I stared at the vacant space, ticked—not because I had come in here searching for my bag and forgetting that the room was empty but because he looked scared. He ought to be. “Why didn’t you wake me up?” I exclaimed, tucking my shirt in as he spilled dust coated with chimney soot. “Kisten was alone all night, and he’s not answering his phone!”

“Are you okay?” he asked, coming too close, and I pulled back, my neck protesting.

“Apart from falling asleep in the middle of my bloody day and leaving Kisten alone, yeah,” I said sarcastically, weight on one foot. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

Jenks’s wings dropped in pitch, and he landed on the mantel. “He called. After you fell asleep. Said he was moving underground to lessen the chance that anyone would hurt you to get to him. You needed the sleep,” he said, sounding eerily relieved. “And besides, Piscary might not think the focus is worth you and Kisten both.” His features tightened, and he couldn’t seem to keep his wings from moving.

My urge to race to Nick’s apartment slid into a general worry, and I focused on Jenks standing nervously on the fireplace. Kisten went underground without telling me? “He called before sundown?” I asked. I didn’t want to feel guilty that my not being there forced him out into the open. Jenks shrugged, and I muttered, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Jenks reached to clean the soot from his wings like a tiny cat. His distress clear, he said, “You needed the sleep. Kisten going underground was the best thing for everyone.”

“Yeah?” I shot back sourly. “If he’s not careful, he’s going to be permanently underground.” Frowning, I headed back to the kitchen and some coffee. He went into hiding? In what? A towel and a smile? And what was it with this human time clock I was on anyway?

Jenks took to the air to follow me. “Rache, Kisten was right. I wouldn’t want you there either whenever whoever Piscary gave Kisten to finds him.”

“Why? Because I might save his ass?” I exclaimed, frustrated as I stood in the sun and dumped out yesterday’s coffee. It was a painful reminder that Ivy was gone; she’d never let the coffee sit like that. My arm hurt, and I held it as I ran the water to rinse out the pot. “Damn it, Jenks! Letting a vampire drain someone to death as a thank-you is twisted and sick! Especially when the person being murdered thinks it’s acceptable. Piscary is an animal! You think I like that he’s the only one I can go to for protection? You think I like giving the focus to him? If I thought he’d do anything other than stick it into hiding, I’d give it to someone else. But I won’t let Kisten die.”