“I did lunch, Sasha did dinner—and kudos on that—so I’d say you boys are on cleanup.”

“Seems fair, and we’ll deal with that,” Bran said. “But I’d say it’s time we knuckled down a bit and got serious about why we’re all here.”

“But we’re not all here,” Sasha pointed out. “Until we are, I don’t think we stand much of a chance of finding anything.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t scout the area,” Riley pointed out. “I’ve got some maps, and some ideas on that.”

“Standing still’s doing nothing,” Bran pointed out. “If we hadn’t been moving forward, we might not have met Sawyer. And now we’re four.”

“Like I said, this is the first time I’ve looked with a team, and the first time I’ve really felt close.” Sawyer studied the liquid in his shot glass, then knocked it back. “Nice kick. A couple of good meals, a few hours by the pool, and a kick-ass roof over my head, that’s all pretty great. But you don’t find without looking.”

“You got it.” Riley tossed back her shot as well, poured herself and Sawyer a second. “So I say we break out the maps first thing in the morning, make a plan, and pull on our hiking boots.” She toasted with her drink. “Time for some spelunking.”

Noting Sasha’s expression, Bran gave her hand a pat. “Are you claustrophobic then?”

“Not so far, but then I’ve never spent any time in caves. But I know caves make me think of bats.”

“Bats are enormously cool,” Riley told her. “And contrary to popular belief, aren’t blind. And don’t go for your hair.”

“She uses the form, twisting it to her needs. And the dark is hers. The dank and shadowy places, and what lives there she rules. Banished from the light, she craves it, and covets the flame. The light to extinguish, and the flame to burn until there’s nothing but the dark, and ashes.”

Her eyes cleared, and her breath came back with a force that burned her throat.

“Okay, wow. Are you all right?” Sawyer asked her.

“She’ll be fine.” Bran spoke sharply as he gripped Sasha’s hand. “Look at me. Look at me now, and listen. You’re still trying to block it, and so when it comes it gives you pain. You have to stop mistrusting yourself and your gift.”

“I don’t want it.”

“Well, you have it, don’t you, so steady up.”

“Hey,” Sawyer began, as Bran’s tone was harsh, and Sasha pale. But Riley shook her head, warned him off.

“You don’t know what it’s like to have something in you that takes you over.”

“And you don’t know what it’s like to embrace it, to learn to use it instead of trying to deny it so it uses you.”

“My own father walked away because he couldn’t live with it, with me. Every time I’ve tried to get close to anyone, this gift has pushed through and ruined it, so I have no one.”

“You have us. And we won’t be walking away.” He spoke briskly, without a hint of sympathy. “But it’s you who does the walking, from what I can see. Away from yourself.”

“We wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t come.”

“Now that’s exactly right. You should think about that, deal with that instead of weeping over what brought you.”

Too shocked and angry for words, Sasha shoved away from the table and walked away.

“You might go after her,” Bran said to Riley. “See that she takes something for the headache she’s brought on herself.”

“Yeah.” She rose. “Take a swipe at me like that? I hit back.”

“You might be the one to teach her to do the same.”

“Maybe I am.”

When she walked off, Sawyer shook his head. “That was harsh, man.”

“I know it.” And left him with a hint of a headache himself. “It’s harsher yet, to my mind, for her to make herself ill. We are what we are, don’t you think, mate?”

Sawyer considered his second shot. “For some, maybe most of some, being different from everybody else is tough.”

“Is it?” Bran smiled, lifted his own glass. “I find being unique is something to celebrate and respect. Until she does, what she has only hurts her.” He turned the little glass of limoncello in his fingers, drank it. “We’d best clean this up, and do it right, or we’ll be unlikely to get another meal out of her.”

“She matters to you, beyond what she is, and what we’re after.”

With considerable care, Bran set the little glass down again. “She’s a beautiful woman with a damaged heart and a bright courage she doesn’t recognize. Yes, she matters, beyond, or I wouldn’t have spoken to her as I did.”

“Okay then.”

Once they’d dealt with the dishes, set the kitchen to rights, Bran went outside, did a couple of circuits around the house. A kind of border patrol, he thought. But he saw nothing but moon and stars and sea, heard no whispering of bat wings, only the rush of water against land and rock.

Pausing, he looked up at Sasha’s room, saw it was dark, her terrace doors closed. He hoped she slept, and peacefully. And hoped to Christ she didn’t come knocking on his door in the night looking beautiful and dreamy. It had been one thing to share her bed, in sleep, the night before. But he accepted doing so again would severely test his will.