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‘Even I was a little bit in love with her,’ Ashe said, though she was mostly joking. Everyone loved Kali. She was just that kind of person. It was impossible not to.

‘I’m… shit. Do you want me to like, back off or something?’ Rhodes floundered.

‘There’s nothing to back off from,’ I admitted, a little sulkily. ‘She married my brother.’

‘Wait, the one out there? The one who married that Dakota chick? How…?’

‘Kali was legally declared dead earlier this year. She’s been missing for seven years. Blake moved on,’ I said, though I couldn’t quite contain my feelings on the matter.

‘Oh, shit. This whole thing is one big mess, huh?’

‘Yeah. No kidding.’

‘So you were in love with your brother’s wife?’ he asked me, but there was no judgment in his tone, merely curiosity.

‘She was my friend before they even met,’ I defended myself anyway. ‘My feelings for her were present long before they were introduced.’

‘And they were that strong that they never faded,’ he surmised. ‘That shit’s heavy as fuck. Damn, man. I’m sorry. Did she know?’

I shook my head. ‘No.’

‘He thought he was doing what was best for her by letting Blake steal her out from under him,’ Ashe said, her disapproval obvious and something that we had argued over a lot when Kali had first started dating Blake.

‘Shouldn’t we tell him?’ Rhodes asked, unsure how to proceed with such delicate information.

‘No,’ I practically shouted. ‘No, we can’t tell him anything. Not yet. He and Dakota just got married, and they’re not exactly big believers in the paranormal. They would just get in the way, and poor Dakota… I’m not sure how she would react if she knew Kali was still alive. I mean, technically, she and Blake are no longer married since her death was made official, but that’s a whole can of worms I’d rather stay firmly closed until absolutely necessary.’

‘Okay. Understood. I won’t tell them anything unless you give the go-ahead.’

My smile was more genuine, even if it was still tight. ‘Thanks.’

‘Why don’t we start by showing me that evidence, then, yeah? Get me up to speed with what we’re dealing with.’

‘You’ll have to come with us. Mikey keeps a record of everything on the computers. He’s our tech guy, but he’s a bit shy, so we’ll need to go to him,’ Ashe told him, and he nodded his understanding.

‘Yeah, I figured as much. He seems pretty skittish, from what I’ve seen.’

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ she joked. ‘Even with us, he still gets shy sometimes, and we’ve been friends since we were teenagers.’

I trailed behind them as we left Rhodes’ office, Gloria falling into step beside me as soon as I stepped out.

‘You heard all of that?’ I asked her.

‘Yup.’

‘You good?’

‘No, but this isn’t about me. If Kali is in trouble and needs our help, then that’s what we’re going to do. She’s been stuck for the past seven years, Chance. I’m not so much of a coward that I’d leave her to suffer any longer.’

‘I know. I never said you were.’

‘But you were thinking it,’ she muttered.

‘No, I wasn’t,’ I argued, and I was being honest.

She sighed, her shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world was crushing them. ‘I’m scared, Chance. And not even for me. Ashe… she jumps into dangerous situations like it’s nothing. I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep her safe here. Not with this. Not against this entity.’

My steps halted as I turned to face her full-on and look her in the eyes. She needed to see how serious I was. ‘I’m not going tolet anything happen to her. If you heard anything Rhodes said in there, you’ll know he offered himself up to do the dangerous shit. Even he’s trying to protect us, and he doesn’t even know us, let alone owe us anything.’