I had to hold back an urge to strike out at him for poking at my weak spot. Guilt was the one thing I couldn’t escape, the one thing that drove me more than any other, and of course, those shrewd eyes that had a moment ago seemed kind, saw that in me.

Valley left, but O’Shea stayed behind. Milly stood, touched the agent on the shoulder and said, “Call me.”

He nodded, his eyes tracking her as she left the room. I didn’t have any right to feel upset. Milly always got the guy. It was nothing new. Ignoring my traitorous emotions, I faced O’Shea.

“What about your partner, Martins? Will his name be blacklisted?” It was stupid to ask, but I wasn’t sure what else to say. How could I be his partner? It wouldn’t work. We were too different.

“His family will get a sizeable payout, and his funeral will be all paid for. No expense spared. It was the best they could do. Until the government decides to let the general populace know, it’s the best we could come up with.” His shoulders sagged. “I want you . . .”

My breath caught.

“. . . as my partner.” His dark eyes lifted to mine. “But I’d understand if you turned it down.”

Nodding, I said nothing, for once somewhat speechless. I wanted to go back to the days where I felt nothing for this human standing in front of me. Nothing but contempt, anger, maybe even hatred. Simple to feel those things, not so simple to start caring.

“I’ll let you know.”

He nodded and brushed past me, the scent of his cologne and the mint I remembered from his lips catching me off guard, making me sway on my feet.

The room was silent, but for the steady breathing that was my attempt to calm the confusion rushing through me.

A sniffle at the door caught my ear. I lifted my hand, not needing to turn around. “Alex.” There was the scrabble of feet on the rough wooden floor, and then a large furry body wrapped around my legs and helped to ground me. I crouched down and hugged him; buried my face into his neck.

“Rylee sad,” he grumbled, his arms awkwardly circling me.

“A little. But I’ll be okay.”

“Harpy sad too.”

I’d forgotten about that little detail. I stood, brushed my face off as though I wasn’t crying and strode to the door. “Where is she roosting, Alex?”

He bolted out the door and I trotted after him. He made a beeline for the half-rotted barn. Pushing the door open, I stepped into the mote-filled air. The light streamed through the broken slats and gave a picturesque scene, if not for the Harpy dozing in the old hay.

“Eve?” I didn’t step any further into the room. As it was, I could leap out and slam the door if I had too. Alex, though, had no qualms. He trotted forward and stuck his nose under her chin. “Evie.”

She fluttered awake, her eyes blinking slowly. “Hello, Tracker.”

“You can call me, Rylee,” I said, my hands itching for a weapon, even though she had claimed sanctuary with me. Harpy’s were not trusted for a reason.

“Rylee, then. I chased away the pack that was here; it didn’t take much.”

That explained that. Maybe having a Harpy around wouldn’t be all bad. I nodded my thanks. Alex, though, didn’t hold back, almost throwing himself at the young Harpy; she brushed him off, but not in an unkind way.

“What are you going to do?” Her voice was devoid of any emotion.

It hit me that she was depressed, which made sense. I’d lost my sister, I knew what it was to lose a beloved sibling and think you should have somehow saved them.

Breathing in the scent of hay and years of dust, I made my way over to her, sat down, and talked. About Berget, about my life, about how I wanted to save those kids who got snatched. Her eyes went wide as I opened up to her like I’d only ever done with Milly, and Eve seemed to sense it.

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

By now Alex was laying across my lap.

“Because I know what it is to be lost, to want to find your own path, one that can maybe redeem the past,” I said, my voice thick with sorrow even to my own ears.

She nodded slowly as she took it all in. “May I help you? Would you let me?”

That was not expected, and it was my turn to nod slowly. “Yes, you could help me. But I have to ask, Eve, how can you be so accepting of me? I killed both of your sisters.”

Her feathers fluffed up. “In our culture, it is the strong who survive, the strong who are revered. You were able to kill my sisters; they were not strong enough. You outsmarted them. I would learn from you so that I do not follow in their footsteps. It is often our way to train with those who have killed our family members.”

