Our old house loomed over us. It seemed less intimidating now Ethan was by my side, sharing all the anger and disgust I felt at having to come back here again. Briefly I wished that Luke was here too, holding my hand and lending me strength, but the sun was well and truly up. Luke hated being stuck inside, unable to help me, but he didn't have a choice.

I strode up to the front door, lifting my fist to bang on it, when Ethan surprised me by pulling a key from his pocket.

"Is that...?" I didn't need to finish the question. I knew what the key to this house looked like; what I didn't know was why Ethan still had one. I'd chucked mine down a drain the day I left this place.

"Why do you still have your key?" I asked.

Ethan grimaced apologetically, turning it over in his hands. "When I came to live with you and the clan a month ago, I didn't know how things were going to turn out. I honestly didn't know if I could handle living with vampires, so I kept my key. Just in case."

I suppose I couldn't blame him. Even after Ethan realised that vampires weren't all the monsters we'd been led to believe, it was a huge step for him to abandon the team that had been his family, and move in with people that he'd spent a lifetime believing were the enemy.

Ethan stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The front door swung open. Nothing stirred inside, and I realised the team didn't even know we were here. There was next to no chance of sneaking around in the clan's house, thanks to the vampires' enhanced hearing, but this house was occupied by humans, and they were a lot easier to sneak up on.

We made our way to the kitchen, and I couldn't suppress a shudder. Last time I'd been here, I was so angry I couldn't think straight. This time I was following my own advice and trying to keep a lid on my temper, and when I stood in this room all I could see was Caleb plunging a machete into Sophie's chest. The floor had been scrubbed clean of her blood, but I could still pinpoint the exact spot where she died.

Ethan touched my shoulder, his own eyes clouded with sadness, and I knew he was thinking the same thing.

"When this is all over, we should go and see her," he said.

It had been weeks since her death, but neither of us had been able to visit her grave yet. The grief was still too raw.

Blinking away burgeoning tears, I straightened my shoulders. Callous though it was, I couldn't waste time mourning the dead. Not now anyway, not with Riley's life on the line.

The door opened behind us and we both spun round to see Clara coming in. She stopped dead, her eyebrows shooting up towards her blonde fringe. Warily I eyed her. She was still part of the team and this was still her home – we had no right to be here. But there was no hostility in Clara's face, only surprise. Quietly she closed the door behind her.

"How are you kids doing?"

Interesting that she didn't ask what we were doing here. She didn't seem to care that we'd snuck in – she didn't even ask how we'd got in. I remembered what Ava had said about the team becoming fractured in my absence. If Clara's loyalty to Noah was waning, then it wasn't surprising she wasn't giving us the Spanish Inquisition.

"Where's Noah?" Ethan said. The anger he'd struggled to control was back in his voice.

I didn't know if it was because he hated Clara simply for being part of the team, or if it was because the last time he and Clara had been together in this kitchen, they'd ended up in a physical fight. It was that terrible night when Caleb learned who Luke really was, the terrible night that he tried to kill me but ended up killing Sophie instead. In the confusion that followed, the team hadn't been sure who was on whose side, who could be trusted, who was a friend and who was an enemy. Neither Ethan nor Clara had been hurt in the scrap, but that didn't mean Ethan didn't still harbour bad blood over it.

Clara's eyes flicked to me, probably recalling what happened the last time I'd been in this house asking to see the man that fathered me. "Why?" she asked.

"Thanks to Noah, that psycho Leon has kidnapped my girlfriend," Ethan snapped.

Clara's eyes actually widened. I was so used to her being the picture of icy-cool composure that, for the briefest of moments, it was like I was looking at a completely different person. Maybe it was the person she'd been before she started hunting. Maybe it was the person she could be again if she gave it up.

"Clara, is Noah here?" I quickly asked before Ethan could start shouting. I didn't know where things stood between me and Ava at this point, which meant that Clara might be my only possible ally in this house. We couldn't afford to let Ethan's temper drive her away.

"I'll go and fetch him," Clara said.

She'd barely left the kitchen when Ava hurried in. "I thought I heard you two down here. What's going on?" she said.

She moved towards me, but I stepped back before she could touch me. Hurt flashed across her face, but I hardened myself against it.

"Kiara?" she said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't trust you right now," I told her.

She looked like I'd slapped her. In some bizarre way, I almost wished for the Ava I'd used to know, the one who had a backbone of pure steel. I didn't know what to do with this newly fragile woman in front of me.

"What are you talking about?" she said.

I told her.

She looked from me to the fury on Ethan's face. "But you can't think I had anything to do with it. I would never do that to you. Either of you."

"You're the only one who knows where we live," I pointed out.

"And you think I told Noah?"

I shrugged, but I might as well have said yes.

