They were telling the truth. Sienna hadn’t managed to grab onto it, but there was something there inside her. A light. Something tangible. She could feel it, and Payton had the same thing. That much she’d proved already. “Okay.”

Taking her car, she followed them down the highway, driving for what seemed like forever, until they turned onto a dirt road. It was a lot like the one that had led to Jace’s ranch, but this one wandered through untouched desert, ending up at a long trail winding around the bottom of a butte. Sienna shielded her eyes and looked off into the distance, where she could barely see the outline of a shack, dwarfed by the massive rock structure. Payton leaned out the window and called her over to their car. “Yours isn’t going to survive the trip to the front door. Emily’s already seen it. Hop in here with us!”

Well, in for a penny and all that. She shivered as she stepped out of the car. They were so far out from any civilization that she doubted anyone would ever find the body if her worst fears came true. Even if the others here didn’t mean her any harm, that didn’t mean she was safe. The wind blowing up around the barren landscape sounded like whispers of the dead in her ears. At any time, a shadow could launch itself out of the dark and slit her throat. Payton had already completely blown her mind in just half an hour. What if the people who hunted her mother were the same? Her mom had been just about the smartest person Sienna had ever known, but even she had told Sienna you could never rule out anything. She was seeing the cold truth of that. There was definitely more to the world than she knew; the rules she’d relied on her entire life could be bent and broken and she had no idea what side those people were on.

About half a mile from the shack, Cole stopped the car and sat silently as Payton’s eyes fluttered closed. “What’s going on?” Sienna asked.

“Payton’s checking in before we drive up to the house,” Cole replied. “If I don’t have her with me, we mere mortals have to use cell phones, but we never approach without calling first. We’re pretty careful.”

“No shit.” Sienna stared at Payton, who sat deadly still for a few seconds more before suddenly bouncing back to life.

“It’s all clear. Drive on!” She turned to Sienna. “You already knew you weren’t safe. What you don’t know yet is why. Now that we’re together, we’ve finally got a real chance at finding these people and stopping them. God knows, they’re not going to stop until we do.”

“Stop who?” Had the same people who killed Sienna’s mom done something to Payton? Who were the others?

“It was actually you who brought us here. Our friend found you first.” Payton grinned. “You scared her shitless that day. Well done. It was about time someone ruffled Keila’s feathers a little.”

“I never saw anyone.” Everyone was a local, except the drivers passing through, and none of them had stuck around.

“You wouldn’t. If there’s one thing Keila’s gotten very good at, it’s hiding.”

Wait . . . the blonde. The one that had disappeared in seconds.

“Yep, that’s her.”

“Okay, this thought-reading thing is really creepy.”

Payton shrugged. “Sorry. It’s a habit. Makes sex wicked awesome, though.”

Oh. My. God. Sienna’s face burned the rest of the way to the house.

Cole pulled the truck up at the house, covering it up once they exited. It was incredible how the truck-shaped object blended into the environment. He caught Sienna staring. “A few of us tag-alongs have law-enforcement and military history. It comes in handy.” He looped an arm around Payton’s shoulders as they strode into the building. Sienna followed them a few paces behind, half getting ready to make a run for it should everything suddenly turn.

The house itself was a bit of a walk from where they’d parked, and was an old nineteenth-century design. It reminded Sienna of the set of an old western movie, the ancient gray wood long since bleached by the sun. Everything was covered in a thin layer of sand firmly affixed by the monsoon rains. When they reached the house, Payton slipped out from under Cole’s arm and strode inside. He sat down on the long porch steps and patted the stoop next to him. “She’ll go get the others. Some of the more, shall we say, paranoid members of the group would prefer to meet outside for now.”

Sienna brushed off one of the steps and sat down, careful to avoid a massive splinter. “What are they like?”

“The other psychics?” There was that word again. She still wasn’t sure what to make of it. What she’d done on the road that night had been crazy as fuck, but she wouldn’t call it psychic. That was more Payton’s thing, with the mind reading. “They’re all different,” Cole continued. “This is the first time we’ve all been together, it’s a bit of a mismatched group.”

