Yet another quaint small town strung with Christmas lights rolled past in a blink. Sam's butt was getting sore, but at least they were nearly there. Though she was exhausted, she was the more alert of the two of them. Ada's mouth hung open a bit as she at last got some rest. She was too sweet, letting Sam sleep the better part of six hours when she had only gotten a couple of hours before herself.

Sam's only comfort was knowing they were expected. Cain had given her a phone number, and she called it as soon as the hour was reasonable. Mrs. Bronson, though nervous, seemed kind. They were welcome for dinner, and Sam figured they would speak with Lily alone afterwards.

Even though Sam knew what she had to tell her, the how was escaping her. No amount of focus on the issue presented options. She couldn't imagine the questions Lily might have, beyond the ones Sam had had herself. In those, she had only Aidan's answers to provide. There were so many other things she was bound to have questions for, though, and Sam didn't know what she would manage to say.

Sighing, Sam nudged the volume higher on the podcast that was playing. Ada didn't so much as twitch. The bruises beneath her eyes were deepening by the day. Though she often appeared tired, it had been worse since October. As much as she claimed to be unaffected by what she was doing for Maggie's family, Sam didn't think it was truthful. She wasn't sure if Ada believed it herself. More than once Sam had woken at an ungodly hour to find her reading the news on her phone in a bout of insomnia. Sam let her speed drop a bit further; if she could get Ada even a few extra minutes of rest, she would.

Besides, out there, there were plenty of places to pass. There was no one behind them at the moment, but even if that changed, they could tolerate a few minutes of slow driving before the next passing zone. Nervous as Sam was, she was in no rush to actually get to their destination.

Damn it, why couldn't she think of anything useful to say? How would she even bring the topic up? She wasn't good at talking to teenagers in the first place. Kids, sure, they're fun as heck. Teenagers, though, not so much. That was part of why she wanted Ada there. If she couldn't get Lily to take her seriously, maybe Ada could. It's strange; after all, Sam had been a teenager herself only a few years ago.

Mid-afternoon sun pierced thick clouds as Sam parked at last at the small hotel they were spending the night in. There were more empty parking spaces than filled. To put off waking Ada a bit longer, Sam pulled up Mrs. Bronson's contact and sent her a message to say they arrived. In moments, she got a response. Dinner was at six, and their address followed. Sam already had that, but didn't tell her as much. No need to creep her out.

Ada woke with a start, then melted into her seat once more when she saw nothing was amiss. Her hand found Sam's and she squeezed gently. Sleepy eyes glanced around outside.

"Are we here?"

"Yeah, come on, you can sleep for a couple more hours once we're upstairs."

Sam braced herself for the bitter cold for no reason. Though there was ample snow here, evidently Ontario was not experiencing quite the same winter they were. According to her phone, it was nearly twelve degrees warmer than when they had left. Still cold, but not extreme.

Ada paused to crack her back before taking their suitcase from the back seat. She was spacey as they checked in and waited for the elevator in the empty lobby. Even her grip on Sam's hand was loose. Wherever she was, it wasn't the lobby. Sam gave her hand a squeeze to get her attention.

"What's up?" Sam murmured.

Her eyes flicked to the elevator. "One moment."

They stepped to the side when the doors rolled open, then filed inside. As the doors shut, Ada heaved a sigh and let go of Sam's hand so she could lean on the railing behind her.

"They won't shut up." She gestured near her ear in exasperation.

"Who?"

"That person, or whatever, that I met in the astral plane."

Sam's brows rose. "You can hear them?"

"Clear as a bell." She sighed, head rolling back onto the mirror for a moment. "I went there again last night, before we left. They found me."

"Why can you still hear them?"

"I don't understand it. They tracked me, somehow; they can breach whatever divides this,"—she gestured around them—"from the astral planes. I don't know."

"Do you think they're human, or were?"

Ada shook her head slowly, tired eyes tinged with distress when they fell on Sam's. "No, maybe. I have no idea. There's something about them that's just ... off. I can't explain it."

Sam started to reach for her, but a bell announced their arrival at their floor. She settled on taking Ada's hand for now. The thick, sweet fragrance of the hotel was stronger there, disgustingly so. Sam could only hope it was less intense in their room.

Their room with a second bed they didn't ask for. They paused on the threshold for a long heartbeat before snickering.

"They did not."

"Evidently, they did."

Ada glanced through the half-open door. "Should we go back?"

"Nah, forget it." Sam let it fall shut behind them and set their bag on the nearer bed to retrieve her phone charger. "We'll just sleep in the one and call them out tomorrow morning."

Ada shrugged and joined her, kicking off her unlaced boots beside the television. She sank onto the bed and was asleep before Sam had finished setting an alarm. Sam crawled in beside her and curled up against her side in an artificial dusk made rose by the tacky curtains.

Sam's jarring alarm made them both start. She didn't know about Ada's rest, but Sam had been having a lovely dream of a vacation on a tropical beach. Just the two of them, lots of sun and warmth and leisure. Instead, they were in northern Ontario in the dead of winter in a mediocre hotel. They were together, though, so her good mood mostly continued.

