“No, but only because he hasn’t specifically asked. I was searched for marks when I signed on and forbidden to take on any more while I’m in his service. But so far, he’s assumed his are the only bonds I have.”

But if he asked, she’d have to tell him.

Beyond frustrated, I scowled at them both. “How the hell am I supposed to be any use to anyone if neither of you can do what I need done or tell me what I need to know?”

Kori shrugged, and the gesture looked well-worn. “Work around the bindings.”

I’d been working around my bindings to Cavazos for a year and a half, but I rarely had to work around anyone else’s marks….

Cam lowered himself onto the coffee table in front of me, and I didn’t miss Kori’s look of surprise when I let him take my hands. “Yes, our bindings to Tower complicate things. But your own professional life isn’t exactly simple at the moment.”

“My ties to Cavazos are nowhere near as restrictive as yours to Tower. And Ruben isn’t trying to kill a five-year-old!” Though if I failed to find his missing son in the next six months, I was going to wish he’d killed me.

“Wait, what? She’s bound to Ruben Cavazos?” Kori’s eyes widened dramatically, then she grinned and grabbed her beer. “You two take the concept of star-crossed to a whole new level.”

“So glad we amuse you,” I muttered, trying to refocus my thoughts and work around her chain links. “Okay, instead of just flat-out asking you to do some things, which would compel you to do them, I’m going to ask you if you can do what I need done.” I’d rather her help us of her own will anyway.

Kori nodded. “Greatly appreciated.”

“Okay, here goes. When Anne and Hadley get here, can you take them and Cam through the shadows to an apartment if I give you the address?”

“How far away is it?”

“About six miles. Less, as the crow flies.” Much less, as the shadow-walker travels…

“No problem. Anything else?”

I inhaled, debating my next request. “I don’t suppose there’s any way you could…not tell your boss where she is, or that we have her?”

Kori frowned at me. “Have you really been here for years, ’cause you sound like you just fell off the truck, fresh from the fuckin’ farm.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not green. I was just hoping you might be able to…work around your own bindings.”

“I’ll do what I can,” she said. “But if Tower asks me a direct question, I’ll have to answer.”

“I know.ut we’d appreciate any sidestepping you’re able to do.” I shrugged and sipped from my bottle of water. “Hopefully, though, it won’t matter either way. We’re putting her deep in the east end, and I can’t see Tower making a move for her there, considering he’d have to physically break into the apartment once we get all the lights on.”

“So, what’s the plan after that?” Kori wore skepticism like some women wore jewelry. “Cower under a desk and hope nothing falls on your head? You can’t hide from Tower forever. Trust me.”

“I know. This is just to keep her safe while we figure out why he wants her and how to stop him. I don’t suppose you could help with any of that?” I watched Kori closely, expecting to learn as much from what I saw on her face as from whatever she’d actually say.

But her expression gave away nothing. It was carefully guarded and practically blank, which told me she knew something. Something big.

“I don’t have any knowledge of Anne’s kid specifically,” she said. “But I know that Tower’s working on a big project and that it requires a lot of…resources. Which may be why he wants her.”

Resources? Project? What kind of project could be so important, so top secret that he’d need a five-year-old to… To what?

“What big project?” Cam demanded, his irritation bordering on anger.

Kori shrugged. “If you don’t know, it’s because he doesn’t want you to know.”

“I want me to know,” he insisted.

“Well, then, it’s too damn bad you don’t have your own mark tattooed on your arm, instead of his,” Kori snapped. “You know how this works, Cam. I don’t make the fuckin’ rules.”

“I also know you don’t mind breaking them whenever possible.” His frown deepened. “Or whenever it benefits you.”

“Look, I would tell you if I could.” Kori set her empty bottle down on the coffee table. “But I’m strictly prohibited from talking about the project. And there’s not a damn thing I can do about that.”

But if I caught her off guard with a good guess, her surprise—or lack thereof—might say as much as her silence.

“He’s selling Skills, isn’t he?” I asked, making a sudden, mental leap between two pieces of the puzzle we hadn’t yet connected. And her surprise—then quick poker face—was like a little gold star for my internal score card. “We thought Tower just paid for Hunter to have the procedure—whatever it is—but actually, he’s the one who provided it.”

“No.” Cam shook his head firmly. “It’s not possible. There’s no way Tower could be up to something that big without me hearing about it.”

Kori laughed out loud. “I’m not sure if you’re overestimating your own abilities or underestimating Jake’s, but you’re—” she hesitated, evidently running up against a verbal line she was forbidden to cross “12;inaccurate, at best,” she concluded, her amusement dampened by the restriction.