“And you’d be absolutely right.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to go with you?”

“No.” Delilah stroked the arm of her driver, John. He was one of her guards now. He’d die for her and she knew it. She used it against him whenever she could, but not if it meant putting herself in danger.

That was something she’d never do.

“I’ll be right back. All of you stay out here,” she said to the acolytes. They thought she was a being from the great beyond, a power sent to them directly from God.

She wasn’t, but why bother them with the little details? Delilah got out of the car and walked into the warehouse. She knew this location well, had played Texas hold ’em with the mob guys here on more than one occasion.

But, as the door closed behind Delilah, her nostrils filled with the powerful scent of blood and death. So thick she began to immediately salivate.

She turned to go, instinctively knowing the American agents from some shady division of the CIA she’d arranged to meet with were dead. She’d had it all set up. Remembering enough of that stupid notebook to fake a copy, she’d planned to hand off the book, get her money, and be gone before they realized it was completely useless. It was such a perfect plan, she’d been mad at herself that she hadn’t thought of it earlier. But before she could get the door open a big She-wolf hand slammed against it, holding it shut.

“Hey, Delilah,” a voice said against her ear.

“Dee-Ann. You come here to kill me?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want?”

“Heard your sister took the high road. I ain’t got no high road. So listen up, little girl. I already killed your friends. And the only reason you’re still alive is because you’re one of us. But I can end that right quick. And I will if you make me. You can play with these idiots who worship you all you want—but step outside the cult even a little bit, and you’ll never be able to hide from me. Understand?”

“Yeah.” Delilah sighed, unable to keep the boredom and frustration out of her voice.

She wasn’t frightened by this She-wolf, but she knew her well enough to know that Dee-Ann Smith would have no problem killing her, and Delilah wasn’t in the mood to die anytime soon.

One really had to know when to push and when to back off. She prided herself on understanding those things.

And Dee-Ann Smith was not someone anyone with intelligence wanted to push.

So when Smith moved her hand away from that door, Delilah went back out to those who waited for her and let them take her back to the compound, knowing that the only dangerous thing there was herself.

The car door opened and Dee-Ann got inside.

Irene started the car before asking, “All done?”

“Yup.”

“Good. Give her a few years. Let her fade away.” Irene started the car. “Then when the family’s pushed her out of their collective minds . . . wipe her from this planet.”

Dee-Ann nodded at the order from her boss’s wife. “Okey-dokey.”

It had been a really long day and an even longer night. Not bad, but long. Toni carried a sleeping Freddy into his bedroom and carefully placed him on his bed. She untied his little Converse sneakers and pulled them off, placing them on the floor very neatly, the way he liked. Not like Kyle who sent his shoes flying across the room, when he remembered to take them off at all before going to bed.

“Toni?”

She sat on the bed and smiled down at her baby brother. “Mhmm?”

“Are you mad at me? About Delilah?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Are you mad about me taking Miki’s book?”

“No. I’m not mad.”

“Disappointed?”

“Not that either.” Especially with that damn notebook out of their lives and back on its way to Miki Kendrick by way of someone from Uncle Van’s organization. She’d thought Dee-Ann would take care of returning the notebook herself but she’d said she had something else to do. Toni knew better than to ask for further info on that.

“But in future,” she went on to her brother, “let’s avoid taking things from anyone but especially from those we know for a fact can destroy the universe if so inclined.”

Freddy giggled even as his eyes began to close again. “Okay. Will we still have to go back home?”

“To Washington? No. I think we’ll stay the summer now that everything is resolved.”

“Good. I want to see Auntie Irene make my professor at the college cry. She promised she would.”

“And we both know she always keeps her promises.”

“Yes.” He turned over onto his side. “When the summer’s over, Toni, you’ll have to stay here.”

“I will?” she asked, amused. “Why?”

“Because Ricky loves you.”

Toni barely managed to stop making that panicked choking sound that always freaked her mother out and, instead, asked, “And you know that how?”

“He looks at you the way that Daddy looks at Mommy. And if you leave him now, his heart will break. And Mommy said heartbreak is the worst.”

“Oh, is it?”

“It is. And I like Ricky Lee. So you can’t break his heart.”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I love you, Toni.”