Shedding a bright coppery dust that landed on my hand to make it tingle, he refused to move. “I think Piscary told him to kill you,” he pleaded softly so Kisten couldn’t hear. “And when Kisten refused, he threw him out. You heard what Kisten said about Ivy saying no and getting praised and him getting kicked out.”

I stopped, my hand on the open door. I felt cold. Jenks landed on the window before me, his wings never slowing. “Think, Rachel,” he said, gesturing. “He’s been dependent upon Piscary for his entire life. Ivy isn’t the only one Piscary’s been screwing over, but Kisten has always been pliant, so it doesn’t show. Killing you is the only way he might get back in with Piscary. Rache, this isn’t safe. Don’t trust this.”

Jenks’s face was pinched in fear. The sound of sirens grew closer. I remembered what Keasley had said about vampires needing someone stronger than they were to protect them against the undead, and my resolve strengthened. I couldn’t just walk away. “Watch my back, okay?”

At that, Jenks nodded as if expecting it. “Like you were my last seedling in the garden,” he said, then swooped into the car. Taking a last look at the restaurant, I gathered my resolve. I got in, feeling light and unreal. Beside me Kisten groaned.

“Where’s my stick?” he breathed, and I jumped when the starter ground as I tried to turn the already-running car over again.

“It’s at your feet,” I muttered, frustrated. I jammed it into first and lurched forward. I reached the exit before I remembered my seat belt, and I screeched to a halt at the entrance to fasten it. Sitting there watching the traffic pass, I felt my chest clench. I didn’t have anywhere to go. In a sudden decision, I pulled out to go the opposite way from the church.

“Where are we going?” Jenks asked, dropping to land on my shoulder as the car settled into its new direction.

I glanced at my keys and Nick’s apartment key. Nick had said he’d paid rent through August, and I was willing to bet the place was empty. “To Nick’s. I can’t take him home,” I said, lips barely moving. “Everyone knows that’s where I’d take him.”

I snuck a glance at Kisten, his eyes swollen shut as he mumbled, “I shouldn’t have put in the light display. I should have left the kitchen menu alone.”

Jenks was silent. Then in a very small, panicked voice, he said, “I have to go home.”

My breath caught, and I exhaled in understanding. Matalina was there alone. If someone showed up at the church looking for Kisten, Jenks’s family might be in danger. “Go,” I said.

“I can’t leave you.”