The moment hung heavy between us, each second out in the open feeling like a risk we couldn't afford. "And go where?" Fallon's voice shook slightly, snapping me back to the present. I realized then what I'd been thinking—taking them home with me—and it hit me like a punch to the nose. Was I really about to bring these strangers back to my place? It was reckless, not to mention stupid. I'd been fine on my own. I'd taught myself how to survive, and maybe it wasn't a stellar life, but I had time. I was just twenty-one, after all. I could figure things out later. For now, I was okay.
These people, though? They were clearly *not*.
It was bad enough that I'd just learned I wasn't the only freak of nature in the world. But as I looked at their faces, I saw the hopelessness there—the cluelessness—and they somehow seemed more lost than me.
The better question was, could I really walk away from them and go back to my life like the night before had never happened?
"Wherever you came from," I said, trying to convince myself more than anyone else. "They never came after you before. Just go back to whatever you were doing before you found me."
Maybe they'd prefer it that way, I thought. But Luca narrowed his brows. "We can't just go back after last night. We need to know more."
"You don't. Not really," I countered, my voice stronger than I felt. "You were safe before. Just keep doing what you did, and you'll be fine." It was the honest-to-God truth. Having the mindless things in your life wasn't easy; they'd be better off without them.
"Scarlet, there's no point in hiding if there are others like us out there," he argued. "And if those men are out there, waiting to find people like us just to drain them dry, we need to do something about it."
His words almost made me laugh. "I tried, remember? I notified the ECU. They didn't care. Maybe hiding isn't the best way to live, but—"
He cut me off, his voice fierce. "No, no, you don't understand. We came together to find others like us."
"And I'm telling you, it's dangerous. Those people are not going to stop, and trust me when I tell you, you're not prepared to deal with them."
"So teach us," Grover said, chin lifted defiantly. "If what you're saying is true, then teach us how to do what you're doing."
Heat rose to my cheeks, and I cleared my throat. "Why would you want to learn when you could just walk away? They've never attacked you before. So why stay here and wait for them?"
"Why do *you*?" Ax's words lingered in the air for a beat before they really sank in.
Why did I stay in Manhattan? It was a good question. I could walk away, too. They'd only ever attacked me here. So why didn't I leave?
I'd thought about it a lot, especially in the beginning. But the truth I hadn't wanted to admit to myself was that I stayed because here, I had a purpose. Here, I had something to do. And training myself first to survive and then to fight these mindless things seemed better than living quietly somewhere else, waiting for life to drain me little by little. At least here, I wasn't slowly sinking into depression with nothing but regret and ten cats to look forward to.
But that was just *me*. I knew it was a stupid reason to most, and I wouldn't try to argue it. These people were different. They had an out. They had each other.
"Because I want to," I said finally. "It's what I do. This life suits me, but that doesn't mean it'll suit you."
It was sad, but the truth often was.
"I still don't understand half of what's going on," Ax said with a sigh. "Can you please start from the beginning?"
"And don't tell us to walk away, not until we've heard it all," Luca added, like he could see right into my thoughts and knew I was just about to tell them to go.
Did I really want to take a chance with four strangers who could be ECU agents sent to spy on me? But they weren't, I reminded myself. I'd seen the mindless things drain their magic with my own eyes. There was no way they could have faked that.
We'd already wasted more than enough time. I never worked well under pressure; I usually caved, and this time was no different.
"Follow me."
I led them back to my apartment, the only place where I felt safe enough to free my senses and magic without fear of being cornered. Half of me wanted them to change their minds, to say they didn't trust me enough to follow me to some unknown place just because I claimed to have answers. I sure as hell wouldn't have trusted someone like me.
But the other half whispered that maybe this was a new purpose. Hiding and learning how to hunt the mindless things was…fun. But what if I could help others, too? Maybe this was just what I needed, and I'd had no idea.
Maybe meeting them the night before was meant to happen.
Whatever it was, I'd already taken the leap, and as I searched myself for any hint of regret, I found none.