We drove home, hand in hand, smiling at one another at each stoplight. Ryan finally getting face time with Claire should have been a disaster, but a sense of relief surrounded us, as if our group was finally complete. I had no idea what Claire would tell Ryan—how much truth she would really share—but Ryan being Claire’s Taleh, and the fact that he was now in love with her, was proof that we were supposed to be in each others lives. Jared’s prediction was wide of the mark, but he had never looked so happy to be wrong since we’d met.

The next day, I awoke to large flakes of snow falling gracefully from the sky. Each fluffy white piece drifted downward as if it were orchestrating its own symphony. Looking out the window, the ground was already covered in at least two feet of snow, and the gray clouds above didn’t foretell anything but more of the same.

“It’s been like that since four A.M.,” Bex said from the hallway.

I tightened my robe around me, and opened the door.

Bex stood before me, bored and holding a half-eaten apple. He took another bite, crunching loudly. “He’s bringing coffee.”

“Good,” I said, leaving him to head for the bathroom.

Steam from the shower quickly surrounded me, but before I rinsed the shampoo from my hair, I heard the door open.

“Jared?”

“It’s me,” Claire said, shutting the door behind her.

I peered through the fuzzy glass, barely able to make out her tiny frame. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been up all night with Ryan. We talked a lot. We fought more.”

“Oh? About what?”

“About what he saw in the desert, and if I was there or not. He knows the men that stabbed him last year were cops. He knows a lot more than we thought. Finally…,” she sighed, “finally I just told him.”

“Everything? You confessed about the other cops, and the commissioner? About Anderson, and…and about what you are?”

“Not yet.”

“How did you explain without telling him everything?”

“I promised I would explain later.” She frowned. “It doesn’t feel right to tell him, Nina. We were raised on the belief that this secret kept our family safe.”

“Then don’t tell him until it feels right.”

“What if it never feels right?”

“I don’t know,” I said, turning off the water. A towel flew up and over the shower door, landing on my head. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” Claire said, shutting the door behind her.

By the time I was dressed and ready, Claire, Jared and Bex were downstairs in the kitchen, discussing Ryan. Just by entering the room, it was obvious it was not a constructive conversation.

“You’re such a hypocrite!” Claire growled.

Jared slammed the side of his fist on the table. “Are you in love with him?”

“No!”