“Ready, little man?” Kaine’s eyes lit up, and he turned his head and looked right at the old busybody. Her face softened, and surprisingly, didn’t crack in half when she smiled. “Better get going before she decides to come out here.” We set off down the sidewalk at a brisk pace.

  Every bump made the baby giggle, and every time he giggled I bit down on the urge to babble at him, but it wasn’t easy. He was just so darned cute. In that manner, we made a circuit around the neighborhood. Only once did we meet someone else out walking in the cold, and I managed to dodge to the other side of the street and avoid a Kaine love-fest incident.

  A half hour had passed by the time I stood on the sidewalk in front of the house and assessed whether it was calm enough to go back inside. Concentrating on the flash of light and the soft, booming echoes, I didn’t hear footsteps coming up beside me until a voice startled.

  “Who’s this cute little guy? Yours?” Kin stroked a finger down Kaine’s cheek and grinned when his touch elicited a sparkling laugh, but seemed otherwise untouched by the strength of the baby’s magic.

  “My nephew. I’m babysitting while my, uh, roommates are testing out some new lighting effects.” Nothing like a little deja vu in the afternoon. The first time I’d met Kin I’d been standing in the same spot and staring at the windows of the house wondering when it would be safe to go inside. “They’re designers.” I used the same lame excuse as the last time, too. But he bought it.

  “Looks cool. Do you have a card on you? I might be able to throw them some work.”

  “Not at the moment.”

  “Then bring it with you when you come to my show tonight.”

  Had I agreed to that? In my head, the conversation from the restaurant replayed. No, I hadn’t given him a firm commitment. “I’m—” There wasn’t time to say I wasn’t going because he already had.

  Chapter 11

  By the time Serena returned, Kaine was fast asleep with a cherubic smile on his face, and the last vestiges of the mess the faeries had made were scuttled back into place thanks to a convenient cleaning spell I’d recently perfected. I handed her a small glass of Twinkleberry wine and surveyed her as she sunk into the recesses of the parlor sofa.

  “You look much less stressed than you did earlier.” I noted that her hair shined and was, for once, its natural color. Her skin looked soft, and the dark circles under her eyes had nearly disappeared.

  Serena took a long sip from her glass and glanced over at Kaine with that look you only see on the faces of mothers: half adoration and half scared to make any loud noises lest the little monster awaken prematurely. “I missed him,” she stated simply. “I know I sounded like I was about to leave him on a fire station door mat, but I love him with all my heart and I’d do anything for him. It’s just…” Serena trailed off.

  “You didn’t realize you’d be doing this alone.” I finished her sentence.

  “I didn’t expect to be doing this at all. You’ve met my parents; goddess knows why they stayed together so long when there was nothing left but contempt. Still, somehow, I expected to escape that life and wind up with a happy little family one day. Never mind that half the kids we grew up with came from a broken home—I clung to the belief that my family was the anomaly. Now, I watch television or read the paper, and I realize there’s no such thing as normal, and these picture-perfect households with a mother and a father and two-and-a-half kids just don’t exist.” Serena finally got to her point, her matter-of-fact tone laced with sadness.

  I nodded in understanding, “That ought to make you feel better, but I’m guessing it doesn’t.”

  “Not really. Then throw in the fact that my son is a descendant of Cupid’s and a Fate Weaver…well, I’m in over my head.”

  “You’re not alone, Serena,” I promised, hoping my words rang true to her ears, “though I do think it’s time to call in reinforcements.” I explained to Serena what had happened at the coffeehouse, how I’d watched Katie’s fate play out, and the resulting aftermath of Kaine’s fate weaving on the unsuspecting couple.

  Serena’s brow darkened, “It scares the hell out of me, Lexi. He’s just a baby, with no way to defend himself other than a type of magic I can never fully understand how to help him use. I mean, does he have latent powers from his father? I was never sure with Jett because he bragged a lot, but I still ended up doing all the spells and such. I have no idea how Kaine would handle himself in a tough situation, but I suspect some latent talent might pop up, and then I’d be dealing with a whole other can of worms. It’s a good thing the coven are all besotted with him. At least I know they’d pool together and perform a memory charm on anyone who happened to see anything weird.”

