Mrs. Lee, who had been standing tentatively in the entryway, crossed the hotel room in a few long strides and pulled her daughter into a hug. Kayden could smell her perfume and feel the soft fabric of her shirt rubbing against her face.

Kayden couldn't help it; she tightened her grip on her mother, remembering with sudden clarity how she had felt locked in the janitor's closet, worried that she'd never see her again. Her mother tightened as well, and for a moment they just stood there, locked in each other's embrace.

When they finally pulled apart, Kayden appraised her mother silently. She was wearing khaki shorts, a simple shirt, and the pair of sandals that she liked to wear around the house. No purse, no luggage. And her eyes, green like her daughter's, looked more than a bit frightened.

There was one other person who had entered the room: a tall man with grey hair and a black suit. He held the room key in one hand and a briefcase in another. His mouth was a line.

"Hello, Father," Kayden heard Blaze say. He had stood up from the couch, but made no effort to cross the room.

Silas Merg glanced at Kayden's mother before turning back at his son. "Let's go to one of the bedrooms." And without waiting for a reply, he disappeared down the small suite hallway. Blaze screwed his eyes shut for a minute and took a breath before following his father. Kayden heard the door to one of the bedrooms click shut.

There was a moment of silence, in which Kayden realized, for the first time, how crazy everything had gotten in just a few days.

"How did you get here Aunt Karen?" Lexi asked, standing up from the couch.

"Lexi," Mrs. Lee said, pulling her niece into a hug. When she let go, she had a strange look on her face. "I was... transported here." The word sounded odd on her lips, Kayden thought, like some foreign word that she wasn't sure how to pronounce. "About twenty minutes ago, I was just doing the dishes, trying to keep my mind off things. I was worried sick about you two. You were gone for two days already, and Lexi left yesterday to go visit you at your father's and hadn't come back yet." She pursed her lips. "You were never at your father's, were you?"

"No, I wasn't," Kayden said, shifting her weight between her feet. She didn't like the way her mother was staring at her. She looked both disappointed and scared. Kayden had never seen those two emotions on her mother's face at the same time.

Mrs. Lee sighed. "So, one second I was doing the dishes, and the next I was in a room with a bunch of people in it. I started panicking, but a woman, Lira, told me to calm down. She said that they had brought me to a hotel, and that you and Lexi were here. She said you were safe." She looked at them carefully. "Are you?"

"I'm fine," Kayden reassured her. "Well, kind of. Do you want to sit down?"

Mrs. Lee settled down on the couch. Lexi sat on her one side, and Kayden sat on the other.

"Did Lira tell you about the magic shift?"

"She tried to tell me about it, but I had a hard time listening. I was just hoping you two were okay." She closed her eyes. "And when she started talking about magic... I thought she was crazy. She took a piece of chalk and drew this weird symbol on the table. And then she said something and a glass of water just floated to me from across the room—no strings or anything. I nearly had a heart attack. Then she told me to go with Mr. Merg up to this room to see you two." She paused and opened her eyes. "That's all I know."

Kayden didn't know what to say. She remembered when she had first arrived in Blaze's kitchen. She had already known about magic and was still terrified. She was impressed that her mom was holding herself together so well.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning," Kayden said and, carefully, launched into an explanation of the past few days.

Kayden could tell her mother was trying her hardest to stay silent, but she interrupted her on occasion, asking for clarifications. Kayden did her best to answer her questions, all the while trying to downplay everything that had happened—she didn't want to scare her too much. But by the time she had finished, her mother's face looked like cracked plaster.

Lexi stood up. "You like tea, right Aunt Karen? How about I make some? There're some tea bags in a basket on the counter, and I saw a kettle on the stove."

"That actually sounds wonderful," Mrs. Lee said looking inordinately relieved. Kayden was surprised that Lexi knew how to calm her mother; she barely knew how to herself. It was only through witnessing her parent's divorce that she had learned that tea was her mother's go-to drug.

As Lexi hurried across the suite to the kitchen, Mrs. Lee turned her attention to her daughter. Kayden found herself looking into the same green eyes she saw in the mirror. "So besides these stomachaches, you're okay?"

