Their eyes bulged. Jay said, “What?” just as Veronica said, “Wow!”

“I know. It all happened so fast, but I think I need a change. My dad, too.”

“Dude, this is crazy.” Jay’s eyes glassed over for a second. “You’re both leaving me.”

At the same time Veronica and I leaned forward and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around us. Our last group hug.

When we pulled away, there was a strange shift between us—a change stemming from knowing we’d never get the old us back. We could either embrace the inevitable and work to stay friends through the changes, or we could let go, and allow time and miles to slide between us. Jay gripped my hand hard, and I knew he’d never leave me. Not in the ways that counted. Veronica, on the other hand . . . her eyes were already kind of far away. I could never hold it against her. She was excited for her future and ready to fly.

I wiped the corners of my eyes, and Veronica leaned over to poke my shoulder.

“So,” she said. “Are you and Kaidan really together? Like, really really?”

The change of subject lifted some of the awkward tension in the room. I tried to reign in a smile. I’d forgotten I texted Jay and Veronica from L.A. in a drunken state to tell them.

“I know, right?” Jay sat up, suddenly animated. Orange sliced through the darkness of his aura. “How did this happen? I didn’t even know you were going to L.A.”

“It was crazy.” I pulled my feet in and sat cross-legged. They thought my dad lived in California, and as much as I hated telling them half-truths, sometimes that was just what it came down to. “My dad flew me out for a visit, and I went to see Blake, but Kai was there, too.”

They were both gaping at me.

“And?” Veronica asked.

“And at first we were fighting, because we needed to clear the air, and he was jealous because I’d kissed Kopano—”

“What?” they both hollered.

Whoops.

“When did you guys kiss?” Veronica was practically in my lap now, trying to yank all the details from me.

“Over Christmas break.”

In a closet in Australia when we were there to talk Flynn into being an ally. The memory of the whole extraordinary experience was tainted now by Flynn’s death.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this!” Veronica crossed her arms, a shot of dark anger shooting out from her aura, but when I eyed her, reminding her she’d withheld the possibility of Spain from me, she uncrossed her arms and guilty gray seeped around her.

“I felt bad,” I admitted. “He was just a friend, and I didn’t mean for it to happen. I kind of messed things up. Plus, I knew Kaidan would be pissed if he found out.”

“Bro drama,” Jay said. But he looked rapt.

I let out a dry laugh. “Yeah. Majorly. But when Kai and I finally made ourselves talk . . . I don’t know . . . I guess we both decided we were tired of being scared.”

“And now you’re together,” Veronica said, her voice sounding distant.

We all got quiet. Now Kai and I were together, but Jay and Veronica were not.

Her cell phone chimed, and she groaned.

“It’s my dad. I have to go. He’s having people from his work over for dinner, and the whole family has to be there.”

Her father. A major reason she’d want to be far away from home.

“Call me later,” I whispered.

“I will. And I want every detail.”

She turned to Jay, both again showing navy auras of sadness tinged with anxious gray. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah. Course.”

A slow beat passed before Veronica turned and left.

“You okay?” I whispered to Jay. He looked beat.

“I don’t know. I mean, I knew we probably wouldn’t last forever, but it still sucks.”

I could feel the steady pain of loss pushing out from his aura, and I wanted to cheer him.

“Kaidan gave me a joke for you.”

This lightened Jay’s colors real quick. He watched with interest as I told the joke. At the punch line he blinked, straight-faced. “He should really stick to looking good and leave jokes to the normal guys like me.”

I fell sideways on the bed laughing, and Jay laughed with me.

“Man, I’m so glad there’s something he’s not good at,” Jay said as I pulled myself together.

I didn’t want to leave him yet. “Wanna go get a pizza or something?” Patti was making dinner, but I was sure if I called her she’d understand.

“Dude, I wish, but I can’t. I’m supposed to mow the lawn. You don’t need to worry about me, ’kay? I’ll be all right.”

He gave me a playful shove.

“I’ll call you later, then?” I asked.

“Yep.” He stood and pushed his feet into some old tennis shoes. Then he grabbed his faded Braves hat and slipped it on his head. He stuck out his fist and I bumped it before hugging him good-bye.

On the drive home I thought of the good days Veronica and Jay had had together. I recalled Veronica showing me pictures on her phone last summer, and when she got to one she screamed and pulled the phone close, a burst of hot gray embarrassment blasting from her aura.

Yeah . . . for one split second I’d seen a whole lot of Veronica skin. I’d never seen her blush like that.

“Oh, my gosh. I totally thought I deleted all those,” she said.

“Uh . . . why do you have . . . Wait . . . did you send pictures to Jay?”

“It’s not like. . . I mean . . . we were just playing around. He’s my boyfriend!”

I started giggling first, and then we were both laughing, killing the shock and tension.

Veronica had obviously trusted Jay, and I wondered. Could I do something flirty like that to surprise Kai?

I was still thinking about it as I walked from my car up the concrete stairs of our apartment complex. Patti’s car wasn’t there. She was probably out getting boxes for the move.

I stopped at our door and got a weird prickly sensation. The thought of a demon whisperer caused my heart to pound and my eyes to search all around me, but nothing was there. I glanced down the stairs. Nothing.

With a shaking hand I slid my key into the bolt lock, only to find it already unlocked. Weird. Patti never forgot to lock the door. My heart rate jacked up as I reached into the pocket of my shorts for the small switchblade I kept there. My other hand went into my purse and wrapped around the leather-clad Sword of Righteousness hilt. I pushed the door open and stood in the doorway without going in. Scents from the Crock-Pot drifted out.

“Anyone home?” I called out sweetly.

Nothing looked out of the ordinary. I gripped the knife handle and peeked around the corner. All clear. I went in and closed the door behind me, then moved in slow steps around the apartment—kitchen, balcony, bathroom, coat closet—all clear. It wasn’t until I stepped into my bedroom that a surge of panic burst through my system.

My laundry hamper was lying on the floor with dirty clothes spilled out. My body went into some sort of protective mode, clearing my mind in preparation for fight. It still came as a shock when a short-haired man in all black tore out from behind the door, and months of training prompted me into action.

I lunged forward, lowering myself so that his balance was thrown off when he hit me. My purse with the hilt inside hit the wall. I managed to keep on my feet as he rolled to the floor and kicked himself up with grace that depleted a bit of my confidence. I swiped my knife through the air, and the blade sliced his bicep. He hissed, and I tried not to think about the fact that I’d just drawn blood from another human being for the first time in my life.

His foot kicked up with lightning speed and I yanked back, but his boot still caught my fingers, forcing me to release the knife with a sharp, searing pain. And now I was mad. Instead of retreating, I pushed forward, taking him by surprise as my shoulder and head rammed the soft part of his torso beneath his ribs. He groaned and grabbed at my waist, but I moved fast, wrapping my arms around his knee and yanking him onto the floor.