Seconds turn into minutes and I’m sweating so badly that if anyone could see my face they’d probably wonder if I was ill. Please go. Just go already. I plead and scream silently at the tall bouncer to leave his post and head for the Lion estate, but to no avail. He just stands outside the pub with his arms crossed. So I start counting, which is the only thing I can think to do that will keep me grounded.

When I’ve counted to exactly one hundred and thirty-eight I hear chairs scrape against the floor directly behind us. From the sound of it, six or so people are sitting down. And at one hundred and forty a familiar voice booms behind me. I stop counting.

Hawk. Of all the places he would go after the ball, it had to be this tavern?

“Scooped him right up—never stood a chance.” He’s bragging, and I can almost see him gesturing at his crew. “Mary and Jenny were part of organizing it from the start. And it’s not the first time we’ve worked with the Ferryman, neither.”

“Is that so?” says a voice I don’t recognize. “That must have been quite the golden calf. I’m not sure we could pay as much as all that.”

“Then we might not be the right crew for you,” Hawk says, and it’s clear by his tone that he loves to negotiate.

I sit bolt upright and Ines kicks me under the table. The Ferryman? Mary and Jenny? Scooped him right up? Anger swirls inside me, clenching my fists and tightening my jaw. With great effort, I exhale the tension, writing Hawk an IOU in my head. And suddenly my desire flip-flops—I now want that bouncer to stay exactly where he is until Hawk moves so I don’t have to walk past him.

As though the universe is conspiring against me, I glance outside at the bouncers, and sure enough, two men have arrived to take their place. My muscles tighten, bracing for our exit. No, no, no. I’ve been waiting for what feels like years for them to change shifts and it happens the moment Hawk sits down behind me and says he played a part in capturing my dad? This can’t be happening.

Ines slides her chair back from the table. Reluctantly I stand, careful to keep my head down as I turn around. The bad news is that Hawk’s whole crew is at the table, plus a middle-aged bald man I’ve never seen before. The good news is that Hawk is fully engaged in his conversation, pandering to the bald man the way he once did with me and Ash. But with six crowded around a table meant for four, they’ve practically boxed us in. Even Ines, who’s slighter than me and perfectly graceful, has a hard time maneuvering between them and the window.