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“I’m sorry you’ve had to be cooped up in this house for so long,” I said.

“VR helps,” Dylan said, rubbing his eyes again. “It’s okay, Mom. I know you grownups didn’t want to tell me the bad guys are still out there, but it’s pretty obvious.”

I tugged him to my side and ruffled his hair. “You’re too smart for your own good, kid.”

“Duh.”

“This’ll all be over soon,” I said. “Your dad’s got it all under control.”

“I know, ’cause Dad’s a badass.”

“Hey! Language!”

The door swung open, and Steph stepped into the living room. “Language? Who’s cursing? Mmm, smells good in here.” He smiled as he sauntered into the kitchen. He looked good, but exhausted: a smile on his face, but deep, dark circles under his eyes. It was a look I was used to seeing, and it broke my heart a little.

“Not me,” Dylan said sheepishly.

“I hear Mia’s taking you to play soccer,” Steph said. He stole a sip of my coffee with a wink, then ruffled Dylan’s hair. “That’s good. I know it sucks to spend all summer in this house.”

“It hasn’t been that bad,” Dylan said. “We’ve got the whole lake. And I get to work on my shifting with Striker.”

“Well, the rest of our summers are going to be a lot more fun than this,” Steph said. “I promise.”

“Go get changed, Dylan,” I said. “Mia will be here soon. I’ll make you a breakfast sandwich.”

“Nice!” Dylan raced back upstairs, suddenly full of energy.

I pulled Steph into my arms. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He tipped his nose into the crown of my head and inhaled. I felt some of the tension leave his body.

“You okay?” I loved his scent: the familiar musk of his skin, the rich earth of the forest, and a little bit of campfire smoke. I wondered if he’d shifted the night before, or if he’d just spent the night outside, lost in his thoughts.

He nodded. “As well as I can be.”

“What happened?”

“Last night was harder than I expected.”

I pulled away to look into his eyes. “How is that even possible?”

“I learned something new about Sean,” he said. “About our childhood.”

“What do you mean?”

I held Steph close as he told me about their childhood—about Sean’s fantasies of suffocating him in his sleep, about pushing him into the freezing lake in the hope that he would drown.

I never knew Sean, but I knew Steph cherished his childhood memories. In his memories, he held the brother he knew as a child. His friend and his confidante. And apparently, that had never been true. Sean had been dreaming of his death since they were justkids.

Tears welled in my eyes.

“Whoa, whoa,” Steph said. He cupped my face. “What’s wrong?”

I laughed incredulously. “What do you mean, what’s wrong? That’s so… Steph, it’s so awful. It’s so sad. Youlovedhim.”

“Of course I did.” His expression softened when he realized my tears were for him. “Honestly, despite everything, a part of me probably always will.”

“You have such a big heart,” I said.