After her shower, Dania felt wrung out; light and empty… and so tired she didn't even care about the rumbling in her empty stomach. She managed to towel herself off and throw on a tank top and a pair of sleep shorts before falling into her bed, asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  When she awoke, the light hadn't changed, but her phone said ten hours had elapsed, making it early afternoon. She felt…if not good, exactly, then at least functional once again.

  "Deckbearrrerrr."

  "Hush," she murmured. Then she shot bolt upright as memory cut through the haze of sleep. "Is Kendra okay? The baby?"

  "The polllice officccerrr isss wiith them. Heee hasss hiis carrd surrrgeon."

  Dania inhaled slowly and blew out her breath, willing the sudden anxiety to disperse. She shoved a hand through her hair and grimaced at the tangled mess she found.

  Guess it's what I get for sleeping on it wet. That's going to be fun to comb out.

  "What are you doing here? Isn't it daytime?"

  "Iiiin the drrrreaaam rrreaaallm?"

  "Fair point," she said, shrugging. She swung her feet to the floor. Her muscles were a little stiff, but not sore, and she took the time to stretch before standing up.

  "I wishhed to ssseee youu. Youu diid welll lllassst niiight." Hush loomed up beside her, and then glided over to the shadows that pooled beside the door to her closet. "Wiith the otherrrss."

  "Joe and Amari? And Kendra?" Dania said. "You mean we did well to bring them here?"

  "Yessss. Nyx is pleasssed with herrr deckbearrrerrr and his guarrrdian."

  Well, whoop dee freaking doo, Dania thought as she walked over to the duffel bag she still hadn't unpacked and rifled through it for some clean underclothes. She looked up to tell Hush to leave, but he anticipated her and turned his creepy face to the wall.

  "Did you talk to Nyx or something?" Dania asked while she dressed.

  "No. She iss a goddessss. She doesss not ssspeak to morrrtalss or monnsssterss."

  "Then how do you know she is pleased?"

  "Herrrr Haven resssonnnatesss wiiith it. She isss the goddesssss of sssecretss and hiddennn thingsss. It pleassssess herrr to shelllterrr thossse in neeed of hiiiding."

  "If you say so," Dania said, rolling her eyes. She pulled socks and boots over her feet and headed into the bathroom to brush her teeth and try and tame the tangled, curly mess of her hair.

  "I do. I am prrroud of youuu," Hush said as he followed her in to the bathroom.

  "Well, thanks." Dania squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush and started brushing. "I'm proud of you, too," she said around the toothbrush. "You were great against that one guy."

  "I thiink weee make a goood team," he said. "It isss sssurrrrprrrisssing."

  Dania finished brushing, rinsed her mouth, picked up her hairbrush and stared at the specter of Hush in her mirror. "What do you mean, it's surprising? Why are you surprised? And why now? You've been part of our team for a while."

  "I am not ussssed to otherrrrsss," Hush said, and his looming posture curled inward a touch, as if the shadows around him shrank. "I wassss dessssigned to rrrroam alllone."

  Something, some instinct Dania couldn't name pricked at her, and she laid the brush down on the counter and turned around to regard Hush directly.

  "You've been alone a long time, haven't you?" she asked.

  "Yessss."

  "You know you can leave at any time, right? We won't stop you. If you need to go, if it's in your nature—"

  "I do not. It issss not."

  "You want to stay."

  "Yessss."

  Slowly, Dania reached her hand out and took hold of Hush's taloned fingers where they gripped the bathroom door. She threaded her fingers through his, and smiled up at him.

  "Hush, you've saved me and Jake more than once. I said it before and I'll say it again. You're part of our team, and we're happy to have you. If you were human, I'd give you a hug, but I don't know—"

  "I caann embrrrraaaccce."

  "Okay," Dania said, and she opened her arms wide. Hush stepped close, looming over her for a second before bending and wrapping his shadowy arms around her. She followed suit, ignoring the uncanny valley shiver that rippled through her skin at his touch.

  "Stay with us as long as you like," Dania whispered. "We appreciate you and everything you do. You have a home with us here as long as you want it, okay?"

  "Thaaank youuu," Hush whispered. Then his arms dropped away, and between one blink and the next, he was gone.

  Dania blinked and swallowed, and then shrugged and picked up her hairbrush. "You're welcome," she called out, and went back to brushing her hair.

  By the time she was done, her stomach ached with emptiness, so she headed to the dining hall. When she walked in, she saw Jake, Machairi, Amari, and Joe sitting at the usual table. Little Ethan sat on Joe's lap, snoozing against the old man's chest. Audrey sat on the arm of Joe's chair, running her long, petal-tipped fingers through the little boy's downy hair.

  "Hey," Dania said as she walked up.

  "Dani!" Jake hopped up and barreled into her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She hugged him close, stroking his hair.

  "Hey, kid! You okay?"

  "I'm good," Jake said into her shoulder. "I was just worried about you. You slept for a long time."

  "I was tired." She rubbed his hair once more and dropped a kiss on the crown of his head. "It's been a minute since I assisted in surgery. Which, by the way…" She took hold of his shoulders and leaned back so she could look him in the eye. "Were you supplying the doctor with all the things he asked for?"

