“The aunties are pissed we told the Courts.” She shifted position on the edge of his bed, frowned, and shrugged. “Kind of understandably given the way it turned out. Anyway, Auntie Bea’s on the warpath, so I’m not going to be around much for the next little while.”

“If she’s trying to . . .”

Hand on his chest, she pushed him back onto his pillows. “She’s not. But I might if I stay. They’re all on edge because of the asteroid, and since they can’t push at it, Auntie Bea’s pushing at me.”

The Gales didn’t work the way dragons did. If a dragon took out a more powerful dragon, they became the dragon to beat. If Charlie took out Auntie Bea, the Gales would close ranks against one of their own who upset the order of things and the line between Wild and too different to belong was already pretty narrow. “And your impulse control sucks.”

“Yeah, well . . .”

They realized her hand was still resting on his chest at the same time. Jack grabbed for it, but Charlie pulled free.

“. . . I’m using it all for other things.”

“You don’t have to.” When her brows rose, he sighed. “Okay, whatever. If you’re not going to be around, what’re you doing to do?”

“Keep trying to find a way to stop the asteroid. And deal with the mess the Courts are causing.”

“And what am I going to do?”

“Same thing. We’ll use Winnipeg as your perimeter. You deal with everything closer than Winnipeg and I’ll do damage control farther out.” She cocked her head, obviously listening to something he couldn’t hear, and began speaking faster. “You won’t be able to reach me for a few days, but only until ritual. If I show up and join in, all will be forgiven.”

Jack still couldn’t hear what Charlie heard, but Auntie Bea was close enough now he could catch her scent, even through the closed door. He’d never smelled ozone so strongly. “It’s that easy?” he asked. If Charlie was ignoring the threat, he could ignore it. For a while, anyway.

Her answering smile was all stage presence. It looked sincere, but he’d seen it before. “It’s ritual, and I can rock the hell out of third circle.”

The bed vibrated when Auntie Bea hit the door. Charlie’s charm held but only just. Jack slapped up the grid he used to keep Allie out when the last thing he needed was her being mother-y all over his space. There was a lifetime between thirteen and seventeen and, as they put it in the MidRealm, he had some issues with mothering. “When did you charm my door?”

“Before I woke you up.”

“Charlotte Marie Gale, open the door! Now!”

“She sounds really angry.”