After handing off December's rent to my landlord, Vincent and I met the junk van in front of the building, and as we watched the majority of Mr. Pearlman's worldly possessions roll away on dollies, Sylvie joined us, insisting on talking about Christoph, a conversation I knew could easily incite a riot with Vincent.

"I didn't get the best first impression of demons," she said. "But I totally trust your judgment, Reese. If you say Christoph is one of the good ones, I'm going to give him a chance to prove it. I was thinking pizza."

"Pizza?"

"Yeah, I'll order pizza and share it with Christoph and Willem." Sylvie snapped her gum as she smiled at one of the movers. He had a hot body. Right up her alley. Oh yeah, and mine. "Sharing food is the best way to make friends. Does Christoph like pizza?"

"How should I know?" I blurted out my answer a little too rudely, and Sylvie raised her blonde brows at me.

"Didn't he feed you when he kidnapped you?"

"Yes. Honeybuns... and strawberries."

Sylvie's brows remained upright, and she got that devious look in her eyes. I willed her to keep her lewd thoughts to herself, and like a blessing from heaven, Willem and Christoph pulled up in a cab, nixing the convo. Introductions were made and a pizza was ordered, after which Sylvie joined me as I gave Christoph and Willem a quick tour of the apartment.

"Don't be shy about using the bed," I said. "I changed the sheets before you got here."

Christoph looked embarrassed at my suggestion, which probably had something to do with Vincent standing in the background, and Willem seemed to have his mind on other things.

"If you need anything, just ask," Sylvie said. "Of course, I probably won't have what you need because I'm a broke working girl, but if I do, I'm happy to share."

Willem eyed Sylvie critically. "I see Reese has attracted friends who share her passion for kindness. Thank you, Sylvie."

The pizza arrived in record time, and Vincent met the driver downstairs. From my view at the window, I saw him agreeing to a selfie with the female delivering the pie, making me think he finagled a faster delivery by using his charm and street cred. As soon as we sat down with our slices, Vincent started in with the awkward yet inevitable questioning.

"Tell me, Christoph. What do you plan to do about job prospects?" he asked, making his inquiry with all the tact of a board room director.

Christoph didn't flinch as he offered a ready reply. "I'm talking with a friend who might let me help him move boxes around in a warehouse. The pay is shit but it could turn into something more. All under the table, of course."

"Manhattan is an expensive city to live in," Sylvie said. "I've had to cut back my pricy coffee habit and start brewing my own."

I knew Sylvie liked to insert random comments to keep the mood light. It was a nervous habit of hers, and like the charming gollum he was, Vincent gave her the floor then moved on with his interrogation.

"Would you agree that a false identity could get your foot into a few more doors and offer better pay?" Vincent probed.

Christoph's eyebrows rose without hesitation. "Are you suggesting I take Hadria up on her offer?"

"It would give you more options than you have now. And you could remain in Manhattan, keeping your allies close."

"I already told you, I don't want to follow Hadria and her lemmings. She had her own mother murdered."

Sylvie gasped, and she followed it up by taking a long pull off her water glass.

"What if I found you a legitimate position making enough money to keep the status quo?" Vincent said. "Would you consider returning to the hive and making nice with Hadria?"

Christoph narrowed his gaze, eyeing Vincent across the coffee table. "What are you driving at? You must have a vested interest. Or is Reese behind this charity?"

"Reese has a lot to do with it. Her safety has been an ongoing issue, and I want that to go away. You two have established some kind of friendship through all this nonsense, which could work to everyone's advantage. If you let Reese know what direction the hive is taking, or if she is in danger of getting jumped, let's say, the Valentinos will help you out. Quid pro quo. It's a simple business practice."

Christoph set down his pizza crust, bobbing his head as the lightbulb lit up. "You want me to spy for you."

I was tempted to give Vincent my 'I told you so' look, but he already admitted this would be Christoph's reaction. "Don't look at it as spying, Christoph," I said. "Look at it as defending Cecile's memory. She wanted what was best for the hive just like you do. With your intel, you could potentially prevent a war between the demons and gollums, if that's what Hadria is planning."

Willem snorted from his position on the floor, the pizza plate cradled in his palm. "Hadria would not expend her energy on gollums. They are so few in number now, they have become insignificant in a demon's mind. I'm sure Hadria is planning something much bigger. Something that involves the humans."

