Trees arched overhead, and I could tell that the river was close by the winding road and the occasional glimpses of silver water. I was up front with Edden, and Ivy was in the backseat with Ford. That she wanted to come had surprised me, until I realized her earlier words had been meant to quash her hope that Kisten might still be alive. Or undead. Or something.

Jenks was with her, working hard to keep her distracted and calm. It wasn’t working, if her black eyes and Ford’s growing nervousness were any indication. Putting them together might not have been a good idea, but I didn’t want to sit next to him either.

“There!” I exclaimed, pointing to the outline of an abandoned brick building peeking from behind huge, ancient trees. It had to be the place. We hadn’t seen anything but empty lots framed by large trees for half a mile. I tried to quell my nervousness even as I searched my feelings for having been here before. Nothing looked familiar. The hot morning sun glinted on the leaves and the river as we slowed and pulled into the weed-choked gravel drive. My heart gave a painful thud when I saw Kisten’s boat.

“That’s it,” I said, fumbling for the door even before the car stopped. “That’s the Solaris.” Jenks left Ivy, hovering as I undid my belt.

“Rachel, wait.” It was Edden, and I scowled when he hit the button and the lock engaged. The Crown Victoria rocked to a halt, and he put it in park. Ivy tried her door, but it was a cop car and wouldn’t open from the inside even if Edden hadn’t locked it. “I mean it,” he said as a stuffy silence filled the car, broken by the agitated hum of Jenks’s wings. “You’re going to stay in the car until backup gets here. There could be anyone in that building.”

Jenks snickered and darted under the dash to flip Edden off from the other side of the windshield. I glanced at the two-way radio and the chatter coming from it. It sounded as if the nearest person was five minutes away. “If it’s undead vampires you’re worried about, they won’t be coming out for a suntan,” I said as I manually unlocked the door and lurched out. “And if it’s anyone else, I’m going to kick their ass.”

Ivy scooted into Ford’s space, and while the man sat wide-eyed and scrunched in the corner, she kicked the door. The lock snapped, and she slid out, unruffled and moving with the eerie grace of those that belong to the night. Jenks was gone, and we followed him to the boat with a grim determination. We were halfway there when Edden caught up.

“Rachel, stop.”