All of the healed went home. Matt was led up to a room on the second floor, by Izzy and a man who belonged to the California patrols. He was tall—his skin a warm brown that set a deep canvas for every bright, colorful tattoo that decorated his fingers and his arms. He wiggled a key through the door and Matt was hit with the scent of dust and moth balls. The room inside was nothing but two beds and a few cardboard boxes tucked away in the corner.

"Hasn't been used in a while," the man said. "May want to open a window."

Matt took a gander at the old room, wrinkling his nose at the mildew on the window and the dust that caked the floors. He took a hesitant step inside and muttered a dubious, "Thanks."

"Yeah. Walls are thin, so try to keep things down. Our wounded need rest."

Then the man with those flashy tattoos was moving down the hall to ready another room for Sadie and Tisper.

Izzy pushed a hefty bag toward Matt. "I think this is everything you had at the hotel. Stay here tonight and tomorrow we'll find a way to get you guys home."

Home. It felt so strange to think about it. They'd go home and all of this would be over.

The bite wound on his shoulder twinged and Matt nearly dropped the bag in his arms.

Most of this would be over.

The old floorboards creaked as a second body hastened down the hall. Bailey barely paused for more than half a second to chuck the wrangler keys toward Matt. With his hands full, they hit him in the chest and fell to his feet.

"Found your lich," the hound said to Izzy.

"Well, where is he?" she asked. "Did you give him the mistletoe?"

"Felix and Leo are working on it."

"And you didn't bother to see if they needed help? He's a lichund, Bailey, not a stray cow."

"I'm a hound, Elizabeth. Not your personal bitch."

"My name's never been Elizabeth!" she shouted after him, but by the time she'd gotten the words out, Bailey had already turned into a room at the end of the hall. "God, he's such a—"

"What's wrong with Jay?" Matt asked. "He turn again?"

Izzy twisted her fingers through her long red hair and sighed. "I'm surprised he held it back for as long as he did. It'll be alright. Leo's good at this stuff."

"Yeah, no." Matt fell back into the edge of his bed. The mattress was hard and he could already feel the springs jabbing back at him. "I'm not worried about the lich. It's just—" He sighed and wiped his hands up his face, all sweat and tree sap. His throat ached from the hands that'd been around his neck at the Den—his spine bruised from all that contact with the wall. He needed a shower. A long one. "You think Bronx'll be okay?" he asked

That was his real fear. That soon enough, the lichund wouldn't be the only monster in Jaylin.

Izzy laid her head against the door frame, her shoulders rising and falling with a deep, exhausted sigh. "I dunno if you believe much in God, Matt. But I do." Her fingers traced the splits in the wood. "I guess I'm just saying it can't hurt to pray."

And all Matt could think was I don't know how.

He laid in bed after that, the light on and the window open, watching the texts from Jessica roll down his screen.

Miss u

Hows cali?

Bring me back a cool nicknack

And then hours later, when he hadn't replied to any of those messages, she texted him again.

Matt u ok?

That was eight hours ago.

It would have been easy to reply then. "I'm ok." That was all he needed to say. But Matt couldn't bring himself to start a conversation now. Not with someone like Jess who understood nothing about what he'd been through today. Who knew nothing about lichunds and wolves. He could never tell her about all this—about witches and Bad Moons. Hell, he'd never tell her about Clara either. Maybe one day he'd tell Jay, but Jess was in a different universe. Maybe she always would be.

The door whined, opening slowly on its hinges. Alex stepped inside, heaving a case of beer at his hip and a bag over his shoulder. He gave them both a drop beside the spare bed.

"I was told to sleep in here tonight. But maybe it'd be better if I passed out in the car."

"It's no Opulence Rose," Matt said. "That's for sure."

"Was nice there, huh?" Alex replied. He broke open the cardboard and pulled a beer out, falling back into his stiff, springy mattress. "Good room service. Nice amenities."

"Free porn," said Matt.

"Free porn," Alex agreed. "I'm sure it's all ashes by now."

He gave the box a kick towards Matt and he took one for himself, cracking it open with a satisfying hiss. "You good?" Matt asked, forgetting all about the pain in his throat as he took a much-too-large first sip.

"Yeah, after a few of these," Alex said.

Matt laid back, watched a crane fly bump into the light fixture above his bed. "You and Bronx are close, huh?"

"He's my brother," Alex said. "Anna's death never changed that. Just made him more my brother. Family, you know."

"Speaking of that, where's your mom?"

"She's taking the first flight back up. Worried sick about him. Like I said, family."

"You got a good one," Matt told him. "I never had that. Family." Matt went quiet for a good moment, working up the inclination to say something he never really said all that often; "I envy you."

Alex gave a snort. There was a dash of embarrassment in his grin. "I envy you. Your friends and what you guys share—it's... it sucks sometimes to see it, you know. I haven't had friendship like that. Even back in high school when I was surrounded by people, I never had friendship like that."

"Not your first drink tonight, is it?" Matt asked.

"No," Alex said. "Imani forced a glass of wine down my throat. Don't even like wine, but she scares me."

"Listen, you got friends." Matt gave him a glance, but Alex was watching that same damn crane fly smack against the glass. "You and Sadie are glued at the hip."

"For now," Alex said.

"You can't live life thinkin' like that," Matt told him. "I know Sadie. You're important to her."

Alex took another drink and winced. "For now."

There it was again, that strange weight to his voice. Matt lifted a brow and bought his beer to his lips. "You like her or something?"

Alex went stiff, and it was a good minute of silence before he tossed back a second hefty swill. "When are you going to tell them?" he asked.

"Tell who what?"

"Everyone," said Alex. "About that bite on your shoulder."

Matt shot up right, a bit of beer spilling onto his shirt. Shit. He hadn't considered where Alex would be in that whole equation. "You can't tell anyone!" he groveled. "They'll kick my ass if they find out."

"I would have done the same thing," Alex said. Hearing it took Matt by surprise. "I don't know if what Devi said was true or if Corra really is just losing it. But Devi seemed to really believe it and I trust Devi. I would have done it." It was the first drop of reassurance Matt had tasted in a long time. He laid back against his pillow, resting his beer on his stomach. Then Alex said, "But they'll find out. Eventually, Quentin or one of the others will smell it on you. It was a really dumb idea, Matt."

"Are you on my side or not?"

"I'm just saying, it might've been the right thing to do. But it was also really dumb."

"You are the least helpful clairvoyant I've ever met in my life."

"I don't think you know what clairvoyant means," said Alex. He looked as if he wanted to laugh, but the shadows of the night were creeping back to mind. Squelching any bit of joy on his face. "I hope he's okay."

"Me too," Matt admitted. Out of all of them, he'd never been so close to Bronx. But if the guy could bring Jaylin back from the brink, then he needed to be okay.

This bite would either turn him or kill him. And if one day, Matt would become wolf like all the others, then he was going to need Bronx around, too.

A thought struck him and Matt choked on his beer.

Jesus Christ. That man might be his alpha.