Caim pushed up from his chair and nodded solemnly. “Someone at the party must have seen something. We’ll talk to everyone we can. Search everywhere he might have taken her.”

Phenex and Stolas joined him by the shredded map. They began murmuring amongst themselves, plotting out a route to hunt down the killer. And Serena. Heart pounding, I turned my gaze up onto Az’s shadowed face. “I want to help. I should search the streets with Caim and Phenex.”

“The best way you can help is to stay safe,” he said in a commanding voice that welcomed no argument. “Right now, he’s keeping Serena alive because he wants you instead. If he somehow got his hands on you before tomorrow night…”

The rest of his sentence was left unsaid. I knew how it ended. Gut churning, I fisted my hands. It was all I could do not to break down in tears and rip the world apart trying to find Serena.

“I hate this,” I hissed. “I don’t want to run and hide.”

He wound his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. “I know, Mia. But if we don’t play this right, both of you will die.”

* * *

We returned to his apartment while the others took to the streets. The clouds had opened up, and rain poured down on our heads, sleeting sideways from a westerly wind. I shivered in my tiny dress and swiped my drenched hair out of my eyes. When we stepped inside the quiet penthouse, Az bustled into his room and returned with the fluffy robe he’d lent me for my stay with him.

“You’re shivering. Change into this,” he demanded.

Normally, I’d bite off his nose for ordering me around, but I didn’t have the energy to do it tonight. Not with the exhaustion in my bones. Not with Serena missing. With a small smile, I took the robe, vanished into the bathroom, and quickly changed out of my wet clothes.

When I returned to the living room, he was waiting for me on the couch with a gin and tonic and a pigeon. I padded over to him and took the drink. He patted the cushion by his side as he tossed a dried kernel of corn into the air for Hendrix.

I sank into the soft sofa and downed the drink in one gulp. He shot me a raised eyebrow, but all I could do was shrug. “It’s been a long night.”

He nodded and handed me another. “I thought that might be the case. So, I made you an extra drink.”

“I’ll probably need more than one extra.” This time, I took a slower sip. Az curled his strong fingers around his own glass and watched me while I drank. The look in his eyes reminded me of that moment in the hallway. When we’d been pretending and nothing more.

I shivered.