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“We can discuss all of this,” Luther says, pacing to the center of the room, “when we’re somewhere safe.”

Everyone looks at him.

“We can’t stay here,” he tells me as if I’m the one he has to convince. “We don’t know what will come for you next, and we have no good vantage point here. We need to be somewhere more contained where we can spot what’s coming and stand a chance of stopping it.”

“A smaller area would be better,” Kole says. “We can create a stronger shield if it’s more concentrated.”

“Where will we go?” I ask them. “Ragnor and Eve are still at The Hollow, and I don’t think any of us are strong enough to try and throw them out. We can’t go to Rev’s apartment. I’m not putting her and Sarah in even more danger.”

“We can if you need to,” Rev says. “You know I’m in this with you, Nova. If you need to camp out at my place, it’s yours.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, smiling and trying not to look at her bandaged hand.

“I don’t think the apartment is the right place, Rev. We need you safe—and separate from us. The five of us need to figure out how to stop The King. But if we fail, we’ll need someone in Phoenix Falls to raise the alarm. We also need you to be our eyes and ears in town. As far as we know, Nova’s still wanted by the SDB. If agents return looking for her, we’ll need you to alert us.”

Rev presses her lips together and nods solemnly.

“But,” Mack says, “Nova’s right, we can’t go back to The Hollow.” Mack rubs his thigh with one hand and stares down into his tea. “We might never be able to go back there.”

“What about the falls?” Tanner is standing by the window, looking out at the soft afternoon glow that has descended on the woods. He turns to face us and folds his arms. “There are caves behind them where we can set up camp, and caves above which will serve as a lookout point. Plus, there’s magick there. We all know it. We’ve all felt it. Being close to them might—I don’t know—help recharge us somehow. Or help Nova tap into her powers.”

All three guys are nodding. “Can’t think of a better suggestion,” Luther says. “Kole? Mack?”

“I agree,” Mack says. “We can stick to the woods to get there. It’s the long way around, but if we loop around the town, we can reach the falls without risking being seen.”

“What about us?” Sarah is sitting on a stool next to Rev. She worries with her sleeves constantly; it’s making me nervous. “You’re really going to leave us with no protection? Those beasts know Nova was with us. Doesn’t that make us a target?”

“I don’t think—” Kole starts to speak but Rev cuts him off.

“Like Mack said, they need eyes in town. If the hounds return, we’ll fight them off.” She grimaces and rubs her bandaged wrist. No one mentions the fact that, last time, we were all pretty much hopeless at fighting them off.

“And if something else comes for her?” Sarah asks, her eyes flashing with anger.

“We’ll be okay,” Rev says, putting her good hand on Sarah’s shoulder. Between the two of us, we can shield the apartment well enough to protect ourselves. As soon as they realize Nova’s not here—whatever they are—they won’t be interested in us anyway.” She shuffles in her chair, sitting up a little straighter. “But we can at least buy Nova some time.”

“Thank you,” I mouth to her.

Rev nods. “Any time,” she says quietly.

“That’s settled then.” Luther moves toward the kitchen. He glances at the clock on the wall. “If we leave in an hour, we’ll be at the falls by sunset.”

“Is Mack able to walk that far?” I turn to the professor. He’s still pale, but the cuts on his arms seem to be healing.

“I’ll be okay, Little Star,” he says, nodding at me. “I’m getting a little cabin fever stuck out here anyway. A change of scenery will be good.”

“Cabin fever?” Luther retorts. “That’s an old-man joke if ever I heard one.”

“Well, he is an old man. What do you expect?” Tanner raises his eyebrows. For a moment, the air is lighter. Mack’s eyes twinkle as the guys make fun of him, and the knot of anxiety in my chest eases a little. But then the moment is gone, and everyone starts moving, grabbing supplies from the kitchen, throwing things into bags.

“There’s camping equipment in the attic,” Luther says, raising his eyes to the ceiling. Kole offers to help him, and the two of them disappear. A few minutes later, several rolled up sleeping bags are thrown down the stairs along with the backpacks we took on our train journey to the commune.

I sit with Rev and watch as the guys pack up our lives. A lot has happened since we came out to the woods but, in a strange way, I’ve never felt as safe as I have in this place. “We laughed a lot here,” I say to Tanner as he brings over a duffle full of my clothes. “I’m sad to leave it.”

“We did a lot of other stuff here too,” he replies, smiling cheekily at me.

“It feels like…” I trail off and rub my arms. “Like things are about to change. Like whatever’s coming next is bigger, and scarier, and darker than anything that’s happened to us so far.”

Tanner breathes in sharply. I try to rein in the fear that’s scratching at my insides because I know he must be feeling it. “I can take some of it from you,” he says quietly, pressing his large palm to my chest. “Some of the pain, and the worry.”