Her chest tightened, frustration making her stomach clench. She knew she was responsible for this. She knew she’d gotten Fitz hurt. It was her fault. She didn’t need to be reminded.

“Low blow, Baldwin.”

“I don’t mean it as one. If it were you out there, and the police were finding pieces of your body, you don’t think I’d do the very same thing? I would hunt him down, tear the bastard limb from limb. But you can’t do that You’re his target. You are w^rhat he wants. We need to keep you in Nashville. On your own turf, with your force to back you up. If you ever go out on your own, you’re vulnerable.”

“Tm not that vulnerable, Baldwin. I have a gun. I know how to fight.”

He raised his voice. “You knew how to fight on our wedding day too, and where did that get you? Tied to a bloody chair in a warehouse in New York.” She could practically hear him gritting his teeth, biting back the caustic words he’d never be able to take back. Her own temper rose unbidden.

“Don’t you dare yell at me. I wasn’t on my guard then. Who would have been? I was in a fucking wedding dress, on my way to marry you.” She was feeling hot, furious and uncomfortable. They’d never had this argument before; she didn’t know he considered her weak for being captured.

”I know, Taylor. Jesus God above, I know. If it weren’t for me, none of that would have ever happened.”

“Oh, don’t be stupid. You weren’t the cause, any more than I was. It was a situation, and I mishandled it. Believe me, I’ll never make that mistake again.”

The moment the words were out, she regretted it. “That’s not what I mean,” she said, softer now. “I mean I’ll always be on my guard. I’ll always be watching for him.”

“So you do still want to marry me?”

She tried to calm her breathing.

“Of course I do. I’m wearing your ring, aren’t I?”

His voice was bleak. “When all I bring you is danger? You’re a hard woman to keep safe, Taylor. What I do, the people I have to associate with, all of it brings you into harm’s way. Look at Aiden. If the Pretender hadn’t killed him, where would we be?”

“I don’t know. We’d-“

“Be running from the bastard, that’s where!”

She modulated her voice carefully. This could easily spill out of control, and she didn’t want that, not now. Not over the phone, where the smallest turn of phrase could be misconstrued.

“Stop shouting at me, Baldwin. You have no idea where that might have led. Stop imagining the worst and let me do my job.”

“Your job is to stay in Nashville, or have you forgotten that? Your caseload, your team. You have responsibilities there, Taylor. You can’t just run off willy-nilly on a wild-goose chase.”

He huffed to a stop, biting back the words.

Taylor had learned the hard way that fighting with someone you love has rules of engagement. She’d learned never to say the first thing that popped into her mind. Or the second. Or even the third, for that matter.

Finally, she took a breath, calmed herself, then said, “You think Fitz is dead, don’t you?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that if you fall for this, if you run off after him, you might be. And I can’t lose you, Taylor. Not like that. Not to someone like him.”

“So are you going to forbid me to go? Put your foot down, assert your rights over me?”

“No. I’d never do that. But I can ask, can’t I? I can ask you, beg you, to stay away from this case. To stay in Nashville where I can breathe easier, knowing you’re surrounded by people I trust to help keep you safe. All I can do is ask that you’ll keep me in mind before you do something reckless. Will you, Taylor? Will you please, please think about what you’re doing before you do it?”

Could she do that? The other thing about love, she’d quickly learned, was that you had to think about the other person first, then think about yourself and your own desires. Every bone in her body screamed to get in the car and drive, to get to that campsite, to see what was happening, to make sure they were doing everything right. But Baldwin had a point. The Pretender was trying to draw her out, to get her off balance. She would be no use to Fitz if she were captured or dead.

“Okay,” she said finally. “Okay. I’ll stay here.”

“Thank you,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, “You know I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe. You’re my own heart, Taylor.”

There was a puddle of water forming at the base of the driveway. A cheap penny saver, delivered to the wrong house by accident, floated in its plastic bag. She drove over it, out of the drive, up the street, wipers on, lights on. Mind completely and utterly off.

Poor Fitz. Being used as a tool in this ridiculous game. Knowing she’d caused him to suffer was overwhelming, and she realized that’s exactly what the Pretender had in mind. The suffering of those she loved was to be her penance until he was ready to face her.

She picked McKenzie up from his house, grateful that he could recognize she had her mind on things. He stayed silent until she finally spoke.

“Where are we on the case?”

He flipped open his notebook. “I think we’re very close. We’ve got all the players. Juri Edvin will be booked for the murder of Brittany Carson. His girlfriend, Susan Norwood, is cognizant of his actions-she was trying to help him run away. We get a confession out of him today about the other seven kills and we can wrap this all up.”

“I still think there’s something else going on.”

“Like what?”

“This is all too sophisticated for a teenage boy to pull off. I think we should look harder at our vampire and our witch. Marcus applied for a warrant to the vampire’s house. I want to see what he had stashed there.”

“Ariadne’s not involved,” McKenzie said, a note of finality in his voice.

“How can you know that? She’s completely out there. How do you know she isn’t leading us down the primrose path?”

“A gut feeling about her, that’s all. I did a little research into her last night while you were at Vanderbilt. She has no history of interjecting herself into cases. She was a very powerful political figure in the Wicca movement, a high priestess who doubled as a judge on a disciplinary committee. But she dropped out several years ago, citing personal conflicts with the direction of the religion.”

“Then she may have a grudge.”

“I don’t think so. I think she’s telling the truth.”

“You think she can read minds and conjure energy?”

“I don’t know about that. I think she believes she can help, though. Just do me a favor and listen to what she has to say. I asked her to come in later this morning.”

Taylor parked the car, and they crossed the street together. As she swiped her key card in the back door, she turned to him.

“Okay. I trust you”

A small smile gleamed on his face, but he didn’t say a word.

Paula Simari was sitting in the Homicide office, chatting with Marcus Wade when Taylor and McKenzie walked in. She was on a roll, gesticulating wildly to make her point.

“You can always judge a man by how he treats his dog, Wade. All you have to do is watch. Does he jerk its head to keep it in line? Does he yank a little too hard when he’s training, or is it justified? Dogs like to work, you know. They like to have a purpose, a job. Max knows what his job is, and he’s happiest when he’s working. But I’ll be damned if I’M yank his head like that.”

“Morning, you two,” Taylor said. “What’s up?”

Simari turned with a grimace, deep black circles under her eyes. “Animal cruelty case rolled in overnight-I got stuck with it. I hate these bastards who chain their dogs and claim it’s good for their character. Asshole was training his Rottweiler, yanked a slip chain around the dog’s neck so hard that his neck broke. Didn’t kill him, the poor thing, we had to put him down after we got there. I’d like to put his owner down, I’ll tell you that much.”