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I blinked at him. Horror crawled up my spine. “What? Isn’t that, like, a ‘death is just a promotion’ sort of deal? Because perpetual shift work doesn’t sound like an upgrade. It sounds like hell without a benefits package.”

“They agreed.”

I stared at him. He looked grim.

“I used the shield bond you created after the death curse in Bowman’s apartment.”

As if my instinct to protect them meant they were forced into this eternal nightmare too. “Angel…” A slew of voices from the hall turned our attention to the door.

Angel glanced over. “What’s going on?”

“The SED has pulled back,” Victor said, in that maddeningly calm way of his, as if his report was about rain rather than the withdrawal of the supernatural police. “My team says the military are on the way.”

Angel swore under his breath.

“What does all that mean?” I pressed, because if the tear had already merged, if it had been settling here for years, then nothing was coming through, tactical team or not. Which should have been good news, except nothing about this felt good.

“Could be heavy caution,” Victor tried, sounding neutral.

“Or they know we’re in here, and are coming for us,” Remi added. “Lots of spooks have been hanging around our office. Unusual for any case. We all think they’ve been looking for a particular ghost.”

Me.

“Let’s not focus on that,” Angel said, steering my attention back to him. “Tell me what you remember about Jason. Will his ghost be here somewhere? Will finding him restore the memory?”

“No. I don’t know.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, trying to make the pieces fit. “I saw him in the woods. I kissed him. My dad saw. Beat the crap out of me. There was chanting. Jason died trying to protect me. Then he was in the woods.” I stopped. None of that made a lick of sense, and I was starting to think it never would.

“Maybe the ghost is in the woods, then,” Remi offered. “The Reapers are drawing the few spirits whole enough to move. But it might be best to gather what we can of Jude and pull out ourselves before the military comes in to take us apart.”

Did that have to sound partially sexual? I glared at Victor’s back like Remi could somehow feel my annoyance through the vampire.

“Jude will have to go room to room,” Angel said. “Only Nox seems able to move the motes that are unwilling.” He met my gaze. “The team can identify the ones that belong to you through our Bastion tie. But most stubbornly refuse to move.”

“I’m not certain we have that sort of time,” Victor added. He sighed. “Unless we create a distraction.”

“What?” I blinked out again, as if my shock meant my fragments unraveled. When I returned, Victor stood to the side of the doorway, and Remi lingered a few feet away. “What did I miss?”

“The military has surrounded the house,” Remi added, helpful as ever. “Practitioners among them.”

“No,” Angel said, as if he’d been repeating himself.

“I can help,” Remi protested.

“No.”

“Why do I feel like this is another Jude-is-a-juice-box situation?” I asked.

“I think I can force all the motes to come to you,” Remi said.

“You think.” Angel pointed out. “You don’t know.”

“It would be beneficial to try,” Victor interjected. “Before the military begins making demands.” His gaze lingered on me, then flicked to Angel’s arm, which hung uselessly at his side, his shoulder slumped as the dark spread dangerously close to his neck. I knew part of that was the motes trying to protect him, but I feared how much it was hurting him.

I turned to Remi.

“No,” Angel repeated.

“I’m not five. I get to choose.”