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It only took three phone calls to find out where Tyler was staying. Part of me wished it had proved tough enough that I could put off confronting him until the following day. But no, he was staying with a friend I’d only met a couple of times during the two years we’d been together. A friend who lived only a ten-minute drive away.

Caligo had stayed silent while I chased down Tyler’s whereabouts and called an Uber, only stirring to life when I picked up the first of Tyler’s boxes.

“You’re taking his things?”

“It’s how I get him to let me in,” I said calmly. Now that the initial shock of finding the ring had passed, everything inside me had turned to ice. It was as though someone had extracted every emotion, cryogenically frozen them, then shoved it all back inside me. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing.

“You should have let me kill him.”

I laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “Maybe. But then I wouldn’t be able to have the conversation with him I’m going to have.”

“You know that I’m coming with you.”

I nodded. “Not visibly, though.”

“I could threaten him and get the information out of him. Tyler is very susceptible to threats.”

“You could,” I said, “but I need to handle this myself.”

“You only need to say the word.”

I managed a smile—or at least something close to one. It didn’t feel entirely natural on my face. “I know.”

A beep from the road signaled the arrival of the Uber. I hefted the box higher and carried it to the waiting car.

The look on Tyler’s face when he opened the door suggested he’d expected anyone but me to be standing on the other side. I found myself staring at him in a way I never had before, trying to see past the handsome veneer and determine whether anything darker lurked beneath it.

“I brought your things,” I said, my voice perfectly level. Being made of ice had its advantages. I jerked my head toward the car still idling at the curb while holding out the box. “If you take this, I’ll get the rest.”

When he took it, I returned to the car for the bags before making one last trip for the remaining box. When he reached for it, I ignored him and stepped over the threshold.

“Nice place,” I said.

It wasn’t. Not compared to my house, but polite niceties seemed like the way to go.

He shrugged. “It’s all right. It’s only temporary until I find somewhere.” He frowned down at the pile of belongings. “There were three boxes. Where’s the other one?”

Under normal circumstances, I probably would have missed the slight edge in his voice. These were so far removed from normal circumstances that they might as well have belonged to another universe.

“The bottom dropped out of one box,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “I put everything that was in there into a bag.”

Tyler gave me a long look.

I rolled my eyes. “Jesus, Tyler. It was just a box. Chill out.”

His scrutiny continued for a couple more seconds before he nodded. “Yeah, sorry. I just...” He ran a hand through his hair and forced a smile. “You know, things have been…”

Finishing a sentence seemed difficult for him. Anyone would think he had something weighing on his mind.

“You wanted your things,” I pointed out, “and I brought them. I thought you’d be happy.”

“I am.” His nod was a little too enthusiastic. The more I looked at him, the more details I noticed that weren’t typical Tyler: the slight twitchiness, that he hadn’t shaved for a couple of days, and the bags beneath his eyes that suggested sleep was in short supply. Of course, staying on a friend’s sofa could explain all of those things. Sofas weren’t renowned for providing a good night’s sleep, and exhaustion could make anyone twitchy.

“Is Javier here?” I asked casually.

Tyler shook his head.

I forced a smile. Now we were both doing it. What a fun game! “How about you make me a coffee?”