"I hope you had an entertaining time following me around." I took my keys out.

"You should be a reality show," he said. "It's that good. And you know, I might be a totally unstable former assassin, but man. You manage to shock even me."

"Oh, be quiet," I snapped. I unlocked the car doors and slid into the driver's side. "Your snarky commentary is neither wanted nor appreciated."

"It's not commentary. It's me thinking aloud. It has nothing to do with you, really, nor does it require any response on your part."

"This is it, isn't it?" I asked, pulling out of the parking spot. "This is why you aren't going to kill me. You're going to just torture me for the rest of eternity. Long suffering, right?"

He grinned, flashing perfect white teeth against his tanned skin. It triggered a memory in me, how I'd once found that so attractive. Now, though, my fear and unease blocked any sort of desire.

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it. And besides, don't act like there isn't some part of you that secretly enjoys playing this eternally woeful, tormented role. If you were happy, you wouldn't know what to do with yourself."

"That's not true." I was surprised to feel myself blushing. "Stop trying to fuck with me."

"I'm just intrigued, that's all. You wear this mask of moral superiority. So does Mortensen. Yet, here you two are, sneaking around."

"You don't understand. We're in love." The wry look Roman gave me immediately made me regret my words.

"Oh, I understand. Believe me, I do." I kept my eyes on the road. He had once told me he loved me, and I'd thrown it back in his face. "If you guys were so in love, why'd you break up in the first place? You were fawning all over each other the last time I saw you."

"For a lot of reasons," I mused. "It's complicated."

"It always is."

I sighed. Edmonds was about twenty five minutes away. This was going to be a long drive.

"Well, not that it's any of your business, but I mean, there were a lot of things going on. We were having communication problems, for one thing."

"How terribly mundane."

"And I was starting to freak out-you know, about how he could die. I didn't think I could handle that." I waited for Roman's snide response to that, but there was none. "And, of course…I mean, there was always sex. I wouldn't do it. I couldn't stand the thought of stealing part of his life away. Our love wasn't dependent on sex…but well, it still muddled things up."

"And now you have no problem with sex."

"Because I can't hurt him now! Look, I can't help the timing-or the fact that we still care about each other."

"Or the fact that each of you have significant others." Now I stayed silent. Roman tipped his head back against the seat thoughtfully. "In all my observations this week, I've got to admit, I like Maddie."

"I like her too," I said quietly.

"But that guy you're dating? Well, I think you can do better."

"I'm almost starting to wish you'd kill me."

"Oh, I've thought about it," he said. To my dismay, the joking was gone from his voice.

Again, I refused to look at him. "I'm sorry…about Helena. I never meant for that to happen."

Roman gave a laugh that sounded like it choked him. "Oh? What did you think would happen, then? A slap on the wrist? I survived it, and I was still in pretty bad shape."

"You said you were going to kill Carter. And I didn't know who else you'd go after," I said quietly. "I didn't know what else to do. There was no easy option for me."

"There would have been if you'd really loved me like you said you did," he replied bitterly. "And I told you I'd leave the rest of them alone."

"It was too late when you told me that. By then, I'd already called for help." I didn't add that in a way, I really had loved him. It had been different from the way I loved Seth, but it had been love nonetheless.

"Well, whatever. It's not relevant now. Finding Jerome is what's important." Out of the side of my eye, I saw him study my profile. "Of course, I'm surprised you've been so eager…it's going to put an end to your little affair."

"It's going to come to an end anyway. I'd rather have Jerome in my life afterward than some other demon." In my mind, I could see Seth's kind eyes and gentle smile. I could almost feel the way his hands touched my body. "I'll have the memories, at least. They'll stay with me."

"Memories." Roman shook his head. "How the hell can someone who fucks random men for a living be such a romantic idiot?"

I didn't answer that, and the rest of our drive contained little conversation. The place we were going to in Edmonds was another park. Funny, I thought, that humans kept sectioning off these magical places and preserving them. I wondered if they sensed that power on some inherent level. I'd read up a little on this park and how it had some significance to Native Americans in the area. Surely that was promising. It was a small beach flanked by a woodsy area with picnic tables. Children ran around while their mothers watched.

"This place isn't very strong," said Roman, once we were out of the car. "There's a little magic in the earth but not much. I can't imagine they'd hide Jerome here-they'd want a lot more to mask it."

I refused to let that drag me down. "We have to look. We don't know anything for sure."

The park wasn't huge. I suspected it would take us less time to search it than it would to drive back. Just as we'd stepped out of the parking lot, my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number. "Go on without me," I told Roman. When I answered, the voice was no one I recognized.

"Is this Letha, also known as Georgina Kincaid?"

I grimaced. Only high-up hellish employees called me by my original name. "Yes."

"This is Ephraim, from Internal Affairs." The demon's voice was clipped and hurried, giving the impression that I was the one who'd called him and interrupted something. I found it amusing that he'd called me rather than speak in person. More efficient, I guessed.

I sat down at a picnic table. "What can I do for you?"

"Nothing, I'm sure. But I've been instructed to interview all lesser immortals in the area about The Jerome Situation." I could hear the capitalized letters in his voice, kind of like The Manhattan Project. "First, I'd like to know where you were when Jerome disappeared."

"On my way to Canada. Jerome had been lending me out to help Cedric."

There was a moment's pause. "My records say that Cedric was in Seattle when Jerome disappeared."

"Well, when I left, Cedric was still up there, yeah. But then when the Army of Darkness did their thing on the Space Needle, I called Cedric because I figured he'd want to know. I thought that was when he came down here."

"Did you say Army of Darkness?"

"Um, yeah. It's this cult in Vancouver that was doing embarrassing things."

"Ah. The ones with the spray paint."

"Yup. I'd been helping Cedric with them, and when he heard they were down here, I guess he came to talk to Jerome and do some damage control so Jerome wouldn't think he'd sent them."

"Your information's incorrect. Cedric never met with Jerome."

"What?" I frowned, thinking back to my conversation with Kristin. I'd asked if Cedric had come to talk to Jerome, and while she'd confirmed that he'd been down here, she hadn't mentioned them actually speaking.

"When Cedric came, Jerome was already missing. He and Mei attempted to find him, and when the lesser immortals began showing the effects of the summoning, we knew what had happened." Ephraim's words were still brisk. Clearly, he had no interest in discussing what he already knew.

I was close to something here-so, so close. Had Jerome been summoned before Cedric arrived? That would rule him out as the summoner. Of course, if Ephraim had received his information from Cedric, then it could have been a lie. Maybe Cedric was being framed. Maybe he'd actually been here the exact moment Jerome was summoned. Mentioning Mei meant that she had probably corroborated Cedric's story. Which meant what, exactly? Was she in on this too? I knew Grace was involved already. It was possible Mei and Cedric were working with her, but that meant three demons were in the conspiracy now. There was only one reward in Seattle, and I couldn't see how they'd all benefit. Getting a large group of demons to organize was hard. Getting them to do it when it offered no advantage for all of them? Impossible.