"I told you there were vermin here," Evangeline reminded him.

"I thought you meant mice."

"No, not mice." She shuddered. "I used to have a terrible problem with brownies at Mrs. Unger's-they got into the garbage and ransacked the kitchen-and then they stopped coming." She looked up at Riley. "Did you do something?"

Riley held the glass exit door open for her. "I saw you chasing a brownie out of the house with a broom one day, cursing and squealing and carrying on. And I asked them to stay away from our houses after that."

Jax thought that over. Wait. What? Even if Riley ordered one-or two or three-brownies to stay away, how would that make them all stay away? Were they intelligent animals? Did they communicate with each other? Or did Riley have some special talent he wasn't sharing?

He hurried after Riley, wanting to ask more questions. But Evangeline was protesting that she did not curse and squeal and carry on, while Riley was teasing her, saying yes, she did-quite impressively, in fact-and Jax missed his opportunity.

Around eleven o'clock in the morning, Mrs. Crandall parked the Land Rover three blocks over from their destination in a little Vermont town while they plotted how to approach the Transitioners hiding Adelina Emrys.

"Their talent is obscurity, according to the Taliesins," Riley said. "I'll bet they have other security measures in place, so let's assume they already know we're here. After the events three weeks ago, they must be on high alert. Have you ever heard of the Carroways, Gloria?"

Mrs. Crandall shook her head. "Either it's a false name or they're a branch-off family."

Jax knew some Transitioners traced their ancestry straight back to legendary figures, like Riley to King Arthur and Deidre to Morgan LeFay. But others had branched off and diverged into new talents over the fifteen hundred years since their ancestors had cast the Eighth-Day Spell. "Isn't there a directory of some kind?" Jax asked. "With all your names and talents and marks?"

Mrs. Crandall snorted. "Anyone who tried to collect that information wouldn't last long. Transitioners like their secrets."

"I want you to stay in the car," Riley told Evangeline.

"But I'm the only one they're likely to trust," she protested.

"Someone with an itchy trigger finger might shoot at you before they realize who you are. They know the Eighth-Day Spell was attacked, and they have an Emrys heir. If I were them, I'd be nervous if Kin approached the house."

Evangeline frowned at him. "You look more threatening than I do." She indicated Riley's heavily tattooed arms.

"I'll go," said Mrs. Crandall.

That was no good. Mrs. Crandall was six feet tall and dressed in army fatigues.

"I'm the one who has to go," Jax said. "I'm the most harmless looking out of all of us, and they probably won't shoot me on sight." I'm useful. You don't want to send me away.

"He's right," Riley admitted.

"No," Mrs. Crandall objected. "Riley, he-" She bit off her words in frustration.

Riley pulled Jax aside. "It might be hard to find the house. That's the Carroway talent."

"No sweat. Information is my talent, right? I'll find the house, explain who we are, and come back to get you."

"We need a signal," Riley said. "So I know you're not under duress."

"How about Riley, you suck?"

Riley laughed. He'd once signaled Jax with the phrase Jax, you idiot.

At first Jax had trouble finding the right street. He pictured where it had been on the map and turned a corner that didn't seem like the right one, but had to be. Then, he couldn't find the house. There was a 15 and a 19, and a 16 and 18 on the other side of the street. But no 17-and no space for one, either. Jax gripped the hilt of his dagger and stared hard at the place where it should be, calling on his talent for information. Suddenly number 17 appeared: large and white with turrets and a wraparound porch.

"Hold it right there, boy!" a voice rang out from the house. "I've got a rifle scope aimed at your head. Hands in the air!"

Jax threw up both hands. "I come in peace!" he shouted. Crap. That sounded stupid.

"You're not alone," the voice called.

"No, but my friends are staying back till you say they're welcome."

Jax sensed movement behind him and turned just in time to be body slammed by somebody twice his size. This man grabbed Jax's right hand, twisting it behind his back and away from his honor blade. Then he grabbed Jax's left arm and turned over his wrist.

