I struggled to keep calm as Gavin scoured me with his piercing blue eyes. Eyes that had once made me shiver with desire now made me cringe in fear. I slipped my hand through the crook of Calum's arm, wishing I'd let him kiss me as a diversion. If I was being honest, I wanted him to kiss me for other reasons, which is what really prompted the punch to his gut, but none of that mattered as the new man starring in my nightmares stood before us.

"Camille, how quickly you forget everything I've done for you."

His decadent voice filled my ears, and I bit my lip to keep from moaning. Shame flooded my system. Gavin really had done so much for me, and I was trusting complete strangers. I pulled my hand back, only stopping when Calum's larger, calloused hand grasped mine. Trying to escape, I stuttered, "I-I'm sorry. I know you helped me."

"You're right. You're indebted to me. You should just come with me now."

My chair scraped against the floor as I tried to rise from my seat. I needed to follow him. I desired to follow him. Every time Calum pulled me back, pain bloomed in the front of my head.

"Gavin, stop it."

"What exactly are you going to do about it?" Gavin scoffed, the honey tones of his voice hardening as he turned his attention to the man beside me.

"Get out of here. There are too many normals. You know your mistress wouldn't be happy with the negative press. Too much to clean up. Especially after the fire."

As the two men growled at one another, the sounds of the coffeeshop broke through: the hissing of the steamer in a latte, a spoon clinking against the side of a cup, ice in the shaker. The pain in my head ebbed, leaving me feeling like I had cotton between my ears.

"Gavin, your drink is ready," Judy called from the front counter. She typically didn't deliver drinks to the customers, but her body language as she watched us suggested she recognized our interaction wasn't particularly amicable.

He hesitated before spinning on his heel and taking the proffered drink. "Thanks Judy. This should make the drive a lot more enjoyable."

"Anything to keep you wide-eyed on these icy roads. Be careful. Avalon wouldn't be the same without you."

"Don't worry Judy. It takes a lot to get rid of me."

I could see the blush blossoming on her cheeks from here as Gavin winked at her before heading out the door. "I'll be seeing you around Camille."

"You two good?" Judy questioned. She gave me a concerned glance but headed behind the counter after I smiled reassuringly.

"Guess that answers my question about Gavin." I would've been safer if he'd died that night, but my soul sung out in joy that it was not stained with more blood. "I don't know how though. Calum, Katerina disintegrated the moment I hit her with this. How did he hold onto me like that?"

I could tell Calum was trying to hide his thoughts from me, but the faintest glimmer of distress flickered through his dark eyes. "We need to get back to the house. Now that Gavin has confirmed that you're with us, he won't wait long to strike. The plan was to leave in three days, but we need to leave tonight."

I snagged my book and followed his long stride, waving at Judy before we stepped outside. I wanted to turn and fix the image of the cheerful shop in my mind, but Calum was moving far too quickly for me to indulge in my feelings. When he grasped my hand and tugged me close, I didn't protest. Still rattled from Gavin's reappearance, I welcomed the strength and heat his body provided mine. No man had ever made me feel so protected. Not so quickly and without qualm.

He pulled out his phone with a free hand and barked orders at the person he called. We'd left Main Street behind, walking through the neighborhoods I'd gone through to get to my apartment what felt like years ago. My eyes were drawn towards the turn I'd take to get to Iggy's house, and I had to stifle the urge to cry. Of all the things I was losing, my trust in her was the hardest.

"Percy should be here in just a minute," Calum said coming to an abrupt stop, making me scramble to find my footing as I hit a patch of ice. His scowl faded into a smirk as he reached out to steady me. "Gavin will have put a tail on us, and I don't want to lead him back to the house."

Shivering I nodded as if I understood why he was telling me this. While this new world I'd been thrust into didn't shock me (how could it when I could shift to look however I wished and become a human plasma lamp), but I still struggled to grasp what everyone was capable of.

"Man, this girl is not worth all of this."

"Well hey Percy," I said with cheerful sarcasm, "so glad you could make it. I haven't anyone to lower my self-esteem today."

The burly, redhead just rolled his eyes before closing them. A soft haze buzzed around his body, but other than that I couldn't tell he was doing anything. "It's done."

I scanned the area, not seeing anything different. Bouncing to try and generate some warmth in my body, I asked, "What exactly did you do?"

The two men shared amused looks. "Take about five steps towards the direction we came from," Percy instructed.

When Calum nodded in agreement, I did as Percy said, gasping when they disappeared from my view. The street before me was empty, stretching towards the next bend in the road with nothing but gray snow and tiny houses lining the edge. But something was off, and it prodded at a memory I'd dismissed. I stretched my hand out and watched as the image wavered.

"Holy crap, that was you!" I shrieked, remembering the ripple in the air. "In the alley on the first day of the Harvest Festival."

"I told you she saw it," Calum said.

"Do you know how rare that Talent is? Being able to see where an illusion begins? And we didn't even know she was anything but human then."

"You still owe me fifty bucks."

I stepped on the other side of the illusion as the two continued to bicker. "Just how long were you all actually in town?"

"Awhile. You don't just rush a mission like this, and we'd been after Gavin for a long time. Something tipped him off though."

"And won't whoever is following us see three people disappear like that?"

Percy snorted, the arrogance emanating off of him becoming so strong it was almost a physical force. "They'll see that, but I left multiple screens behind us. They won't be able to find out which direction we went. Unless the person following us has the same Talent you do, we'll be fine. Even then, they have to be right up on the screen to see the disturbance. It'll buy us time."

The split-level house we'd been staying in came into view. Fleur and Anna, the girl with pink hair, stood on the porch with arms crossed. From here, I couldn't tell if they were angry or concerned, but the relief that flooded their faces was obvious enough when they spied us.

I wilted beneath Fleur's cold eyes as we walked into the house. Her earlier warning hung heavy between the two of us, and I decided then and there she scared me more than anyone else in this group. Anna guided me towards the stairs while the other three moved towards the kitchen.

"Let's get you packed," she said, her pink eyes softening as she looked me over. "You're gonna love the new place."

"Where exactly is this place?"

She just shrugged as she pulled out a large suitcase. "You're just going to have to wait and see."