Her lips spreading in a smile that had my mother putting a hand on her weapon, Claudia touched a fingertip to Petra’s palm. The resulting spark was enough to make even Petra jump.

“The message is sent,” Claudia said, opening her eyes again and shifting her gaze back to the rippling grass on the monitor. “We will see if he agrees to play your game.”

* * *

• • •

Transportation was arranged. Weapons were checked. And Connor walked to me, his expression unfathomable, and gestured to the hallway.

“Can I talk to you?”

I nodded and followed him into the hallway, then down the corridor to a quiet spot behind the main stairwell.

I wanted to tell him I was glad that he’d stayed, but I didn’t think I was ready for that admission.

“I brought you something.” As I lifted my brows in surprise, he opened his jacket, fished for something in an interior pocket. He pulled out a toy sword.

I stared at it. “That’s my sword. Why do you have my sword?” I narrowed my gaze. “How do you have my sword?”

“I stole it from Cadogan House.”

I blinked. “You did what?”

“Four years ago, I snuck into Cadogan House and I took it.”

“Why would you do that?”

He lifted a shoulder and grinned in Classic Teenage Connor style. “I wanted to see if I could.”

“You are such a punk.” But I couldn’t help being a little impressed. He might have been reckless, but he was undeniably brave.

His grin was wide, confident. “I should get points for bringing it back to you.”

“Why should you get points for returning something you stole in the first place?”

“Because I think you need a reminder about who you are.”

“And who is that?” I asked cautiously.

He watched me for a minute, as if carefully choosing his words. “You’re different, Elisa. You’re different than you were, and you’re different from the rest of them. You aren’t just a vampire, and you aren’t just their kid.”

“No, I’m the monster nobody knows about.”

“No,” he said, and the word was forceful. “That’s my point. You’re thinking about rules and biology and what vampires are supposed to be. They don’t apply here, because there’s nothing else like you out there.

“I don’t know what happens in your head,” he said, moving a step closer, his voice growing deeper with each word. “Because you won’t let any of us in. But I’ve seen you fight.”

I swallowed hard against the desire to argue, to reject what he was telling me. To shake him off, because that’s how I’d dealt with the monster. By not thinking about it. By pushing it down and away.

“Trust a shifter, Elisa. Claws don’t make you unclean. They make you strong.”

“Calling a girl’s murderous inner urges one of her strengths isn’t going to win you friends.”

“Are they murderous?”

“They’re violent.”

“I’m violent.”

“It’s not the same.”

“Isn’t it? It’s all magic in some form or other.”

“We don’t have time for this right now,” I said, anger and impatience growing. “We have to get ready for the fight.”

“We absolutely have time for this, because we are getting ready for the fight. This is a conversation you need to have. Why did you let it hurt the man who hurt Lulu? Because you wanted it to.”

My blood sped, my eyes silvering at the rush of fury. “Take it back.” Every word was bitter and bitten off.

“No,” he said. “Because it’s the truth. There may be foreign magic inside of you, Elisa. But there’s no foreign magic in control of you. If you gave it control, it’s because you wanted it. Stop justifying it and stop overthinking it.”

Connor moved a step closer, close enough that our toes nearly touched. And now his voice was a whisper.

He put a fingertip beneath my chin, lifted it so our eyes met. “You’ve been in control for a long time. And you’ve always had your rules. You’ve always known the way things are done. Maybe, with Lulu’s attacker, it was time to do what you wanted.”

The idea made something clench in my abdomen. “To hurt people?”

His eyes were equally kind and fierce. “No, Lis. To save people. To fight because violence had been done against people you cared about.”

I didn’t know what to say about that . . . or what to feel.

“The next time you feel the monster, as you call it, the urge to fight—instead of pushing it down or letting it go or pretending it’s not you, accept that it is. And fight the good fight.”

I thought about the church, about my attack on the fairy. “I’ve tried to manage it. I can’t. I just went berserker again. I hurt a fairy when we were rescuing Claudia.”

“Why did you go berserker, then?”

“Because the fairy would have killed me and Theo if she’d had a chance.”

“Is the monster in control right now?”

“No.”

His smile was sly. “So you managed to force it back after that fight?”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Oh, I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m a shifter, and I know about managing those two minds. The point is this: You’re in control, and you always were. And yeah, that thought may not be comfortable. But there is nothing wrong with you.”

His eyes darkened, the blue swirling like dark ocean water. “You are exactly who you should be.”

* * *

• • •

Thirty minutes later, Petra, Connor, and I were in an SUV and approaching the site. Yuen, Theo, Claudia, and Gabriel would travel separately, and we’d rendezvous at Aqua, one of the skyscrapers that edged the park. They’d handle the magic and keep an eye on Claudia. We were responsible for helping round up the fairies—or taking Claudia down if this all went bad.

“Nearly there,” said the driver, a vampire named Brody, who was also one of Cadogan’s guards.

Adrenaline began to pump, speeding my blood. The monster knew a fight was brewing, and it knew what I’d been thinking. What I’d been feeling. It waited and it wondered.

We’d had to avoid Lake Shore Drive because of the intrusion, and he cruised up Michigan, which was nearly empty of people because of the relocation. We made it nearly to Randolph when the world rose in front of us.

Michigan Avenue became a hill, soft and green—and right in front of the SUV.

Petra screamed, and Brody slammed on the brakes—and we slammed directly into dirt and grass, the impact throwing all of us forward.

Air bags inflated, and the world went silent but for the roar of blood in my ears.

The prickle of magic and the scent of blood filled the car.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked.

“I’m good,” Connor said, working on his seat belt. “But my neck may never be the same. Check on Petra.”

I fumbled trying to unclip my seat belt, finally managed it, then lurched over the second-row seat to check on her.

There was no visible blood, but her eyes were closed. “Petra?” I patted her cheeks. “Petra? Are you all right?”

She opened one eye. “I’m fine. Why are you yelling at me? Ow.”

“Brody? You okay up there?”

“I’m—” He put a hand to his head, drew it back to find blood. “I’m just cut, I think. But everything’s attached.”

“Warn the other SUV,” I said. “Tell them Michigan is blocked. And let’s get the hell out of this vehicle.”

Connor wrenched open the door, helped Petra and me out of the car. My head spun when my feet touched pavement, but my legs held.

“You’re all right?” Connor asked, tipping up my chin to check my eyes.

“Immortal,” I reminded him.

“But not unbreakable.”

“I’m going to try not to get broken.” It was the best I could do.

* * *

• • •

While Millennium Park was fine, skyscrapers were becoming hills east of Michigan and south of the river. These hills were rockier than we’d seen near the United Center, a mix of grassy fields and craggy hills, moving slowly west.