“I can certainly see who wears the pants in this family.” Olympia huffed her way to a wide door next to the master bedroom. “This was Mrs. Morgade’s bedroom. It also has an attached bathroom. If you wish to seek further, I must tell you—most bedrooms do not.”

The Morgades hadn’t slept together. How interesting. Kellen walked into a room decorated sparsely with chests and tables and a few well-chosen sculptures of Japanese origin. The queen-size bed hugged the interior wall and faced the windows where every morning they could watch the sun rise. “This will do.” Actually, Kellen quite liked it.

“Yes, dear,” Max said meekly.

“You can sleep in the master if you prefer.” Kellen looked daggers at him.

“No, dear.”

Kellen turned to Olympia. “Will you ask Dylan to bring our bags up here to our room?”

Olympia huffed again. “When you’re ready, come to the dining room. I’ve prepared a snack.” She departed.

Kellen turned on Max. “The pants in this family?”

He laughed out loud.

“Who says that? Who even thinks it?”

He kept laughing, the crinkles around his eyes deepening, inviting her to laugh, too.

So she did. “You didn’t help a bit!”

He made a lunge for her, toppled her onto the bed, rolled on top of her, all warmth and weight and rocketing blood pressure. He looked down into her face. “Are you kidding? You should have seen your expression. It was priceless! And—”

The door slammed back against the wall.

They both jumped guiltily.

Rae stood there, glaring as if the wrathful face of puberty had taken form. “I don’t know what you think is so funny.”

Max turned to Kellen. “This is who wears the pants in the family.”

He picked one hell of a time to be witty. Kellen ignored him and asked Rae, “What’s wrong? I thought you liked your room.”

“It’s too far away!” She stalked in.

“From us?” Kellen considered that. “I’ll bet we can round up a small lamp for your room and one to light the corridor so you can find us at night.”

“Why would I want to find you at night?” Rae asked belligerently.

“Sometimes you have nightmares,” Max said.

“I’m too old for that now.” Rae had chosen to forget that after being torn from her home, and during the days of chaotic travel, she had twice crept into her parents’ bedroom, crawled in next to Kellen, and shivered until she forgot her dream and went back to sleep.

Those nightmares were one reason Kellen had agreed to continue their silence about the threat that had sent them fleeing. They weighed the chances of Mara immediately tracking and attacking them against Rae’s psychological turmoil, and decided that, by all indications, they’d made a clean getaway and they could wait.