“I’M READY TO go,” I announced the next afternoon as I brushed my hair. Given how long my hair was—and that I’d been tossing and turning for almost twenty-four hours—the brushing was a major chore. I figured if I could accomplish that, I was ready for anything.

“When you can stay awake for more than an hour, we’ll consider it,” Adam said.

I swung my legs out of bed. “It’s been sixty-five minutes. Bring the Jeep around front—”

He grabbed my legs and pushed them back under the covers. “I was being sarcastic.”

“Too bad, I’m holding you to it. Now let go—”

“If you can’t make me, then you’re clearly not ready.”

“It’s always easy to find you two,” a voice said from the door. “Just follow the sounds of bickering.”

A red-haired woman in her late forties walked in, garnering a double take from a passing orderly half her age. If I pointed it out, she’d say it was only because he recognized her from her TV spots, but the truth is that Jaime Vegas is gorgeous. Even in a casual blouse and slacks, she exudes glamour.

She sailed over to my bedside, giving me a hug. She’d called Adam when he was still in the ambulance, and between them—and with Jesse’s help—they’d pieced together the story. She’d been checking in every few hours since, undoubtedly relaying the updates to my mom. I didn’t ask if Mom was with her now. There are rules about that sort of thing, and we were careful not to bend them too often or the Fates would ensure my mother couldn’t make contact with me.

“So Leah’s back in her hell dimension?” I asked as Jaime settled on the edge of my bed.

“Nope. She got an upgrade to a worse one.”

“And Mom?”

Jaime’s grin faltered. “She’s ... not in the best place right now. Kicking herself silly. You know Eve. She can pull the whole ‘I don’t give a shit’ routine, but when she makes a mistake, she beats herself up worse than anyone else could.”

“Sounds familiar,” Adam said, giving me a look I ignored.

“We’d argued about telling you that Leah was out,” Jaime said. “I wanted to. Eve didn’t. We had Leah in our sights—or so we thought—and she was a thousand miles from you, so Eve didn’t want to freak you out, freak Paige and Lucas out, spoil their vacation ...”

“Tell Mom it wouldn’t have made a difference. Even if I’d known Leah was free, I’d never have seen her in this until it was too late.”