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My eyes slid open.

Something screamed from alongside me. I blinked slowly, letting the sleep fade inch by inch.

My alarm. It was my alarm. I could almost remember setting it, hating myself with every keystroke. The sky outside my window was still black, and I knew we were hours from even a breath of daylight.

Someone punched the wall alongside me, hard enough to make me jump. Next to me was the room Loren and Amber had moved into. Somehow, I didn’t think the still-shy dreamworker would be the one to take out her anger on the house.

I grabbed my phone, silencing the alarm before Amber could go for round two.

And then I lay back, staring at the ceiling. My mind raced, spinning with the events of the night before and all of the plans we’d made.

Yet again, I was left to wonder if I’d made the right choice - or if I was about to make a horrible mistake.

But I’d set my alarm for a reason, and I wouldn’t have woken myself up at the crack of dawn if I didn’t have to. Hitting the snooze button wouldn’t change the fact that I needed to get up. I eased myself upright with a groan, settling my feet down onto the worn carpet.

The world didn’t look any better when I was upright. I pressed a hand to my face, rubbing the tired, aching exhaustion from my temples.

On mornings like that, a hot shower always helps, I decided. And it did. There, with the scalding hot water running over my skin, the first bits of true wakefulness started to seep in.

By the time I slipped out of the bathroom, hiding the light behind the door, I was ready. Or, well, if not ready, at least I was vertical and walking and moving towards thought.

Aedan sat in the living room. All of the lights were off - but he had the TV on, the sound dialed low enough I couldn’t hear it. I saw him look towards me, dimly silhouetted against the glow. “About time you woke up,” he said. “You good?”

I nodded slowly, turning back towards my room. I’d put a bag together the night before. Supposedly we wouldn’t be gone all that long - A prolonged road trip with Aedan didn’t exactly sound like my idea of a good time - but I was prepared. The next door down the hall creaked open as I stepped back into the living room. And then the next.

Aedan groaned, but it was too late. The others filed out in ones and twos, still dressed in pajamas and rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Some, like Brendon, stayed at the back of the group, and leaned against the countertops rather than come any closer. Tyler slipped through the rest, though, with Amber not far behind.

I locked eyes with Tyler, wishing that Jake was here. He still had the apartment, which had become a necessity with the way our crew seemed to be swelling. Nox and Kai had fled there. I wasn’t hot on the idea of the pyromancer being out among the masses, but neither was I eager for him to be running around the house with me gone.

“Be careful,” I said, pawing for the coffee pot. The smell of it filled the kitchen in seconds, hot and thick and promising energy. “Brendon, you’ve got this. Stay around Nox and-”

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, ducking his head. “I’ll...I’ll figure it out.”

“Hey, you wanted to be useful,” I said, trying to inject a bit of levity into the situation. And for a second, I saw his shoulders twitch with what might have been laughter. A second later it was gone, his expression entirely serious.

Keira had stepped past me at some point, closing the gap between her and Aedan. She said something, too low for me to catch, and Aedan chuckled in response. I looked away, making a face.

Tyler’s eyes caught on mine, and he shook his head hurriedly. “We’ll be fine,” he said, leaning against the counter. “No one’ll bother us. Not yet. And we’ve got your phone number. Nothing’s going to happen, Jon.”

I winced. He’d clearly misunderstood. Clearing up the matter wasn’t something I really wanted to delve into. Besides for that, I wished I could share his confidence - and I wished that I was only worried about them.

“Morning’s wasting,” I heard Aedan mutter under his breath. Keira drew back, looking towards me at last.

Right. I straightened, lifting the backpack I’d stuffed full of the few belongings I was taking, and offered the others a tiny wave. “Be back soon.”

When I walked for the door, half a pace behind Aedan, the sound of footsteps followed me. I glanced back over my shoulder.

Amber scowled up at me. “I still think I should come,” she muttered.

“You do,” I said, a bit incredulous.

“You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Why, exactly, are you volunteering for more work?” I said, raising one eyebrow.

She scowled up at me. “If you go and die out there, I don’t think any of these assholes are going to be gullible enough to pay my rate.”

“You’ll be fine,” Aedan said, grabbing my shoulder and towing me out the door. “I’ll have him back to you tomorrow. Day after, tops. All important pieces still attached.”

“They’re all important,” I said, my brow furrowing.

“Eh,” Aedan said, shrugging.

My steps slowed at the sight of his car waiting in the drive. “Uh...are we-”

“Is something wrong?” Aedan said, his hand on the handle.