Wow. Shock filtered through me. That was not what I expected, not at all. “Okay, you have strengths I could only ever hope for to tap into when searching for kids, but don’t you want to go to your own kind?”

Eve snorted and fluffed her body. “They kicked us out because we . . . no, I cannot speak of it yet. They don’t like me, or my sisters.” Her throat caught, and I placed a hand, gingerly, on her wing, feeling the tremble of emotion ripple through her body. It seemed I was bound to pick up strays and outcasts.

Leaving her there, I went back inside the house, passed on my usual routine for the first time in years, showered, went to bed and lay there staring up at the ceiling, Alex stretched out across my legs. Thoughts of O’Shea, Milly, Eve, Alex, India, and Giselle ran through my mind until, finally exhausted, I fell asleep, hoping the morning light would give me some guidance as to what would happen next.

27

A week later, India and her parents met me at the hotel where I’d first met them. While Maria and Don were grateful, they were reserved. India had no such qualms.

I stepped into the room and she ran toward me, arms outstretched. Scooping her up, I held her tight. Today, she smelled only like baby powder, no scent of blood.

“How are you feeling, kid?” I put her back down and crouched so we were eye to eye. I rubbed at the spot on my body where the demon’s scorpion tail had pierced my prone form in the pentagram. Nothing seemed to have come from it, but there was a dull ache that wouldn’t go away. It was particularly bad at night. For now though, I’d ignore it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it and all that jazz.

“Okay. I like Danny.” Danny was the therapist I’d set them up with. She also happened to be a true psychic who would be able to help India train her abilities.

“That’s good. She’s a nice lady.”

We visited for a few more minutes before I headed toward the door. India grabbed my hand, pulling me down to her level. “I have to tell you something.”

Smiling, I tipped my head so she could whisper into my ear.

“Berget says that Giselle is the key to finding her.”

Her words, so simple, set me back on my heels, and I had to kneel down to catch my breath. “How?”

India shrugged, keeping her voice low. A look over her shoulder, she waved off her parents, who had tensed at my apparent shock. “I can see them, the spirits. Your sister, she stayed with me. Told me things. She said that it wasn’t your fault. That she’s too far away for you to find. But” —India twisted her hands around mine— “Berget says that Giselle can help you find her.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I whispered.

She shrugged. “It’s what she told me. Will you still look for her?”

I nodded. “I’ve never stopped.”

“That’s what I told her too.” India wrapped her arms around my neck. “I told her that you would always come for the missing children. Everyone knows that.”

A lump formed hard in my throat, one that I couldn’t swallow past. India made me swear I’d stay in touch. I could barely nod, and struggled to get out to my Jeep, where I laid my head on the steering wheel and finally let the tears flow.

Berget was still out there, and she didn’t blame me for not finding her. It took me a long time to pull myself together, but for the first time I felt . . . free of the guilt.

Jake pulled through, though he was going to be in a wheelchair for a while; both of his legs had been broken and quite badly, but he was alive and had no memory of what had happened to him. I visited him in the hospital, only once, and while he was sleeping. He wouldn’t remember me anyway. From what the nurses told me, he already wanted to be just like his new hero, Agent O’Shea. Jake wanted to be an FBI Agent when he grew up. Boo-yah.

Milly moved out of the Coven and in with me, Alex and Giselle, who’d come to live with us until we knew what would be best for her. I was happy, yet I had no desire to hear Milly and O’Shea “knocking boots” in the room across from me, so I implemented a “No Sex at the House” rule, which she seemed to be fine with.

Two weeks after Agent Valley visited me, I got a phone call from him. I didn’t answer. I still wasn’t ready to face that particular choice yet. Worse yet, the stack of papers on the Arcane division of the FBI had gone missing; most likely it got grabbed in one or the other raids on my place, so I had no further knowledge than what Valley was willing to give me, which wasn’t enough to sway me.

All and all, life went back to as normal as it could, at least for me.

That is, until the phone rang and Dox’s voice came through on the other end, his voice heavy with sorrow, his words telling me my time off was up.

“Rylee, we’ve got a problem.”