When she finished, Zion’s dark eyes glinted with relief. He opened a portal to a small, two-bedroom house, with well-loved but chic furniture. A lace doily draped the coffee table and both side tables. The china cabinet displayed creepy porcelain dolls, while wall shelves held roadkill dressed in formal gowns—squirrels on the way to prom. Stained glass windows had the same flowery pattern as a faded rug with frayed edges.

“We will stay here tonight, and rest up,” he said. “Tomorrow, I resume the war.”

And Bane? What would he do? “Whose home is this?” she asked. “And where are we, exactly?”

“The house is ours. For now. There are no neighbors or tenants. As for our location, I think it’s better for us both if you don’t know.” He headed for the front door, telling her, “Stay here. I must check the traps I placed around the perimeter.”

Nola picked the master bedroom, the only room with a private bathroom, plugged her cell phone into an outlet and hid pills in the pockets of her new pants. Old habits might die hard, but they resurrected quite easily. She showered, brushed her teeth a thousand times, then changed into a T-shirt that read Official Hug Collector, sweatpants and house-shoes with fuzzy dogs.

The last dose of painkiller wore off, aches returning to torment her. She reclined on the bed, devoured the bag of jelly beans and sent Vale multiple texts, just in case.

Nola: Are you okay? Where are you? I’m so worried!

Nola: When Zion originally absconded with me, you tried to sacrifice your life for mine, and I will never ever forgive you!

Nola: I’m so sorry, V! You’re forgiven, I promise. I’m just worried about you. I love you, and I miss you. If Knox hurts you, I will rip out his other-worldly heart. (You know he’s an alien, right?)

With access to the internet, Nola did a search for “Addwaywith,” “Adwaeweth,” “dragon shape-shifters,” “All War” and “alien sightings” but nothing helped.

Dang it! She wanted, needed more information about Bane. Knowledge was power.

A shirtless Zion stalked into the bedroom, his bronzed skin glistening with sweat. Why, why, why wasn’t she attracted to him?

“You’re safe,” he said, easing onto the foot of the bed. “For the moment, anyway.”

“But you’re not?”

He shrugged. “I’m a combatant. Combatants aren’t safe until the war ends.”

Meaning, Vale wouldn’t be safe. Nola rubbed her churning stomach. “I got a cell phone for you. Now we can communicate whenever we’re apart.” She taught him how to text, make calls and Google images of specific locations, so that he could portal to places he’d never visited.