  "Kinda?" Jake shrugged and looked down at his feet. "I just figured that the room you were in should have everything you guys needed to help that girl. So I decided I wanted that to be the case, and it was."

  "You saved her life, Jake." Dania dropped her voice to a lower volume and flexed her fingers against his shoulders until he met her gaze again. "The doc couldn't have done what he did without all the right tools. Nor could I. Telling the Haven you wanted a medical suite, deciding that it would have everything we needed. She wouldn't have survived without that, and neither would her baby."

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  Jake swallowed and nodded, but didn't say anything. Dania wrapped him up in a hard hug for just a second longer.

  "I'm proud of you," she whispered quickly before letting go and turning to the table to give him a chance to regain his composure.

  "Hungry?" Amari asked with a smile.

  "Starving," Dania said. "And I'd kill for coffee."

  "I gotcha right here." Amari reached for a carafe and poured a generous mug, then lifted the porcelain cream pitcher with an inquiring look. At Dania's nod, she added a splash, and then handed the mug over with a grin. "No homicide necessary."

  "Mmm, thanks," Dania said. She slid into an empty chair and spent the next couple of minutes serving herself from the platters of bacon, French toast, waffles, and fruit that rested on the table.

  "That girl gonna be okay?" Joe asked after Dania had eaten enough that she started slowing down. "Little man's mama?"

  "Kendra," Dania supplied. "Kendra Stone, and yes, I think she is. Rhett—Sergeant Walker has a doctor minion card, and we were able to save her and her baby daughter both. Ethan there is a big brother."

  "Ethan," Joe said, like he was tasting the name. "Good, strong name. I like it."

  "That's good, Grandpa, because his mama already named him," Amari said with a wink at Dania.

  "That's enough of your sass, girl. How about you refresh my coffee?"

  "How about you drink some water instead?"

  "You heard the boy, cancer can't kill me in here. I want what I want."

  "You could drink both," Dania suggested, and Amari leaned forward on her elbows, laughing out loud.

  "Fine, Grandpa. I'll pour you more coffee, but you gotta drink some water too, okay. Just like Dania said. She's the boss."

  "Technically, I think Jake is the boss in here," Dania put in, and Jake, who had returned to the table, sat up straight in alarm.

  "Uh uh. No thank you. I am not the boss, Dani. I'm just a kid!"

  "I can be the boss," Machairi said, which made them all laugh loudly enough that little Ethan stirred sleepily against Joe's chest. Someone had found a cute pair of overalls and a t-shirt for the little boy, and someone had given him a bath. His clean curls shone blond in the ubiquitous twilight, and his round-cheeked cherub face was ruddy with sleep.

  "If you were the boss, Creepy, you'd just defer to Jake anyway," Dania said, coming back to the conversation.

  "Well, naturally. He is my deckbearer."

  "That's not exactly how being the boss works, bro," Jake said. "But that's okay. Amari's right. Dani's the boss and we all know it."

  "I don't—" Dania said, and then broke off as the doors to the dining hall opened. Elarienne appeared, a beatific smile on her face and her teddy bear back in her arms. Rhett followed in behind her, pushing a wheelchair that held an awake Kendra with her baby daughter in her arms.

  "Mind if we join you?" Rhett asked with a grin. "Her doctor said she can get up and move around if she's careful."

  "Yes, please, welcome," Dania said, shifting her chair to make room for Kendra between herself and Joe. "How are you feeling?"

  "Sore," Kendra said, her voice soft and tentative. Still, she sounded a million times stronger than she had the night before, and Dania found herself smiling broadly at her patient's progress.

  "I bet," she said. "Do you need something for the pain?"

  "I—no thank you," she said. "I'll be all right."

  Dania opened her mouth to push a little harder, but something about the girl's demeanor made her pause. Acting on a hunch, she leaned in and spoke softly enough that the others at the table shouldn't be able to hear.

  "I won't give you anything stronger than ibuprofen if you're worried about…habit-forming issues," she said. "You don't have to suffer."

  Kendra pressed her lips together for a moment, then met Dania's eyes and nodded. Dania nodded back, and gestured for Elarienne to come closer. She told the orphan what she wanted and where to find it, and Elarienne took off with a smile and a nod.

  "So, Dania says your name is Kendra?" Amari was asking the young mother when Dania turned back around. "And this cute little guy is Ethan, is that right?"

  "Yes," Kendra said. "I…I haven't named the baby yet. I wasn't quite ready."

  "Well, I'm Amari, and that's my grandpa, Joe. I hope you don't mind, but it looks like he's going to be Ethan's grandpa too now."

  Kendra looked startled for a moment, and then a slow, shy smile spread across her face. Despite the vivid bruising, it was obvious that she was a very pretty girl, and Dania's heart ached even harder for everything she'd been through.

  "I…we would like that," Kendra said. "He's never had a grandpa."

  "Awesome. Guess that makes me Aunt Amari… or maybe cousin Amari? Whatever. Anyway. This is Jake, he owns this place, and you've already met Dani."

