As much as I knew that both Eve and Marco needed to rest, I couldn’t help but wish they didn’t. “Where?”

Eve pointed with her beak at an outcropping of land. Northwest of where we were, I was betting on Iceland. “Circle until you find a place to land near some decent cover and a water source.”

“Of course.” She sounded almost irritated that I would speak to her as if she didn’t know how to survive. Damn, I was pissing off everyone. If I wasn’t careful I’d be battling Orion on my own. I put a hand on her back.

“Eve, it’s been a long time since we’ve flown together. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

She turned her head and gave me a wink. “Gotcha.”

I laughed and buried my fingers into her silky soft feathers as she circled lower over a section of small buildings. They looked to be at the edge of a farm, which was good for us. I saw tractors, and some small moving things that were probably animals of some sort. The two Harpies began their descent into a section hidden from view of the main house. Next to us was a shack of an outbuilding, and while it looked like shit, the walls and roof were intact and it was big enough for both Harpies to fit into.

Twenty feet in the air, Eve and Marco released their vampire bundles.

My eyes widened, watching Faris’s bundle bounce hard off a rock protruding from the ground.

“Eve, did you do that on purpose?”

“Do what?” Her wide, innocent eyes didn’t fool me. I shook my head, nothing I could do. My friends had seen Faris being the asshole he was too many times not to take a shot at him when they could.

And could I blame them? Not really.

We landed, the Harpies hopping lightly. I slid from Eve’s back and Alex leapt from Marco’s. The werewolf flung his four legs out wide, like he was doing a belly flop into the dirt. At the last second, he got his feet under him and landed with a hard thud. Spinning in a circle, he grabbed at his tail. “Gots it!”

I gave him a smile and thumbs up; my heart wasn’t in it, though.

We filed into the building, Eve and Marco dragging the two vampires. But even that couldn’t bring a smile to my face. Now that we were on the ground, it really hit me that Pamela was gone.

Just like Milly, I somehow lost her.

The straw and hay littering the floor was stale and dusty, but I didn’t care. I wanted to close my eyes, sleep the last hour of sunlight away. To hide from everything that had happened. The building was gloomy inside, like a false dusk. Probably would be good enough for the two vampires to come out. At least in my mind anyway.

Eve and Marco nested down, side by side.

“Tell me that the sun has gone down.” Faris’s words were muffled by the thick curtain. I untied one corner of the curtain, opening it to see a rather undignified Faris glaring at me. “Sun is still up, but it isn’t coming in here.”

He pushed out of the curtains and I went over to Berget to unwrap her. She blinked up at me, her hair all messy, and for just a moment, I saw her when she was a little girl crawling out of bed early in the morning to watch cartoons.

I shook my head. “Come on out.”

“What time is it?”

“Still light out.” I waved a hand at the walls around us. “Dark enough in here though, and it won’t be long before the sun sets.”

“No, it won’t,” Faris all but growled, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Why not?”

“We’re right below the arctic circle. Land of the midnight sun.” He stretched his hands over his head, then looked at me. “We’re stuck here until the Harpies are rested.”

“Give us four hours,” Eve mumbled. “We won’t stop again until we hit the east coast.”

Four hours wasn’t that long. I flopped onto the straw and Alex lay beside me. “Rylee sad.”

No need to deny it. “Yes.”

“Track family. Feel the love.” His eyes searched mine and I dropped a hand on his head.

“What would I do without you, Alex?”

“Probably die.”

The laugh burst out of me, and surprisingly enough, Faris joined in. I glanced at him and saw the curl of gold around the blue of his eyes. That explained it. Best not to point out that Liam was coming to the surface again. I closed my eyes against the sudden yearning to have him hold me, ground me, and remind me that I was strong enough. I didn’t need him, but damn it was nice to have that rock to hang onto during the storms.

“You might as well sleep. We’ll keep watch,” Berget said. “Not like we need to sleep.”

Faris gave a grunt and wandered deeper into the barn.

“Faris,” I didn’t open my eyes, but his footsteps stopped. “You think your blood is still in my system?”

Before he answered, Alex sniffed my neck. “Still smell like stinking vampire.”

“Never mind.”

“Do you really want to take the chance?”

“I trust Alex. We’ll do an exchange at the next stop.”

The sounds of bodies settling into the hay were surprisingly comforting and I let the noises wash over me, taking away some of the building anxiety.

I took Alex’s suggestion to heart and sent out a thread for those I loved, and who loved me in return. My friends in the barn were easiest. Berget was worried for me, but otherwise quiet, calm, content. Happy. Sane.

Alex was a burning ball of love. My lips curled upward and I buried my nose into the ruff of his neck. Eve had the soft feel of someone fast asleep, without fear. I sent my Tracking farther, reaching out to the ones we’d left behind.