I eyed the run-down, ramshackle little sedan. It’d run. Probably. But that didn’t mean I trusted it - and considering how much of the body seemed to be bond-o colored, my confidence waned even further. Some parts looked like they were duct taped on.

“Uh,” I managed, glancing towards him, but he’d already pulled the door open.

“Don’t go waiting for a personal invitation,” Aedan muttered, slamming the door shut behind him.

The engine turned over a moment later, roaring to life with only a bit of whining from the belt. I winced.

And then I sighed, taking another step forward and grabbing the door.

The car was quiet as we made our way down the highway. The radio played, filling the air with the horrible, static-laced sound of...something. I wasn’t quite sure if it was pop, or country, or something else entirely, but it was bad.

It did save us from having to talk - a fact which was becoming less and less advantageous as the silence between Aedan and I dragged on.

If I actually stopped to think about it, him and I hadn’t spent all that much time together. Well, not alone, and not without people trying to shoot us or kidnap him. We’d become comrades out of necessity, rather than any sort of shared bond.

As the thought ran through my head, I winced. I was sitting in a car with a literal immortal - someone who’d been around for a thousand years - and I couldn’t think of anything to talk to him about? I mean, sure, it was Aedan, but he’d still have a wealth of knowledge and experience that I’d never have dreamed of.

When I opened my mouth, though, taking in a lungful of air to begin my too-cheerful questioning, he spoke first.

“No.”

I stopped, letting my breath out in an ungraceful, anticlimactic rush. “W-What?”

He glanced at me sidelong, his lips turned down in a frown. “You’re thinking we’ve spent enough time together now, aren’t you? We’re friends?”

“I was thinking we have a long car ride and I’m bored.”

“Sure you were.”

“Really.”

Aedan looked back to the road long enough to straighten us out, then fixed his green eyes on me again.

I shrugged halfheartedly, breaking the stare first. “I mean...I did have a few questions.”

“One. You get one. I’m not a damn encyclopaedia.”

One. Shit. I racked my mind, staring out the windshield to watch the sky that was slowly fading to purples and reds. “Uh. Well, then, out of all the advances of the last thousand years-”

“Online ordering. And Amazon’s two-day delivery.”

My mouth hung open. My eyes were fixed straight ahead, caught in place as I tried to process what he’d just said. “W-What? So you’re saying-”

“Shit, do you realize how good you kids have it these days?” Aedan said, tearing his eyes off the road to give me another amused look. “You know what I had growing up? Sheep. And grass. Occasionally someone might pass through with some oddities from the rest of the world, but it wasn’t like anyone could afford any of it.”

I tried to imagine Aedan growing up at all. Somehow, the thought of him as a kid was even more horrifying than him as an adult. “Uh.”

“Now, fuck.” He waved a hand at the windshield. “I go to my goddamn browser, hit a few buttons, and two days later I’ve got shit from all over the planet showing up on the front porch. Totally unbelievable. Never seen anything like it.”

The radio rose to fill the conversational gap as the both of us fell quiet. I furrowed my brow, letting what he’d said simmer in my mind.

“So...I’m going to assume you’re the reason for the random charges that keep appearing on my credit card.”

“Shouldn’t leave your stuff sitting around, Jonny,” Aedan said, shaking his head sadly. “You just can’t trust people these days.”

“God damn it,” I muttered, shrinking lower in my seat. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Aedan didn’t say a word. His smug little smile said it all.

“So-”

“I told you one question, Jonny. That was your one. Hope you liked it.”

“Asshole,” I said under my breath.

“You’ll be fine.”

I stared down at the filthy, mud-stained floor mats, all too aware of the speed we’d picked up somewhere along the line. I thought about saying something - but with Aedan, complaining would probably only make him drive faster. I bit my tongue instead, choosing to trust in the fact that he’d no doubt been driving for as long as cars had existed.

The seconds ticked by, slowly changing into minutes. The constant, steady rumble of his tires droned on.

Finally, when I could take it no more, I cleared my throat. “Well.”

“I told you no already,” Aedan said.

“I was just going to ask where we’re going.”

“Oh.” He shifted in his seat, having the decency to look at least a little embarrassed. “I see.”

I stared at him, working my backpack a bit farther to the side in the footwell. Finally, he shrugged. “It’s what I told you back at the house. There are some new finders out there, and even the ones that’ve been around for a while probably have new demis on their radar. We’re just going to drop in and ask one of them if they’ve got any hits I’d be interested in.”

“We’re going to ask,” I echoed, completely failing to keep the doubt from my voice.

