If Mellie hadn’t gotten pregnant and derailed my mom’s plans, would I have ever known? We’d been avoiding her for months. Her symptoms had gotten dramatically worse, and we hadn’t noticed, because we didn’t want to see her or deal with her. We just wanted her to wait until I turned eighteen before overdosing and passing quietly out of our lives.

But that wouldn’t have happened. She would have possessed me and sold Melanie, and…well, I wasn’t sure what her plan was after that, since my body couldn’t produce a new host for her.

Finn chewed his stew quietly, watching me. He’d set a bottle of water at my feet, and I hadn’t even noticed.

“What else?” I put my bowl down and picked up the water. “What else do you know about her? About us?” How had he found me?

“Tell you what.” He glanced at my untouched bowl. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know, as long as you keep eating. You’re going to need plenty of energy if we’re going to make it out of here without getting caught.”

I had no home. I had no clothes except what I was wearing. I had no food except what belonged to Finn. I had no information except what had come from him. And I had nowhere to go and no one to trust. There was nothing left. Except Finn.

He must have seen doubt in my eyes, because he smiled, and when he smiled, I could see nothing of the boy who’d killed a degenerate and shot an “exorcist.” When he smiled, he looked normal. Friendly. Trustworthy. And that very thought put me back on edge.

I didn’t know him well enough yet to think of him as trustworthy.

“Relax.” His smile had slipped a little as he was confronted with my skepticism. “If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved your life. Twice. If I wanted to turn you in for the bounty, I wouldn’t have welcomed you into my home amid wealth and luxury I don’t share with just anyone.” He spread his arms in a grand gesture, taking in the grease, dirt, and trash all around us. “Is there any other fear I can put to rest for you?”

When I only pulled the blanket around myself again, he laughed. “Fine. If I were planning to…you know…” He waved one hand at my entire body. “I wouldn’t have given you a slab of wood with nails sticking out of it.” He pointed to the two-by-four still lying next to me within easy reach. “I’m as protective of my parts as the next guy. More protective than some. So…are we good?”

I thought about that for a minute. Then decided to ignore the question. “Do you really think there’s a bounty for me?”