“They’d make you kill her,” said Hunter, his voice low. “To prove your loyalty.” He was watching Bill, too, his expression shadowed.

Becca’s father didn’t say anything—and that was obviously answer enough. Her face paled a shade, and she glanced at Hunter. “How did you know that?”

He shrugged a little. “My father used to tell me stories. Of how the Guides wouldn’t allow their goals to be compromised. One death is nothing compared to the greater good, right?”

“Yeah?” said Chris, his tone unfriendly. “And where do you fit into that?”

Hunter met his eyes and didn’t back down. “I’m sitting here, aren’t I?”

“Stop,” said Becca. “Don’t fight.”

Michael cleared his throat. “So what are you proposing?”

“I’m proposing that you lie low. Don’t draw attention to yourselves. They’ll send another Guide if I don’t check in with progress—but I can hold them off for a while. Let them know I’m still investigating. If there aren’t continued reports of problems in this area, they’ll stay away.”

“What about Seth and Tyler?” said Nick. “You know it’s not usually us causing the problems.”

“I don’t think we need to worry too much about them for the time being,” said Chris, and for the first time, his voice carried a little satisfaction.

“Yeah,” said Becca. “We just came from the police station. Turns out assault and attempted rape are pretty serious charges.”

Now Bill looked at her. “Attempted rape?”

Becca’s eyes were hard. “Don’t even look at me like that. I don’t want your concern. You don’t get to care. Do you understand me? As far as I’m concerned, you’re—”

“Easy,” said Chris, his voice soft. “Take it easy.”

“I want to help you,” said Bill, his voice gentler. “You need to let me—”

“We need to lie low,” said Becca. “Got it.”

Gabriel kept his mouth shut, but this guy was crazy if he thought he had a shot in hell at her trust. Not to mention the rest of them.

“And while we’re waiting around,” said Nick, “what are you going to be doing?”

Bill glanced at his daughter. “I’ll be showing Becca how to protect herself.”

Becca sat up straight. “No. No way.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’d rather run on sheer adrenaline and luck? As much as you don’t want to believe it, I am doing this with the end goal of keeping you safe. You don’t even have a clue what you’re dealing with.”

“I do,” said Hunter.

Chris glared at him, but Becca smiled. “Good. Hunter can tell me everything I need to know.” She gave her father a dismissive look. “You can go back to ignoring me since it’s worked so great for the last five years.”

“I haven’t been ignoring you, Becca.” He glanced at Hunter. “And regardless of who you learn from, I definitely won’t be ignoring you now.”

“So that’s it,” said Michael. “You don’t turn us in, we don’t turn you in.”

Bill spread his hands. “For now, that’s it.”