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“Yeah, well… I just told you,” Black said, a little impatient. “It wasn’t the same for us. For us it was more like passengers. Hitchhikers. We aren’tlessof who we are now, Jem. We’re more. This is better for both of us. For a lot of reasons.”

I looked between Nick and Dalejem warily.

I knew Nick resented Allie and Revik.

I knew he resented them a lot.

I knew just enough about that whole scenario to not want to know any more. I knew Jem had been sexually involved with Black’s cousin, Revik, at one point. I knew he’dalsobeen sexually involved with Revik’s wife, Allie, at another point… and that Jem had been hurt pretty badly by both affairs.

Clearly, Nick was aware of that fact, too.

Black, who also knew those things, spoke brusquely.

“Yeah. Well. My cousin understood the difference better than we did. Theytoldus we were different. They told us the beings in us were more like passengers. My cousin, Revik,isthe Sword. His wifeisthe Bridge. That’s not the same. It might be a matter of degrees… but they seemed to think it was pretty damned important when we talked to them about it.”

Dalejem continued to frown at me.

I couldn’t tell if he doubted what we were telling him, or he just didn’t get it and he wanted to.

Jax frowned at me too, one hand on his hip. His other hand still gripped Kiko’s fingers. I saw Dex staring at where Kiko held Jax’s hand in both of hers.

I thought about telling Dexter to cut it out.

I thought about telling him that he was making the situation unnecessarily tense.

I wanted to yell at all of them tochill the fuck out.

I didn’t.

I thought about the frustration I felt on all of them instead, the worry I felt on everyone about our friends on the outside. I thought about what Black said, about how we couldn’t do time jumps any more than we’d been able to use the Barrier to reach our friends in New Mexico.

I stared at a sun kissed lawn dotted with wildflowers, a swing hanging on the thick branch of an old oak trees. I knew none of it existed anymore, but I still wished I could go out there. I wanted to lie on that grass. Warm my face in the sun.

I was still standing there, staring blankly through those virtual windows, when it hit me.

“I get it,” I said. “I get what he wants us to do.”

I looked at Black, who quirked an eyebrow.

I looked at Jax and Dem, a smile creeping wider on my lips.

“The house!” I said. “Don’t you see? We use our sight on thehouse.”

17

THE SON

It felt absolutely right when I said it.

The problem is, when the others started asking me questions, I realized I didn’t knowexactlywhat my words really meant.

In the end, Jem seemed to get my meaning the best.

Without waiting, he plunked down on the floor, cross-legged, and closed his eyes.

The rest of us stood there, staring at him.

Realizing that probably wasn’t helping him any, I sat down, too.