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"Great talk."

I head for the porch.

"Maren."

"Nope."

"I need to ask you something."

"And I need you to answer something. Look how neither of us gets what we want."

He follows me anyway. Lila trails him.

Sid is waiting on the top step, tail curled around his paws, watching all three of us with the deep disappointment of a cat forced to attend a meeting.

I point at him. "See? Even Sid thinks you're annoying."

Gage looks at the cat. Sid walks down two steps and headbutts his boot.

Traitor.

Gage crouches and scratches behind one oversized ear. Sid purrs like a small engine.

"Unbelievable," I mutter.

Lila's smile has gone tight. "Where'd the cat come from?"

"He showed up yesterday."

She studies him a beat too long. Sid's purr stops. His gold eyes narrow to slivers, fixed on her, and something crosses her face that she smooths away too quickly to name.

She takes a small step back. "He's cute."

Sid hisses.

I laugh. "He disagrees."

Gage watches Lila the whole time. Not casually. The way he looked in the mirror this morning.

"What?" I ask him.

"Nothing," they both say.

And there it is again. That feeling that everyone on this porch got a script except me.

The porch lantern flickers. Buzzes. Steadies.

I look up at it. Nobody else does, which is worse.

"Okay." I keep my voice light and it doesn't help. "I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one here who doesn't know something."

Lila slides her arm through mine. "You're stressed."

"That's the theory?"

"You've been working too much."

"Candles lit themselves."