His expression was amused, but there was mild insult in his eyes. “What did you think I was going to say to her?”

“I don’t know. The point is, you didn’t.”

“I like Lulu,” he said. “She’s like the little sister I never really wanted.”

“Well, thanks. I’m still getting used to mature Connor.”

“You’re hilarious.”

“Thank you.”

His expression went flat. “That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

I didn’t think it had been. And I braced myself for a conversation I didn’t want to have.

“Does it hurt you?”

I blinked. That’s not what I’d expected him to ask. “No. It’s fine, and I’m handling it.”

“Are you? Because you aren’t acting like you’re handling it. If you were handling it, you wouldn’t be hiding it.”

I looked back at Lulu. She’d pulled out her screen and was making a big effort to look everywhere else except at us.

“I’m handling it,” I said again, each word a battle that I struggled to win. I turned away, but he grabbed my arm.

“I don’t think so,” he said, eyes shifting as he searched my face. “Even I can see that you’re walking a very dangerous line.”

I just looked away.

“Trying to ignore it, to push it down, isn’t going to help you. Not in the long run. But maybe you could learn to control it.”

Irritation began to buzz along my skin. I knew he was trying to help, but that didn’t make me any less angry at his polite suggestions. I’d been living with the monster, had been fighting the monster, since I’d been old enough to recognize its voice. To understand that I wasn’t just angry or psychotic, but . . . invaded.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His eyes went dark and he moved a step closer. “I know better than anyone, Elisa. I’ve seen what it can do to you.”

Memory flashed, sharp as a dagger, and I could all but smell blood in the air. “Destruction is what it can do for me. Pain.”

“That’s true of any power. It just has to be managed. Look,” he said, his voice softening, “if you don’t want to do that, maybe there’s a way to strip it out again. Someone who can use magic to remove it.”

That someone was dead. Sorcha—the one who’d created the Egregore—had been killed by her own creation.

“I don’t need advice, and I’m not going to apologize for who I am.” Not when it wasn’t my fault.

His eyes went hard, jaw tight with frustration. “No one asked you to apologize. And there is no mistaking who you are. You’re stubborn and brave and goddamned dumbfounding at times. And it’s not like you to give up.”

The anger turned up to a full boil. “I’m not giving up anything, except this conversation. But next time I’m looking for magic advice, I’ll be sure to give you a call.”

I walked back to the car, leaving him standing behind me.

* * *

• • •

“You all right?” Lulu asked when I climbed into her car. “That looked like a pretty heated argument.”

“Just a difference of opinion.”

The car was silent and still while she looked me over, evaluated.

“That’s what you’re going with?”

“Yep.”

“All right, then. Buckle up, buttercup, and we’ll hit the road.”

“Can you take me back to the hotel? I need to check in with Seri.”

“Sure thing.”

We were halfway back when my screen beeped, signaling an incoming message.

I pulled it out, found Seri’s number. “Hey, Seri. What’s up?”

“We’re leaving, Lis.”

“What do you mean, leaving?”

“We’re going to the airport. Leaving Chicago tonight.”

“Who is we?”

“The delegates of France.”

I was floored. If the delegates walked away, that was it for the talks and the chance for peace. And I didn’t know where it left me.

“Seri, you can’t leave. Not now. If we want peace, we have to keep working at it. We can’t just walk away. That’s probably what they want, anyway—to break up the talks. We can’t give in, even if it’s dangerous.”

“Lis, there was no peace to find here. But there is work to be done at home.”

I needed to do something, although I had no idea what that would be. Because even if I wanted her to be wrong, I understood her fear. I had to believe she wasn’t right, that there was always a chance Europe’s vampires could put aside self-interest and think about the future.

“Just hold on, Seri. Okay? Wait for me at the airport.” I didn’t know what I’d do at the airport, how I’d make them change their minds. But I had to try.

There was silence for a moment, then: “I’ll stall as long as I can, Lis. But I must go.”

The call ended, and I stared at the screen for a moment, my mind racing like my emotions. Then I looked at Lulu. “I need a favor.”

* * *

• • •

Fifteen minutes later, Lulu squealed to a stop outside the private terminal. I climbed out of the car, a little shocked we hadn’t gotten crushed along the way, and ran inside.

It was late, and the building was empty. The plane waited outside. Seri and Odette, the only vampires in sight, were climbing the stairs.

“Ma’am?” asked the desk attendant as I blew past toward the door, then rushed outside and into a plume of heat and wind. “Ma’am!” she yelled, and I heard her chair squeak as the door slammed behind me.

I ran toward the plane. “Seri!”

She turned, a black pashmina around her shoulders, leather leggings and black stilettos below. A dark ribbon held her hair at the nape of her neck, the long ends of grosgrain blowing in the wind.

“Attends,” she said, and offered her bag to Odette, then climbed down to the tarmac.

“Marion and Victor believe it is best to return,” she said. “The French delegates have voted, and we must abide by that decision.”

“Seri, I know this is hard for everyone. But if you leave, the other delegates will follow. The entire summit will fall apart, and Tomas’s death will have been for nothing.” I looked up at the open door. “I should have reported to Marion sooner, but it’s been a long night, and I haven’t had a chance. I could talk to her, explain what’s happening, what I think the next steps should be—”

Seri leaned in close to look at my face. “You are injured!”

“I’m fine. It’s nothing. It was . . . there was . . .” How was I supposed to tell her that the thing she feared—more violence—was exactly what had happened?

“A difference of opinion,” I settled on. “And we’re getting closer to figuring out what happened. We’ve been investigating and gathering evidence. Riley didn’t do this.”

She looked surprised. “You have another suspect?”

I had a video of a fairy who looked nearly exactly like every other fairy. “Not exactly,” I said. “But we’re working on it. Just—talk to Marion and ask her to give me some more time, to give the process one more chance. I stayed in Paris,” I reminded her. “Even when there was violence, I stayed. Because I wanted to help.”

For the first time, I saw guilt in her eyes. “I am sorry. You are braver than me, Elisa. Perhaps you are braver than all of us.”

I dropped my arm, stared at her. “And what about me?”

They weren’t just leaving Chicago; they were leaving me behind. I was the escort, the vampire who was supposed to accompany them here and back again safely. But they hadn’t given me a heads-up, or time to pack, or a ticket for the ride. I didn’t know exactly what this meant for my service, my tenure with Maison Dumas. But it surely didn’t mean anything good.

This time, Seri’s smile looked forced. “You will follow us when you are ready, of course.” Then she leaned forward, pressed a kiss to my cheek. “We will see you in Paris, Elisa. Be safe.”

“Seraphine!” One of Marion’s assistants, a skinny man in a dark suit, leaned out of the door and waved his hand. “Allons-y!”