Ceri smiled and walked away. Quen watched her go, then flushed when I cleared my throat with an attention-getting sound. “Don’t worry,” I said as I put some space between us now that Ceri was gone. “I won’t tell anyone you’re twitterpated.”

The uncomfortable man stared at a spot behind and somewhat above me. His scar, now defunct and made silent with illegal genetic tinkering, was a white mass of tissue almost hidden behind his collar. “I don’t think I thanked you for helping me,” he said evenly, “on Halloween night.”

I turned so that we were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, both watching Ceri talking to my mom and Ivy. “Yeah, well, no good deed goes unpunished.”

He inclined his head, but his expression was blank, and struck by a sudden thought, I blurted, “Hey, you do know that the familiar thing with Trent was just to get him out, right? He’s not really going to be my familiar.” But there was a new shadow of a mark on my arm, mirroring Trent’s. I’d assumed Newt had transferred the mark to Al, but it looked like I had it. Curious.

Quen gave me a half-smile. “He knows.” After glancing at Ceri, he leaned so no one but I could see his face. “He tried to kill you because of what his father did to you, accidentally giving the demons a way to reclaim their kin, but you’re alive because you saved my life when he could not, then went on to save him at great cost to yourself when he was helpless. If not for that, you, your church, and everyone and everything in it would be razed to the ground.”

“Yeah. Okay,” I said, nervous and believing him. Trent had a right to hate me. But he owed me big. If I was lucky, he would ignore me. Quen saw Ceri saying her last good-byes, and I jiggled on my feet. I had one more thing to say, and this might be my last chance.

“Quen,” I said, the softness of my voice stopping him. “Would you tell Trent I’m sorry that I mishandled things so badly that he had to endure being treated like an animal?” The scarred man looked silently at me, and I grimaced. “I never should have taken Trent into the ever-after. I think it was an ego thing. That I was trying to prove to him that I was stronger or smarter than he was. It was stupid and egotistical…and I’m sorry.”

The man’s leathery, pox-scarred face turned into a smile. Eyes drifting to Ceri, he nodded. “I’ll do that.” His gaze came back to me and he extended his hand. Feeling weird, I shook it. His fingers were warm, and it was as if I could feel them on me even after he went to join Ceri to guide her slowly to the door.