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That was not the man who looked at the Hellmouth and silently calculated how fast he could throw himself back into the dark before anyone stopped him.

This was Texas Ranger Knox MacAllen.

Tactical. Clear-eyed. Still protective as all get-out, obviously, because the man had Dragon Guardsman stamped into his bones, but thank the Great Goddess, he was not suicidal.

He looked at Guy. “If proximity to the section of the Ward network most saturated with your everyday Magic is helping the Hellmark map the system, I shouldn’t sit in the middle of it.”

Guy’s expression said he wanted to argue with all of that. His brain most likely said he couldn’t.

“There’s an old Warden’s cabin,” Guy said at last. “Well, technically, a watch station. Two miles east. Still inside Arrhythmia. Still inside the Wards. Farther from this nexus.”

Knox nodded once. “Good.”

Guy stepped closer. “You stay inside the Wards.”

“Wasn’t planning a field trip to Hell.”

I lifted one finger. “Good. I didn’t pack snacks.”

Bernie exhaled something that might have been a laugh if the room had not been one bad pulse away from catastrophe.

Knox looked at Bernie and Guy. “You stay here with Carrick. Keep digging. Keevandrie’s notes. Fogarty’s supply routes. Anything involving kin resonance, living anchors, or Magical relocation.”

Guy crossed his arms. “Do you honestly think I’m letting you walk out of here alone?”

“No,” Knox said. “I think you’re going to protect this house, your Mate, and the part of the Wards the Hellmark is already showing interest in.”

That landed.

I saw it. The impossible tug-of-war inside Guy. Brother versus Warden. Newly restored family versus an entire sealed town sitting on top of a Hellmouth.

Bernie’s hand slid into Guy’s. He looked at her. She nodded once.

Guy swore under his breath. “Fine. But if that mark so much as hiccups wrong, I’m coming after you.”

Knox’s mouth twitched. “Wouldn’t expect less.”

I grabbed my jacket from the back of the chair.

Knox’s attention snapped to me instantly. “What are you doing?”

“Going with you.”

“No.”

The word was immediate, absolute, and about as effective as trying to stop a tornado with a strongly worded Post-it note.

I looked at Bernie. “Does my Magic confuse the Hellmark?”

Bernie hesitated.

Knox’s expression darkened. “Bernadette.”

Bernie ignored him. “Apparently, yes.”

I looked back at Knox. “Congratulations. You’ve got yourself an Alicorn-shaped jammer.”

Guy choked on something suspiciously close to a laugh.