I sighed, and Kisten’s lips brushed my ear. “You’ll get him back,” he breathed.

Surprised he knew where my thoughts were, I said, “Are you sure?”

I felt him nod. “Come springtime and he can get out again, he’ll be back. He thinks too much of you to not listen once his pride starts to heal. But I know all about big egos, Rachel. You’re going to have to grovel.”

“I can do that,” I said in a small voice.

“He thinks it’s his fault,” Kisten continued.

“I’ll convince him otherwise.”

His breath was a puff behind my ear. “That’s my girl.”

I smiled at the stirring of feelings he was instilling in me. My gaze went to the shadow of Ivy in the kitchen, then back to the impromptu music. One down. Two more to go. And they were likely going to be the hardest ones. It wasn’t as if I could ask Ceri or Keasley. There was a spot on that form for a Social Security number. Ceri didn’t have one, and I knew without asking Keasley wouldn’t want to put his down. I had a suspicion by the lack of government checks that he was playing dead.

“Could you excuse me?” I murmured as Ivy’s shadow behind the glass was eclipsed by a swirl of mist from the hot water she was running into the sink. Kisten’s hold loosened. Takata’s blue eyes met mine before I turned away, an unknown emotion in them.

I paused to put the cedar wreath back on its hook before I went in. The warmth of the church hit me, and I took my hat off and tossed it to the black hearth. I entered the kitchen to find Ivy leaning against the counter, her head down and her hands gripping her elbows.

“Hi,” I said, hesitating in the threshold.

“Let me see the contract,” she said, extending her hand and her head coming up.

My lips parted. “How did …” I stammered.

A faint, sour smile crossed her and was gone. “Sound carries well over flame.”

Embarrassed, I pulled it out of my pocket, feeling it both cold from the night and warm from my body. She took it, her brow furrowed. Turning her back on me, she unfolded it. I fidgeted. “Um, I need three witnesses,” I said. “I’d like you to be one of them.”

“Why?”

She didn’t turn around and her shoulders were tense. “David doesn’t have a pack,” I said. “It’s harder to fire him if he does. He gets to keep his job working solo, and I can get my insurance through him. It’s only two hundred a month, Ivy. He’s not looking for anything more than that or he would have asked a Were woman.”

“I know. My question is why do you want my signature?” Paper in hand, she turned, the empty look on her face making me uncomfortable. “Why is it important to you that I sign it?”

I opened my mouth, then shut it. My thoughts touched on what Newt had said. Home hadn’t been a strong enough pull, but Ivy was. “Because you’re my partner,” I said, warming. “Because what I do affects you.”