"Very well," Uncle Finn said. "Ursula is pleased we've brought Jax home."

Jax looked into the living room. Lesley was painting her toenails, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she focused on each brushstroke. Jax passed his aunt and hurried down the steps into the sunken living room. "Hey," he whispered. "Where's Billy?"

"Bathroom?" she suggested without looking up.

Jax glanced at his aunt and uncle. They were headed toward a room he thought was his uncle's office, seemingly as anxious to talk outside his earshot as he was to catch Billy outside theirs. So he lurked near the bathroom until he heard the toilet flush. When the door opened, he reached out to push Billy back inside.

Billy flinched, avoiding Jax's touch.

Deep down he knows something's wrong, Jax thought. With Jax blocking the doorway, Billy, looking puzzled, backed into the bathroom. Jax followed him in and shut the door.

"What-"

"I need to talk to you alone," Jax said.

"Dude, this is weird."

"You have no idea. What happened the day you were kidnapped?"

"I wasn't kidnapped," Billy said with a laugh.

"You said kidnapped in your text."

"Did I?" Billy scratched his head. "I was just being funny."

Jax shook his head. "I don't think so. Tell me what happened."

"O-kay. Your uncle and cousins were asking questions around the neighborhood. When they found out I knew you, they invited me to help them find you. They told me everything."

"Everything," Jax repeated. "They told you about the eighth day, and you believed them."

For a moment, Billy seemed puzzled. Then he broke into a stupid grin. "Yeah."

"Your parents think you're at golf camp."

"That was your cousin's idea. We couldn't tell them the truth."

"Dorian?"

"No. Your hot cousin. Sloane."

Of course. His cousin Sloane, the Dulac heir. "I don't think it happened the way you remember. What's wrong with your arm?" Jax pointed at Billy's left arm.

"Nothing. What are you talking about?" Billy edged around him. "Let me out of here."

Jax pressed his back against the door. "Do me a favor. Roll up your sleeve."

"I don't want to." Billy's eyes darted nervously around the bathroom.

"Okay then." Jax bunched his hand into a fist and pretended he was going to punch Billy in the arm. His friend backed away so hastily, he tripped over the tub, and when he used his arms to break his fall, he gasped in pain. His face went gray. "Roll up your sleeve and look at it," Jax urged him.

Hesitantly, Billy pulled up his left sleeve. Livid purple blotches covered his forearm, and there was a neat row of stitches just below the elbow. Billy stared at his arm like he'd never seen it before, his eyes bugging out of his head. He tried to speak, but his lips trembled, and he stared at Jax, bewildered.

"I don't think you went with them willingly," Jax said. "They kidnapped you, just like you said. And they must've gotten rough."

"Is it broken?" Billy whispered, moving his arm experimentally.

"I dunno, but my aunt's a healer. What'd she say at breakfast-that she can make injuries heal faster? She must be using her talent to fix you up as quickly as she can-and I think she's been sedating you. When she touches you, she can make you feel happy, safe . . ." Loved.

"But I don't remember getting hurt." Billy swallowed. "Every time I changed my clothes, I never saw this."

"Sloane changed your memory. That's her magic talent. Between the false memories she gave you and my aunt's magic, I guess you didn't see what they didn't want you to see. Don't let Aunt Marian touch you. Or Sloane. Or my grandmother. Maybe most of the people in this building. They're dangerous."

"Are they not really your relatives?"

"No, they are." And they were horrible. Jax couldn't believe he'd almost had a moment with his uncle in the elevator. "I don't want them to know we're on to them," Jax said. "So you have to pretend nothing's wrong. We have to stay here a bit longer, because there's something I need to do before we can leave."

Billy nodded and rolled his sleeve down, looking shaken.

Jax removed his phone from his back pocket. There were more texts from the Crandalls, but instead of reading them, he called up the Crandall least likely to yell at him.

"Jax? You idiot."

"A.J., you suck."

"I what?"

"It's code for everything's okay," Jax explained. "It's what Riley and I picked at the Carroway house to- Oh, never mind. Did Tegan and Thomas tell you Evangeline's sister might be here?"

Billy gaped at Jax. "Tegan and Thomas Donovan?"

On the phone, A.J. replied, "Yeah, we heard. That's the only thing that kept my dad from going up there yesterday to bust you out."

"I don't need to be busted out. Things are under control."

A.J. exhaled doubtfully. "My mom drove to New York and met with the twins. She's nearby and wants you to contact her ASAP. Which you'd know if you'd answer your texts. Dad and I are waiting here for Riley, to see how he wants to handle this."

"Make sure Riley doesn't do anything stupid," Jax said. It was bad enough that Mrs. Crandall had come to New York. He didn't want to put anyone else in danger. "Hang tight and wait to hear from me. Now, I've got something else to ask you. What's a brownie hole?"

"Brownie hole? Are you sure they haven't scrambled your brains?"

"Just tell me."

