Max lifts his head, one green eye slanting at me, and in it I see the depthless, ancient creature he really is, torn and bereft at the loss of a friend.

Gran said we didn’t need Colin, that we could do this ourselves. That I could do this myself. But sitting there in the pouring rain with Max, the wind howling around us, I realize I don’t want to do it alone.

I want my friend here.

The knot in my chest loosens a little at the realization. Max nudges my hand with his head, and I gather him into my arms, squeezing gently.

Then someone curses behind us.

I turn, searching the dark. The sound was almost lost in the wind, but I spot a hunched figure at the kitchen entrance, fighting with the door handle. The house shudders, the door snapping shut beneath the woman’s hands. She shouts something at it, then rips the door open and stumbles inside.

Max and I exchange a glance; then we’re off after her. I get to the porch just in time to glimpse Gran exiting the kitchen. Why would the house be trying to keep Gran out? The only person it likes more than me is her.

We sneak through the kitchen after her, following her up the steps to the fourth-floor bedroom she uses when she visits. She fumbles with the door again.

“Gran?” I call.

She turns, and a shiver that has nothing to do with the cold creeps down my spine.

“Anna, how nice to see you.” Her airy voice flutters past us. “I’m afraid I can’t talk right now.”

This time I realize why my name sounds wrong.

She never just calls me Anna.

A low growl reverberates in Max’s throat, and Gran freezes. Slowly, a too-wide smile spreads across her face. “Now, now, we’re not going to hurt dear ole grandma, are we?”

Her eyes flash silver and I gasp—the third wraith from Kara’s surveillance photo. “How long have you been possessing her?”

The wraith laughs. “She’s a recent acquisition. Needed a little convincing.” It pushes up Gran’s sleeve, revealing deep claw-shaped gouges on her forearm like those Kaden gave Colin. Ink-black lines run up the veins of her arm.

The wraith poisoned her—that was how it’d been able to possess her despite her wards.

My mind races, trying to make sense of everything. “Then all that stuff you said about Colin. None of it was true.”

“But you just ate it up, didn’t you, Anna-love?” The forced grin is still plastered across her face. “Jealousy is never a good look.”

My hands curl into fists. “Get out of her!”

“Oh, I’m quite comfortable. I think I’ll stay awhile—see what her magic can do. And without your Raven here to save you…”

“Max,” I say, scooting back to give him room.