“This is my fault,” she said. “I should have made you leave with Jaime. I was being selfish. I wanted more time with you.”

I hugged her.

“I’m sorry, baby,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have let you stay when it wasn’t safe.”

“I wouldn’t have gone.” I pulled back and kissed her cheek. “Try not to get killed too quickly, okay? I could do with a little more Mom time.” I paused to clear my clogged throat. “But I’ll understand if I don’t get it.”

She squeezed me. “I’ll always find a way to stay in touch, no matter what happens.”

“Good.”

Another moment, lingering there, hugging each other. Then she sent me on my way.

SEVENTEEN

We should have left a trail of bread crumbs. All I had to see by was a light ball the size of a spark. I didn’t want to risk a bigger one.

As for how Mom would distract our attackers, I expected a whole lot of banging and shouting and maybe some shooting. I heard nothing. Not even the sound of footsteps, which meant they weren’t coming after me. Whatever she was doing, it was working.

I found Jake and Will after only checking two refuse piles. I motioned for silence, then whispered our plan.

“You can stay here if you want,” I said. “When that van leaves, they’ll figure we’re all in it.”

“I need a doctor,” Will said. “You’re going to get me out of here, then you’re going to take me to a clinic for half-demons over on—”

“You’re not giving orders—”

“Did you forget about these?” He dangled the keys he must have taken from Jake.

I snatched them from his hand. “Thank you. Now come with us or stay behind. Your choice.”

He came. So did Jake, who was still too lost in grief to question anything.

As we crept along, I felt a tingle vibrate down my spine. It felt oddly like a perimeter spell being triggered. Except I hadn’t set any. Mom had, along with—A howl reverberated through the warehouse.

“A werewolf?” Will spun on me. “Did you bring a werewolf—”

I slammed him face first to the floor. “No, it’s not a were-wolf,” I whispered in his ear. “Now zip it.”

A werewolf would have been nice, especially if it was one of the two lurking outside. But the howl was coming from the trigger hallucination Mom had set up at the rear entrances. An apparition of a hellhound.

“Stay here,” I whispered.

I crawled forward with my light spark. Both guys followed. I considered locking them in binding spells, but that would zap too much of my limited power.

I didn’t need to go far anyway. We were closer to the back than I’d thought, and within a few feet I could make out the very dim outline of shapes moving in the near dark. I looked around, then ducked behind the closest piece of whatever and extinguished my spark. The guys stayed close.

The “whatever” that we’d taken refuge behind seemed to be broken crates. I leaned out and tried to get a better look at the intruders. If they were from the Cabal, they’d be in uniforms. Intra-Cabal regulations. Each had to wear a distinguishable uniform, so they could be identified by another Cabal if they bumped into each other on a mission. Presumably, it was to keep them from killing each other, but I suspect the Cabals only agreed to it so they wouldn’t accidentally slaughter their own men.

These guys were shapeless black wraiths against a dark gray landscape.

I needed light.

I calculated angles and trajectories and potential outcomes. Then I launched a small light ball in the invaders’ path, but drew it toward me instead of whipping it away. They saw it. And I saw them.

I pulled back behind the crates.

“It’s a Cabal.”

“The Cortezes?” Jake whispered. “They came after you, right?”

I nodded.

“What?” Will said. “No, it can’t—”

“Can’t what?” I said. “Can’t be the Cortezes?”

“I just mean, you might be making a mistake. It might not even be a Cabal.”

“I know the uniforms. Those are the Cortezes.”

Will struggled to keep his breathing steady. Sweat trickled down his face, glistening in the dim light of my spark.

“It’s okay,” I said. “I can handle this. It’s a mistake—they didn’t know I was here. I just need to tell them it’s me and you’ll be safe—”

Will leaped up to run. I grabbed the back of his shirt and slammed him to the concrete floor. Then I straddled his back and pressed my palm against his shoulder—the one that had been shot. He started to yelp, but I stifled it.

“Keep your mouth shut or I press again,” I whispered. “The Cortezes will come running. You really don’t want them to come running, do you?”

“They won’t hurt us, right?” Jake said. “We’re with you.”

“You’re okay. Will? He’s not so okay, considering he’s the one who set you up.”

“What?” Jake said.

“He cut a deal with the Nasts. That’s who he thought was out there. That’s why he wanted you running for the cars instead of into the warehouse. To make it easier for them to pick you off. Then he came in here after us so he could keep an eye on us. That’s why he got so worried when he found out I was a Nast. They might not be so willing to pay the big bucks if they find out one of the dead is Thomas Nast’s granddaughter.”

“So you knew?” Jake said.

“I figured it out when he didn’t like the idea that it’s the Cortezes out there.”

But Will’s plan hadn’t failed. Not entirely. The security team combing the warehouse? It was the Nasts. I just didn’t want him yelling for help. I could tell him the Nasts would never let him walk out of here alive, but he wouldn’t believe me.

“What do we do?” Jake whispered.

“Find me something to bind him with. I saw a spool of wire to the left. If you can’t find it, I’ll use your shirt.”

He nodded and took off. I winced at the patter of his sneakers, but everything else around us was silent, the security team long gone. Just bind Will and—

The crack of a rifle. Then a thump, off to the left. Where I’d sent Jake. As I rolled off Will, I strained to hear. Will did, too. With his superhearing, if there’d been anything, even the rasp of Jake writhing on the floor, he’d have heard it. Instead he gave a satisfied little grunt. Jake was dead.