“So…now…” I crossed my arms, remembering the other night. “You ran toward the…man or woman last night, but the night before, you ran from the creature that showed up.”

His eyes widened. He’d apparently meant to keep that little episode a secret. A moment later he puffed up, trying to recover his pride. “Well, yeah. It was a creature, as you say. Some sort of demon, I’d wager. It was sending out a real strong vibe for me to get lost. I didn’t want to set it off and leave you to deal with it.”

“Riiight.”

“What’d he say?” Bria asked.

“We got another one.” I walked around Frank, my mind whirling. “Doesn’t sound like the same intruder. This one didn’t mess with my magic, and while it acknowledged Frank, it didn’t run him off. Any idea how we can tell them apart?”

“Not a clue. I need to start making some calls. Someone will know what spirit forms the various Demigods take.”

I nodded then halted, not seeing my car parked in the driveway. Confused, I searched the curb, wondering if Kieran or someone had needed to move it for some reason. Boman’s black BMW was there, with the ding in the door, and Bria’s old, faded Mazda with a key scratch down the side. A red Beemer, which hopefully wasn’t Red’s, because that would be too much, and a pink Corvette, which hopefully wasn’t anybody’s and was a practical joke.

I put my hands on my hips. “Where’s my car?”

With a little grin, Boman tapped his phone, and my garage door shuddered to life. A bumper came into view, but it wasn’t the black one I was expecting. It was a deep, shiny blue.

I walked closer, Boman on my heels.

High on the rounded back end, in the middle, was Maserati.

The breath left my lungs. “What is this?”

Daisy squealed and danced around. “Right? Oh my God, when Jack showed me this morning, I nearly peed. Lexi, I nearly peed myself.”

“But…” I entered the nearly empty garage—it was the first garage I’d ever had, so I didn’t have much to put in it—checking out the sleek design, the huge wheels, and the tinted glass. “The BMW wasn’t even a year old. What do I need with this?”

“I told you she wouldn’t be excited,” Mordecai said. Both of the kids had hustled up on the other side of the car. “You owe me five bucks.”

“How the hell is she not excited? Lexi, how are you not excited?” Daisy spread out her hands aggressively. “Lexi, this is a Maserati. A Mas-er-ah-ti. James Bond drove this car.”

“No, that was an Aston Martin,” Mordecai murmured.

“Whatever, fine. James Bond wishes he drove this car. It’s gorgeous. On what planet do we live on that we get this car? On what planet?” She had an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

“Daisy, this money situation has gone to your head,” I said. “Which reminds me, you need to pull way back on spending. It’s gotten out of hand. Kieran said to get what you needed, not put him out of house and home.”

Both of the kids’ expressions closed down. They fought like cats and dogs when it didn’t matter, but when it came to the important things, they were tighter than any blood relations could be.

They had a secret. I’d been so wrapped up in my own problems that I clearly hadn’t made enough time to check in with the kids.

“Boman, close down the door real quick,” I said in the mom voice I couldn’t help.

The motion-sensor garage light clicked on as the door touched down.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I demanded.

Nervousness crossed Mordecai’s face. He was always the quickest to crack, not wanting to upset me. Daisy didn’t so much as twitch.

“Spill it,” I barked.

“She’ll see reason,” Mordecai whispered to Daisy. “It’s for all of us.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “You better not be selling something illegal.”

“She can’t make us give it back. She doesn’t know where it is,” Mordecai continued.

“Give. What. Back?”

Daisy huffed. “Fine,” she said with a condescending smile that was all teenager. “I haven’t kept all those clothes and accessories.”

I waited for more. When none came, I said, “And?”

“And I returned them, obviously.”

“Oh.” I squinted at her. “Why would you be slow to admit that? What are you leaving out?”

“She buys them on the credit card and returns them for cash,” Mordecai said. “Not to mention what she’s taken from the house and pawned.”

Daisy’s expression turned defiant. I just waited. She knew I was going to chastise her for stealing, so there was no point in wasting my breath.

“I will not get in a situation where he owns us, Lexi,” Daisy finally said. “You guys are in love or whatever now, but what I heard about that twat Nancy just cemented why this is necessary—”

“Big no on that swear word. Big no.”

“He’s going to end up super powerful, we all know that,” Daisy said. “And girls are going to be throwing themselves at him. One misstep and you’re done, we all know that. And that’s if he doesn’t go crazy like his dad. We need an exit plan, but guess what? You’re in his house. Sure, your name is on it now, but if you tried to sell it? That nut-sack would just close you down. If you need to leave, you’ll need to leave quickly. You’ll need to get out from under him. We all will. You don’t really have a job anymore, and that hundred grand you got isn’t enough to buy new identities. If this goes sour, we’re worse off now than we were. I’m just looking out for us. Making sure we have a nice nest egg and a few unseemly friends who can help us if it all blows up. I got this, Lexi.”