"He's an inquisitor," the man shouted. "Don't recognize the family, though."

The scroll and the eye on his tattoo named his talent. Jax had figured out that much. An eye and a scroll meant inquisitor, just like the crown on Riley's meant command. The arrangement of the symbols and how they were combined with others were unique to each individual family. Riley's mark was famous enough to be known on sight, while Jax was nobody important.

"No questions out of you!" ordered the man from the house. "I'm a good enough shot to take you out without hitting my son."

"I don't want to ask questions. I came to see Addie." Jax gave the nickname Evangeline had used, thinking it might carry more weight.

The man's grip on Jax tightened. "We don't know any Addie."

"Yeah, you do," Jax said. "The Taliesins gave us your name. I've got Addie's sister with me and someone else. Someone important."

"What's her name?" hissed the man holding Jax. "The sister."

"Evangeline. She's sixteen. Addie's thirteen, and there was a younger brother, Elliot." Jax searched his memory for other personal information about the Emrys family. How could he prove he was a friend?

The man untwisted Jax's arm but kept a grip on him and pushed him forward. "Start walking."

"Uh, could you tell the guy in the house to take his rifle scope off my head?"

"Dad doesn't have a rifle on you. We don't keep guns in the house. Too many kids."

There certainly were a lot of children. Jax stared at them in surprise. He'd never seen little kids on the eighth day before, since Transitioners didn't experience their first Grunsday until they were at least ten.

But these were Kin children.

They dashed out of sight when he was escorted through the house, all except for a toddler who sat in her diaper and nothing else in the middle of the floor. But they came back to sneak looks at him when he explained who he was and why he'd come.

The elder Carroway and his wife were in their sixties. Their son was probably near forty. Seated in the back corner of the room, a Kin woman nursed an infant and listened silently.

"I don't sense any harm in him," said Mrs. Carroway. "Nor in the others. They're anxious, but not hostile."

Jax nodded. She was a sensitive. Riley had predicted they'd have one for security. "They're probably worried about me, and Evangeline wants to see her sister."

"How do we know Addie's sister wasn't the one who tried to break the spell?" Carroway Jr. addressed his parents. "Do we dare trust her here?"

"Look," Jax said angrily. "I'm tired of people thinking the worst of Evangeline when she almost died saving the world." That crazy lord Wylit had wanted to wipe the seven-day timeline off the face of the earth and had needed an Emrys heir's cooperation to finish casting his spell. He'd hurt Evangeline and threatened her, but she had refused to help him. And after Wylit was dead, Evangeline had repaired the damage he'd already done to the spell-with some help from Riley and Jax and all their friends. Jax was proud of his liege lady; she was brave and selfless and deserved a lot more respect than most people gave her.

Mrs. Carroway exchanged a glance with her husband and gave him a small, discreet smile. Jax suspected his feelings had just been read and his indignant defense of Evangeline had won the old lady over. But as he looked around, Jax realized something else was wrong here.

The children who kept peeking around the corner had pale skin, silvery-blond hair, and blue eyes, but none of them appeared to be a thirteen-year-old girl with a personal interest in Jax's story. "Doesn't Addie get a say in this?" he asked. "Where is she? Aren't you going to tell her that her sister's here?"

Carroway Jr. sighed. "Addie's gone. She left here over a month ago."

6.

"A WAY STATION?" Riley stared at Mr. Carroway incredulously. "You had an Emrys heir here while operating a way station?"

Evangeline had taken the news about Addie bravely but sadly, as if she hadn't really expected a happy reunion today. When the diapered Kin toddler waddled over and lifted her arms like a demanding queen, Evangeline scooped her up and buried her face in the little girl's hair. Jax was pretty sure she was hiding tears.

"Residents don't share their family names," Mr. Carroway said defensively. "That's one of the rules. If they want to stay here, they remain anonymous."

Really? Little kids were expected to keep secrets? Jax saw Mrs. Crandall shake her head and guessed she was thinking the same thing he was: that the first thing kids did when out of sight of adults was say, Guess what I'm not supposed to tell you.

