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He shut his mouth. Set his jaw.

“I’d like for you to stop pushing yourself so hard,” she said. “Please.”

A tense beat of silence followed her request.

Slowly, his features sank into a very deep frown.

Her heart started to pound, but she stayed the course, well aware that his family was listening. They were pretending theyweren’t, but she had lived with them all long enough that she could tell. “I already talked to the others,” she said. “They’re going to take turns looking for Max and Travis so you can have breaks.”

He shut his eyes. “Baby…,” he began with a hoarse whisper. “You’re asking me to stop looking for my family?” When he opened his eyes, he looked tortured, his pupils flaring so big they almost swallowed the blue.

“No. I’m asking you to let the rest of your family help.”

“They can’t hold the Sight for as long as I can.”

“We knew you were going to say that,” Ivy said in a singsong voice as she grabbed a mixing bowl out of the cupboard.

Tanner drawled, “Aaaaaand here comes the argument…”

Darien turned his head toward the kitchen. “What is this, an intervention?” he called.

“Yes,” Loren said. To her surprise, her reply was echoed by Ivy, Tanner,andLace, everyone’s voices melding into one.

Darien blinked. But his surprise was quickly fading, his focus returning to Loren. “Sweetheart, if they’re in Yveswich, it’s going to be really hard to find their auras from here,” he explained, his tone gentle. “I’m the only one who’s found targets from this many miles away.”

“Darien—” She tightened her crossed arms, fingers grasping the soft fabric of his shirt that fell past her thighs. “You said you want me to start taking better care of myself—right?”

A muscle feathered in his jaw, but he said, “Right.”

“Well, it goes both ways.” She fiddled with the shirt. “I would like you to take it easy, please.”

The back door opened, and Jack walked in, shaking his hood off. “Sup, fam?” He whipped the door shut.

“Shh!” Ivy hissed.

Jack’s brow creased. “What?” he mouthed.

“We’re going to find them,” Tanner called from the kitchen. He came to stand in the doorway to the sitting room, a mug of steaming coffee in hand. He took a sip. “I’m going to get communications back up, Darien, I promise. And then we’re going to get them the hell out of there.”

Darien’s brows rose, but he kept his eyes on Loren. “This really is an intervention,” he said, almost to himself.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. A moment later, Kylar and Eugene appeared, walking toward the kitchen.

When Kylar spotted them—spotted Ivy, Lace, and Jack coming to stand with Tanner in a small army—he said, “Just wait a sec, Gene.” He yanked on the back of his brother’s shirt, pulling him up short. “They’re having a family meeting or something.”

“But I’m hungry,” the kid whined.

Loren looked at Darien with expectance.

He looked back at her. And then he sighed and said, “All right, baby. Okay.”

“Okay, what?” she pressed. She wanted him to promise.

“I won’t push myself so hard with the tracking,” he said.

She tried not to look surprised, but she was. She hadn’t expected this to go so smoothly. “Do you promise?”

“I promise.”