Claire was sitting on the bed, shirt cuffs pulled down over her hands and staring at the faded green carpet at her feet as though it held all the mysteries of the universe.

"You hungry?" he asked, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it over the back of a chair.

"Famished."

"Ever had pizza?"

She looked up at him. "Pizza? No, but my mother told me it's delicious."

"It is. I guarantee you'll like it."

She returned to staring at the carpet. "I don't deserve pizza. It's my fault those witches were put in danger. If they die—"

He walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at something other than the floor. "Stop it, Claire. You heard what Theo said about keeping the elium out of the hands of the Atrika. That's for the good of everyone. The Coven witches signed on for this gig. They knew the risks, just like Theo and I do. Anyway, we don't know what happened to them yet. Maybe they got away."

"Maybe. Adam, I got the feeling Theo knows Ingrid personally."

Adam dropped his hands from her shoulders and rubbed his chin. "Yeah, they're sleeping together. I don't know much more than that, though. Don't know if their relationship is about more than just the sex or not. Theo isn't the sharing type."

She swallowed hard. "Do you know any of the missing Coven witches personally?"

"They're all friends, yes. I know them all."

Claire turned her face up to his. "Tell me about them. I want to know these people whose lives I've affected."

Adam sat down beside her and told her everything she wanted to know. He told her about Ingrid and how she had a brutal temper, but a very good heart. How she'd slept with lots of the witches at the Coven, even Jack McAllister for a while, before he'd met his wife and the mother of his child, Mira. He told her about James and how he loved to snowboard and ski. And about Tom and his nasty habit of drinking milk straight from the carton in the Coven's kitchen.

He talked until the pizza came and then while they ate. Claire devoured her share, washing it down with Coke. She'd developed a taste for junk food pretty quickly.

"How about you?" he asked as they polished off the remains. "You have any friends on Eudae?"

She thought for a moment. "Their culture isn't like here. It's not so informal or friendly. There were some that I spent time with, weaving magick or performing certain tasks, but you don't joke around there. You don't order pizza and sit around talking until early in the morning."

"You were really lonely, weren't you?"

She nibbled a crust a bit, then threw it onto the box. "Yes. I didn't realize it then because living there was all I knew. Now I understand how lonely I was."