“It’s probably too late for that,” Kara said. Her voice held a note of sympathy. “You have to understand that they’ll want you back really bad, since you have a lot of potential. We all know what you look like, and if they sent one of us after you, we’d have no choice. And if they know about your friends and family, they’ll use them to bring you back.”

Well, there went that idea. I might as well sign death warrants for Ben and the girls. Janie too.

Still, it didn’t mean I had to go to the mill. Burned Callie flashed through my mind. I could still refuse.

Or maybe not. If successfully following orders was the only way to stay alive, maybe I had to throw my lot in with Kara and Williams and help them do what they needed to do.

Or I could stick with Graham. But getting wrapped up in whatever game he was playing seemed more dangerous than fire. If I had such potential in these people’s eyes, I might become a bargaining chip as Graham tried to meet his goals, whatever they were.

“If I go to the fire with you, how will you keep me safe? I’m, you know … defenseless.”

I hated to say it, but it was god’s own truth.

Kara’s voice brimmed with relief. “You’ll be safe if you pay attention and do what Williams says.”

Williams. Damn it. “Williams” and “safe” didn’t belong in the same world, much less the same sentence.

“What happened to Callie, that was an accident,” Kara continued. “She was trying to get a better look, and she walked through his barrier. She didn’t notice until it was too late.”

“It was definitely my fault. I just wasn’t paying attention,” Callie said from behind me.

I started, then wondered how long she’d been standing there listening. If she heard that her colleagues understood the other world in non–Christian terms, would it bother her?

“Williams can make different kinds of barriers — it’s his gift,” Kara said. “A protective one should be strong enough to withstand the fire at the mill. If he doesn’t have quite enough juice, I’ll be there to feed him some of mine. You just have to stay inside it.”

So Kara would be coming with us. That made me feel marginally better.

“Okay,” I said. “Okay, I’ll go.”

I felt like I was choosing the slower method of suicide. I hoped we left soon. If we didn’t, I was going to chicken out.

Chapter 10