“The best lies are half-truths,” she continued. “Our cover story is that you need to talk to the patient in connection with a case. Since she checked herself in, and the level where she’s being held is non-secure, we should be able to zip in and out without raising any eyebrows.”

The car stopped on a dime, and I caught my breath before she pressed the accelerator flat to the floorboard. She wiped a stray hair from her eye, and my heart stuttered when her hand left the wheel. Thierry must have a cast-iron stomach compared to mine. I was about to lose the bag of chips I ate at the airport.

“You’re risking a lot to help us.” There was no guarantee this lead would pan out.

“I was there at the portal breach,” she said quietly. “I…froze.” Her lips mashed together. “Fae here are tame, young, compared to what’s in Faerie. If I hadn’t been so afraid, I might have made a difference. I might have stopped this thing—whatever he is—from breaking through.”

This was atonement for her, setting right a perceived wrong at great risk to herself, half-believing if things fell apart, she deserved it. That I understood.

“Were you there when he crossed?” I hadn’t seen her on the footage, and I had it memorized.

“No.” Her eyes shut for a heart-stopping second. “After the initial blowout, Tee packed me up and sent me home where I’d be safe. Like a coward, I tucked tail and went.”

A thread of unease sifted through me. “Thierry was there too?”

“So.” She flashed a blinding smile at me. “Your job must be exciting, huh? Chasing bad guys cross-country.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” It felt important to know where Thierry fit into this whole timeline.

More teeth, wider smile. “No, I didn’t.”

The niggling sense of unease kept prodding the back of my mind. “You’re not going to tell me.”

“Nope.” The playful mien she wore so casually lifted to reveal stone-cold determination. “There’s a lot about Thierry that’s need-to-know. As the saying goes—you don’t need to know. Don’t pick at that string because it’s wriggling in front of you. Do it, and you’ll regret it. You’ll unravel a whole heap of trouble that’s got nothing to do with you or the killer you’re tracking.”

I leaned back in the seat and watched the institution loom as we neared the circular drive. “That sounded almost like a threat.”

A quick jerk of the wheel, and Mai all but stood on the brake. Gravel spun as we slid into a parking space marked Employees Only. Twisting sideways, she studied me with the same barely leashed ferocity Dell wore when we left her with Thierry.