  “That’s a worst-case scenario situation. We’ll figure out a solution, I promise.” When Serena’s expression didn’t lighten, I decided maybe she needed a laugh. “Speaking of cans of worms, you should have come back an hour ago. You’d have seen your faerie godmother wearing a weave made out of moss. She and Evian got into a little disagreement, and it escalated.”

  The mental image worked, and Serena couldn’t help but let a giggle escape her lips. “Tell me you have pictures.”

  “Naturally.”

  While Serena swiped her way through the photo gallery on my cell phone, I heard the front door slam and looked down the hallway to see Vaeta surreptitiously peeking through the curtains at something outside. Salem was crouched, in his cat form, at her feet, sniffing the doorway like there might be a crab cake stuffed in the crack.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, and I swear she flinched even though taking a faerie by surprise is about as difficult as wrangling a wild eaflock.

  Vaeta took one more look and closed the curtain. “Nothing, I guess. I thought I saw something outside. Probably just a stray dog.”

  A shiver ran up my spine. It wasn’t often that Vaeta was wrong, and it wasn’t the first time a feeling of being watched had made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Just as I was thinking it might be Sylvana lurking around and keeping tabs on me, the doorbell rang. I nearly jumped out of my skin.

  “It’s Delta, open up,” floated through the closed door before I swung it open to find the Fiach more disheveled than I’d ever seen her. She all but jumped over the threshold. “Close it, quickly.”

  “Are you being followed?” I scratched at my shoulder blade while scanning the yard and street for anything that would freak out a bad-ass supernatural bounty hunter like Delta.

  Delta hung her coat on the already overburdened rack in the hall and sidestepped some of Kaine’s accoutrements as she made her way into the parlor. “I’m not sure, I might just be paranoid.”

  “Seems to be going around.” I replied, and offered her a seat by the flickering Balefire. “Besides, you’re only paranoid if they’re not actually following you.”

  Ignoring my joke, Delta got to the point. “I’ve got news and you’re not going to like it. No, Serena, stay here. This concerns you, too,” she said when Serena initiated a spell to gather the baby’s things.

  Serena stopped what she was doing, and the diaper bag settled back onto the floor with a plop. Her mouth firmed into a thin line, and she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees in anticipation.

  “You’re in danger, and Kaine might be in danger as well.” Delta dropped the bomb and didn’t bother waiting around for our reaction before she plodded on. “I had to use some pretty unorthodox information retrieval methods, and I now owe a favor to a demon from the Fringe, but it turned out to be a solid lead so I’ll worry about that later. You’re being hunted, Alexis, and by something I’ve never seen the likes of before. Something that likes to feast on the souls of Fate Weavers. Have you ever heard of a Balmorrigan?”

  I looked from Vaeta to Serena to Salem, who had shimmered into his human form prior to Delta’s explanation, and received three head simultaneous head shakes in return.

  “What is a Balmorrigan?” Serena asked, her voice shaking.

  “That’s the thing—they’ve been off the bad guy map for as long as I’ve been doing this job. I managed to gather up the gossip, and while most accounts are wildly varying, the one thing that seems to be a consensus is they’re the product of an ill-fated match between a demon and a witch.” She slumped back into the cushions as if imparting the knowledge took something out of her.

  “So they’re like what…the opposite of a Fate Weaver? Like the anti-Lexi?” Serena turned to me for validation, but I had none to give, so I shrugged and asked Delta to continue.

  “It’s almost as if all the information pertaining to them has been erased from the history records. The mark they left on your shoulder…” Delta pointed to me and a hiss escaped Vaeta’s lips. I’d have to pay for not having mentioned the dream and the mark to the faeries, and it probably wasn’t going to be pleasant, but Vaeta knew better than to interrupt such an important conversation just to yell at me. “It’s an amalgamation of two archaic symbols, and roughly translates into soul stealer of love bringer.”