  "You…this is your place?" Kendra asked, looking at Jake with wide eyes. "How old are you?"

  "Fourteen," Jake said. "But I'm a deckbearer. How old are you?"

  "Twenty…and I used to be."

  Dania sat up straight in her chair. "You used to be what?"

  "A deckbearer," Kendra said, giving her a sad, sardonic smile. "Until Clay took my cards. Clay… Clayton Knight. My ex."

  "Wait," Amari said, leaning forward, her eyes intent. "How did he 'take' your cards? That's impossible, right? The only way to take a deckbearer's cards is to kill them."

  Dania pressed her lips together and shook her head at Amari in warning, but Kendra was made of stern stuff, because she didn't flinch. She just shrugged and reached for the bacon that Joe had quietly put on her plate.

  "That was his plan," she said. "Or maybe his backup plan? I don't know. He said he'd kill me, and then Ethan, unless I gave him my deck. I tried to talk him out of it, but it just made him more angry. So I gave him my deck and then he almost killed me anyway. Stupid me, I guess."

  "No," Dania said, surprising herself with the heat in her voice. "You did what you had to do to protect your child. That's not stupid at all."

  "Yeah," Jake said. "And joke's on him, you survived. Looks like he's the stupid one."

  "I agree," Machairi chimed in. "It is stupid to attempt to kill someone and then leave them alive to heal. Though I am, of course, glad you are alive and healed, Beautiful One."

  Jake bumped the table with his knee, making all the china and silverware rattle.

  "What did you call her?" Dania asked. Next to her, Jake let out a soft groan and closed his eyes.

  "Beautiful One."

  "That's, thank you, but I'm not—" Kendra faltered, looking far more uncomfortable in accepting the compliment than she had when discussing her violent assault.

  "Her name is Kendra," Jake whispered fiercely to his companion. "Can't you call her that?"

  "I will try to remember. Names are difficult."

  "Cut the strange young man some slack," Joe said softly. "He's a companion card, aren't you?"

  "Yes, General."

  Jake put his head down on the table and groaned in mortification. Joe snorted a laugh.

  "I was never a general officer. Call me Chief instead. That's the appropriate mode of address, if you can't use Joe…and I don't think you can, can you?"

  "It is difficult."

  "Thought so." Joe turned to look at the others with a small smile. "My Audrey does the same thing. She doesn't use names, but she refers to the people in my life similar to how I think of them. Amari is 'sweetheart'. Dani is 'sister'. Jake is 'young man'. Little man here is… well, 'little man'. Machairi, though, she uses your name. I figured it was because you were both cards."

  "Is that why you call me 'guardian'?" Dania looked at Machairi. "Because that's how Jake sees me?"

  "Yes."

  "What is my name?" Amari asked, eyebrows rising up her forehead. "How does Jake see me?"

  "Someone just shoot me," Jake muttered. No one paid attention.

  "Gram Model," Machairi said. Joe let out a guffaw that had Ethan stirring in sleepy protest.

  "He got you there, sweetheart," Joe said. "She's on that phone all day, every day! Always snapping selfies and posting them to the 'Gram."

  Amari tossed her hair back over her shoulder and sat back. "It's how I make my money," she said. "I've got over a million followers on my lifestyle brand."

  "You're not posting pics of this place, are you?" Dania asked, suddenly alarmed.

  "No." Amari wrinkled her nose. "I don't show places where I stay, even for a little while. There are some real weirdos out there on the internet. Don't worry, I take basic safety precautions… I never posted about Grandpa's deck, and I won't mention mine."

  "Smart," Dania said.

  "But that does beg the question," Joe said, adjusting the sleeping weight of Ethan in one arm and putting Audrey's pot on the table with the other. "You said my address was on a list? And there were thugs waiting when you went back?"

  Dania and Jake both nodded. Dania sipped at her coffee again, savoring the caffeine hit as it buzzed along her nerves.

  "How did they know? The only person I told about my deck was Amari, and she didn't tell anyone, did you, sweetheart?"

  "I did not," Amari said. "I did basically come move in with you, though."

  "That was because my cancer got worse, though. It had nothing to do with Drop Night."

  "Still, it's a pattern change."

  "I didn't tell anyone either," Kendra said softly. Dania turned to look at the young woman.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, I didn't tell anyone about my deck. Not even Clay. He just showed up the other night and he knew. I think that's part of why he was so mad. He felt like I should have told him immediately and given him my deck so he could be a bigger deal."

  "Entitled asshole," Amari muttered, and Kendra flashed her a sad smile.

  "Yeah." She shrugged and looked down at her plate. "I have really bad taste in men."

  "We'll fix that," Amari said, reaching across the table to grip Kendra's hand softly. "We gotchu, sis."

  "You're right, though," Dania said. "That is a good question. How did these guys find out you'd been gifted decks on Drop Night? If we figure that out, we might be able to figure out who's running this little card trafficking operation."

  "I… might have an idea," Rhett said softly from the seat he'd taken between Machairi and Amari. He raised his ice-blue eyes to Dania's. "But I don't think you're going to like it."

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