My mouth was suddenly cotton, my throat a desert. Meet Garth’s family? I licked my lips, searching for the words. Wading through the emotions. “Yeah, well, that might be a while,” I said, figuring now wasn’t the time to tell him meeting the parents wasn’t written in our stars. That we weren’t written in any stars. I couldn’t afford to fall in love with a mortal right now. Maybe ever. “There’s some stuff I have to do here to fix this mess,” I told him, avoiding the subject.

Nik emerged from the bathroom and stood on the other side of the end table, arms crossed over his chest. He stared down at me. Judged me, no doubt.

“Stuff,” Garth said. “Like what?”

I rolled my eyes, shooing Nik back into the kitchen with a wave of my hand. Not like him being in there would mean he couldn’t hear both sides of my convo with Garth—Nejeret hearing and whatnot—but at least his absence would give me the illusion of privacy.

“I don’t know,” I said to Garth, stalling. I couldn’t tell him everything I was intending to do. I was starting to think it would be best to tell him nothing at all. “I’ve got a plan,” I amended. “It could help the infected, but it’s risky.”

“How risky?”

I held my breath, then blew it out. “It doesn’t matter, so long as I get the cure. That’s the most important thing in the world right now, even you have to admit that. I mean, you were at the Tent District—you saw what’s going on. Hell, Garth, you might even have been exposed.” A seed of dread lodged in my throat. I hadn’t thought twice before sending Garth through that gateway to Dorman at the Tent District, but what if that had been a mistake? Considering how rampant the disease was running there now, him being infected was far from an impossibility. I cleared my throat, ignoring the lump forming there. “What if you contracted it and now you’re passing it on to your family?” I said, voice raising in pitch.

“Come on, Kat. I would never do that to—”

“Then get your ass to Bainbridge and tell them you need to be tested.”

Garth was quiet for a moment. “I was planning to head there tomorrow.”

“Go today, Garth. Go now,” I said. “Please.” I held my breath.

“Yeah, alright.”

“You promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

I exhaled, relieved.

“So long as you promise to be careful doing whatever it is that you’re planning to do.”

Careful. I stared up at the ceiling, battling frustration. I was rarely careful; recklessness was sort of a hallmark of mine. Part of my style. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t lie to him, but I was surprised to discover that I didn’t want to lie to him. Damn it. “Yeah, sure,” I said.

“Say it, Kat. Promise me.”

I rolled my eyes again. What can I say? I’m still technically a teenager, and rolling my eyes is second nature to me. It’s like breathing. “I promise to be careful,” I said, drawing out the word ‘promise’ in annoyance.