Kayden nodded. "But I need to stay near Blaze. If I move too far away from him, it gets pretty bad." She rubbed her stomach, realizing how much it ached having him just one room over. "Walter is looking for an herbalist as we speak."

"Walter is the author, crazy hair," Mrs. Lee said to herself, trying to remember. Kayden nodded. "And the herbalist's... thing will hopefully stop your stomach from hurting. But in order for you two to be unbound, magic has to be shifted back. And that may take about a month?"

Kayden was impressed. "Yes."

"Well then." Mrs. Lee put her hands in her lap. "I guess that means we're on an impromptu vacation for now."

Kayden stared at her. "Wait, what? You're staying here?"

"Kayden!" she said, and suddenly she was in mother mode. "You didn't think I'd just leave you here all by yourself? If the Congregation went through the hassle of teleporting me here, it must mean that they wanted me to keep an eye on you!"

"But what about summer school?" Kayden asked.

Her mother waved her hand. "I'll call up the district, say there's been a family emergency and that I can't teach for the next month. I'm sure they'll be fine with that."

"Okay..." Kayden said, but she wasn't sure how she felt about it. It would be nice not having to lie anymore, but she doubted her mother would allow her to spend her nights in the same bed as Blaze.

Suddenly the bedroom door opened and Silas Merg walked out with smooth, long strides. He had a commanding presence, Kayden thought, and she could almost imagine ominous music playing in the background as he crossed the room. "Mrs. Lee?" he addressed shortly, stopping in front of her mother.

She looked up. "Yes?"

"Lira Fallon wanted to meet with us in the conference room in a few minutes. We should head downstairs now."

"Oh God, you're right." Mrs. Lee stood up. "Lexi, you don't need to finish that pot of tea. I'll get some later. I have to go to a meeting."

"Okay," Lexi said, but she didn't take the kettle off the stove. "What's the meeting about?"

"I'm not quite sure," Mrs. Lee said. "Some sort of arrangements...?" She looked over at Mr. Merg to see if he would contradict her.

He didn't. "Yes. Just some simple matters about the next month. Sleeping arrangements and such. I doubt the Congregation is in the mood to talk about anything more serious than that after the day they've had." He gave his son a sharp look and Blaze avoided his eyes.

"All right." Mrs. Lee hugged her niece and daughter one more time. "I'll be back soon. See you two in a bit."

Mr. Merg nodded at Kayden curtly. His eyes were the color of steel. He held the hotel door open for her mother and, without saying goodbye to his son, he disappeared into the hall.

As soon as they had vanished, Blaze collapsed on the couch. "Thank God they're gone! I wasn't expecting him to show up out of nowhere."

"Me neither. Did you get in trouble?" Kayden asked.

Blaze looked close to laughing. His eyes were alight, and he ran his hand through his dark hair. "Not really. Though he was pretty mad that I've been sneaking you around behind his back—Not in that way of course."

"Of course not," Kayden said, hoping that her face wasn't red.

"He heard most of what'd happened from the Congregation before your mother was transported in, but then I had to tell him the rest," Blaze explained. "He said that he would have punished me, but since magic is pretty screwed up there's nothing he can really do. So he said I just have to help out with the spell preparations." He grinned. "But I was already planning on doing that, so it's not a big deal at all."

The kettle started screeching. Kayden and Blaze both glanced towards the kitchen where Lexi was fluttering about, pulling teacups out of the surprisingly well-stocked cupboards. She carefully poured the steaming water into each cup without looking up; she seemed to be in her own little teatime world.

Blaze looked back at Kayden. "I'm assuming you didn't get into much trouble, right?"

Kayden shook her head. "Nah. My mom is just freaked out."

"So she's not angry?"

"She can't be. It wasn't my fault I got into this mess." She stared at Blaze pointedly.

Blaze opened his mouth in disbelief. "Are you really trying to pin this on me?" He bared his wrist, exposing the glowing symbol as he leaned forward. "Whose idea was to cast a Bonding Oath? I don't recall it being mine."

