What is it that Leo’s so afraid to tell me?
I miss my finger three times before I manage to slide on my ring.
“You’re out of time, my friend,” I hear Rime declare. “Either you tell her right now, or I will.”
“You’re not telling her anything,” Leo snaps back. “Leave her out of it.”
“Not if she’s as useful as she appears to be.”
Silently, I slip into the hall.
Rime’s voice is low and deep with warning, “Just so you know, we have orders to send you back if we think you’re a hindrance to the mission.”
“A hindrance to the mission?!” Leo sounds like he’s trying not to yell.
“You’ve gotten too close to a Subworlder,” Topaz says. I peek around the corner. She’s studying her nails.
Rime rests his elbows on his knees as he watches Leo pace in front of the coffee table. “It’s an issue of loyalty. You know what’s waiting for us on the other side, the kind of danger we’re dealing with. Who comes first, Nàdarorher?”
Nàdar? Mission? Other side?Okay, these people are definitely, literally, on drugs.
“Oh, and there she is.” Rime spots me and leans back, his lips stretching into a smile.
“Leo?” I whisper as I approach and reach for his arm. “Are you okay?”
His eyes dart nervously to the duo on the couch, but he doesn’t let their glares keep him from reaching for me. “I’m fine. I’ll explain later. Let’s get you home.”
Rime startles us both by shooting to his feet. He swipes Leo’s car keys off the end table and gives them to me. “She can take herself home.”
I stare at the keys as though they’re a scorpion in my hand.
Leo squares his shoulders. “It’ll take me fifteen minutes.”
“Loyalties,” Rime hisses at him. He’s dropped his cool demeanor and looms over us, angry. Challenging. Leo glowers back, gauging how far Rime will go to get his way. “I’m taking her home.” He tugs me gently toward the door.
But Rime steps in our path. “Wrong choice.”
“If you want to fight with me, then fine.” Leo shoulders him aside. “But not with her here.”
Rime lets Leo pass but cuts in front of me, breaking Leo’s hold on my arm. “Look at me, sweetheart.” He ducks and sways, blocking my way to Leo and putting himself directly in my line of sight.
My heart leaps into my throat.
“Don’t!” Leo charges him and slams him against the door.
But it’s too late. I saw them: Rime’s eyes. They’re not blue anymore, they’re red, the glowing orange-red of embers, and they’re burning around opaque discs of black.
A loud thud draws my attention back to the two men, one pinned to the wall, the other straining to keep him there. They seethe like wild animals, their faces mere inches apart.
“Put it back!” Leo snarls, fists twisted in Rime’s shirt.
“She needsto know. Now!”
“Put it back!”
“Tell her!”
Over his shoulder, Leo orders me, “Go back to the bedroom.” He’s leaning back far enough that I can see Rime’s eyes. They’re still red. And his ears?—
