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“Well, it’s a scary idea, going into hiding, bad guys chasing you, maybe hurting your family.” I rub my temples. My mother and my father. My siblings.

Reggie drinks the lemonade in two gulps, throat working. I watch the muscles twitch, leading down to a thin white shirt that makes my mouth water. The humidity makes it cling to him like wet paper. I now know that body intimately—and I want to know it much better.

“You don’t have a tail right now. Of course, the feds probably have local authorities and their own detail keeping an eye on this house on routine patrols. Powell will check in tomorrow, and people will be over for ‘dinner,’ to start the whole WITSEC procedures in earnest.”

“I know, I know. I’m trying not to think about it.” Now I’m thinking about it, and I want to vomit.

“If you want to get away and get out before anyone can trace you... I’ll help you run. And hide. Powell said they have evidence from your flash drive. They have your recorded statements. Youcan run.Wecan run. We can go, now, tonight.I’llbe your witness protection program, Teri.”

For a split-second, it’s tempting. Run off to a new life, one that sounds adventurous and teeming with passion?

Been there, done that.

And even though I like Reggie a lot—I skip over the jumbled, messy part of my brain that tried to substitute another L-word—I don’t know how we could survive on our own forever. I know he’s a golem, and I know he’s got incredible powers, but his experience is in ferrying people to safety, helping them escape. The threats didn’t follow them.

“You’re wondering how I can be this cocky, huh? How I can think I’m enough to keep you safe?”

I know it’s a waste of time to lie to him. “It’s different than rescuing orphans and smuggling them out of Poland to New York, or out of London to the countryside, that’s all.”

“I say this as a loving and patriotic American—the bigger the government agency, the bigger the shitshow. But Therese and Reggie Gray—we could be in Anchorage by tomorrow. We could have new names if you want.”

“Alaska? No! I don’t want to live in Alaska.”

“That’s perfect. The Feds will ask you where you want to live—”

“I already told them, I gave them a list of ten places—”

“And those are the places you will never see.” Reggie slams the bottle down and crashes into the chair across from mine. “They figure if you’ve told them you have a place in mind, a place you want, then you’ll have mentioned it to at least one other person. They send you to places you have no desire to go to. Alaska could be perfect. It’s harder to travel there, harder to survive there, and in some of the smaller suburbs, a stranger stands out. When newcomers arrived, we’d know it. For that matter—we could stay here and tell them to bugger off. We don’tneed them. This place is safer than any other town in the country—most of the time.”

“You’d put the people of your town in danger?”

Reggie laughs. “Delgado’s men would stand no chance against the magical community in this town. We seem quiet and simple because that’s what we choose. We have the element of surprise here—especially if we can stop the WITSEC handlers from swarming us. Teri, let’s leave for a month or two. We can go anywhere, love. But we should go now if you don’t want to spend the rest of your life in the WITSEC program. We’ll lose all of the people trailing you, bad or good. Then we’ll come back, come home. ”

“Reggie. That’s a nice offer. But it’s a big leap of faith. We don’t... we don’t know how we’d do long-term.”

“Then we’ll start short-term.” His eyes plead with me. “I don’t ask for big favors unless I can repay them, Therese.”

What favor? Me, living with him, under his care and protection, with his studly goodness and his sweet little ways? He’s doingmethe favor. The fact that he thinks me saying yes is a gift gives me that powerful goddess feeling again, but I know better than to trust it outside of the bedroom.

The desire to say yes is so strong that I slam it down with the only weapon I’ve got. “No. Reggie, thank you, but no. I can’t run tonight. I need to talk to Powell again before I can make any decisions.” I try to smile with firm sweetness, like a patient parent, but Reggie is no little boy; he’s a grown-ass man.

That’s something else I realize. Matteo was a little boy playing with dangerous, expensive toys and carelessly using anything he wanted—including me.

Reggie gives me a dejected nod. “Just say the word. I’m going to call Jakob.”

“I’ll take a shower. The humidity is killing me.” I disappear, mainly to give him privacy. If he learns anything about my case or Estrada, I know he’ll tell me. I trust him.

You are so stupid, Therese LaFontaine Delgado Gray. I call myself my full name and then some.You’re letting mistakes with a bad man ruin something with a good man, and you both know it!

“HOW ARE YOU HOLDINGup, Reginald?”

“Incredible.” I am flying with joy one second, and miserable the next. Incredible is the word. I wouldn’t have believed my life could change so much in a few days.

“You two hit it off?”

“More than that. Jakob... I have a soul. I felt it burst to life, struggle slowly, bloom, then explode into being.”

“I’m so happy for you, Reggie. Mazel Tov! But... Please be careful. I spoke to Ardy today. The FBI detail has asked for local police cooperation, and he’s passed on what they’ve told him, even though he’s not supposed to.”