  Fear rippled through me while Lexi shouted in my head, We have to do something. We have to protect Kaine! I shared the sentiment.

  “Vaeta,” I said, my voice brooking no refusal, “you can reprimand me for withholding information later. Right now, we need your sisters—” I stopped short as Evian, Terra, and Soleil flitted into the room in their tiny faerie forms and grew to regular size like something out of a Disney movie. She must have tapped Evian’s communication shell woven into the hair above her left ear so the rest of the faeries had heard enough of the conversation to know they were needed.

  When everyone was filled in, Evian sprang into action. “We’re on it, Serena, don’t you worry.” She fastened a necklace around Serena’s neck, a tiny shell dangling from the chain. “We all wear these in our hair, and if you tap it once, then talk normally, I’ll hear you. Any distress on Kaine’s part and I’m already keyed to come running, but this is in case you need me.”

  We worked out a plan for round-the-clock monitoring, setting aside the tension that had been hovering in the air ever since I’d committed what the faeries considered a punishable crime and stopped treating them to every detail of my personal life. Vaeta fluttered out of the room muttering about increasing security, and after a few minutes, the floorboards began to rattle with the strength of her efforts.

  “Alexis,” Delta said in a quiet yet still strong voice before Evian and Serena prepared to skim home with Kaine, “what about me? I have no intention of leaving you all to your own devices. I have skills, and I’m prepared to put them to use. For you. You all are the closest thing to friends I have, and I don’t care what my orders state. I am at your service.” She performed a little dip that wasn’t quite a curtsy, her fingers grasping the handle of her formidable rapier.

  I’d tried very hard to eradicate anything close to weakness from my emotional repertoire, but Delta’s pledge of allegiance made my feelings tingle. Just a little.

  “Thank you, Delta.”

  “No problem,” She snapped her spine straight and looked somewhat embarrassed at her show of devotion. “But we do have a problem. The only person who would be able to tell us what we’re up against would be a Fate Weaver who was at least a few hundred years old. The problem is that outside of wildly varying rumor, I have no idea where to look. It would be a lot easier if I had some help tracking one down.”

  It wasn’t like Delta to admit a weakness of any kind. “What exactly do you need?” I couldn’t go haring off on a grand adventure with her, but I could probably draft one of the godmothers. “I bet Soleil would be happy to—”

  She cut me off. “Not that kind of help. I need something touched or owned by a Fate Weaver.”

  “You mean the bow?” Could I give it to her even if I wanted to? Or would it drive her mad inside of an hour?

  The look she tossed me was pure Delta. “Don’t be foolish. The bow looks only to you now. Even if another besides your father had touched it, I’d never be able to get enough trace for tracking.” She sighed. “I’m talking about a personal item.”

  “Sure, let me just go pull something out my supply of Fate Weaver-owned objects.” I swear, I wasn’t trying to be snippy, it just came out that way.

  “It was just a suggestion,” she said, scowling at me. “I’ll keep searching.”

  Chapter 12

  I caught my reflection in the rear view mirror as I circled two blocks out looking for a decent parking space near Driven, and didn’t know how to feel about the fact I looked more like myself than I had in months. The goddess had quieted, giving me an unprecedented amount of control, though I imagined it was part of her game to see whether I could handle an evening involving Kin without having a complete and total meltdown.

  Good luck with that, she piped up. I try to protect you from making stupid decisions, and this is the thanks I get?

  Well, who asked you to be the life police anyway?

  You did.

  Did I? You keep saying that, but I remember it quite differently. I was hurt and wanted a chance to lick my wounds, and you jumped in and took over. You chopped off my hair, you redecorated my bedroom. You cut Salem out of my life. Did I really ask you to do all of that? Because I don’t think I did.

