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Mira

“I think we should wake them up.” Rome nudged my elbow. “Lilas is draining out.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

I started to scooch off the couch, ready to scoop the little girl into my arms, but Amanda held her hand up.

“Leave her. She is doing what she was made to do.”

“She’s a child,” Rome growled, “and Kerry would never agree to this.”

“A power drain is not fatal.” Amanda arched one eyebrow, haughty as a queen.

A droplet of blood beaded up in Lilas’ left nostril and slowly slid down her pale cheek.

“That’s enough!” Rome surged to his feet.

He was too late. Lilas’s whole body tensed, then seemed to go boneless.

And Kerry’s eyelids popped open. He blinked a coupla of times, and a magnificent scowl twisted his face when he saw Rome standing over him, which was as far as Rome had made it before Lilas passed out.

“What—” Kerry turned toward Lilas, saw her white face, and rolled over and up in one fluid movement.

“You let her drain herself?” he half-shouted. “ Why?”

“Dreamweaving is what she was born to do,” Amanda was brave enough to answer him.

He tugged up the end of his shirt and used it to wipe the trickle of blood from Lilas’ face with a gentleness that surprised me, given his state of agitation.

“She’s a little kid! She ain’t old enough to know better yet. You shoulda stopped her. Mira, Rome, why didn’t you?”

“We were about to.” I held up my hands and looked at Amanda. “Mrs. Greenaway said a power drain is not fatal.”

“When war is upon our doorstep,” she said, “everyone must pull their weight. Lilas simply did her duty.”

Oh, that was the wrong thing to say .

Kerry’s eyes flared, and I slid to the other side of the sofa. If he was gonna throw down with her, I didn’t wanna get caught in the crossfire.

“Lady, your heart must still be stone. If you were anyone else, I’d cold-cock you.” He picked Lilas up and headed toward the bedrooms.

“Well!” Amanda’s lips pulled into a pout. “There’s gratitude for you.”

“Do you know his story?” Rome’s face had turned to stone. “His history?”

“I do.”

“Then you should have realized how he would feel about a child being used beyond her endurance.” Ice chips flew with each word. “I guarantee you will never convince him to do that again. Not even to find Gemma.”

He spun on his heel and followed after Kerry, taking the chilly tension with him.

I blew out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.

Yeah, Kerry’s savage fire was enough to make you wet your pants, but Rome’s icy intensity was downright petrifying.

I half-thought the difference is that you knew Kerry was dangerous. Rome’s tight control gave you the illusion you were safe until you suddenly weren’t.

Frowning, Amanda crossed her arms around her waist and put her nose in the air.

“Uh, how about a snack? Or, um, something to drink?” I pushed to my feet with a fake smile and escaped to the kitchen.

#

Gigi and Jax returned from their supply run before Kerry and Rome came out of the bedroom, and I followed them into the kitchen to explain what had happened.

Jax stopped stowing the groceries to stare at me.

“That doesn’t sound like Amanda. Certainly not the ruthlessness. That’s Clem’s forte.”

“And pouting? Acting haughty?” Gigi’s brow furrowed. “She was kindness itself when we met her.”

“Which was hours after she’d been freed from stone, right?” I sipped my hot chocolate, eyeing them over the rim of my cup. “Maybe she wasn’t herself then and this is the real her.”

“The real her?” Jax repeated in a mutter. “The real —”

Dropping a box of peanut butter crackers, he took off like a shot. I looked at Gigi, she looked at me, and we both shrugged. Next thing we heard was a door crashing open and a vibrating growl that made the hair on my arms stand up.

We didn’t waste any time getting to the living room.

#

Rome

It was clear the woman was trying to move, most likely using all her strength and straining against Kerry’s hold, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Not with as pissed as he was.

“Kerry, I’m your friend!” she pleaded.

“Show your true face!” he barked as he stood over her spread-eagle figure. “Or I’ll roast this one off!”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Her voice changed, lowering half an octave and picking up a faint accent. Spanish, maybe. “You wouldn’t hurt the miracle worker.”

“No, but you ain’t her, are you?” A fireball formed in his hand.

He’s bluffing her, I assured myself, but moved closer just in case he wasn’t.

The fireball hovered three inches above her skin.

He’s in control. He hasn’t turned tiger.

Two inches.

It is a bluff, right? He wouldn’t really burn her face off.

One inch. I could see the flames reflected in her wide eyes.

Oh, crap. I’m going to have to stop him, aren’t I?

But Amanda Greenaway’s pretty face suddenly turned into a rather startling one, and I blew out a huge sigh of relief.

Long spider legs—either tattoos or makeup—began at her black eyes and stretched up her wrinkly forehead and down her hollow cheeks. Her skin paled to porcelain speckled with age spots, her lips thinned, and her long brown hair morphed into short black curls threaded with silver.

It was not a face I recognized, nor did the others.

“Someone call Hank.” Kerry simmered down enough to extinguish the fire ball. “I need him and Gina here. And call the real Amanda Greenaway, too. Make sure she’s okay. Better yet, call John and get him and Tara to check on her.”

“On it.” Jax whipped out his phone.

“Why do you need Hank and Gina here?” Mira stared intently at the woman, as if she were trying to figure something out.

“If Amanda isn’t Amanda, Lilas might not be Lilas,” I explained.

“And they can do what? Have Gina teleport them back to the Sanctuary?”

“No.” My brow furrowed until I remembered she had raised herself outside of any Sanctuary, so of course she wouldn’t know. “As a messenger, Gina can detect and unravel deceptions and illusions.”

“Well, that’s handy.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Gigi asked.

“Get a few answers.” Kerry lifted one shoulder.

“Don’t you mean ask a few questions?” Her lips twitched into a frown.

“I ain’t asking anything.” His grin was brutal. “She’s gonna tell me everything I wanna know.”

I cleared my throat and, this time, I stepped in before he lit a fireball.

“How about I snap a pic of her and text it to Josef? He might recognize her.”

He agreed, so I did, then asked how long he could hold her.

“’S long as I want.” He didn’t take his eyes off of her.

I nodded. Whoever she was, she wasn’t weak, but if anyone could hold her indefinitely, it was Kerry. The kid was a power plant.

“Mira, would you and Gigi please watch over Lilas in the other room until we’re sure she’s who she says she is?

” I tilted my head toward the bedroom door.

“I can’t believe she’s a fake, too. She knew too much about Kerry and to find a child who could pull off a con like this?

Highly unlikely. Still, now is not the time to take chances. ”

“Sure.” Her smile was wry as she met my eyes. “Come on, Gigi. The boys don’t want us to see them torture information out of this chick.”

After they left, I crouched next to Kerry.

“How did you know she wasn’t the real Amanda Greenaway?” I asked.

“She’s not pregnant. At least, she don’t look it to me.”

A hunch. He was acting on a hunch. He was going to burn her face off on a hunch—

“Hank and Gina are on their way.” Jax slid his phone in his pocket as he rejoined us.

Good. This was getting too big for a few teenagers and a beginner college team, and I would be grateful to finally have some experienced backup.