Kayden raised an eyebrow and smiled. "But you're the one who actually cast the spell."

"Because you blackmailed me."

"Well, I guess I can claim credit for that. Though I'm glad you've finally admitted that I bested you." She grinned triumphantly.

Blaze groaned. "God Kayden sometimes I just want to..."

He trailed off and in that moment, Kayden realized just how close they were. They were sitting side by side on the couch, so close that her stomach felt no pain. Instead the feeling was replaced with a hollow fluttering and a nervous churning. His face was only a few inches away, his hair messy, his eyes deep and dark. So close that if he really wanted to he could...

"What do you want to do?" she asked. She tried to keep her voice steady, but it seemed to have dropped a few decibels.

Blaze was looking straight into her eyes, but she couldn't read his face at all. If her words had even reached him, she couldn't tell. Then, after a few agonizing seconds of scrutiny, he pulled back. "Sometimes I just want to put you in your place."

The butterflies in her stomach vanished in an instant, as insubstantial as wisps of smoke. She pulled away from him. "Oh shut it."

Inwardly, Kayden cursed herself for jumping to such rash conclusions. She had just met Blaze a few days earlier. Why in the world did she think he was going to kiss her? Did he even want to kiss her?

Did she even want him to kiss her?

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Blaze frowned and slid off the couch. Kayden expected to see her mother and Silas Merg again, or maybe even Helio or Walter, but instead it was a tall man she had never seen before. However, his jet-black hair and tanned skin were all too familiar.

"Mr. Ruke," Blaze said in surprise, confirming her suspicions as the man stepped inside. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a call from the Congregation," Helio's father said, his dark eyes sweeping across the suite. He was dressed in a sharp business suit and carried a leather briefcase. He must have just gotten out of work, Kayden thought. "They said Helio was here. Is that true?"

"Yeah, he just stepped out about a half an hour ago. He should be back soon."

Lexi materialized from the kitchen with a tray of mugs and an assortment of teabags. "Would you like some tea?" she offered, holding out the tray.

"Er..." Mr. Ruke said, taking a mug carefully. "Sure. Why not."

If Mr. Ruke was curious as to who Kayden and Lexi were, he did not bother asking. And Kayden was fine with sitting in silence, sipping tea and exchanging odd glances with him. She could hardly imagine introducing herself: Hi. My name is Kayden. I blackmailed Blaze into telling me about magic. And that's Lexi. She likes to make out with your son.

Blaze exchanged a few pleasantries with Mr. Ruke, clearly trying to fill in the silence, but he looked very relieved when, after almost an hour, Helio walked through the hotel room door. He stared at the couch for a full ten seconds before asking, "Dad?"

Mr. Ruke stood up and gave his son a hug. "Helio, where have you been?"

"I was talking with the Congregation," he said slowly. "About my internship. They want me to start tomorrow, since this whole shifting spell is going to take a lot of manpower."

"Shifting spell?" Mr. Ruke repeated.

Helio sighed. He looked exhausted. "I'll explain later."

Mr. Ruke nodded and clasped his hands together. "All right. Well grab your stuff. We'll head to my condo and I'll make you dinner."

Lexi stood up from the couch, slipping her hair behind her ears. "Helio's going to stay with you?"

Mr. Ruke nodded. "I don't live too far from here. It makes more sense to have him with me than to have him stay here."

Lexi looked at Helio for a moment; he looked just as surprised as she did. After a moment, she said, "I'll help you pack."

And without waiting for a response, they ran off into one of the bedrooms.

Blaze sent Kayden a knowing glance, and Kayden rolled her eyes in return. Helio had left his duffel bag back at the motel; there was nothing in the bedroom to pack.

So she sipped her Earl Grey tea, hoping to drown her jealous thoughts in the bitter liquid. It worked for a little, until Lexi and Helio returned a few minutes later, empty-handed, red-faced, and looking all too pleased with themselves.

Kayden glanced over at Blaze as discreetly as she could, wishing she could feel the same.