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“Go home, Scottie,” she interjected. “Pay a visit to your wife and your kids, for fuck’s sake.”

Scottie seemed more than a little cowed by the notion. But he stoodand hiked up his sagging trousers. He nodded politely to Mrs. Colson, and then to me as he passed me at the door. “Mornin’, miss,” he grumbled.

With the departure of Briggs and Otto as well, it left only Gunner, Donny, and Tess. All three of them at the bar. All three suddenly focusing their attentions on me, standing by the door.

I paused in the motion of shaking slush from my hems. “What?” I asked. None of them blinked or shifted their gaze. I narrowed my eyes, suspicion dawning. “What is it?”

Tess Colson broke first. She muttered something beneath her breath that sounded like “Here we fuckin’ go,” then poured an absurdly large portion of whiskey into a waiting glass. “Come here, girl,” she said. “Gunner, move over.”

Gunner rolled his eyes. “Already, she’s usurped us, Donny. Did you hear that?”

“I’m blind, not deaf.”

“Shut up, you two,” Tess snapped. And then to me, “Well, hurry up. We ain’t got all day.”

It may have just been the early hour, but she seemed wearier, older. Like the past fortnight had aged her terribly. She took a generous gulp of the whiskey she’d poured, then left the rest to me. I eyed it as I approached and took a tentative seat between Gunner and Donny.

Gunner leaned in, his eyes two slits of glinting humor. “Patty said he’d let the cat out.” It was difficult to tell, but I thought he might be grinning beneath the matting of his beard.

I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, well aware that Patrick was nowhere near.

“It seems myson,” Tess said as though the word was tentative, “has chosen fit to tell you all the family secrets. Without runnin’ the idea by the rest o’ us, mind you.”She took another tired sip of her whiskey and sighed. “Far be it from him to seek anyone’s approval.”

I swallowed thickly. It seemed safest to say nothing. At least until I could gauge their reaction to this news. Did they know Patrick hadfound me absconding down the eastern tunnel? How much had he told them?

“Quite a shock, was it?” Donny asked lightly. “Left you speechless, apparently.”

Tess planted both elbows on the bar top and leaned in close to peer up into my face. “You should know, had Pat asked me my thoughts, I would have told him not to say a damn word,” she said. “I’d have told him that, given your past, you’ll likely find yourself a ship one day and he’ll never see you again. I’d have told him that most romances between young men and pretty girls fizzle out, and that he’d be better to wait. To test your loyalty before givin’ over all his confidence. But”—and here, she leaned away, breaking her spell over me—“here we are. And what’s done can’t be undone, can it?”

I blinked in quick succession, a rope of guilt cinching my insides. My mouth had gone dry. “If you mean to ask me if I can be trusted,” I said carefully. “Then the answer is yes.”

“That’s the thing,” Gunner said lowly. “What you say don’t matter. It’s what youdo. Whether you take the information and run off with it.”

“I’m staying,” I said, far more boldly than I felt. “I’m not boarding some ship.”

“Right you are,” Tess Colson said gravely. “Because if you ever tried, darlin’, we’d bring you back, dead or alive.” She downed the last of her whiskey. “That’s the thing about knowin’ too much. It’s dangerous.”

The threat caused ire to prickle on my tongue. “I’d say threatening a Charmer of earth is rather dangerous, is it not?”

Movement from my left. Donny rising from his chair. From his waistcoat he drew a silver revolver, and I stumbled clumsily off my stool. Donny pointed the barrel away, out wide to the wall, and there was an earsplitting blast.

I jumped and covered my ears, my heart in my throat, blood pounding, and watched in astonishment as a bullet hovered an inch from the wall at which it had been aimed. Then, it turned of its own accord, followed thelength of the room. It skirted the piano, the bay windows, swooped over Isaiah’s head as he slept. It passed the door to the stairwell, the grandfather clock and gathered speed. It flew straight at me.

I closed my eyes before it could bury itself in my forehead, split my brain down its middle.

But there was no rupture. No pain. I opened my eyes again to see that bullet hanging again in the air, an inch from my nose.

“So’s threatenin’ a Smith of silver,” said Donny. “Even a blind one.”

A gust of air left me. The bullet clattered to the ground.

“Lord almighty, Donny,” Gunner groaned. “Patty will fuckin’ kill you for that.”

I turned slowly to stare at the youngest Colson brother, who had resumed his seat. He shrugged. “It’s important we all know where we stand, I think.”

“Apologize to her, Don,” Tess said gravely. “That was beyond the pale.”

“I wasn’tactuallygonna shoot her,” he argued, scowling. “Ilikeher.”