But this revelation presented a new problem. If Tower would kill me to keep anyone else from signing me, he’d do the same to Steven, who would resume using my name once I’d disappeared.

And I wasn’t going to disappear without Kori. I would not leave her alone in the syndicate. Not like Cam did.

“Isn’t that a little extreme?” I said, faking ignorance to distract from the shadows I was gathering faster now.

Cam’s aim never wavered, though his arms had to be getting tired. “It’s common sense.”

Olivia elaborated. “Mr. Holt, the strength of your Skill is unheard of, and it may never be matched. I don’t know how you escaped notice as long as you did, but the display you made of yourself at that hockey game was idiotic, at best. The whole world knows what you can do now, and that’s not ever going to go away.”

“What does that mean?” The shadows were as thick as I could make them, but I let them simmer at our ankles for another minute, fascinated to hear Olivia saying the same things my mother had warned me and Steven about from the time we were old enough to listen.

“That means that even if you sign with Tower tomorrow, you’re not going to be able to just walk away at the end of your commitment,” Olivia continued. “He’ll use everyone you love—hell, everyone you even know—to manipulate or just plain force you to stay. If you don’t believe me, ask Kori why her sister’s still with Tower.”

But I didn’t need to. As long as Kenley still had a brother, grandmother, or anyone else she cared about, Tower would have a way to control her.

“It’d be the same with Cavazos,” Kori said as I pulled the building shadows up to our shins. I couldn’t go much farther than that without them being noticed. “That’s how he got the two of you.”

Olivia nodded. “And neither of us are anywhere near as powerful as you are,” she added, looking straight at me. “You’re going to wind up serving someone. Your only real choice is who that will be.”

“Maybe,” I said, and the shadows built higher, churning faster as my pulse began to race. I wrapped one arm around Kori’s waist, sliding my hand beneath her shirt to make necessary skin contact without compromising her aim. “But last I checked, that was still my choice. Give my best to Cavazos.” Then I pulled the shadows up around us like a cocoon, as fast as I could. Faster than I’d ever done it before.

“Hey!” Olivia shouted, as we disappeared behind the shield of darkness I’d built in broad daylight. But there was no gunfire. Cam couldn’t risk hitting me.

Kori laughed out loud, a giddy release of tension and a celebration of the darkness that was a part of both of us. Then she tugged me forward. A single step later, everything changed.

We were inside—I could tell from the silence, and the absent scents of grass and trees. Those were replaced almost instantly with other familiar scents.

Dust. Wood. Wine.

I let the darkness around us melt into the ambient shadows, revealing a dimly lit wine cellar. A huge wine cellar. This wasn’t someone’s private collection. This was the real thing.

“Where are we?” I said, and I only realized my hand was still on her stomach when she turned to scold me with one finger pressed against her lips.

“Shh.”

I let her go reluctantly, missing her warmth the minute it was gone. “I take it we’re not supposed to be here?” I whispered.

“Not without an appointment and a traditional front-door entry. This is a local winery—the closest place I could think of that would be dark during the day. They have a vineyard outside the city, but this was closer and safer to travel into, since I’ve actually been here with Jake several times. They make his favorite wine.”

“Wow.” I pulled a bottle from the nearest rack and glanced at the label. I’d never heard of the brand, but that wasn’t surprising, since it was local. “Are they any good?”

Kori shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong person.”

“You just haven’t found your favorite yet. Or you’re drinking it at the wrong temperature. Either of which can be remedied.” I slid the pinot noir back into its slot and went in search of a good starter wine.

“Hold it down,” she repeated, following me through the cellar, which was obviously used as more than storage. When I turned the corner around the next floor-to-ceiling rack, I found tables and chairs set up for a wine tasting, though nothing was set out at the moment.

“Can you point me to the whites? Maybe a pinot grigio…” I mumbled, rounding the nearest table toward another set of racks on the other side.

“No, I can’t.” Kori grabbed my arm with the hand not still gripping Olivia’s gun. “Ian, we have to go. I have to tell Jake that Cavazos tried again.”

I stopped and met her gaze, unable to quell the nerves churning in my stomach. “Are you under specific orders to report the very event that only almost took place? No one was hurt. No guns were fired. There was no public spectacle.”

She thought about that for the moment and finally slid the safety switch into place on Olivia’s nine millimeter and handed it to me—she couldn’t carry it now that the fight was over. “I guess not. But if he finds out from someone else—”

I tucked the gun into my waistband for lack of a holster. “If he finds out, I’ll take the blame. I’ll tell him I wanted to explore his favorite winery.” If we reported a second poaching attempt, Tower might assign extra security, which would render my plan completely useless. And that was the best-case scenario. “If we go make your report now, what are the chances that he’ll ask me to sign on the spot?”