"Oh, shit. That sounds bad," Sylvie said. "A war between demons and humans? How many demons are there in the world?"

"Not enough to overthrow the humans," Vincent said with lofty confidence. "And their weapons are no match for the ones humans have developed."

Willem leaned toward Vincent, capturing his full attention. "How many demons do you think there are in the world?"

"Five hundred thousand at best," came Vincent's quick reply.

Willem sighed with a sober head shake. "You are off by half. We are more than a million strong, with hives in locations no gollum has ever set foot and resources no one can fathom. If the queens of every hive were eager to take their place among the humans, they have a chance to do it. Hadria is not the only queen who wishes to conquer another species."

"Would the demons really try to take over as the ruling species?" I asked.

"If they gain enough human supporters, I can see it happening in the next few generations," Willem offered.

"But, there are seven billion people on the planet," I said. "The demons would need a ton of recruits. And who would join them anyway? They would have to make a lot of promises."

"Promises like eternal fire? Like an ally who can fly and fight and heal without intervention? Like the gift of DNA that can prolong lifespan by decades?" Willem said all this as he glanced at each face in turn. "Our average lifespan is one hundred fifty years."

"But demons and humans have not achieved successful procreation for centuries," Vincent argued. "They could not possibly have the knowledge... for... such..." His voice trailed off as both Willem and Christoph looked pointedly at him.

"They can, and they do," Willem said. "There are more demons working in the field of genetics than any other, and to my knowledge, there are currently twenty-six living human-demon hybrids. None have been able to produce the eternal flame, but that is the hope. The world would be their oyster if they came out of hiding."

Yikes.

Sylvie raised her hand timidly. "Don't take this the wrong way... but, would that be such a bad thing? Who wouldn't want to live longer?" Everyone stared at Sylvie as she shrugged. "If I've missed some critical point, please forgive me."

"The critical point is the fact that demons were born to torment humans," Vincent explained as his shoulders assumed a rigid, tactical pose. "Gollums were then bred to fight and destroy demons. This is how it has been for thousands of years. It is ingrained in our DNA."

"So, how are you all able to sit in the same room and have this conversation?" Sylvie proposed, her eyes widening as she gained momentum. "Based on everything I've learned about gollums and demons, they have their moments of civility. And, dare I say, humanity."

"Great point, girlfriend." I offered Sylvie my raised hand, and Willem watched us curiously as we high-fived.

"I have to agree with you Sylvie," Willem said. "While I have spent the last twenty years tied to the hive, my experience in the human world showed me how gollums and demons have evolved into more humane creatures, just as humans try to do."

Nobody had a worthy retort to Willem's wise observation, or they were unwilling to pursue the subject, and we all turned to the dregs of our plates. I figured a bout of heartburn was in my future.

Vincent nudged me as he pushed to his feet. "It's time to go."

We all stood and cleaned up our messes, then I handed Christoph a grocery list along with five twenties. "This is a list of healthy food and enough money to buy a week's worth," I said. "Willem will need it to recover."

Christoph stared at my offering, looking ready to refuse, but he knew he wouldn't win. "Why are some of items marked with P's and some with I's?"

"P for protein and I for iron. I've got Mr. Pearlman on the same post-surgical diet."

Christoph nodded his understanding, but he seemed distracted as he offered me and Vincent a glazed expression. "I'll give your suggestion some thought... about returning to the hive. I was raised to survive adversity. Who would have thought I'd be applying it to survive in my own home."

After a rushed goodbye, Vincent ushered us across town, remaining contemplative and discouraging conversation with the complicated lyrics of The Shins, another band I didn't know he liked. The situation with Christoph and Willem still had to be shared with the other magisters, and I knew Vincent wasn't looking forward to it.

As soon as we arrived, and Bonnie and Clyde were appeased, Vincent escaped to his room to meditate privately. This was fine with me. I didn't always want him around when I needed to commune with my body. No matter how good a guy is, the touch of my own fingers never failed to deliver. Okay, Vincent's definition of meditation probably differed from mine, but now that I wasn't attending my guided meditation class, a little self-directed quiet time couldn't hurt. Besides, I'd been meaning to try out the new mantra Vincent gave me to alleviate my subconscious fear of growing wings.

