The door swung open and Barabas appeared in the rectangle of electric light. He wore sweatpants and a T-shirt that hung from his lean frame. His red hair, spiky as always, stood straight up on his head, making his handsome angular face seem even sharper. He saw me and his eyes got wider.

“Um,” Barabas said. “Eh. Good evening, Kate.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Eh.”

“We live here,” Christopher explained to me, and walked into the house.

They’d moved in next door to us. Christopher and Barabas had moved in next door to us and nobody had told me.

Barabas finally recovered his ability to speak. “There is this wonderful invention. It’s made of leather and lined with soft fabric, and it goes on your feet to protect them from cold and rough surfaces. It’s called shoes. You really should try it.”

“You rented a house next to us?”

Barabas wrinkled his nose. “Not exactly. Please come in. Your toes look like they might fall off and Curran would eviscerate me if I let you get frostbite.”

I came inside. Their bottom floor was open, just like ours. A big stack of cardboard boxes occupied the left side of the living room.

“You just moved in?” I asked, my voice sweet enough to spread on toast. Moved in and didn’t tell me.

“About two weeks ago. Those are all Christopher’s books. We are putting shelves in one of the bedrooms and some down there along the wall.” Barabas waved at the left side of the room.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Barabas called.

The door swung open and Derek stuck his head in. “Hey, do you have any duct tape?”

He saw me, stepped back, and closed the door without a word. Well.

“Coward,” Barabas said, loud enough for Derek to hear.

“Where?” I asked.

“The house on the other side of yours.”

“And I suppose this house and the one Derek is in just happened to be for sale . . .”

I stopped. Curran didn’t rely on luck. He was thorough, and he thought ahead. I recalled our street. On our side, five large houses, including ours, backed to the woods, and I couldn’t remember seeing their owners or their cars. He must’ve bought out the whole street. Oh wow. That explained why we were running low on funds.

“Did you separate from the Pack?” I asked.

“Yes.” Barabas invited me to sit on the plush brown sofa.

I sat and tucked my cold feet under me.

“Who else?”

“So far Christopher, Derek, and I. Jezebel was thinking about it, but decided against it.”