MSG from Leticia, 6:40 p.m.: Grandma Vega fell asleep. I’ve got two hours before my sister picks me up. I could take a taxi to your house if you tell me how to get there.

Hot damn.

It took her about twenty minutes. No way would Dad ever forgive him if he allowed a taxi across the house ward, so Jupe met her at the electronic gate and let her in after she paid the driver. Tonight she wore a fur-trimmed gray vest over her pink hoodie, and her hair was back in the messy buns behind her ears. She stuck her hands into her pockets and smiled at him as he punched the close button on the gate.

Foxglove jumped up on her. “Down, Foxglove, you damn freak. Sorry, she’s just extra friendly. She won’t bite or anything.”

“Hello, Foxglove.” She bent low and held out her hand. After a quick sniff, Foxglove gave it a good approval lick. Leticia scrunched up her nose and wiped her hand on her jeans as she stood.

“You wrestle a wolf for that vest?” Jupe asked, using it as an excuse to look her over freely without seeming too creepy.

“It’s fake fur. Stop looking at my boobs.”

Dammit. Best not to admit anything. He walked her up the gravel road toward the house. “It’s only seven. Your grandma goes to bed that early? Mine stays up past midnight.”

“Whoop-di-freaking-doo. And no, she usually doesn’t go to bed that early. I gave her wine at dinner.”

“Damn, Leticia! You don’t play.”

“Watch yourself, Jupiter,” she said with a sly smile. “I know all sorts of ways to manipulate you if I want to.”

“Maybe I want to be manipulated.”

She shoved his arm and made him stumble off the road.

“Hey!” He laughed and pretended to shove her back, but she raised an eyebrow in warning, so he gave up on that idea.

She whistled as they crested a hill and crossed the house ward. “That’s your house? Whoa. Your dad is loaded. That looks like something out of an architectural magazine.”

“We’re not crazy rich or anything. He inherited this property from his parents. It’s just that my dad’s an artist, so he likes things to look good.”

“My dad’s an engineer, so our place is pretty nice, but it looks like every other house on the block. This is cool. Your dad has good taste.”

“Wait until you see inside.” Jupe unlocked the front door and held it open for her. “But I’ll have to give you a tour another time. We only have forty-five minutes before the Holidays show up, and there’s something I want to show you.”

She gave him that little judge-y eyebrow tilt as she slid past him, smelling of strawberry jam and shampoo, and he almost lost his mind. If they’d had more time, that house tour could have gotten her inside his room. But as it stood now, he was just happy she was here at all.

“Tell me more about this big thing you’ve been texting me about,” she said as he led her into the living room, which was a bad idea, because now she was looking at his baby pictures.

“I’m not a hundo percent sure, but I think Cady and my dad are doing a summoning down at my dad’s workshop.”

“Wow.” She glanced out the patio window, looking nervous. “Where’s this workshop?”

“In a shed on the other side of the cliff. We can get there in five minutes if we walk fast. But here’s the part I want to show you first. Have you ever heard of a Hermeneus spirit?”

“Sure. Guardian angels. Everyone’s heard of those.”

“You don’t have one . . . do you?”

She shook her head. “Grandma Vega used to, but it died. I heard it, though, a couple of times when she called it. It’s sort of spooky, like talking to a ghost. I mean, not that ghosts are real.”

He chuckled. “Boy, have I got some news for you. I’ve seen shit you wouldn’t believe.”

“You curse too much, Jupiter.”

“Don’t get prudish on me now, Lett.” He knew the second he said it that she wouldn’t be happy, and sure enough, she gave him the devil eyebrow again. “Look, I didn’t call you Letty, so relax. Besides, I’m about to show you something that’s going to blow your freakin’ mind.”

She crossed her arms over her gray vest. “Okay, go on, then. Dazzle me, Houdini.”

Oh, he would. He pulled out Priya’s sigil from his wallet and dramatically spit on the card. So far, she didn’t seem impressed, but she would be. “Priya, come,” he said loudly, then to her, “You’d better back up. He needs room to land if he’s flying.”

“Who?”

“Priya, come,” Jupe said louder, and nervously smiled at Leticia.

They stood together, listening to the clock tick on the mantel. He wiped sweat off his forehead. She looked at him like he’d gone fruit-loopy. This was getting embarrassing.

Jupe tried once more, this time with extra spitting.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Nothing.

“What the hell?” he mumbled.

“Are you seriously telling me you’ve got a guardian?” Leticia said.

“He’s Cady’s. But we’re connected. It’s a long story. But I call him every day, just about. He always comes right away. I mean, always. You think maybe I don’t have enough Heka to call him? I’m not a magician.”

“You might try blood.”

Crap. He really didn’t want to do that. But he also didn’t want to look weak in front of her, so he nicked himself with a knife from the kitchen and bled a couple of drops of blood onto the card. But when he called Priya a fourth time and the guardian didn’t show, he knew something was wrong.