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Callie nodded, wrecked and still making herself small. I pulled her against my shoulder and she sniffed into it.

Back in the living room, Kai was still on the arm of the sofa. He looked a little more alert, like the quiet grilling from Damian had sobered him.

“He’s right,” he said, nodding at Damian, because he’d heard every word. “You got lucky with me. I’d be saying the same thing. I guess you’re stuck with me now.”

We let out a sound close to a laugh, and the worst of the tension broke.

“Okay,” Damian said, looking at all of us. “So now there’s four of us.”

I felt the invisible click of the plan growing larger. We all did. The secret had grown another pulse.

We debriefed Kai on what we’d already done. He had the same look on his face that I imagined he had when he was clutching his surfboard in the ocean, and a wave crested at twice the size he’d expected.

“You held a séance in that abandoned house and it actually worked?” He stared at Callie like he’d just discovered who she really was.

“It was terrifying.”

“Aw, I’m proud of you!”

They fell into a sloppy hug.

Damian told him the rest. Kai listened without interrupting. Then he looked at Callie. “You have to bleed into a bowl? Babe—”

“You’ve seen worse,” I said.

Kai’s face dropped, then he recovered.

“It’s better than everyone dying,” Callie said weakly.

“Why can’t I do it for her?” Kai said.

For the first time, some of the warmth I’d felt for Kai when I’d first met him came back.

“Because Clemency is a Victorian boss who doesn’t like dealing with men,” Callie said. “She’s a beast.”

“It’s because the ceremony has to be done by the brides,” I corrected. “But yeah, that, too.”

“They have to do it on the beach, near the spot,” Damian said, looking at Kai, but inclining his head at me. “If it works, the Bridegroom’ll be dead by the end of the night.”

Kai’s mouth fell open. “They’re doing this on the beach?”

We all nodded.

“Walk me through it,” Kai said.

“You and I act like we’re doing exactly what we always do,” Damian said. “But we make sure they get to the beach first, and we make sure no one tails them.”

Kai shook his head. “Man, if they find out—”

“We make sure they don’t,” Damian said.

I watched Kai assemble it all.

“So they’re at the beach, and we’re right up the coast from them, pretending everything’s normal, while they—”

“While they kill him. Yeah.”

Kai scrubbed a hand through his hair. “So the timing… they have to kill him while his mouth’s open?”