“What can you do?”

He smiled, but he didn’t turn to her. His gaze roamed constantly over the landscape, as if he were keeping watch. “I’m not psychic. Neither are Reece, Aaron, or Jason. We don’t know for sure, but it seems to be only women.”

“Why?”

“We don’t know that, either. Could be Keila’s only found other girls.”

Sienna followed his stare out to the desert. Nothing. What was he looking at? “So how do we fight someone that we have no clue about?”

“Don’t know that, either, but what you all can do . . .” His gaze broke from its constant wandering long enough for him to shoot her a quick glance, looking her up and down. “I’m sure you’ll be just as strong.”

Before she could ask another question, the door to the house opened and a blonde head poked out. The woman from the restaurant! “It’s her.”

Payton rolled her eyes. “I told you she was clean.”

Before Sienna could ask any more questions, another blonde came flying out of the house and practically tackle-hugged her off the step. “I’m Lainey. It’s so great to finally meet you!” Her burst of energy refreshed everything around Sienna, her skin almost tingling with it.

“It’s umm, nice you meet you.”

Lainey took her hand, hauling her up, and introduced the others. The sneaky one was indeed Keila. Sienna frowned as she looked her over. The woman had a pinched look to her face that never seemed to entirely go away. Standing close to her was a tall brunette named Emily. She took Keila’s hand and tugged her over. “Satisfied now?”

“Fine. We can go inside.” Keila ushered her into a front room of the house, where camping chairs and lanterns had been set up. In the center of the room was a large table, surrounded by boxes of different things littered about the place. Sienna felt the tension inside her unravel a little more. This was clearly a makeshift “dump your shit everywhere” place right now. An evil genius would probably be a little neater. As the thought ran through her head, Payton snorted. Sienna grinned, but didn’t say anything. Cole was right, you got used to that quickly. “How’d you guys find this place?”

“I have my, shall we say, resources,” Keila said. She pulled out a deck chair and sat, the others dotting themselves about the room.

Sienna perched on a chair near the door. “So what’s going on here? How did you find me?” She watched Keila, but it was Payton who spoke.

“I was working as a waitress. Normal life, nothing-to-see-here kind of thing. Then one day I was pulled off the street.” She folded her hands in her lap, but Cole tugged one into his. What would that feel like? To have someone able to anticipate exactly what you needed. “They drugged me. I thought they were going to kill me. I woke up one day lying on the floor, tied up, and with Keila standing next to me.” She lifted her gaze to look directly at Sienna. “For the longest time, I thought she was the one that had done it. If I’d trusted her at the beginning, then things would have been a lot simpler. Both Cole and I suffered from that decision. Don’t make the same one.”

Sienna’s gaze ping-ponged around the room. There was obviously still tension within the group, as well as what she was still feeling, but still, there was also an almost overwhelming feeling of strength. Keila was quiet, but it didn’t seem to be an issue with trusting her anymore. No, the other woman’s gaze was almost sad. “Keila? How exactly did you find me?” How could someone who was so withdrawn be their leader?

“I’ve been doing this a long time.” Her voice was quiet, but hard. “Emily was the first that, well . . .” Emily placed a hand over Keila’s, and the pair almost seemed to draw strength from each other. “Emily was the first who’s still alive.”

Sienna felt the blood, along with any burgeoning hope, drain from her face. “What?” she said. Her voice croaked, almost broke.

“But we’re together now,” Lainey said.

Keila shot her a grateful look. “And I’m never letting that happen again. Not to you, or any of us.” She wasn’t joking. Keila was probably the most serious person Sienna had ever met. Just her gaze almost had Sienna squirming in her chair.

“But why now? What makes you so sure you can win now? Why did you hide for so long?”

“Because you look”—Keila took a breath—“you look so much like her. The woman trying to kill us.”

Sienna’s eyes narrowed. “Just how much exactly?”

Keila stood and walked to stand right in front of her chair. Sienna pulled herself to her feet and forced herself to look into Keila’s eyes. If there was one thing she’d had enough of lately, it was being intimidated.

“You could be her twin.”