I avoided his gaze while I shoved the half-empty box of shells into my satchel along with the extra clip. “I’m about to make all that work in our favor. I think I know how to get Ruben’s men to protect Hadley and her mom—only they won’t know they’re doing it.”

“I’m listening….”

“Okay, here’s how it should go—I’ll leave your place and make sure Cavazos’s men see me. They’ll follow me to my apartment, watch me go in, then hang around to make sure I don’t go anywhere. What they won’t know is that you, Anne and Hadley will already be there waiting for me. With Cavazos’s goons hanging around, Tower’s men won’t be able to get close enough to break in.” I shrugged, then pulled on my shoulder holster. “It’s not a permanent solution, but at least it’ll keep Hadley safe while we plan out our next move.”

Cam nodded slowly. “I like it. But why did you send them to my place? Why not send them straight to your apartment?”

I perched on the edge of my desk, in front of the couch where he sat. “Because we’re not going to my real apartment in the south fork. We’re going to one on the east side—deep in Cavazos’s territory. It’s only a mile from his house and it’s crawling with his initiates. Even once Tower’s men track Hadley there, there’s nothing they can do. They’ll be spotted and run off by Cavazos’s men. And no one will be able to get in through the shadows, because there won’t be any shadows. You and I can make sure of that.”

Cam blinked at me for nearly a minute, and I would have given anything to know what he was thinking. Then, finally he asked, “You have an apartment on the east side? Since when?”

“Since about a year ago. It’s not really mine. It’s Ruben’s. In one of his buildings. I’ve only been there once, but I have a key because he…kind of…gave it to me. Did I not mention that?” I smiled, trying to lighten the moment, but Cam wasn’t buying t.

“You seem to be forgetting to mention a lot of things, Liv.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. But there’s no good way to tell the guy you want to be with that the guy who’s rumored to own you gave you an apartment. You would never have believed that I’m not sleeping with him.” Just like Meika.

Cam gave me an open, expectant look I wouldn’t have bought from anyone else. “I believe you now.”

“But would you have earlier? Before…your couch?”

He sighed, then met my gaze again, reluctantly. “Probably not.”

“Well, now you believe me, and now you know about the apartment. So back to the plan. The only real problem is figuring out how to get the three of you inside. You can’t just walk up with my key and let yourself in. Everyone in the building knows whose apartment it is, and even if they don’t stop you, someone will call Ruben, and this whole thing will fall down around us.”

“Do you leave the lights on all the time?” Cam asked, and I could see the early spark of an idea glinting in his eyes.

“No… Like I said, I’ve never even been there, except the time he first showed it to me. I thought he was showing me a target’s apartment.”

“So someone could get there through the shadows now, before you actually arrive and turn on all the lights?”

I shrugged. “Yeah. If one of us were a Traveler.” But, obviously, we weren’t.

He glanced at the ground, his foot tapping the floor nervously. “What if one of us knows a Traveler?”

I shook my head. “Cam, we can’t trust any of your friends.”

“Not my friend. Yours. And she may be the only person in the world we can all trust right now.”

“You mean Kori?” She and her brother were the only shadow-walkers I knew, and Kris wasn’t obligated to help me if I asked him to—not that I knew how to get in touch with him. But now that Anne had burned the second oath, getting Kori’s help would be as easy as calling her up and asking her for it. Except… “I don’t know how to get ahold of her, Cam. We lost touch years ago.” When I’d left town. Just like I’d lost touch with everyone else. “I guess I could track her, but I’m not sure we have the time. I don’t even know if she’s in the city….”

“She is. And I have her number.”

He said it casually, as if it was no big deal. But if it was really no big deal, he would have already told me. There was something he wasn’t saying. Something important.

I’d given up my secrets—sure, a couple of them had to be dragged out of me—but Cam was obviously still hiding a couple of his own….

Nineteen

We took separate cars back to Cam’s apartment, and I stopped on the way for some cheap sleeping masks at a local drugstore. I always carried one for myself, of course—they come in handy when you sleep with the lights on—but knowing how scattered Anne’s thoughts were, considering she was running for her daughter’s life, I figured we’d need some extras.

By the time I pulled into the parking lot of Cam’s building, I’d decided I had to know. If we were going to give this another shot—if we were willing to risk our lives to be together—secrets weren’t going to cut it. He knew mine. Reciprocation was only fair.

On my way into the building, I glanced around the lot, looking for Ruben’s men. I couldn’t see them, but I knew they were there. Watching. And for once, that would actually help, rather than hinder, my plans.