“Yes, Jonny. We’re going to ask.”

“Nicely?”

“Initially.”

“Aedan,” I snapped. “Let’s not go-”

“I’m kidding! It’s just a joke. Jesus Christ, you’re sensitive,” he said, waving a hand in my direction. “We’ll do this like civilized adults.”

I just settled in my seat, facing straight again and folding my arms. “It’s not really funny,” I mumbled. “So, what. Find an old contact, did you?”

“Not this time.”

I paused. “What? What do you mean?”

Aedan groaned. “I...Well, I don’t think any of them really want to talk to me. And with you starting some sort of territory war with Noah, I’d rather not open those doors just yet.”

None of it made sense. “Wait. So if you didn’t already know them, how did you-”

“Glenn was all sorts of helpful,” Aedan said. There was a satisfaction in his voice that made me shudder.

“Oh,” I managed.

He chuckled. “I told you. Don’t worry about it, Jonny. All you have to do is tag along and signal me if they’re lying. A hand gesture or something. That’s what people do, isn’t it?”

“Right,” I said, glaring at him. “So we’re going all the way out here on the word of someone who could have been lying to you. Do you even know how to find them?”

He patted his phone, smiling over at me. “I’ve got a number. It’s simple. This sort of stuff is normal. Calm down.”

“No part of this seems normal,” I mumbled.

His sigh was more pointed. “People need information. If you’ve got money, it’s not a big deal to buy it. I mean, yeah, they’ll probably be a little uptight, and we might get searched, but if we’re just there to trade one one’s going to throw a fit. It’d be bad business.”

I furrowed my brow. “Did you bring money?”

“I brought you.”

“God damn it, Aedan.”

“You’re fine. Stop crying.”

I fell into an irritated, sullen silence, my hands folded in my lap. My thoughts raced, running over bills that were yet to be paid and the ever-rising cost of electricity to the house. I...I’d be fine. We’d be fine. “I’m not made of money, Aedan,” I said at last, still scowling.

“Ever considered gambling?”

I blinked - and then twisted, eyeing him sidelong. “Excuse me?”

He was grinning, sly and sardonic. “Gambling. The thing? With cards? And a bunch of people all trying to lie to you?”

“You want me to cheat.”

He flapped his hand at me. “It’s not cheating. You’re using your particular set of skills to see through their deception. It’s totally fair.”

“I don’t think they’d agree.”

“They don’t have to.” He rolled his eyes, seeing me gathering myself for another retort. “Anyway. You and that mind-reader would be something else around a poker table. That’s all I’m saying. Think about it.”

He was right - but the fact he was right didn’t make the idea sit any easier with me. The possibility had occurred to me, those times when my boss complained about yet another missed day or forgotten assignment. I could solve all of it with a few words, the voice in the back of my head whispered. It would be just that simple. I wouldn’t have to put up with it anymore.

Granted, with the way Baldwin had reacted to my influencing him, I wasn’t at all convinced that it was such a good idea to toy with people’s thoughts. But it was an option.

If I could dodge the problem entirely, though...If it was just something like reading their lies, they’d never know. Oh, we’d have to be careful. We’d have to move around, not win too much. Not be seen as cheating. My moral core still screamed that it was wrong, that it was cheating, but despite myself, I couldn’t shake the possibility quite so easily.

My thoughts were finally brought to a stop by the sight of a sign sliding past on the highway - a sign that put us on a road I hadn’t expected to see. We were going south. Fast. And the only thing that lay to the south was-

“Aedan, where are we going?” I said slowly.

“To see a finder,” he said, spitting each word out slowly and carefully. “I already told you that. Pay attention.”

“I get that,” I said, glaring at him. “Where?”

“Ah. Ahaha. Well, according to our late friend Glenn, there’s a crew that-”

“Aedan.”

“There’s a town in northern Illinois we’re going to go visit.”

The car again fell into silence as I pulled my mental map open. I didn’t like what I found. “Aedan.”

“Yes, Jonny?”

“That’s Chicago.”

He scoffed. “No, it’s not. We’re not going to Chicago. We’re going to around Chicago.”

“You said never to go near a city,” I said, feeling the blood drain from my face. “You said-”

“We’re not going into the city. Don’t be a baby.”

“How close are we coming?” I snapped.

He chuckled weakly. “Come on. Don’t you trust me?”

“No.”

“It’s just where they’re at, okay? You’re not going to get killed.”

“You should have told me this from the start. Jesus, Aedan. It’s just the two of us.”