"They're . . . well, they're how brownies get around."

"Brownie?" whispered Billy. "You mean, like a little hobgoblin?"

Jax nodded. It figured Billy knew the word. He'd probably read every fantasy book ever written, played every game, seen every movie. "Do brownie holes cross timelines?"

"How would I know?" A.J. said impatiently. "Nobody's ever been in one. Look, Jax, forget brownies. I gotta tell you what Mom found out from Deidre. There's bad stuff happening in Wales. Serious trouble."

Jax suddenly remembered the Kin woman's warning, or prediction, or whatever it was. "I got something to tell you, too."

A loud knocking made both Jax and Billy jump. "Boys," called Aunt Marian. "You okay in there?"

Billy's eyes got wide again, and he held his injured arm close to his body. Jax hung up on A.J. and stuffed the phone into his pocket. "This is going to look weird," he muttered before opening the door.

Aunt Marian peered in. "Goodness, boys. If you want to make a phone call, you don't have to hide in the bathroom. That's silly. Come out of there."

What did she hear? Jax left the bathroom first, shielding Billy, who slunk out and kept his distance. But her attention was all on Jax. "Were you calling your guardian? We'd like to meet him. Is he in the city?"

"No," said Jax.

"Too bad. We're taking you out to dinner tonight before the transition. He could've joined us." While Jax tried to imagine Riley sitting down to dinner with the clan that had murdered his family, Aunt Marian put her arm around him and guided him into Dorian's bedroom. "I notice you didn't bring any nice clothes . . ."

Jax made a strangled sound when he saw his backpack open on the floor-every compartment zipped open and emptied. "You went through my stuff?"

"I put your clothes in the wash," she said, as if she was perfectly justified. "They needed it. But I didn't find anything appropriate for dinner."

It was a good thing he'd kept the stolen keys in his pocket.

"We can squeeze Billy into something of Dorian's, but you're too tall. I'm going to have to take you shopping."

Jax slithered out from under her arm. "Aunt Marian," he said, "I'd rather you torture me than take me shopping."

Their eyes met. For a moment Jax saw something hard in her expression and wondered if he'd spoken too bluntly. Then she smiled, and it was gone. "Well, this is a big clan. I'll call around. There must be a family with a pair of decent trousers and a shirt in your size. If not, I'll order clothes delivered, and you can just live with it if they don't fit right."

"Oh, the horror," Jax deadpanned, and it must've been the right thing to say, because Aunt Marian laughed and pinched his cheek before leaving the room.

It was just in time. Billy collapsed on Dorian's futon, shaking violently. "Holy crap, Jax. Is your aunt a nice lady or a conniving witch?"

"Both," Jax said. "Are you okay?"

"No. I've been kidnapped. This sucks."

It took a couple minutes for Billy to pull himself together. Jax tried comparing this adventure to Billy's favorite movies. He mentioned the damsel in distress who needed rescuing-and left out the big, scary killer they also had to rescue.

"So this Evangeline," said Billy. "You're like her knight?"

"Yep."

"And the sister-she's pretty?"

"Gotta be."

"Okay, I'm in."

When Billy finally stopped shaking, they went out to the living room, where Lesley was hobbling after her father, walking on her heels while her toenails dried.

"Can Valerie come over?"

"No." Her father was headed for the apartment door.

"Can I go over to Valerie's?"

"No, Lesley. We have guests."

"But they don't need me."

Uncle Finn whirled around and looked his daughter in the eye. "I might need you this afternoon, after I meet with Dr. Morder."

Lesley froze. Her father looked up and spotted Jax and Billy. "Make yourselves at home, boys. Lesley and Marian will get you anything you need." Then he walked out.

Billy plunked himself onto the sofa in the same spot as this morning and picked up a game controller. Jax watched, worried false memories would reclaim his friend and he'd revert to cluelessness, but Billy toyed with the controls idly, surveying the apartment with new, alert eyes.

Lesley sank down beside Billy. "You want to play something?" she asked the boys listlessly.

Jax fidgeted, but there wasn't much else he could do right now. "Guess so." He sat down.

Billy looked out the wall of windows. "We could take a walk in the park instead."

"With my mom?" Lesley clicked through the game menus.

"Without her," Billy said forcefully. "Like, right now."

"I don't have an elevator key."

"What if there was a fire?" Billy demanded. "Are you telling me you can't get out? That's against the law."

"There are stairs," Lesley said, staring at the TV. "But there's a guard at the bottom, and when you came here, they put a guard on our floor, too. Right on the other side of the fire exit."

There was a long, silent moment.

"Sorry," said Lesley. "Did you want me to go on pretending you guys weren't prisoners?"

"Not really," Jax replied.

She faced him, and he saw that her eyes were filled with tears. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm a prisoner too. And I'm not even important."

"If it makes you feel any better," Jax said, "you're the only person here I like."

Lesley turned back to the TV. "Mario Kart?"

Jax picked up a controller. "Sure."