“Can we at least keep this civil?” he asked when Cam pulled a plastic cinch lock from his pocket. “Most hosts don’t tie up their guests.”

Cam didn’t even consider it. “Sorry, man. Turn around.” He handed the strip of plastic to Olivia, who holstered her gun to accept it.

The moment her gun disappeared beneath her jacket, Ian leaned to the left and kicked her square in the chest. She flew backward, and I lost an instant to surprise, then I lurched into motion.

Cam aimed at me, but Ian stepped between us, and wouldn’t move when I tried to shove him out of the way. “He can’t shoot me, which means he can’t shoot you through me,” he insisted, and I’ll admit it—I was impressed. He was both smart and evidently fearless. No matter what Jake paid for him, he’d be getting a bargain.

Olivia tried to get up, but I planted one foot on her chest, then squatted and snatched her nine millimeter from its holster while Ian danced the combat waltz with Cam, trying to stay between me and his gun. Then I stood and backed away from Olivia to aim at Cam.

My possession of a gun evened the odds. Their unwillingness to shoot Ian tipped the scales in our favor. Barely.

“How about we call it a draw, and retreat to neutral corners?” Ian suggested as we backed slowly away from them, while Olivia stood, fuming. “That way, everyone lives to die another day.”

“Sorry, can’t do it,” Cam said.

“I will shoot you,” I warned him, aiming at his thigh for emphasis.

Cam’s aim rose. “Likewise.”

“Okay, there has to be a way around this,” Ian said, backing slowly, carefully toward a gathering of trees that would block us from the hot dog stand. No one had noticed us yet, but that wouldn’t last. “You don’t want to shoot each other.”

Cam barked a bitter laugh and raised one brow at me. “Does he believe in Santa, too?”

“Kori, please,” Olivia said, and I could hear the stress in her voice. She loved us both and we were going to kill each other, if something didn’t change soon. We had no choice.

“Don’t say it, Liv,” I warned when I realized just how bad this was about to get. If she asked me for help, I’d have to respond in kind, and the conflicting compulsions and resulting pain would complicate things beyond recovery.

“Okay, let’s take this over there, out of sight of the general public.” Ian tossed his head toward the small grove of trees.

Cam glanced at Olivia without altering his aim, then he nodded. “Run, and I’ll shoot her.” He was talking to Ian, but still aiming at me.

“No one’s running.” I backed slowly toward the trees with Ian, and Cam and Olivia followed. As we walked, I talked, my brain racing, desperate for a way out. “What are your orders, exactly? Maybe there’s a loophole. A way we can all walk away from this.”

“There is—so long as at least three of us are walking east,” Cam insisted. “That’s the only way we’re all going to live through this.”

Eighteen

Ian

Some measure of tension inside me eased as my left foot settled into the first patch of shaded grass, where I’d been subtly leading us since that first step off the sidewalk. I could feel the shadow against my skin, cool, like the first foot dipped into a swimming pool. Another step and I could feel it in my bones. Shadows always called to me, but that call was never stronger than when I actually needed the dark.

Unfortunately, the mottled shade cast by the trees was shallow and sparse. But it would have to be enough.

“Okay, then, why don’t we all go?” I said, stepping farther into the shade with Kori at my side, still aiming her appropriated gun at Cam’s leg. “We’ll go see Cavazos together and discuss this like civilized adults. No weapons. No restraints.”

“No,” Kori said, and I bit my tongue to keep from groaning. I wasn’t actually going to go with them. I was just trying to back us into deeper shadows to make for an easier escape. Then I realized I could let her argumentative tendencies serve as a distraction from what I was doing.

“Why not?” I glanced at her, careful not to let effort show on my face as I pulled the shadows toward us, letting them gather at our feet. If anyone had been looking at the ground, they would have seen the shade actually roll across the earth toward us from its natural placement, leaving spots of light where none should have fallen through tree branches and leaves.

But they didn’t notice. They were watching and listening to Kori because she was armed with a weapon they could actually see.

“If you put one foot on Cavazos’s property, you won’t step back out unless you bear his mark,” Kori said. “And I sure as hell can’t take you there myself. Jake would kill me.”

But it was her first statement that echoed in my head, momentarily distracting me from the stealthy gathering of shadows. “Cavazos would kill me if I don’t sign?” I glanced at Cam and Olivia, trying to glean the truth from their reactions. But they didn’t bother lying.

“Without even blinking,” Olivia said. “He can’t let you sign with someone else.”

Cam nodded. “And Tower will do the same.”

I glanced at Kori for confirmation, but she wouldn’t look at me. Which had to mean that he was right.

I’d known Tower would go to any length to sign me—hell, Kori had warned me from the beginning that if I couldn’t be recruited, I’d be hunted—and deep down, I’d probably known all along what would happen if the prey couldn’t be caged. But I hadn’t given serious thought to preserving my own life, because I was busy trying to save Steven’s. And because I’d planned to disappear once I’d done that anyway.