I got us back to the car, nearly jogging in my desperation to get away from the scene of the attack. Malachi didn’t say a word until I had the key in the ignition.

“I disappointed you,” he said, barely loud enough for me to hear.

I sagged into my seat. “No. You scared me. You have to understand how things work here. This isn’t the city you’re used to.”

“I know.”

I started the car and pulled away from the curb. “People here aren’t like they are in the dark city. The Mazikin aren’t the only ones who’ll talk back to you. They aren’t the only ones who hurt people.” I knew this all too well. “And Guards don’t have any authority, so you have to be careful. You don’t want to be arrested. Trust me.” I knew that all too well, too. “You’re used to doing whatever you need to do, but you can’t. You’re used to being the law, but you aren’t.”

“Yes, Captain. I understand.” His voice was as distant as his expression. He folded his arms over his chest and turned his face to the window. Neon signs and streetlights painted him pink and yellow and green, and I wanted to stop the car and hold on to him, but I couldn’t. He’d made me nervous, and I needed him to get that, for our safety and for our mission.

But still, it felt so upside down. Malachi was the leader between us, not me. I wanted him to be in charge, but at the same time I realized he couldn’t be. Not here. Not on my turf, where everything he’d learned over the last seventy years would get us in a crapload of trouble.

I pulled into the driveway of a pretty little Victorian tucked into a secluded lot, which happened to be less than a half mile from the waterfront mansion where Nadia’s mom still lived, alone. I had to wonder if Raphael had chosen this place as a joke: it looked more like a gingerbread house than a Station for Guards.

I walked with Malachi up to the wraparound porch, my chest aching. What had happened back there on the street still lingered between us. I had no idea how to be in a relationship, but I knew this didn’t feel right. “You’ve got to say something,” I finally said.

He turned to me quickly, like he’d been waiting for permission. “I never expected to be a liability, Lela.” He opened his mouth and then closed it again, like he didn’t know if he should have said that or not. “I want to be an asset to you. I want to destroy anything that threatens you.”