Page 19

The hour was growing late. I knew I had to get home. My arm had gone numb a while ago, but I ignored it in favor of returning to the office with the team to plan. We wanted to question Jonah’s parents again—but that had to go through specific channels. Litigation. Paperwork. The kind of red tape that made me miss the days when I could just knock on a door and trust my instincts.

I pushed off from the desk, already reaching for the door, when the air shifted.

Not much. Just a flicker. A crackle at the edge of my awareness, like static before a storm. Jude appeared. He flickered like a bad signal, translucent around the edges, his form bleeding through the Veil like a photograph left out in the rain. Not solid. Not fully here. His mouth moved, but the words came through mangled, in a staccato jumble.

“Ivan… bakery… alone… something wrong…” He waved his hands around in frustrated, jerky motions.

But I understood enough to win his game of charades. “I have to go check on Ivan,” I told the team.

Wade got up too. “Do you need me to drive?” His gaze followed mine, though I knew he couldn’t see Jude.

“No. I’m good. He’s just at the bakery.” Partial lie. Wade didn’t call me on it.

I headed for the street, keeping my numb hand shoved in my pocket. Jude flickered in and out as he followed. The further we got from the split in the Veil that ran through the middle of the SED building, the more faded he became. I ground my teeth and walked faster.

I dialed Ivan’s phone twice. Voicemail both times.

By the time I crossed the Veil into the bakery’s block, Jude had solidified beside me.

He rattled off a short, uneven description. Ivan ditching the kitsune guardians. Insisting on going to the bakery alone. Refusing to say why.

The bakery was a hub for demigoddesses and other high-tier supes. That worried me as much as it had Jude. Not because Ivan would be in physical danger, the place was one of the few sanctuaries the higher-ups had established, with strict rules to keep every species safe. But Ivan had a habit of inviting trouble without meaning to, not unlike his big brother.

I rushed down the street and pushed open the bakery door.

The smell of honey and warm bread, cinnamon and something floral I could never name eased some of the worst of my worry the second I stepped inside. The lights were low, the evening crowd thin. A few tables were occupied by supes who didn’t bother looking up. Safe. Neutral. That was the rule here.

The cases were endlessly full of delicious sweets that normally made my mouth water, a feat I often wondered was part fae magic.

Ivan lingered near one display, Gwen at his side instead of Lilith. That alone stopped the anxious fluttering in my chest. She loaded a box for him, picking out pieces as he hesitated over a dozen different options.

“Ivy?” I kept my voice low, hoping not to startle him.

He jumped anyway. Turned toward me. Expression tight. Gaze already searching.

“He’s outside,” I answered the question he hadn’t asked. I knew Jude was pacing the sidewalk in front of the shop, trying hard to honor his brother’s request, while still providing support in the form of me.

Why didn’t Ivan want Jude with him?

Ivan’s shoulders slumped. He looked away, but I caught the redness around his eyes, like he’d been crying.

I threw Gwen a questioning look.

She gave me a reassuring smile and took the box from Ivan’s hands, setting it aside.

“Sit,” she said, ushering us toward a small table near the window.

I took the chair facing the door, and Ivan slid into the one across from me, shoulders hunched, and hands clenched in front of him, his gaze focused on them. He looked oddly small as if trying to make himself invisible.

What had I missed?

Through the window I could see Jude pacing, gaze finding us, brow raised in question. I gave him the barest shake of my head to let him know that I didn’t know yet.

Gwen disappeared behind the counter. A moment later, she returned with a tray. Three cups of tea and a giant plate of pastries, including a small, delicate thing, that shimmered, on its own saucer.

She set the tray down and pulled out the chair beside Ivan as she sat down beside me.

“Why don’t you invite him in?” She asked Ivan.