Kori nodded, already pulling her phone from her pocket.

“I think I can save you a lot of trouble on that front.”

Ian whirled toward the new voice as Kori stood, and they were both already aiming guns at the man-shaped shadow in the short hallway before it even occurred to me to draw my weapon.

“Relax. I’m here to help.” Mitch stepped into the dimly lit living room, but no one relaxed. No guns were holstered.

Kori made a show of flipping the safety switch on her gun. “Go out the way you came in, or I will blow your brains out the back of your head.”

Mitch shrugged, still looking at me as he answered her. “That would make it hard for me to tell you what I know.”

“Wait. Let’s hear him out.” If he really had information, we needed it. Badly.

“He’s not bound to you anymore, Sera.” Ian glanced at me briefly, but his aim at Mitch never wavered. “He could be lying. He could be here to kill you.”

“I could,” Mitch confirmed with another shrug. “But that’s more work than I’m willing to do without a direct order or the promise of a paycheck, and since I’m a free man now...I’m actually on my way out of town. Which was your suggestion.”

“Then why are you here? How’d you know we’d be here?” I moved to stand between Kori and Ian, one hand on my own holstered gun, but the added threat wasn’t necessary. Either of them could blow him into several pieces before I could draw, much less aim.

“I’m here because I made a mistake after we parted ways, and I want to fix it. And I didn’t know for sure that you’d be here. It was an educated guess.”

“Educated?” Ian said.

“Yeah. That mistake I mentioned? After I left you guys on the east side yesterday, I went back to Julia.”

“Why?” I couldn’t make sense of it. Why would a free man go back to the woman who’d held his chains? And why would that woman let him live when she’d killed everyone else I’d freed?

“Because I’ve been bound to the Towers since I was nineteen years old. I wasn’t highly valued or promoted very quickly, but syndicate life is all I know, and my talents hold no value in any other line of work. When you let me go, I didn’t understand what you were giving me. I felt as if I’d been thrown out on my ass with nowhere to go. So I went back to what I knew.”

“Why didn’t she kill you?” Kori demanded, gaze narrowed in suspicion we all seemed to share.

“Because I didn’t tell her what you did. Fortunately, she never actually asked me if my binding was converted. She only asked if I’d gotten a text from any of you, and my answer to that was an honest ‘no.’”

“So she thinks you’re still bound to her?” Ian didn’t lower his aim, but he no longer looked likely to shoot in the next few seconds.

“Yeah. I figured that was the safest bet.”

“So you knew we’d be here because you knew how Julia got Kris?”

“I was here when she took him. I knew you’d follow him eventually and my plan was to wait for you here—half an hour would have been my limit, since I’m on my way out of town—and as fortune would have it, here you are. No waiting necessary.”

“He’s lying,” Kori said. “We should kill him.”

“Let’s hear what he has to say first,” I said. “We can always kill him afterward.”

Ian glanced at me in surprise, but Kori just looked mollified. “Fine.” She gestured at his torso with her free hand. “But first, strip.”

Mitch frowned. “Strip?”

“Down to your shorts,” Ian added. “The TSA has X-rays. We only have our eyes.”

Grumbling beneath his breath about how ungrateful we were, Mitch pulled his shirt over his head, then dropped it on the floor. Next he took off his shoes and tossed them into the corner, on Ian’s orders. His pants were the last to go, and when he stood in only a pair of green boxer briefs, Kori made him turn a full circle, so we could see that he was unarmed. And had chicken legs.

“Okay.” Ian lowered his aim, but kept his gun at the ready. “Talk fast.”

Mitch scowled at Kori, who refused to lower her gun. “You just got a text from Julia, right? From your sister’s phone?”

I started to nod, but one glance from Kori stopped me, and I realized that the flow of information would only go one way.

“Fine. Don’t answer.” Mitch shrugged. “I know you got a text, because I saw her send it. But the information she sent is false. Kris isn’t at that warehouse, and neither is she. It’s a trap.”

“We know,” I said, and Kori frowned at me, which is when I realized I’d confirmed that we had received that text.

“How do you know?”

“Julia would never give away her position.”

“Well, fortunately for you, I would. She’s at the Eight Street warehouse. Your brother and sister are both with her.”

My pulse leaped at the thought—could we really get them both back in one shot?—but Kori only frowned. “Why would she keep both her eggs in one basket?”

“Because it’s the only basket she has. Your mass texting initiative worked. She only has a handful of employees left. You’ve practically won already. Why do you think I’m leaving?”

“You’re deserting the sinking ship...” Kori’s frown became a sneer of contempt. “Like any rat would do.”