happy to play the role of Nameless Arm Candy.”

The slight curving of his mouth blossomed, and I grinned at having made him smile.

“I invited Neely to meet us there,” I confessed while he was in a good mood. “I hope that’s okay.”

Quiet for a few steps, he lowered his voice. “Are you uncomfortable being alone with me?”

“No, nothing like that.” I tugged on his arm until he turned his head toward me. “He was looking for an excuse to visit Cruz in the city, so I gave him one.” Unsure why it embarrassed me to admit it, I glanced down at my least holey T-shirt and the jeans with ripped knees. “We’re also going shopping.” A flush warmed my nape. “I want to look not like a street person at Strophalos.”

The frown Linus bestowed on me while sweeping me from head to toe with his dark-water gaze made me want to plant another kiss on his cheek. His honest confusion that I needed help in the wardrobe department buoyed my spirits. Boaz didn’t care what I wore, minus his conviction that less was more. Volkov had been all about playing dress-up with me, which put me off the role of Society darling like nothing else. But Linus didn’t seem to mind the style I had adapted, a mix of thrift store finds and pieces from my teenage years scrounged from my closet, and that won major points with me.

Sadly, Linus was not a High Society dame or even a Low Society matron, and anyone we met in his town would hold me to the standards of my station.

Savannah might be used to me schlepping it, but Atlanta was all glass, steel, and glitter.

“We meet Reardon tomorrow at dusk.” Linus opened the gate and held it for me. “You’ll have to shop tonight if new clothes are on your agenda.” Brackets framed his mouth as he made his own addition to our schedule. “I have a meeting. One I can’t postpone.”

Our driver watched us over the end of his pizza slice as we loaded our luggage. I shot him a look he answered by taking a healthy swig from a twenty-ounce bottle of soda.

Linus had spoiled him. He wasn’t budging without the promise of another fifty-dollar bill.

The cargo area was crammed with speakers, which meant our bags got stacked on the front passenger seat, leaving us to share the middle bench.

“It’s no problem.” As much as I hated shopping, I would never subject another person to it unless I already knew their preference. After snapping my seat belt in place, I woke my phone. “I’ll shoot Neely a text and see if tonight works for him.” While I was at it, I took a covert shot of Linus and sent it to Marit as promised. “I’ll need to snag him before he meets up with Cruz. Their reunions last for hours.”

And Neely was useless afterward, all soft-eyed and boneless, smiling goofily and texting his husband when he thought I wouldn’t notice. Goddess only knew how I would end up dressed if I left it up to him in that condition. Probably lingerie. With accessories that required batteries to operate.