“Sometimes, and almost never.” He frowned, and I thought he’d clam up when he took another big bite of his burger. But then he swallowed, and in the rearview mirror, I could see that his eyes were focused more on the past than on the road. “Cal didn’t let Melody do much of anything. But then, she was only seven when I left. Not old enough to Shift, or do much more than get on your nerves.”

“Wow, you must have been a great big brother.” I smacked him on the head.

Jace shot me a mock glare in the rearview mirror. “She’s Calvin’s daughter. You’ve seen The Omen, right?”

“She can’t be that bad,” Marc said, around his last fry. “She’s your mother’s, too.”

Jace frowned. “I wish she were a little more like my mom. Hell, I wish my mom was more like my mom right now.”

My heart ached for him during the uncomfortable silence that followed, and Marc stared out his own window, lost in his own thoughts. He never spoke about his mother or her murder, and I never knew how to tactfully broach the subject.

“What about your brothers?” I asked finally, when Jace wadded his burger wrapper and tossed it into the front floorboard at Marc’s feet. Marc growled and made no effort to put it in the empty paper bag. “I know Alex is no gem, but Brett’s…”

Oops. But it was too late to take back the mention of his murdered brother, so I finished with the only thing that seemed both true and appropriate. “I was starting to like Brett.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Jace sipped from his soda, then set his cup in the drink holder and flicked on his brights as we pulled ahead of the only other vehicle on the dark road. “I was almost four when Brett was born, so I was closer to him than to the rest of Cal’s kids.”

His phrasing stuck in my head; he didn’t consider himself one of them. I’d always known that, but hearing him say it wrung sympathy from my heart.

“Brett and I hung out a lot when we were little. But the others were a lot younger than me. They spent more time with Cal, and by the time most of them could speak, they talked to me just like he did. That bastard taught them to talk about my dad—” Jace broke off and stared out the windshield in silence, and the speedometer crept toward eight-five.

Then he spoke again, so suddenly I actually jumped in the backseat. “Those hills are the only reason I survived long enough for Ethan to get me out of there. For your dad to hire me.” Jace exhaled, and Marc turned from his window to watch Jace in what could only be sympathy. “I practically grew up on the side of the mountain. Every time Cal would start in on me and I couldn’t take another word from him without throwing a punch, I’d just Shift and run to the hills. I’d climb until I was too tired to move. Those hills saved my life.”