Maybe we were. Maybe it was the sindicati behind all this, given it was vampires who attacked Rory. But that little voice inside me, the one that dreamed of death and was very rarely wrong, suggested PIT was somehow connected. It wasn’t behind the actual attack, of that I had no doubt, but the information about our location had certainly come from the organization. Somehow.

“Inspector,” Jackson said, “if you can guarantee, with one hundred percent certainty, that PIT is secure and has no leaks, then I’ll keep my phone and even tell you where we’ll be staying. But call off the hawks, because the next time we spot one following us, we’ll fry it.”

“I would advise against doing that. I really don’t appreciate my people coming under friendly fire.” Her voice was flat. “Where are you staying?”

“I’ll tell you that when we decide where to go next. Thanks, Inspector.” With that, he hung up. “There’s only one way we’re going to prove whether PIT has a leak, and that’s by exposing it.”

“That could get dangerous,” Rory said.

“Not if we’re sneaky about it.”

A smile touched Rory’s lips. “I didn’t think sneaky was in a fire fae’s vocabulary.”

“We generally do prefer to be up-front about things, but hey, needs must, and all that.” Jackson plucked one of the wallets from my hand. “And I’m thinking these could provide access to sneakiness.”

I smiled. “So we book two rooms at a hotel, using the stolen credit cards for the second one, then leave your phone in one and keep watch from the other?”

“It’s almost as if you read my mind.” His grin flashed. “Then we give the inspector the address, and see what happens.”

“And if nothing does, it might at least mean PIT is secure.”

“Exactly. But it may take a few days for someone to bite, so we’ll have to be careful about coming and going.”

“It’s also probably best if I visit Rory alone.”

“Agreed.” Jackson rose. “I’ll go see if Cobden is happy to release Rory, then make calls to both Parella and Adán. Then we can head up to the main road to keep an eye on things while we wait for Adán to arrive.”

“I really doubt anyone will be back to retrieve the vampires. They must know something has gone wrong by now.”

“Oh, I agree, but we’ve got nothing to lose.” Jackson shrugged, then spun around and walked away.

I glanced at Rory. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You’re still on the wire when it comes to strength.”

“So are you.” He brushed his fingertips down my cheek. “I’ll be okay. Just don’t get yourself killed when there’s such a distance between us, because that might be problematic.”