Jessie saw two white men in two different cities, Emmeline saw a Black man in New Orleans, and I am the only one who has seen them all. For the first time, I wonder if the Hunter is not one demon, but several. Or a roaming court of demons working together on a single mission. The Shadow Court.

After everything I’ve seen, anything feels possible.

I shudder. Adrenaline and fear are still under my skin from Emmeline’s memory. But that was from another time, and the Hunter is not here. “Go again?” I ask Sel.

“No. Enough training for the day.” Sel’s eyes dart to the wood around us. “She could be warning you. Let’s get back inside the barrier.”

The next day, I stop short when I emerge from the steps of the main house and see two long picnic tables joined together on the lawn in front of the barn, with balloons floating on each end. “What in the—”

“Surprise!” My friends are cheering and clapping, and then Hazel is there bringing out a tray of cupcakes, and I’m dizzy from the attention.

“What—”

“Heard from a little birdie that it was your birthday,” Mariah says, gliding over to where a lone balloon has been tied to a chair at the end of the table.

“She heard it from me,” Alice corrects. “After your mom reminded us.”

“Alice,” I whisper, touched.

She wraps me in her arms. “It’s what she’d want and it’s what I want. So don’t be stubborn about it, just smile and eat the cake.”

I hug her back. “You give the best orders.”

“And don’t you ever forget it.”

Tears sting at my eyes. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here for all of this.”

She squeezes me before letting go. “Be sad, not have cake, forget to drink water—”

“Okay, okay!” I laugh.

“Not much here in the way of decorations.” Mariah offers a broad smile, looking up at the balloons. “But still, your born day is something to celebrate.”

I let her herd me to the seat and press me down, and they sing “Happy Birthday” raucously off-key. Sel leans against a nearby tree. He doesn’t sing, but he looks like he may have hummed along a little. Alice slides in beside me for a quick hug as William pushes a cupcake toward me with a single candle.

I look up to the group of friends crowded around me, and decide that if they can take a moment to celebrate me, then maybe I can too. I blow out the candle, and let the war go for one night.

It’s not until well after midnight, when I sit down in the garden on my own, that I realize how long it’s been since I’ve celebrated anything, much less myself.

“Hey, birthday girl.”