“Calm down,” he said, and his tone was devoid of the half-hearted sarcasm it had had moments before. “You’re fine, Jon. For the time being I kind of need you alive, after all. Right?” He flashed a smile, quick and sly. “You think I’d go and get my cash cow killed on our very first trip out?”

“So there will be more trips to come,” I said, my scowl deepening.

I didn’t miss his wince. “W-We can talk about that later.”

“Fucking perfect.”

He stopped trying to defend himself, and I stopped trying to argue. The silence was sullen and tense, but it was more comfortable than the two of us trying to pretend we could make small talk. I leaned my head against the glass of the window, letting my eye slide shut. The sky over us was still pale, with the sun peeking out over the horizon at last.

Aedan cleared his throat a few minutes later. “But...uh, well. You should probably take your relic off, just to be safe.”

I stared at him. He kept his eyes on the road, but the tips of his ears glowed.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered, tearing the collar of my jacket open and grabbing for the delicate chain of my necklace underneath. My skin shivered as the paired rings slipped free, breaking that meager, precious contact with my body.

I hated doing it, but I shoved the necklace into the center console between us. The thought of being without it wasn’t a pleasant one.

“Why are you making me go deprived?” I said, spitting the words between my teeth as I glared at Aedan.

He shook his head. “Sorry. Unless you can figure out how to stop casting at the drop of a hat, it’s safest this way.”

My thoughts whirled as his words filtered through my mind. Realization clicked to life a moment later. “You mean that old tongue business.”

He didn’t reply. He didn’t acknowledge I’d spoken at all, in fact.

I just leaned back, one hand still draped over the console as though I could feel the necklace through the cheap plastic and faux leather. “Does that mean-”

“God damn it,” I heard him mutter.

He might not want to be questioned, but I wasn’t about to stop, either. “So you’re still hearing me talk whatever weird old language that was, are you?” Despite myself, I found I was fascinated.

“It’s not weird. It’s Irish.”

“Well, I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“Of course you haven’t.”

“So then-”

“Jon.”

Right. One word was all I needed to hear - his tone was tight enough to broadcast that he had no interest in discussing the matter further. All the same, I couldn’t help wondering - how exactly did it all work? If he was hearing me speak his native tongue still, was I just...passively casting, all the time?

That would explain why Aedan was worried about me wearing the damn thing. But already, I could feel my skin prickling. Going without it for a day or two was going to suck.

“Fine,” I muttered, leaning against the door again. “Wake me up when we get there.” We had time, if my mental schedule was at all close to accurate. It would take a while to drive there. We’d slip in, try not to get killed, meet with whatever finder Aedan thought he could get a hold of, and get out. We’d probably have to find somewhere to crash for the night, a thought which was not at all appealing to me. Dimly, I felt a twinge of satisfaction that my efforts wouldn’t be in vain.

Aedan mumbled something. I didn’t hear him. It was still early, with the sun just peeking over the horizon. Me getting a day off was rare - spending it on Aedan and his death mission was a downright tragedy. There was no way I was going to just stare at the road when there was sleep to be had.

The worries were still there - Anke, and the city, and Greyson, and Noah, and everything else that was pressing in closer and closer. But with every breath, they slipped a little farther away, until at last I gave in and let the waves pull me under.

The sound of tires screeching was the only warning I got before I pitched forward hard. My seatbelt tightened around me, cutting painfully into my flesh. I yelped, throwing a hand up, and caught myself before I could crash into the dashboard.

“Good morning,” Aedan said, his tone just as bright and cheerful as if I’d walked into the living room and happened upon him.

I rolled, biting back a wince, and glared at him. He’d already let off the brakes. We rolled on - more slowly, I realized. We’d turned down an exit ramp.

“Where are we?” I mumbled, blinking away the last remnants of sleep that somehow escaped his nightmarish idea of a wake-up call.

“Not far now,” he said. His eyes were fixed dead ahead, tracking the buildings that we passed.

Buildings which were bigger than Greenville’s lonely structures. My adrenaline spiked. My hand dropped to my bag, to where I’d hidden-

“Calm down,” Aedan said, more firmly. “Jesus.”

The car’s brakes groaned. We were slowing further, turning down the road at the end of the ramp. As quickly as he’d pulled us off the freeway, he eased into a gas station that waited there.

“Aedan?” I said, straightening and rubbing my eyes. He reached for the phone tucked into the cup holder, totally ignoring me. I frowned. “What are you doing?”

He flipped it open, scrolling through numbers - and then he glanced up to me.

“Just follow my lead.”