Ava stared back at me, her face a mask of pain, but she didn't get the chance to say anything more. Noah stalked into the kitchen. His glasses were fixed on his nose and it suddenly struck me how much older he was looking. Even now that I was out from under his thumb, I was used to him being in charge, being this towering, intimidating figure, like a vampire-hunting Terminator. But the early light drifting through a chink in the curtains highlighted the strands of grey in his hair and the creases in the skin of his face. For the first time I actually thought he looked old, a tired man past his prime.

"What's the meaning of this?" he said, glaring at Ethan and me.

I folded my arms across my chest and fixed him with my own glare. "We're hoping you can tell us."

I waited for the telltale flash of guilt to pass through his eyes, but there was nothing.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Marc come into the room. I tensed, expecting him to spring to Noah's defence, but he just took up position by the wall, watching with narrowed eyes. Clara stood next to him, her own arms folded, while Ava hovered uncertainly closer to me.

Noah sighed and rubbed his forehead as if I was just some nuisance he couldn't be rid of. "Kiara, I have no idea what you're talking about."

His attitude made my teeth clench. "What did you tell Leon?" I ground out.

"Leon?" Bewilderment cracked Noah's bored façade. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"He kidnapped Riley," Ethan snapped before I could.

I half-expected Noah to pretend he didn't even know who Riley was. He'd never liked her and he'd certainly never approved of my friendship with her. But his eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

"Why would he do that?" he said.

"You tell us," Ethan growled. He wasn't as tall or as broad as Noah but in that moment, filled as he was with rage, he looked much larger.

"I don't know," Noah said. "I don't remember the last time I even spoke with Leon."

Ethan made a noise of disgust. "You told him where to find us."

"How could I do that when I don't even know where you live?"

Ethan stabbed a finger in Ava's direction. "She could have told you."

Noah swung towards her, his expression disbelieving. "Ava?"

Too late I realised why Noah was confused. Ava couldn't have told him where we were because she hadn't even told him she'd gone to see me. She'd probably explained her absence by saying she'd picked up a couple of extra shifts at work. Noah hadn't known the truth until now. I might have imagined it, but I thought I spotted the tiniest glimpse of betrayal in his eyes.

Ava looked like a cornered animal, then she squared her shoulders and jutted her chin towards her husband. "She's my daughter, Noah. You didn't really think I'd cut her out of my life, did you?"

Noah seemed lost for words. He probably had thought that. He was so stuck in his rut of hatred and ugliness that he couldn't see his own family smashing to pieces around him. I'd have pitied him if I didn't hate him.

Ava looked back at me. "Kiara, I promise you with everything I have that I told no one I was even meeting with you, let alone where you lived."

I looked into her eyes and saw nothing there but honesty. She'd been a crappy mother in the past, but she was trying to make up for that now. She hadn't betrayed me.

Ethan was still glaring at Noah, but the fact that he hadn't thrown a punch yet was a good sign that he was reining in his temper. "If you didn't tell Leon, who did?"

Noah pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like we were boring him again. "How on earth should I know?"

Exhaustion crept up on me, blurring the edges of my mind. This wasn't what I'd anticipated. Foolishly I'd hoped that Noah would admit to helping Leon, but would miraculously develop a soul and conscience and tell us everything he knew so Ethan and I could race to Riley's rescue. Maybe it wouldn't be as cut-and-dry as that, but a girl could hope. Instead, we were exactly where we'd started.

"He had to find out somehow," Ethan argued.

Noah rolled his eyes. "Obviously, but I don't know how."

Ethan didn't look like he believed him, but the heavy feeling in my stomach told me Noah was telling the truth. He'd never lied about what he previously told Leon, so what would be the point in him lying now?

"Look, there are dozens of ways Leon could have found out where you live," Noah said. "If he's as tenacious as Caleb, he will have found a way."

With a sinking feeling of reluctance, I had to concede he was right. I'd charged out this morning without stopping to listen to logic. I was still adamant that Leon hadn't followed me home, but that didn't mean he didn't have other ways of getting to us. It was naive to assume otherwise. I had been naive and, in doing so, I'd wasted time that we couldn't afford.

Noah's eyes rested on me, and for a fleeting moment I thought he was going to offer to help. As soon as the thought crossed my mind I wanted to kick myself. Was there no end to my naiveté? If Noah didn't care about me, how could I be stupid enough to think he'd give a damn about Riley?

Right on cue, Noah turned away. "If you've finished accusing me, I have to get ready for work." He walked out of the kitchen without looking at anyone.

Ethan shook his head, his face a mask of disgust. "Come on, Kiara. We're wasting time here."

He stalked off without waiting for me to catch up. Ava looked like she wanted to say something, but I shook my head. Now wasn't the time. Bad as I felt for thinking the worst of her, I couldn't repair the damage now.

I hurried after Ethan.