JOSS

I wince as Xander drops into one of his rants, yelling across the kitchen at Syv, Vee, and anybody who dares interrupt him.

He barely said two words in the car on the way back. Vee, sensibly, accompanied Syv to avoid talking to him if she’d travelled with us.

I don’t know what the fuck happened at the museum. We found the pair in the car park. Eventually. They drove up in Syv’s Jeep, yelling at us to follow them before anybody saw. What had been annoyance turned to relief that they weren’t stuck in the back of the museum somewhere or had been seriously injured.

But even in the streetlight’s glow, I saw blood on Syv’s neck, soaking the top of her dress. There was blood around Vee’s nose and I was terrified they’d met Seth. Apparently not—but obviously whoever the guy they met is, he worked for someone else looking for the stone. So, yeah, probably Seth.

Now, back at the house, the demanding questions begin.

"All I did was go to the bathroom," says Vee, facing off Xander, arms crossed. "We didn’t exactly have time to call for the cavalry when the guy attacked Syv."

"She’s right, Xander," I say. "Vee didn’t sneak off. She told us where she was going."

"They should never have let you go alone." Xander’s eyes narrow. "We’d promised not to because of the fucking teleporting thing."

I sigh. "Xan. Come on. Calm down."

"If there had been more than one of us with Syv, the situation might not have happened." He turns to jab a finger at Syv. "Why the fuck didn’t you wait for us?"

"Because I saw somebody else hanging around, near the store room, who I knew wasn’t human. I had to get in and take the stone before he could."

Xander glowers. "You could’ve waited. We weren’t far behind."

"And what if he’d walked off with it while I did? Let me do my job, Xander. Everything worked out okay."

"Only because Vee was there. Someone could’ve found you on the floor with your throat slashed."

Syv steps toward him. "Plenty have tried, and nobody has succeeded. I would’ve got myself out of the situation. Eventually."

Xander yanks out a kitchen chair and sits beside Ewan. "What’s your opinion?"

"What happened to the demon’s body?" he asks in a low voice.

My suspicion piques as Vee and Syv exchange a glance. "What are you hiding?"

"She obliterated the dude. That’s all," Syv replies. "Joss, are you gonna fix my neck up or should I head to Emergency? I don’t mind, there’s a cute doctor there who’s often working."

I shake my head and pull out the first aid kit from a cupboard.

"Obliterated? Full story, Vee. Now." Xander folds his hands under his arms. Vee’s mouth thins at Xander’s attitude to her. "Please," he adds.

The demon was strong, if Syv couldn’t take him. Her magic powers may be weak, but I’ve said before, her physical ability comes from more than human strength.

Vee hesitantly tells us about the magic, but I swear she downplays the scene. A dark power? Okay, she used this on a demon, but it was a triggered reflex. What does that mean for the future?

"Can we talk about the stone that Syv found?" she asks eventually. "This must be what we need as the symbols look familiar. That’s what’s important here. Show them, Syv."

The stone Syv took from the museum is on the table between us. Flat, grey, with a few runes carved on both sides.

Broken.

"Why is there blood on it?" Ewan picks up the stone and examines it.

"I hit the bastard with it." She winces as I prod at her cut. "Careful, Doctor Famine."

"I think Steri-Strips should be okay." I delve into the box.

"What did you need to tell us?" Heath takes the stone and runs his finger along the rough edge. "It’s broken, isn’t it?"

"Looks that way. Clean break. I think someone took the other part elsewhere."

"Oh, for fuck’s sake!" Heath drops the stone. "Where?"

Syv reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a sheet of paper. She spreads it on the table in front of her as I attach the surgical tapes to her neck. "This was in the drawer with the stone. It’s a shipment record. The stone and other items are on loan from the Louvre museum in Paris. I think that’s where the other part might be."

"Shit!" Xander stands and kicks the chair back under the table. "What if Seth has that stone already?"

"The demon has been following me, so I doubt he knows where he’s going without me leading him there. Maybe if the demon had taken this, Seth would know." She taps the paper. "But he didn’t. I did what I’m paid for."

"So now we need to go to fucking Paris?" Ewan’s face sours. "We can’t all go there and leave this place unprotected."

"Yeah, and we need to keep an eye on Ripley," puts in Heath.

"Well, we’re not splitting up." Xander takes the paper. "Are you sure the stone is in that museum?”

"No. But it’s a good guess," replies Syv. "I’m willing to look."

"You could ask the Collector go with you." I look in surprise at Vee’s suggestion to Syv. "You said he has strong magic."

Syv plays her fingers over the wound-closing strips I’ve put on her skin. "Maybe. Why? Don’t you trust me to go alone?"

"You need protecting, look at what just happened."

"S’pose."

Vee closes her hand over Syv’s and I’m surprised when Syv doesn’t withdraw it. "I just saw what happened, Syv. If he can’t go, one of us will need to."

"Not happy about that," mumbles Xander.

"Let me talk to Col. I promised I’d head back to him as soon as we’d finished up in Cambridge." She gives a half smile. "He worries about me, y’know."

Beneath her words, I sense a different sentiment. Syv likes that someone cares about her. This girl isn’t the flirtatious assassin with an attitude as big as her knives. I’m unsure if the guys see past her front, but I do. I figured her out early on, and the more time we’re around Syv, the more I see who she hides beneath. She pretends not to give a shit but I sense she’s lost in the world too.

"Do you want us to come with you to the Collector’s?" I ask as I tidy the bloodied gauze into a pile.

"All good. It’s a short drive. I’ll be fine."

As Syv leaves, Vee follows. I walk to the lounge and watch out the window. They pause by her Jeep, chatting. Syv places a hand on Vee’s shoulder and for a weird moment I think they might hug.

They don’t. Vee walks back to the house as Syv drives away, and as the light from the open front door catches her expression, her pale-faced worry shines back at me.