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“The kind,” Eomma interrupted firmly, standing up, “that should be more careful in morning light. Windows very revealing, yes?”

All three brothers stiffened slightly. Ice Eyes’ gaze narrowed, reassessing Eomma with new intensity.

“Luke,” she said in Korean, “we leave now.”

“Oh, so now we’re doing the cryptic warning thing?” I replied in Korean, noting how the brothers watched our exchange with barely concealed frustration. “Because that’s not suspicious at all.”

“Less sass, more moving.” Eomma switched to Japanese, just to be safe. “And don’t look directly at the blond one. His eyes… not normal.”

“Which blond one? They’re all?—”

“We hope you’re not leaving on our account,” Ice Eyes cut in smoothly, clearly annoyed at being excluded from the conversation. His perfect composure had cracked just enough to reveal something predatory underneath.

“Oh, not at all,” I replied sweetly. “We just remembered we have an appointment with some people who are way less serial killer-y.”

The fighter’s sudden grin was all teeth. “Such accusations. And here we were being so hospitable.”

“Is that what you call this? I’d hate to see your idea of hostile.”

Eomma was already heading for the door, but I caught her subtle hand gesture—the one that meant ‘watch your back.’ The brothers tracked her movement with the kind of focused attention that set off every warning bell in my head.

“Until next time, Luke.” Ice Eyes’ voice followed me, carrying a promise that made my chest tight.

We made it to the car in record time, Eomma muttering protection chants under her breath. The moment we were inside, she threw a handful of salt out her window.

“Okay,” I said, pulling out of the parking lot maybe a little too fast. “Want to explain what that was about? And why you just assaulted the pavement with sacred salt?”

“Those men.” Eomma clicked her tongue, studying her prayer beads with unusual intensity. “Something not right. Their energy… too hungry. Too interested.”

“What do you mean?” I checked the mirror again. “Besides the obvious creepy stalker vibes?”

“Hard to explain.” She frowned, fingers moving over her beads. “Like… when storm comes. Air feels heavy, yes? Everything too quiet, too still. Waiting.”

“Eomma, you’re doing the cryptic thing again.”

“Not cryptic. Just…” She switched to Korean, her voice low. “Their power feels like Kai’s new friends, their aura, but different. More dangerous. And the way they look at you…” She shivered slightly. “Not good. Too much intent.”

“Oh great, so they’re supernatural stalkers too?” I merged onto the main road, definitely not thinking about Ice Eyes’ burning stare or the fighter’s predatory grace. “Because Kai’s situation wasn’t complicated enough already.”

Eomma’s expression turned serious. “Luke, listen. Mother’s intuition never wrong. Those men…” She glanced at her beads again.“Better to be careful. At least until we understand what they want.”

“Besides the obvious?” I gestured vaguely at myself, remembering how all three brothers had tracked our every movement.

“That obvious interest?” She shook her head. “Just surface. Something deeper. Something my beads don’t like.”

She dug in her bag and pulled out what looked suspiciously like a protection charm. “Put this in back seat. Just in case.”

“In case of what?”

But Eomma was already pulling out her phone, muttering what sounded like a protection chant under her breath.

One of the protection charms swung from my rearview mirror like the world’s most suspicious air freshener as we wound through mountain roads that seemed to actively resist GPS navigation. What should have been a straight shot to Cedar Grove kept turning into scenic detours through increasingly dense forest.

“Eomma,” I said after our third U-turn, “please tell me you’re not lost too.”

She hummed thoughtfully, eyes fixed on her prayer beads. “Not lost. Road… moving.”

“Roads don’t move.”