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“No,” Max admitted. His shoulders sank.

“Okay,” Darien began, but Loren could tell from the way he said it that none of this was okay. “I want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly. Your sister ditched you without telling you where she was going—without even sayinggoodbye,is that right?” Max said nothing, but his jaw clenched, and hishands curled into fists. “And you want to go looking for her,” Darien concluded, his every word saturated with disbelief.

Max’s response was defensive. “I’m sure you’d do the same for Ivy.”

“And I’m sure Ivy wouldn’t leave me like that,” Darien fired back.

“I’m her brother!” Max fumed. His own eyes were onyx now. He took a step closer to Darien, getting right up in his face. Loren’s pulse hammered faster. “I owe it to her to at least warn her about what’s going on?—”

“You’re a Devil,” Darien countered. “You owe your loyalty to the people who’ve been by your side for years, not the one who fucked off.”

Darien abruptly turned and came back her way. “Let’s go,” he said, his hand warming her back. She stayed put, though. Because Max wasn’t letting this go, and she could already see that this wouldn’t end well.

“This is bullshit, Darien!” His words clapped through the house, his boots doing the same as he pursued Darien. “I’m going after her, whether I have your permission or not.”

Darien whipped back around so quickly, the two friends nearly smacked into each other. Loren got out of the way, barely managing to squeeze between Darien’s back and the wall, his shirt brushing against her cheek. The men had their backs to opposite walls now, both of them so close and so big they almost didn’t fit in the narrow hallway.

“If you leave,” Darien gritted out, his nostrils flaring, “consider yourself out.”

“Why?”Max flung his arms wide. “Because I want to save my sister? Because I won’t be able to live with myself if she suffocates in here?—”

“Because you’re choosing someone who doesn’t give a shit about you over the people who do!”

Loren let out a gasp as Max pushed Darien in the chest so hard his back hit the wall.

For a moment, Darien stared at his friend—utterly stunned.

Max stared too, as if he couldn’t believe what he just did.

“Darien,” Loren tried?—

“Put your fucking hands on me again—” He didn’t get his warning out before he was pushing Max in return—pinning him to the opposite wall so hard it rattled, his forearm ramming into Max’s throat.

“Alright, guys—time out!” Lace exclaimed. She ditched her suitcase on the couch and hurried over, Jack and Ivy tailing her. “Let’s take a moment to calm down?—”

“It’s fine if he wants to go, Darien,” Ivy said, her voice an octave higher from stress. “He can look for Maya while I find Tanner. But we need togo.”Despite her offer, she sounded far more uncertain than she had in the kitchen, and for a moment Max looked like he hated himself for asking to separate from her.

“You’re not looking for Tanner by yourself,” Darien said without so much as glancing at his sister. “I won’t stand for that.”

“She’ll be with us,” Roman said, stepping into vision in the living room. “The minute we find the kids, we’ll all go looking for Tanner.”

“What aboutyou,huh?” Max spat his question in Darien’s face.

“Whataboutme?” he growled.

“You’re fucking off to Angelthene instead of looking for Tanner?—”

“Don’t you fucking give me that!” he barked. “You knowexactlywhy I have to leave!”

“Let it go, Max,” Jack warned. He came closer, his eyes blackening as he prepared to intervene. “I hate to say it, but Darien has a point—Maya left. You don’t owe her anything.”

“You don’t get it! You don’t have any siblings?—”

“Watch it,”Darien warned.

“It’s okay, I can take it,” Jack said. “Think it through, Max. You don’t want to be excommunicated, do you?”

“I won’t be,” Max said, breathing heavily. “He wouldn’t do that to me.” He looked at Darien for confirmation. For reassurance. His words were slightly strangled by Darien’s forearm squishing his throat. “Because we’re not just a Darkslayer house, we’re a family. Even if we are fighting, and even if we hate each other’s guts right now, we’re still a family. Right, Darien?”