"I accept with the condition that I won't kill on your command," Roman said at last.

Jerome considered. "Agreed. The terms of this deal end should you at any time openly renounce my amnesty. Or if I also declare the deal null and void."

"I want a time frame on that," said Roman wryly. "When does my lease expire?"

"A century. Then we'll renegotiate."

"I accept it all, then."

"And I agree to the same amnesty terms as Jerome," piped in Carter. "Except I don't need you to spy or kill for me."

"Agreed," said Roman.

It was all so terribly formal, and my presence felt complete superfluous. All three of them shook hands, and as they did, power burned in the air, binding them all to what they'd agreed.

"Well," said Jerome briskly. "Now that that's done, I'm going back to clean up the mess that's been made in my absence." He gave Roman a wry look. "Considering you aren't technically in my territory yet, I'd advise you-" Jerome suddenly stopped and scanned the beach. "What about the other summoner? The human one? Was he here?"

I looked around as well. The beach was empty. "It was Dante…" I said slowly.

Jerome rolled his eyes. "Typical. Where is he now?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "Grace beat him up." I'd worried he was dead, but apparently not. Glancing over to where he'd been lying, I saw what looked like tracks in the sand where he'd been dragged off. I decided to keep that to myself.

"Wonderful," said Jerome. Turning back toward us, he scrutinized me. "You will keep this deal to yourself, Georgie. And we'll discuss your reward another day."

He disappeared and with him, the Grace statue. I didn't envy her.

Roman, Carter, and I started walking back toward the parking lot. I couldn't speak for them, but my mind was reeling with everything that had happened.

"Did you see what happened to Dante?" I asked Roman.

"Afraid I was kind of busy. What happened to Mortensen after he called Mei?"

"I told him to leave, and I think…" I hesitated, not entirely sure how I knew this, unless it was just my understanding of Seth's nature. "I think Seth may have carried him off in the confusion. Oh man, he actually listened to me."

The parking lot was empty. My car was gone.

"They took my car," I explained. I honestly hadn't thought Seth would, despite my pleas for him to leave.

"Wow," said Roman, clearly delighted. "Your ex-boyfriend helped save your current boyfriend and then stole your car. Or-well, wait-is Mortensen your boyfriend now? Did he technically save your ex?"

"Oh, shut up. It doesn't matter. We don't have a way to get back."

"Did you tell him to take the car?" asked Carter.

"Yeah. I told him to get far away. I wanted him safe, and I guess he listened."

"Depends on how you define it," said Roman. "Him coming back for the other guy put him in the demon line of fire. Why would he do that for someone he didn't like?"

I stared at the empty parking spot. "Because he's Seth."

Carter seemed as nonchalant about all this as Dante. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here, huh?" He rested his hands on our shoulders, and I braced myself for immortal teleportation. "Ready for a ride home?"

"It beats walking," I said.

Carter paused and gave Roman a curious glance. "What are you going to do for a home?"

Roman was thoughtful for a moment. "Well, I hear Georgina's moving to a bigger place." He glanced over at me with one of his beautiful grins. "Need a roommate?"

Unfortunately, Roman wasn't entirely joking.

"What are you doing?" I exclaimed when we got back to my apartment. He'd flounced on my couch and promptly grabbed a remote. There was no sign of my car on the street, but if Seth had driven it back, Carter-transportation would have arrived much more quickly.

"I have nowhere to go," he said mildly. Aubrey strolled out from the bedroom and jumped up next to him.

"You just got amnesty from an archdemon. That's unheard of for a nephilim. I thought you wanted to put down roots? Why don't you go get a place in the suburbs? Work on your lawn?"

"No one wants to live there."

I raked my hand through my hair in exasperation and then immediately rearranged it. God, I'd missed shape-shifting. If I was going to be damned, I might as well enjoy the perks.

"You can't stay here. This place isn't big enough."

"I don't mind the couch."

I prepped myself for a rant, but then someone knocked at the door. Part of me hoped it would be Seth, even though that was pretty impossible. There was no immortal signature, which meant my visitor was a human. Yes, I'd definitely missed my abilities, even if they had strings attached. I opened the door and found Maddie.

"Hey," she said cheerily.

"Hey," I said, not sure I matched her enthusiasm. "Come in."

She stepped through, then faltered when she saw Roman. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt-"

Roman hopped up from the couch. "No, no. I'm just an old friend. Roman." He extended his hand. She shifted some papers she was holding and shook his hand in return. Her smile returned.

"I'm Maddie. Nice to meet you." She turned to me. "You got a sec? I was on my way to work and wanted to show you something."

She handed the papers over to me. They were in-depth reports of the new condo over on Alki Beach. There were detailed price listings, as well as room-by-room photos of one unit in particular. It wasn't finished yet. The floor was only a foundation, and the drywall wasn't painted. Nonetheless, the pictures were clear and gave a good idea of the spacious layout. One picture showed a balcony that opened up to a breathtaking view of the water and the Seattle skyline beyond. It was nothing like what Seth and I had shared, but it was nice.

Roman, peering over my shoulder, let out a low whistle. "Nice."

I elbowed him out of my personal space. "Where'd you get these?"

Maddie smiled. "You said you were busy, so I went over there myself and talked to the builder. This is the only one left, and they let me go through and take pictures."

I jerked my head up. "You took all these?"

"I knew how stressed you were and wanted to help. Look, keep going, and you can see all the options you can still get. There are the floor choices: maple, bamboo, cherry…"

I took a deep breath to steady myself. Maddie hadn't just printed out info for me. After all that searching and fine-tuning, she'd actually gone out of her way to assemble an entire dossier on this place, a place I'd just been acknowledging at random to make her feel better.

"They've got a realtor on-site, but you can get your own too," she continued. "Someone else was just looking at it, but the guy said if you were interested and put a bid in soon, he'd consider it along with the other person's."

"Look," piped in Roman. "Two bedrooms."

"Maddie…" I swallowed. "You shouldn't have done this."

She gave me a quizzical look. "Why not?"

"It was too much work."

"Whatever. Besides, after all the stuff you've done for me? Georgina, this is nothing. Are you going to go talk to them? I'll go with you if you want."

I sank down onto the couch, flipping through the pages without really comprehending them. I'd been angry when she and Seth hooked up. I had no right, however. She hadn't known about our past. And if I hadn't been so dead-set on keeping things secret, if she had known Seth and I had dated, I felt absolutely certain she would have never, ever gotten together with him. Because she was my friend.

I felt a burning in my eyes and willed myself not to cry. I didn't entirely know what I'd done to deserve that kind of friendship. She was a good person. She believed the best in me-just as Seth did. In this dark phase, Seth had never given up on me. Both of them were so good, so kind. And at the end of the day, there really wasn't much of that among humans.