It didn’t take him long. His stocky frame filled the doorway, and he toyed with the huge skull ring on his index finger to avoid looking at me. “So, my guess is you’re leaving.”

“Yes.” I sat on the edge of the bed, which was currently experiencing the foreign pleasure of clean sheets. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“You made a deal with Cyrus.” He didn’t pose it as a question. The kid wasn’t a fool.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell Nathan about it. He doesn’t need to know.”

“And I’m going to lie to Nate because you’ve done what for me lately?” Ziggy demanded.

“I’m asking you not to tell him as a friend. I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Why? Are you going to hurt him?” he asked as he turned to look into the living room, pulling a wooden stake from his back pocket. “Nate’s my dad. He’s taken care of me since I was nine years old. There’s no reason not to kill you if you’re threatening him.”

“I’m not threatening him. I just don’t want him coming after me. Cyrus would kill him.”

Ziggy laughed. “Yeah, like you’re not trying to save your ass the only way you know how. What the fuck do you want?”

I wanted to forget all this had ever happened and get some sleep. I wanted to wake up and help them salvage smoke-damaged dream catchers from the shop. I wanted anything but to go back to Cyrus’s house. I’d spend an eternity in that house. But I just handed him my letter. “Give this to him after I’ve gotten a head start.”

He didn’t read it immediately, like I thought he would. “Fine. Anything else?”

I watched him slip the note into his pocket, and I closed my eyes. My throat suddenly went dry. “No.”

“He likes you. This is really going to tear him up.”

The softly spoken declaration should have surprised me. But since I’d found Nathan’s drawing, I’d come to that conclusion on my own. “I know.”

“But you’re still going?” There was cold judgment in his tone. “Look, it’s not like he’s going to be heartbroken or anything. But for what it’s worth, the whole time I’ve lived with him, he’s never shown this much interest in anyone.”

“That’s very sweet.” I wished I knew how to make him understand. I’d never idealized romantic love as an adolescent, but maybe Ziggy had. From his standpoint, just the possibility of a relationship should have been enough to make me stay.

“Nathan has been a big help, but I don’t think of him that way. I’ve given this a lot of thought. It’s the right choice.”

“He worked for fifteen years getting this place going. He knows you for a week and he’s right back to the beginning. And you run straight to the bad guy. It’s not fair.”

“It was a trade, Ziggy. To get the antidote, to save Nathan, I had to make a trade.”