“Thanks,” he told her, running for his car. “I have a house for you to haunt, if you don’t want to stay here. If you want a place to call home.”

Drifting beside him, she smiled. “No, thank you. You need me here.” She nodded, and then she was gone.

“What— Oh, the ghost was still here?” Thane asked, looking around with wide eyes.

“Which one?” Donovan asked.

“What do you mean, which one?” Henry said, everyone keeping pace. They all parked in the same area. “The one that teleports, you idiot. Do you think Demigod Kieran and Thane both picked up a new trick?”

“Well, I don’t really know, do I, since I was possessed for a moment there?” Donovan responded.

“You weren’t possessed, you were ridden like a pony,” Henry replied. “You still had your wits. Your excuse for wits, anyway.”

The tug intensified, bringing Kieran to a staggering halt. He bent over, trying to ignore the feeling. It wasn’t painful, and if he really focused, the throb within it was actually pleasant. Comforting. It felt like Alexis. But everything about the feeling said his soul was being pulled out of his body, which made him want to react violently.

Still, he held on, fighting against the urge to try to sever the connection. Opening himself to it, as he had so many times with Alexis herself.

A moment later, Alexis slammed back into his awareness, as though she’d rammed right into his soul. A plethora of emotions hit him at once, strong and vibrant. Fear and uncertainty, wariness…relief.

He laughed with his own relief, still bent with his hands on his knees.

“What is it?” Thane bent too close again, his beard nearly brushing Kieran’s face.

“Thane, back off, for fuck’s sake.” Kieran shoved at Thane as he straightened up. He took a deep breath. “She’s back. Whatever happened, she’s back, and she’s relieved.” He resumed his jog. “What would’ve hit me back there?”

“Throwing star, but it would’ve hit your collarbone,” Thane said. “I got it in the arm. He followed up with a big throwing knife, but by then you would’ve ducked it easily, even with a wound.”

“A great many would’ve been too slow, though,” Henry said as they slowed, reaching the cars. “They think you’re common.”

The other guys snickered.

“Alexis is common,” Kieran said with a weight in his gut. The soul link normalized, but whatever had happened had shaken her. She needed him. “Where surprise attacks are concerned, she’s common. She hasn’t trained for any of this. The few skirmishes and the one battle she was in won’t help her here. In those, she met the enemy face to face. She knew they were coming, where from, and what weapons they were using. This is a different sort of fight, one she’s never even contemplated.” He hooked his fingertips under the door handle, breathing out slowly. “Let’s hope they keep going for me.”

“If Hades’ people are trying to kill you, that means they’re doing it so they can snatch her,” Thane said softly.

“I know,” Kieran said, and sat in the car.

His greatest fear had always been that she would fall into the wrong hands. They’d take the Alexis he knew and loved and turn her into the nightmare she most feared. Valens had never gotten close, but that was because Kieran had kept her a secret.

She wasn’t a secret anymore.

7

Alexis

I stood in Kieran’s sitting room by myself, letting the crash of the distant waves wash over me. The moon hung heavy in the dark sky, suspended above the ocean as if on a string. Trees waved gently in the breeze. Quiet had settled all around me, cocooning me. I’d purposely forbidden the guys from following me over here. They’d put up a fuss, but ultimately agreed to stay with the kids.

The afternoon had shaken me to my very foundation. I’d been utterly helpless, suspended in a place I was positive I would’ve died in if I hadn’t felt that cord leading me back to Kieran. Back to reality. He was my anchor, I now knew. Something about that soul link kept me with him, even in the spirit realm.

Soon after I’d crawled my way out and spilled out onto the bright, beautiful green grass underneath the glorious blue sky—of course, my body had been there all along—I’d learned that Kieran had broken up his meeting for me. He’d had to chase Nancy away, possibly tarnishing their business, all because I couldn’t take care of myself.

I kept disrupting his life. He took it all in stride, or at least he seemed to, but the cold, hard truth was that I was a hindrance. I couldn’t help him lead like he wished I could. My accidental frumpiness had made me a public laughingstock. I couldn’t even make it up in smarts, because I wasn’t particularly educated or insightful. To top it off, I didn’t have knowledge of my magic. My one greatest asset could have excused all the others, if only I could make it work. I’d nearly died today trying to figure it out. How fucking helpful was that?

Tears had drained all the moisture from my body. Or so it seemed. I’d only bothered to clean myself up because I felt him getting closer.

The front door opened, and I knew Kieran had left his shiny red Ferrari in the driveway. He clearly wanted to enter the house like he was the guest and I the resident. Which was ridiculous, since he’d bought both this house and mine, just across the street.