“Yes, Sam, I am sure. Go on, now. I’ll tell you guys whatever you need to know later.”

After the AKs had drifted away, Kara put some water on to boil. She started getting mugs out of a cabinet, then hesitated as she looked at Willow. “Do you...do you eat and drink like we do, or—”

A cold anger tightened Alex’s muscles. “Kara, for Chrissake—”

“Well, I don’t know!” she snapped back. “How am I supposed to know what a half-angel does or doesn’t do?”

“Come on! Do you think I’d even be with her if she was like them?”

Kara started to say something else and stopped; a flush tinged her cheeks. Not answering, she banged the cupboard door shut and opened another one, taking out a jar of instant coffee. She thumped it onto the counter.

Willow looked away, hugging herself; the plaid shirt billowed loosely about her thighs. “Yes, I eat and drink like you do,” she said in a soft voice. “But I don’t want anything.”

Wishing he could pull her close against his chest, Alex put his arm around her instead; he could feel the tautness of her shoulders. Kara poured boiling water into the mugs, and added splashes of milk. “Two sugars, right?” she said without looking at him.

He glanced up in surprise as his throat tightened. It was how Jake had taken his coffee. “No, uh – just milk.”

He saw Kara realize her mistake; a pained wince crossed her face. There must have been a hundred times on hunts when they’d stopped at a 7-Eleven and Kara had walked back out to the jeep balancing coffees for everyone – teasing Jake about the sugar and saying he couldn’t take his java like a man. Now Alex knew she was seeing the same thing he was: his brother’s grin as he said, What you’re really saying is I’m sweet enough already, right? The flirting between Jake and Kara had never come to anything, though if Alex knew his brother, it hadn’t been for lack of trying.

Kara handed him a mug without speaking; they sat down at a battered wooden table that dominated half the room. “You sure you don’t want anything?” she said to Willow, her voice stiff.

“Maybe some water,” said Willow. “I can get it,” she added as Kara started to stand up.