Wade reached us first. “We lost him,” he panted out when he was close enough to not yell. “No idea where he went.”

Starren was right behind him. Somehow I had to get Starren to split us up again. No way I was going to be able to explain to her why I wanted to go back to Jaden’s house without telling her what was going on.

“Starren, when do you think we’ll be heading home for the night?” Maybe I could get them to jump through the portal, then spilt. She’d think I was just dumb and missed it.

“We won’t be going back tonight.” Starren was still on high alert. She didn’t even look at me while she answered. “Not when we’re this close. He could be anywhere by morning.”

“I can’t do that, just not show up at home. Nina and Dan will freak out. They’ll call my caseworker and I’ll be in so much hot water. Besides, he could be anywhere by now, not just by morning. Why does the Council think he’s going to be so dangerous?” Might as well plant seeds of doubt. They had already sprouted in my mind. Not that it mattered to me in the long run, if he was innocent or not. At least that was what I was going to tell myself. I was staying on Earth, no matter what.

“I’m not asking,” Starren said. “Have a good time finding your way home on your own. Might take a little while without a portal.”

“Fine. But if it gets after nine at home, I’m calling Nina again.” That part was true. I seriously didn’t want them on my case. What good would all of this be if they sent me away because I was a bad kid?

Starren rolled her eyes. Good thing she couldn’t read minds. At least I hoped she couldn’t.

“Cray, do you feel him?” Starren asked.

Crap. That could be bad. Shoulda thought of that.

Cray looked at me, eyes wide. I gave him a slight shake of my head.

He pretended to concentrate for a minute, or at least I hoped he was pretending. He better not give me up. “Maybe this way?” he made it more of a question than a statement. Good thinking. He wasn’t lying.

“Lead the way, just don’t get too close,” Starren said.

Cray walked past her, hopefully leading us on a wild goose chase until I could figure out a way to get Starren to let me go somewhere on my own. Not like I could pretend to sprain my ankle. Wait. Food.

I waited a block so I didn’t annoy her right away again. “Starren, I have to eat soon.”

Starren growled something under her breath. “Are you a small child? You’ve been acting like one all day. I think you can wait a bit to get something to eat.”

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“We still don’t know why the Council is after him,” I said. Even though I’d do what I had to, that wasn’t sitting well with me. So far all I’d seen is that he wanted to be with his family. I definitely couldn’t fault him for that. Maybe if I planted some doubt it would help him in the long run. “ And I can’t help it. My metabolism runs too fast.”

“She probably is incredibly hungry, Star,” Wade said. “It’s the regenerating fae’s weakness. I did some research after I’d found out Trish was still here.”

Great. So now he probably knew different ways to kill me. Oh well, we were almost done. After today, once I’d led them to Jaden, I’d be finished with the fae and I’d never have to see this guy again. Any of them. A pang hit me. Did I really not want to see any of them again? Wade was watching me out of the corner of his eye. I didn’t smile, but I didn’t glare either. He had just stood up to Starren for me, which was back to something a boyfriend would do. So confusing.

“Fine. Get something to eat. Try to find us after. Cray, Wade.” She took off again, body rigid.

Whew boy, good thing I was bringing Jaden back with me, otherwise I’d be afraid to show my face. Handing him over would make up for whatever else I had to do in the next few hours. Hopefully.

That or she’d run her sword through me, just to make herself feel better. Oh well, it definitely wouldn’t feel good, but I’d get over it.

The others were gone quickly. I moseyed off for a minute or so to make sure they were gone, then headed for Jaden’s house at a good clip. My stomach rumbled as I trotted along, showing that I’d been telling the truth when I’d told her I was hungry. Not hard. I was always hungry.

It took me a lot longer than it should have, but I found the place. I let myself into the house quietly. Just relay his message, grab him and go. No reason to get involved. The murmur of voices came from the back room. I headed that way, pausing to catch a look at pictures every few feet. Most of them were of Jaden with the little girl that had been watching TV earlier and a girl who looked like she was between the two of them in age. They looked so happy. A real family. How was any of this fair? Some of us didn’t start out with a family in the first place, some of us were torn away from them.

The house was neat and somewhat sparse. It didn’t look like the family had much money, or maybe hadn’t lived here long. Which made sense, with everyone thinking they were somewhere in California. There wasn’t much, but everything was well taken care of. Someone ahead of me laughed.

The noise was coming from the kitchen. I peeked around the hallway corner. The two girls from the picture were there, with a woman about Nina’s age who looked nothing like Jaden. The kids must have gotten the dark looks from their dad. She was sitting at the table, paying bills. There was Jaden, standing behind the little girl as she colored. The teen leaned against the counter, working on a piece of pizza. My stomach growled. I clapped a hand over it, trying to distract myself. Luckily no one seemed to hear it.

The little girl cocked her head my way for a second, then went back to coloring. The lady and the other girl just kept talking. Something about school. Jaden made his way over, headed for the back door and gestured for me to follow.

I stepped around the corner wall and waited until the voices were loud enough I didn’t think they’d hear the door and slipped out with Jaden. Hopefully he wasn’t about to jump me, I’d ditched my backup. We stepped out into a neat little back yard, the sparse grass clipped, a couple balls on the ground.

“How do you want to do this?” I asked.

“Get my mom alone. First we have to get her to believe you.”

“Got any great ideas for doing that?”

“Yes, just get her out here. Before your friends come back.”

He had a point. We definitely were on a schedule here. And the sooner this mess was done the better. Cray could only stall so long before Starren wanted to come back and check the house. I took a big breath. Convincing a woman that I could talk to her dead son should be interesting.