Eve shrugged and looked out at Zach’s backyard. It was perfectly manicured. The grass was brilliant green like the front yard and looked as if it had been combed so that all the blades bent in the same direction. Flowering bushes framed the yard, and a patio with a table and chairs was in the center. Gardening supplies were artfully stacked in another corner. Everything had its place. Its precision reminded her of a hospital room. She shuddered and looked away. To hide her reaction, she took a lemonade and sipped it. The tartness felt like a pinch on her tongue. She set the glass down again.

“So, what can you do?” Zach asked. It was the same question Victoria had asked her. But unlike Victoria, he didn’t stop there. Questions tumbled out of his mouth as if they were in a hurry to escape him. “How much magic can you transfer at a time? What are its limitations? What fuels it? Is it innate? Is it powered by something? Powered by kisses? Are you a succubus sucking my life force?” He sucked in a deep breath and then blew it out. Eve couldn’t help smiling. “Yay! A smile, at last! Eve, what you have, what you can do … it’s wonderful, amazing, incredible, worthy of a smile! And so are you. Even if you are a succubus.”

He took her hand. She let him. Her hand was awkward in his, as if his fingers weren’t sure how to encompass hers. It didn’t feel like holding Aidan’s hand; it didn’t feel practiced. Zach cradled her hand in both of his, and his hands shifted from position to position.

“Don’t be afraid, Eve. Not of this. You can be afraid of spiders or snakes or airplane crashes or a zombie apocalypse … but don’t be afraid of yourself.”

He was right. She’d come here so she wouldn’t have to be afraid. She looked out at the perfect lawn and tried to think of this house as a sanctuary. For one afternoon, she didn’t have to be afraid of Aidan, the case, her magic, or her visions. Of course it wouldn’t last, but for the space of a few moments, she could feel free.

“Eve?” Zach asked, a little hesitantly.

Eve looked into his warm, brown, hopeful eyes. She felt as if she were looking straight into his heart. She wondered if this was what it felt like to fall in love. She had nothing to compare it to. But she knew that more than anything else, right this moment, she wanted to make him smile. “Do you want to try to make it rain?” she offered.

She watched delight spread over his face.

“Think of rain,” she ordered him. And then she kissed him. For that moment, it felt as if the rest of the world melted away. She let go of her worries, fears, memories, questions, all of it. She was conscious of the taste of his lips, the feel of his breath, and the soft smell of his skin.

She heard Zach’s mother say, “Oh my!”

Eve and Zach sprang apart.

His mother stepped onto the porch carrying a tray of sandwiches, enough for six people, but she wasn’t looking at Eve or Zach. She laid the tray on the table next to the lemonade. “It wasn’t supposed to rain today. I’d better pull in the patio chair cushions.” She scurried outside as the first drop of rain hit.

“Whoa,” Zach said.

Rain fell fast. Drops hit the slate patio like bullets.

“Good thing I didn’t think of a tornado,” Zach said.

Eve agreed.

“You’ve never done this before?”

She shook her head, and then she jumped as her pocket buzzed and trilled. She pulled out the cell phone and stared at it as it shook and sang in her hand. Zach reached over and pressed the Talk button. She felt her face flush, and she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Are you safe?” Malcolm asked in her ear.

She looked at Zach. “Yes.” She meant it. With him, she felt completely safe.

“I am coming to fetch you now,” he said. “Stay exactly where you are, keep away from windows, and don’t ever, ever do this again.” She heard a click, and the phone call ended.

“Your aunt?” Zach asked.

She shook her head, staring at the silent phone. She’d never heard Malcolm sound like that, as if he were radiating anger.

“Big black guy with the gun in his sock?”

She nodded.

“Are you in some kind of trouble? I don’t mean only right now. I mean, you look out the window a lot. You’re jumpy. I just … Are you safe?”

She flinched at the repetition of Malcolm’s question, and suddenly she didn’t feel so safe anymore. The porch had windows on three sides. The flowering bushes could be hiding anyone.

Rain pelted outside. Zach’s mother raced toward the porch, holding an array of pillows to her chest. Zach got to his feet. “I’d better help her.”

Eve didn’t move. Rain smacked the roof, loud as a hammer. She’d been stupid to come here, stupid to involve Zach. Zach shielded his head with his arms and ran outside to fetch more chair cushions. His mother dumped her batch of cushions inside and then ran back into the rain.

As they finished, Eve heard the squeal of tires from the front of the house. Seconds later, the doorbell rang. “Oh!” Zach’s mother said. Her makeup ran down her cheeks, and her hair was flattened against her face. Her blouse was plastered to her skin, and her pants were stained with rain. She hurried to the door, poking at her hair to try to fix it. Eve heard the door open. “Yes?”

A deep voice answered in a familiar rumble. Eve stood. Without meeting Zach’s eyes, she walked toward the voice, through the hallway of family photos.

Malcolm towered in the front doorway. Rain streaked his face and plastered his coat to the muscles in his arms. He fixed his eyes on her, but he addressed Zach’s mother.

Behind her, so soft that only Eve could hear, Zach said, “You didn’t answer me. Are you safe?”

Eve didn’t answer. I’m supposed to be, she thought, looking at Malcolm. She thought of Aidan and the hesitation in his voice as he’d answered that question.

“You might want to learn how to lie,” she said at last.

Eve ducked into Malcolm’s car. Rain spattered inside and beaded on the dashboard. Outside, it pounded the windshield. As Eve fastened her seat belt, Malcolm slammed her door shut. He then climbed into the driver’s seat, squeezed the steering wheel so hard that she saw the veins in the back of his hands, and started the ignition. Eve watched the muscles in his cheek twitch as he backed out of Zach’s driveway.

“You could yell at me,” she suggested. “Seems to make Aunt Nicki feel better.” She remembered Aunt Nicki shrieking at her once when Eve had tried to fetch the mail alone. Eve tried to identify when that memory was from and couldn’t. One of the lost weeks? If she could reclaim those memories …

He backed onto the street and put the car in drive. Across from Zach’s house, a black SUV pulled up and parked. Twisting in her seat, she watched a man in a suit step out of the car. He was pelted by rain as he strode toward the house. “Who’s that?” she asked. “What does he want with Zach?”

“That’s not your concern.” Malcolm drove, a little too fast, away from Zach’s house through the rain. Puddles sprayed as he hit them.

Yes, it was her concern. It was her fault! She’d brought trouble to Zach, exactly as Patti Langley had warned her—she’d caught him in her storm, both literally and figuratively. “If the agency hurts Zach in any way, I won’t cooperate with the case.”

Malcolm slammed on the brakes. The car squealed to a stop in the middle of the street.

“You don’t make threats.” His voice was quiet. She shrank against her seat. “You don’t know how many have died. You don’t know how they died. They were cut to pieces. Carved like drumsticks from a turkey. And each piece was kept in its own box until the ritual was complete.” He turned back to the road and continued to drive. “You will cooperate, and we will catch him.”

Eve’s mouth felt dry. She nodded. She tried to push the image of severed body parts out of her mind, but couldn’t. Her hands clutched each other on her lap. “That … that’s the case? My case?”