The whippets followed me into the spare room, their tails wagging as they watched me prop up pillows against the headboard. When I climbed onto the bed, they bounded up there with me, waiting to take their places. Like certain high-strung people, animals tended to alter the energy of a room, at least according to my former instructor, but my compassion won out over practicality, and I let the dogs tromp around ceaselessly as they made themselves comfortable.

Deidra popped into my empty head as soon as I closed my eyes. What was she doing there? Was it the text I never answered? Did she think I was avoiding her because I hadn't let Vincent tie me into a pretzel and screw me sideways? Maybe I needed to look up this ancient art of Kinbaku and see what awaited me. But not now. I was meditating.

I gave Deidra a hard shove out of my head and resumed my focused meditation. The next thought to disturb me took the form of my grandfather and that comment he made about the increased demon population. Was he just using scare tactics or were the gollums truly misinformed? One thing seemed certain, demons had far more intelligence than the gollums gave them credit for. No doubt, this had been done deliberately. An intelligent race facing daily adversity was bound to think of clever ways to increase their odds of survival.

Shut it, Reese.

I managed to derail my brain from that train and enjoy a solid three minutes of uninterrupted quiet time before Mom started talking, repeating our conversation from that morning. 'We need to think about Christmas, dear.' Ugh, Christmas. Why did they schedule so many holidays at once?

My cellphone rang in the living room, startling me and the dogs, and I hopped off the bed with them tailgating me. I answered as soon as I saw Christoph's name on the screen.

"Hi, Christoph. What's up?"

"Did I catch you at a bad time? You sound out of breath."

"The phone was in the other room and I had to run for it," I said as I returned to the spare room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Oh, sorry. I just got off the phone with Arch. He's one of the guys who left the battle to help me bury Cecile. He contacted me after we all received a group text from Austin at the hive."

"What did Austin say?"

"All is quiet for now. Six lost."

We both observed a moment of silence before I offered my condolences. "I'm sorry, Christoph."

"Thanks, but I didn't call to get your sympathy. I called to tell you what Arch and I talked about. He said Hadria is welcoming back everyone who left the hive to escape death. If they want to pledge their allegiance to her as queen, they're golden."

"Wow. Is Arch returning?"

"Yes. He's in the same boat as me. His roommates in Boston are committed to Hadria and her cause."

"Could you be committed to Hadria?"

"Never. But, I might be able to fake it long enough to earn my freedom and not be a burden on anyone."

"I suppose Willem has no interest in returning to the hive to fake it."

"Willem has not spoken a word since you left. He just stares at the wall. I'm at my wits end trying to figure out what he wants."

"First, let's figure out what you want."

Christoph's breathy sigh reverberated through the speaker. "To be honest, Hadria's plan seems like it has the most potential. I told Arch I would meet up with him and we would go in together, if that's how this ends up playing out. I'm wasting precious time sitting around this apartment with a moody demon. I'm just worried Willem might..." He paused long enough to let my stomach plummet. "I'm worried Willem might try something drastic if I leave him alone."

"Do you think he would take off without telling us?"

"I don't know. He and I have always been friendly, but I can't predict what he's capable of."

"I could have Sylvie check on him. She did that for Mr. Pearlman when he lived next door."

"I don't think that's going to help."

I realized I'd been biting my bottom lip, probably because an idea was forming inside my brain. An idea so absurd I didn't bother mentioning it to Christoph. "Will you give me a chance to talk to Vincent before you take off?"

"Sure, but the longer I stay here the less my comrades will trust me when I go back." Christoph sounded depressed. Not the best companion for Willem, which made me wonder how well Christoph could pull off a ruse with Hadria. What was the punishment for a traitorous demon?

"It's all going to work out eventually, Christoph. This is just a bump in the road. I'll call you before the end of the day."

I hung up and stood in the doorway of the spare room, staring across the apartment at Vincent's closed door. That absurd idea still swirled inside my head like a ferocious tornado, making me question my sanity. How far could I get the Valentinos to stretch if I asked them for another favor? Would they accuse me of splitting my allegiance between the gollums and the demons? Is that what I was doing?

I scrubbed the meditation session, knowing I wouldn't be able to calm my mind now, and I sat on the couch to wait for Vincent. With any luck, when I shared my crazy idea with him, he would not respond like a ferocious tornado.