“I’m not going back to Themis.”

A part of me had known for a while now that I wouldn’t be going back, but actually saying the words out loud seemed to only solidify the idea, leaving me with no opportunity to change my mind. I maintained my usual outward calm, but on the inside my stomach was twisting into knots. I had no place to go, no place to call home after the long centuries with Themis. Anyone that I had once called a friend was now dead. I was truly alone in this world, beyond the people I called my enemies.

Tristan slowly returned to his chair as Mira’s mouth hung open in shape of a perfect oval for a second before she found her voice again.

“What do you mean, you’re not going back?” she said in a voice that barely carried across the room.

“It’s time I left,” I admitted. “I’ve known it was coming, but I always needed a reason. After what happened last night with Ryan, I can’t go back to that place. I don’t agree with his methods and I’m worried about his plans.”

“So you want to send Lily into his clutches?” Mira demanded incredulously.

I knew it sounded crazy, but I had no doubt that my logic was sound. “It’s the safest place I can think of. The naturi attacked Themis only when we were around. Ryan is a powerful warlock, well known in our respective communities. No one will cross him. With Themis, she will be out of the view of the coven.”

“But she’ll be with Ryan—the one man you trust the least on the face of the Earth,” Mira quickly pointed out.

“I don’t trust him, but I do know him very well,” I admitted. I walked over and took Mira’s arms in both of my hands. “The warlock needs you as an ally, not an enemy. If he’s to get you on his side, he’ll not touch a hair on Lily’s head. In fact, he will work very hard to see that she’s protected and happy. He will teach her to use her gift. He will see to it that she gets an excellent education and that she also learns about our world so that she is equipped to handle nightwalkers, lycanthropes, warlocks, naturi, and anything else the world decides to throw at her.”

“I don’t know,” Mira hedged, looking down at my hands.

“Themis can offer her a somewhat normal life,” I pressed. “We can’t do that, no matter how hard we try.”

I don’t want to give her up, Mira whispered in my mind. I could feel the sorrow welling up within her. Lily had been her second chance at having a child, a second chance at living, and I was stealing that away from her. But then, I was losing her too.

I know. Neither do I, I replied as I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her temple. “We have to do what’s best for her,” I said out loud as I stepped away.

“Then let me stay!” Lily shouted as she burst into the room.

I stepped away from Mira and turned in time to see the teenager run across the room and grab my left arm. I could only guess that she had been listening from the stairs. After she had gone upstairs, I hadn’t bothered to check to make sure that she stayed up there. Like I had told Mira, we weren’t equipped to handle a child. A real parent would have checked to make sure they were alone when they started to discuss the fate of the child.

“We have to do what’s best for you,” I explained. “It’s too dangerous for you to remain here. That creature that you saw, the bori, it plans to kill you if Mira and I don’t do as it wishes. We have to send you somewhere you will be safe.”

“I want to stay!” she pressed.

“It’s too dangerous. We won’t risk your life,” Mira said, laying her hand on the girl’s slim shoulder.

“Fine. Send me away, but let me come back once it’s safe,” she replied. “I like being here with you and Danaus and Tristan. You treat me like I’m normal.”

“There is no such thing as safe when you are with Danaus and me. We can’t risk your life,” Mira said in a soft voice.

“The people that you are going to will treat you like you are normal,” I stated. “Themis is a research facility that studies people like Mira and Tristan. There are others there that have abilities similar to yours. They will help you learn to strengthen your skills, something neither Mira nor I can teach you to do. At Themis, you will grow stronger. If you stay with Mira and me, you will only get hurt.”

Lily pressed her lips into a firm, unyielding line as she looked from me to Mira. “Will I ever see you again?”

Mira gave a deep laugh that seemed to be half relief and half heartache as she threw her arms around Lily’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug. “You’ll see us again. Holidays. Summer break. Think of Themis as going away to school. You’ll see us as often as possible, I promise.”

Lily looked over at me for confirmation and I nodded, forcing a smile on my lips. I still didn’t know where I was going to be after I left Themis, but I would do whatever I could to keep Lily in my life for just a few more years.

“Mira, could you call Ryan? We need to get her on a plane tonight,” I said, dragging us back to the task at hand now that Lily was no longer fighting us.

“I’m leaving tonight? I—I don’t have many clothes. Where is Themis?” she demanded, panic starting to creep inside of her voice.

“Themis is outside of London,” Tristan interjected, pushing to his feet again. “If Mira can spare me, I’ll accompany you to Themis. I’ve been there before. I can introduce you to some of the people and help you get settled.”

“Please, Mira!” Lily pleaded, grabbing the Fire Starter’s hand. “I can’t leave the country alone. I’ve never even been on a plane before.”

“That’s fine with me.” Mira nodded, giving Lily’s hand a squeeze. “Gabriel, Matsui, and Tristan will accompany you. They will see that you are safely settled, and if there are any problems, they will bring you straight back to Savannah.”

Mira slowly allowed Lily’s hands to slide from hers before she walked out of the room and headed for her office so she could make a round of phone calls to settle things with Ryan, arrange the flight, and contact Gabriel.

Lily looked up at me as she stood in the center of the room, suddenly looking very alone. “This is for the best,” I repeated.

The girl nodded, forcing a smile onto her lips though it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’ve seen what vampires and werewolves are capable of. I heard about what that creature did to the girl. I know your world is dangerous. I still want to stay, but I know it’s not safe. I know that this is for the best.”

A smile finally lifted the corners of my own mouth. At least she believed me. Unfortunately, I was still trying to convince myself that this was all for the best. It just didn’t feel like it.

I still don’t see how she’s going to be able to help us,” Mira said for the third time since getting in the car. Yet, regardless of her doubts, the nightwalker pulled the flashy BMW into LaVina’s long gravel driveway.

“When I met her this past summer, she already knew about the naturi. It stands to reason that she’s heard of the bori,” I patiently repeated for the third time. “We need to find out how to send this thing back to its cage and we don’t have time to track down Jabari.”

Mira gave a little snort as she slowed the car to a stop and threw it into park. “I doubt the Ancient would know,” she replied. “I’ve read the journals. There’s no mention of how the cage was formed.”

Besides, I doubted Jabari would be willing to help us. I suspected the coven member would just snatch up Mira and disappear rather than risk her to the bori. He had to protect his interests now that he wielded controlling power on the coven. At least, I thought he did. Mira had never discovered where Elizabeth’s loyalties truly lay. The other coven member’s loyalties remained a mystery to us.

Even after parking the car and turning off the engine, Mira continued to sit, gripping the steering wheel. She was staring straight ahead, though I doubt she actually saw anything.