  Oh please, this was nothing more than the typical behavior of the tragically dumped. I gave you a makeover, streamlined your office, bought you some privacy in that madhouse of yours, and don’t tell me you—

  The internal argument fizzled when a familiar sense of dread washed over me. I was really beginning to wonder if I’d been three kinds of a fool to wish for my magic all those years it was late to the party. Trouble followed me like a plague once it kicked in, and while no one could call my life boring before, I almost longed for the simpler days when the worst that could happen was a disco swampfest of faerie fight in the living room.

  What was worse, I’d put myself in danger by going to Driven alone, knowing there was a new enemy circling. I knew I should have stayed home, but Kin’s siren song was too loud to ignore.

  I’ll handle this. My inner goddess jockeyed for control, but I gave her a taste of her own medicine and shut her down. Witchfire playing along my fingers, my power went questing out in a circle.

  In my peripheral vision, greasy light oozed along the brick wall while I played the unwitting sheep. With my nerves already on edge, I reckoned my stalker might be in for a nasty shock. Waking Lexi and dreaming Lexi? Not the same. Especially not with the double shot of Alexis added in.

  Spell rhymes chased through my mind, fiery intention built in my hands, and I started a countdown in my head. Get ready to jump in if this goes bad, I told the goddess because I’m not so big a fool as to use only half my resources in a fight. In five…four…three—.

  “Are you sure we’re going the right way?”

  “Nothing looks familiar, but I could have sworn this is where we parked the car.” Bright voices interrupted my preparations to fight.

  “Says the person who reported her car stolen because she forgot which mall entrance she used.”

  “Hey, parking lot A and parking lot B look exactly the same in the dark.”

  As I passed the two twenty-something women searching for their ride, my entire body prickled like a foot that has fallen asleep in the night and I heard one of them mutter to the other, “Well hello, Hottie.” Was she talking about me?

  No, her eyes slid by me like I didn’t exist and fixed on someone behind me. Turning, I saw him. Tall was my first impression. At least six feet five—maybe more. A chiseled chin, piercing eyes. Linebacker shoulders stretched the black, hooded sweatshirt across his chest, and I could see why the young woman’s mouth was hanging open.

  But it was more than just his looks—the man had a supernatural bad boy vibe that both attracted and powerfully repelled. When his gaze lasered my way, his eyes flared green. Probably a reflection from the streetlight, yet still unnerving, though not half as much as the shivery feeling I got from having his full attention on me or from the adrenaline still coursing through my system.

  It’s coming from him, right? The freaky stalker energy? Alexis might not have overt magic, and I still wasn’t sure she could pull out the bow for self-defense, but we got our ability to parse truth from our father, and it was strong.

  Feels like it.

  “Hey, have you seen my car? It’s a Honda, sort of a dark red four-door.” As opening lines went, I’d call it a three, but at least she batted her eyes nicely. Not that it did the young woman any good.

  “No.” His voice rumbled.

  Miss Lost Car pouted, but he barely focused any attention on her at all.

  “Is that it over there?” Figuring there was something to the idea of safety in numbers, I’d slowed my steps to join the two women, and we’d managed to cover enough ground during the distraction they’d provided, I could see the side door of Driven.

  She pointed her key fob in the general direction I’d indicated, and hit a button. When the lights flashed on, a laugh trilled out of her companion, and in a flurry of motion, the two women made their way down the street.

  By the time I turned to look, my stalker was gone, and before I took another ten steps, I’d half convinced myself there’d never been any danger at all. Stress, panic, and nerves can play hell with the imagination.

  My stomach still jumping, I walked toward the club and prepared to face the man I’d spent the last few months avoiding like the plague. What level of idiocy made me show up here, anyway?

  Because you’re a glutton for punishment. I wasn’t sure if it was Alexis’s voice or my own echoing in my ear. I pretended not to hear her, and did what any woman would do: prepared for battle. I was already dressed for it in one of Kin’s favorite outfits—a short skirt over thick black tights with spangled threads that made my legs look amazing—even though I knew trying to entice him was a bad idea for a hundred different reasons.