Okay, that’s scary. I shivered with a sudden surge of fear that left chills the length of my arms.

“Which is why we’re not going to try it.” Harmony leaned back again, and her usual pleasant smile was in place. “I think theoretical knowledge is enough for now.”

I found myself nodding, even though I really needed the actual experience. “Once you’re there, do you get back the same way? By wailing with the intent to go home?”

Harmony nodded. “But, Kaylee, this knowledge is for emergencies only. I can’t emphasize that enough.” I nodded, but she continued. “Do not go sightseeing in the Netherworld. You practically shine with youth and vitality, and that will attract…people. Netherworlders.”

Aaaand, it gets even creepier….

“Don’t worry.” I exhaled and smiled to set her at ease. “I don’t go around looking for danger.” Yet somehow, it always seems to find me….

“I know.”

She drank the rest of her soda and we sat in silence for nearly a minute, listening to the canned fight sounds from Nash’s room. Then, though I was more on edge than I wanted to admit by what I’d already learned, I played my last card, desperate for that remaining piece of information.

“Since you checked to make sure it was safe to cross over from here, my dad probably did the same thing, right? Crossed over from our house to make sure it’s safe?”

Harmony grinned like I’d just asked her to explain the difference between boys and girls. “Not exactly,” she said, still smiling. “Your dad can’t cross over on his own.” Which I’d already known, thanks to Tod. “So I took him. Humans and male bean sidhes can’t cross over without a female bean sidhe’s wail.”

“Oh,” I let my eyes widen in surprise and concern. “What if we have an emergency and we both need to cross over? How can I do that? Take him with me?”

I didn’t think she’d answer. I truly didn’t. And she probably wouldn’t have, if not for the obvious guilt she felt over having scared the crap out of me with the knowledge that I might someday have to abandon my father in a burning building because he can’t cross over.

“You just have to be holding on to him when you cross over, and he’ll come with you. That’s the same way it works with whatever you’re holding or wearing. Which is what keeps you from showing up naked in the Netherworld.” Harmony grinned at her own joke, and I forced a laugh to let her know I wasn’t totally freaked out.

“You two about done?” Nash asked, and I looked up to find him watching us from their short, dark hallway. He glanced pointedly at his watch, then at me. “It’s nearly four-thirty. What time are you supposed to be home?”

“My dad’ll probably call to check on me soon. You know, to make sure I’m not having any fun oracting like a teenager.” I stood and picked up my backpack, and Harmony stood, too. She got the message.

“Go easy on your father. He’s pretty new at this.”

“I know.” But that was his fault. He’d had the past thirteen years to reestablish his role in my life after my mother died, and so far, late was proving to be only marginally better than never. “Walk me home?” I asked Nash, already headed for the door.

“Love to.”

“Thanks for the cookies, Harmony. And the lesson,” I added, still trying to make up for acting like I didn’t care about her efforts to help me.

“No problem.” She headed toward the kitchen with both empty glasses. “And, Nash, please don’t linger. I doubt hanging out with you is on Kaylee’s list of approved activities at the moment.”

That was an understatement, considering that whatever my dad thought I’d been doing, he knew I’d been doing it with Nash.

Nash rolled his eyes at his mom and held the screen door open as I stuffed both arms into my jacket sleeves, then took the backpack he held for me. “Bye, Mom…”

We didn’t hear her reply, because the door closed behind us, and we were already walking hand in hand, in spite of the cold numbing my fingers. We walked in comfortable silence, and I opened my own front door with a key ring conspicuously missing my car key. Nash came inside, in spite of his mother’s warning.

“Want a snack?” I shrugged out of my jacket and backpack and let them fall onto the couch, and when I looked up, Nash was there, so close I caught my breath.

“I want you.” His eyes smoldered, and his lips came apart a tiny bit. Just enough to make me want to fill that gap with my own. To taste his lower lip, and leave a trail of kisses over the stubble on his jaw and down his neck.

“Mmm,” I murmured as his lips found the hollow below my ear, and vaguely I realized that was the same sound Emma had made when she bit into her first cookie.

Nash was just as delicious, in a completely unsatisfying way. Unsatisfying, because no matter how much time we spent together, no matter how closely I pressed myself against him, I always wanted more.

But what if more was too much for me, and just enough for him? That fear lingered, that secret certainty that if I slept with Nash—if I gave us both what we wanted—he would move on in pursuit of the next challenge. It had happened before, over and over again. The list of his past conquests was long and distinguished, at least by Eastlake standards.

I couldn’t put my paranoia to bed. In fact, it grew with every groan he let slip, because they told me how badly he wanted me. But what if wanting me was like waiting for popcorn to pop, or coffee to brew? They both smelled so good, but the taste could never live up to such delectable scents. And neither made a very satisfying meal.