Ada yawned every quarter-minute or so as she pulled a brush through her hair and twirled it into a bun. The strays she left unpinned, and Sam loved the way they looked against her skin. She caught Sam staring in the mirror and grinned, then beckoned her over. Sam finished pulling on her sweater before looping her arms around her stomach from behind. She felt and heard Ada's soft sigh. Tension dissipated from her shoulders. Sam pressed a few gentle kisses to the slope of her neck, eyes on hers in the reflection. Ada's easy smile was nearly as untroubled as Sam remembered.

"Are they still bothering you?" Sam murmured against her skin.

She shook her head. "Not right now. Hopefully it stays that way."

By the look in her eye, Sam could tell she was doubtful. Sam was, too. If they found her once, they would likely do so again. Sam squeezed her, at a loss for what to do, what to say.

"Have they told you what they want?"

"Not exactly. They're just ... bored, I think. It sounds like this is just a fun game for them. It's like they want a friend. No, that's not right. More like a pet. I feel like they think I'm something fun to play with."

Sam shuddered, and she echoed it. "You should call Collette, or Maggie."

She nodded, stroking the back of Sam's hand with her fingertips. "I will, just not today. We have enough going on. A few intrusive thoughts aren't the end of the world."

"I guess."

She might not think so, but Sam did. If she was already this exhausted, she couldn't imagine what another intrusion in Ada's thoughts and dreams would do to her. Sam wished she could help somehow, but even magical as she apparently was, it was purely physical. She couldn't do what Ada could. She couldn't stop something from another plane entirely. Sam hated feeling this helpless.

When Sam squeezed her again, Ada turned in her arms and pulled her close. Ada's breathing rustled her hair. Sam sighed and let some of her worry go. She had enough on her plate. If Ada was able to set this problem aside, she could as well. She would have to. She was running out of time to plan what she would say to Lily.

Geared up, they made their way back to the elevator and leaned together on the railing, watching the number creep lower. Sam hadn't been in such a slow elevator in years, if not ever. Still, it was nice to have a moment of just being. She tipped her head onto Ada's shoulder for a moment, and she rested her cheek on Sam's crown, smiling a little.

Sam had to resist the urge to scowl at the person behind the counter in the lobby. They weren't the same one who had checked them in. She hoped that person was working again when they checked out so she could set them straight—or would it be gay, in this case? She nearly snickered at her own joke.

In the car, she had Ada call Aidan and put it on speaker. He answered on the second ring. On the dashboard, Sam's own read out the next step to get to their destination.

"Sorry, hey. We're just heading over now. How's Cain?"

He chuckled drily. "Anxious. How are you?"

"About the same. Talk me through the symptoms again?"

He did, and Sam read them all back without missing a beat. Still, she had that nagging feeling she was forgetting something. It seemed she wasn't, so she tried her best to dismiss the feeling. She knew what to tell Lily, and somehow would figure out the delivery.

It came back to her all at once. "Hang on, she's not going to go through what I did, right?"

"What do you mean- oh, the memories? No, she won't. She wasn't bitten." He sounded so sure, but it didn't quite convince Sam.

"Good, that's something, I guess."

"It's going to be fine. One thing at a time. If it turns out she is one of us, then we worry about the full moon."

Three days. That was all the time Sam had to prepare her for her first change if it turned out the suspicion was true. She couldn't begin to fathom how to go about that. How do you tell someone they're going to feel their bones break, shift, grow, and shrink? To feel bones broken down to nothingness when no longer needed. A total transformation of the body, agonising from start to finish.

Sam missed her turn and had to double back at the behest of the snarky fake voice of the app.

"You're right," she said, trying to sound convincing. She still wasn't so sure. "We're almost there. I'll call you after, okay? I don't know what time that will be."

"I'll be up."

Of course he would. Ada hung up and squeezed her shoulder. "We'll figure it out, relax."

Sam nodded, but said nothing.

A few minutes later, they parked on the street outside of a small house that was nearly identical to the two framing it. Perfect wooden fences divided them into little stamps of yards. The one they wanted was painted a cheery robin's egg blue with white accents. It was festooned with white and blue Christmas lights, and a lively wreath hung from the whitewashed door. Thin curtains hung over the wide windows, glowing with warmth. A tidy, newer SUV was parked in the driveway, recently washed of salt and sand.

There was movement in a window upstairs for an instant. Sam lingered on the pane, but it did not return. She shut off the engine and sank into her seat with a hard groan. Ada took her hand over the console.

"Come on, deep breath."

She breathed with her for a while, until she wasn't so shaky. Sam didn't know what to expect, but Ada would be there with her. Ada would help. Sam wasn't doing this alone, she had nothing to worry about.

Sam was as ready as she would ever be. It was time to go tear down the veil of normalcy that once shielded them, too, from this strange world of magic.