“Dane comes first.” There was a little flare, that of two dozen matches striking at once, and the light was gone. Noah looked over his shoulder at Lindsay. “Yes?”

“Yes.” Lindsay couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “Now that you and Ylli are safe, we need to focus on finding Dane.” They didn’t have a damn clue where to start, and Lindsay had been trying not to think on that too hard.

“Can I—” Zoey picked at her nails again, seemingly unconcerned by the line of red forming between the chipped pink paint and her brown skin. “Can I help? I mean. I’ve got this magic stuff, right? Is there anything I can do with it that would help you guys find him?”

“Moore and her creatures seem fixed in the new ways.” Noah scooped up the runes and jingled them in his hands. “I see few alternatives, especially since our magic has been matched by her followers. Your magic might prove useful, if we can see where to direct it.”

Lourdes and Jonas had certainly kicked their asses, but Lindsay knew there were ways for him to deal with them. They could use stealth and strategy, as well as the sheer force of Noah’s magic, to deal with being overpowered. It was how Cyrus had managed, with the help of his precognition. There was nothing Lindsay could do about their lack of information now—that was the real problem. Moore had so many resources at her disposal, and they had so little.

“Oh, Cyrus gave Ylli some stuff before— Before we left.” Zoey looked down at her hands and seemed to notice the damage she had done, and tucked her hands into her lap. “A bracelet, stuff like that. I think he still has all of it. If that will help anything?”

A bracelet. Lindsay gave a moment of thanks for Cyrus’s foresight. He hadn’t let the barre fall into Moore’s hands. And in the process he’d given Lindsay a way to track down Moore.

When Moore held Lindsay prisoner, back in New York, she’d been using artifacts. The kuni studs in her ears to identify mages, the runes she’d copied from the Shackles of Tehut etched into the walls. She’d need more than copied runes to control Dane, especially after Lindsay had shown her those runes weren’t

worth more than the cement they’d been drawn into.

“She’s going to need artifacts to control Dane, something strong.” Dane and Jonas both, from what Lourdes had said. “She must be using something magical to help her make those Hounds too.”

“She’s probably getting what she needs from humans.” Noah sounded sour about that. “It’s one thing for a mage to work for her, it’s another to sell her things she could use against mages. She couldn’t just acquire things like the Shackles of Tehut without bringing a lot of attention to herself from more than just Cyrus.”

Lindsay watched Zoey for a long moment, trying to figure out how they could use that to their advantage. Zoey squirmed and Lindsay realized he was making her nervous. He started to apologize, but one of the newspapers caught his eye.

Exhibition Brings Stolen Art Back to Detroit

“There are a lot of museums around here. They must try to track black-market deals. An artifact is an artifact.” Lindsay looked at Zoey. She seemed like a mind mage who could influence computers instead of the human brain. “Would you be able to use a museum’s computers to track who’s buying a lot of artifacts?”

“I—” Zoey’s eyes widened. “I think so. They’d have the information in a database, right? We used things like that at work. I remember how it felt to talk to the computer when it lost my hours—before I knew I was actually talking to it. I think I can do it again. I’d like to try.”

“I should be able tell what things are more likely to be magical artifacts instead of mundane things.”

Noah was polishing the new runes on the hem of his T-shirt. “I know what sources and eras produced most of what we would own or use now. It’s a start.”

“What’s a start?” Kristan came in with a handful of fresh newspapers and tossed them by Lindsay’s chair.

“Tracking down the artifacts Moore’s got to be using.” Noah answered before Lindsay could open his mouth. “The black market has moved online.”

“That’s a good idea.” Kristan snapped her fingers at Noah and he threw her the coin he was inspecting. “I haven’t heard from Vivian but I’ll drop another message. She’ll get it when she can.”

“Where is she?” Lindsay couldn’t imagine that Vivian didn’t know what had happened to Cyrus by now. She had been the one to tell them about Dane. Vivian always knew more than any of them.

“Busy. If she surfaces, she’ll blow her cover.” Kristan passed the coin back to Noah. “Make me some.”

“In time.” Noah leaned back against Lindsay’s chair and Lindsay found himself petting the back of Noah’s neck, to settle himself more than Noah.

“Who’s Vivian?” Zoey looked lost. “Did she—I mean, is it my fault she’s not here?”

“None of it is your fault.” Lindsay surprised himself with how forcefully the words came out.

“Kristan and Ylli belong to Vivian. She and Dane and Cyrus were...”

“Family.” Kristan finished the sentence for him. “So, where do we start looking for Moore?”

“I thought the computers at one of the museums would be the right place.” Lindsay should have thought of asking Kristan for help sooner than this. “Do you know which one would be best?”

“I can find out. Come on, kid.” Kristan nodded at Zoey. “We’ll take a field trip.”

“Okay.” Zoey scrambled to her feet. “I can, right?”

Lindsay realized that she was looking to him for answers. “Kristan knows Detroit better than the rest of us. Go on.”

“Awesome. Thanks for letting me help.” Zoey was almost bouncing with excitement.

Kristan rolled her eyes and nudged Zoey toward the stairs. “Save your energy, girl genius. We’ve got a lot of walking to do.”

“I’ll collect the barre from Ylli.” Noah stood and dropped the runes into his pocket. “That’ll be one less worry.”

“Noah.” Lindsay waited for Noah to face him. “Is there any way to get rid of it? Send it back to your family, maybe. I don’t want it here.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Noah ran a hand over his growing hair, and spoke carefully. “It goes if that’s your preference, but it will also work on people who would do us wrong.”

“There are other ways.” Lindsay knew he’d never be able to use it. The idea made him want to claw at his scars. “We’ll find other ways, if it comes to that.”

“As you wish.” Noah seemed satisfied with the answer, and he left the room, his soft footfalls sounding on the stairs a moment later.

Lindsay picked up his tea again and sighed. How had he ended up being the one everyone looked to for answers and decisions? He didn’t know anything more than the rest of them did.

He’d just have to try not to screw it up.

Night in the city was neither dark nor quiet, but it brought a little peace with it. Noah came back from meeting with the courier Patches had arranged for him and found the house dark. He used the scrap wood hand-and-foot holds nailed into the side of the house to get up to the balcony and swung over the rail.

Lindsay would have felt him come into the illusion. No need to announce his arrival.

Noah wasn’t happy about getting rid of the barre. He trusted Patches’s man to get it back to Rose, that wasn’t a problem. It was knowing they’d given up some small advantage that sat wrong with him. But that wasn’t his concern. He was Lindsay’s now, and his concern was Lindsay. He padded past the bedroom with the glow of candlelight creeping out from under the door, and headed downstairs to do some chores.

He had a little time to clean house. Lindsay had been convinced to get in bed early once Noah had lit a dozen candles to give him some light by which to read. Kristan and Ylli were out with Zoey again, for the