Ivy's grip tightened, and Mia frowned. "I can give him peace," she insisted. "It's what I do."

"You hurt my friend," Ivy said softly, and a shiver ran through me at her anger.

"It was an accident," Mia responded coldly. "Leaving him like that was a bad decision. We will accept our mistake and do what's necessary to make reparations. I have not lived this long by risking my life or letting my instincts rule me. I can calm him." Her voice changed, becoming softer, but her eyes were almost black with what looked like vampire hunger. "No one will get hurt," she said. "Let me go. The law can decide what is just."

Yeah, like I believe that.

Remus's breathing was harsh, and the man under him was gasping in pain, eyes trying to stay open as the agony pulled them shut. Mia hadn't said "trust me," but I'd heard it. Ivy must have, too, for she hesitated only briefly before she slowly released the banshee. My pulse hammered as the woman stood free, shaking her coat as if she were shaking off the memory of Ivy's touch.

Edden shouted, "Back off!" and I felt the tension wind tighter even as everyone retreated. A faint dusting of gold was sifting down, and Jenks dropped to my shoulder.

Mia picked up Holly, and with the toddler on her hip, she went to Remus as calmly as if they were shopping for peanut butter. "Let the officer go," she said, laying a light hand on his shoulder.

"They will separate us," he pleaded. Behind him, FIB officers were creeping closer, but Edden waved them to a stop when Mia caught sight of them. "I love you, Mia," Remus said, desperate. "I love Holly. I can't live without both of you. I can't go back to that place in my head."

Mia made a shushing noise and smiled at him. "Let the man go," she said, and I wondered if this had played out in their living room before they had fled, leaving Glenn for dead. "Once they hear what happened, we can return to the way we were."

I doubted that, but Remus shifted in uncertainty. Around me, the officers tensed.

"Let them cuff you," she whispered, the small woman on tiptoe to almost whisper the words in his ear. "I will protect you. We will not be separated. If you love me, trust me."

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. Trust me? Jenks's wings clattered, and I glanced at him.

"I don't li-i-i-ike this," he said in a singsong voice.

Yeah. Me either. I was a witch, damn it. Banshees were way out of my league.

Mia put a small hand against his cheek, and with Holly happily babbling between them, Remus exhaled, his shoulders slumping and his chin dropping to his chest. "I'm sorry," he said, carefully sliding the safety on the gun before tossing it to spin on the floor, away from everyone.

"Thank you, love," she said, smiling, and I wondered if the young-seeming but age-old woman was going to throw him to the mercy of the court, letting him take the blame for Glenn's injuries while she hid behind the excuse of being a bystander. She was up to something. I could feel it.

Remus let go of the man's wrist, and the FIB officer cried out in relief. Edden gestured, and the men behind Remus moved, jerking him off their fellow officer and cuffing him. From the other side of the food court, the I.S. officers buzzed, some of them swearing, most laughing. Ivy pulled herself together, trying to find her usual svelte elegance. Her eyes were black when they met mine. A pulse of fear went through me, then vanished. She looked away, and I resolved to keep my distance for a while. I should have brought my perfume…

"Be careful!" Mia demanded as the officers handled Remus roughly. A woman cop had closed in on her and Holly, and seeing it, Remus stopped, his arm muscles straining and a fearful look in his eyes.

"No," Mia demanded in a high voice before Remus could react. "Don't separate us. I can keep him calm. I never wanted to cause any trouble. We were just sitting there."

Jenks snickered from my shoulder. "Didn't want to cause trouble. Does she really think we're buying that crap?"

"Yeah, but look at him," I said, gesturing at the man. Under Ivy's watchful attention, Mia had rejoined him, and he was again docile. Meek, almost. Creepy, definitely. It was easier this way, and less embarrassing, seeing that the I.S. was watching. Not to mention the news vans out front. If it hadn't been for Ivy, this would've been a lot more difficult. As long as Mia didn't want to cause trouble, Ivy could keep her in line, and with that, Remus would do the same.

Beside me, Edden huffed in satisfaction. "Got 'em both, when they were too afraid to even try," he said to me, gesturing with his chin to the I.S. But I had my doubts that this was over. From Mia's words, I guessed she thought all we wanted was Remus. When she found out we were after her as well, things might get ugly.

"I don't like this," I murmured to Edden, thinking this was too easy, and he gave me an insulted look. Okay, so we had her walking to the door, but she was not going to meekly let us take her baby. She lived with a serial killer, for crying out loud! That she was pushing him around should be a big warning to Edden. "This isn't over," I whispered.

Edden snorted. "What do you want me to do? Cuff the baby?" he said, then shouted, "Pack it up!"

People started to move. Remus was led to the front doors, his head bowed and looking beaten with his hands cuffed before him. Ivy and Mia were six steps back, and Jenks and I fell into place after them. The baby was still on Mia's hip, and the little girl was watching me from around her mother with eyes so pale, they looked albino. Peeking from under her pink snow hat, her hair was a wispy blond that reminded me of Trent's, and it looked nothing like the jet-black severity of her mother's. Holly had her thumb in her mouth, and the child's unblinking stare was getting to me. She started to fuss when I looked away, and Mia jiggled her. Tension tightened my gut. This was too easy.

"You're losing her, pixy," Mia said, shooting a glance at us over her shoulder.

Jenks let slip a burst of green dust. "What?" he said, and I wondered at his panic.

"You've lost her already," Mia said, the banshee's voice faint, as if she was seeing around corners to the future. "You see it in her eyes, and it's killing you slowly."

Ivy gave the woman a soft jerk to turn her back around. "Leave him alone," she said, then glanced at Jenks, her eyes crinkled up in disgust. "She's trying to feed off you," she said. "Don't listen. She's a liar."

Mia chuckled, and Jenks's wings fluttered against my neck. "I don't have to lie, and it doesn't matter if he listens to me or not. She's going to die. And you, silly vampire?" She looked askance at Ivy, and Ivy paled. "I told you that you were weak. What have you done in five years? Nothing. You think you're happy, but you're not. You could have had everything, but now she's gone, even though she's right next to you, because you were afraid. It's over. You were passive, and you lost. You may as well be what everyone wants you to be, because you aren't ever going to find the guts to be who you want."

I felt the blood leave my face. Ivy's jaw clenched, but she kept us moving forward at the same steady pace. Holly gurgled happily. Angry that Mia was hurting my friends, I snarled, "What about me, Ms. Harbor? Got anything in that bag of hate for me?"

She turned her cold blue eyes to me, and the corners of her mouth lifted. Her eyebrows arched slightly, making an expression of pure, delighted malice. Then Ivy pushed her through the double set of doors and they were gone.

It was snowing still, and I hesitated in the chill air lock. "Get in my bag, Jenks," I said, standing between the doors while FIB personnel eddied past us. The pixy seemed to be in shock, unable to move, and I reached up for him.

"I'm going!" he snarled, wings clattering as he dropped into my waiting bag and I zipped it closed. I'd put a hand heater that deer hunters use in there, and I knew he'd be all right.