Riley was blunt about it. "She must have told someone, or they figured it out."

Mrs. Crandall put a hand on Riley's arm to quiet him. "What you're doing here is a very kind and generous thing," she said more tactfully. "But considering the importance of keeping Adelina Emrys safe and out of sight . . ."

"Addie lived here for over thirty years, and there was never any problem," Mr. Carroway said. "Refugees came and went, and no one noticed the one little girl who stayed."

All the Kin staying here had either been driven out of their homes by Transitioners or were forced to leave by events in the Normal world. Jax had never considered how hard it must be for the Kin, with their extended lives, to find a safe place to live. Buildings were remodeled or torn down when they got old. Sometimes they caught fire or fell into disrepair. And Jax hadn't really grasped the fact until now that a lot of Transitioners had a strong dislike for Kin. Transitioners were the jailers, and the entire Kin race were their prisoners, sentenced for crimes committed long ago. The most hated and evil Kin families were imprisoned even within the eighth day, and the others . . . well, Jax guessed they were like ex-convicts. Allowed out on their own in a limited way, but not really trusted, and nobody wanted them living next door.

The woman nursing the baby had been chased out of her long-time home. She and her children were staying with the Carroways until her husband found a new place. Some of the kids here were orphans, Mrs. Carroway said. Others had been left here by parents who could find no other safe place to keep them.

And six weeks ago, Addie had run away from this house with a teenage Kin girl she'd befriended.

"How do you know she went willingly?" Riley asked.

Mrs. Carroway looked tearful, and her husband said, "Because she left us a letter."

After an awkward pause, Carroway Jr. said, "We love Addie. But let's face it. She's . . ." He paused.

Evangeline lifted her face from the little girl's head. "Difficult."

He sighed in relief. "Exactly."

"Do you have anything that belonged to her?" Evangeline asked. "I could scry for her."

Jax didn't know what that meant, but apparently Mrs. Carroway did. "She took everything she owned," the old woman said regretfully.

"Even a hair would do."

"The house is full of blond hairs. I don't know how we could tell if one was Addie's."

"You said she left a letter," Mrs. Crandall reminded them. "Do you still have that?"

Mrs. Carroway twisted her hands together. "I'll get it." She left the room, and after a moment, her husband followed.

As soon as they were gone, Carroway Jr. said, "Take it easy on my parents. They did right by Addie, and they've been really worried about her, especially after the attack on the spell."

"I'm sure they did their best," Evangeline replied.

"She's been part of our family as long as I can remember," he continued. "She was my big sister, and then my little sister, and then she was like a daughter to me." He took a deep breath. "I have my own daughters now, and I know they go through stages. But Addie's stages lasted decades. We got older, but she didn't."

The elder Carroways returned, and the wife handed folded papers to Evangeline with a shaking hand. Evangeline took them eagerly. But after scanning them, she frowned. Jax leaned over her shoulder to catch glimpses as she read: . . . you sent me to bed early even though it was Jimmy's fault.

. . . I always got blamed.

. . . Jimmy got chocolate cake for his birthdays and I always had to have vanilla even though I kept telling you I wanted chocolate.

Jax glanced at the forty-year-old Carroway. If he was Jimmy, Addie Emrys had kept some childish grudges a very long time.

Mrs. Carroway waited with fingers pressed against her lips for a reaction to this list of injustices. Finally, Evangeline looked up. "I see Addie hasn't changed a bit," she remarked, ripping a strip off the first page. "May I use a metal pan of water, please, and saffron if you have it?"

Mrs. Carroway exhaled in relief. "With all the Kin in this house? Of course I have saffron."

Jax watched in fascination as Evangeline set up her spell. Her talent was very different from his. He could call on his inquisitor magic at any time, but it was only good for gathering information. Evangeline could perform a wide variety of magical acts, but she needed symbolic objects and rituals to activate them. She set the pan of water on Mrs. Carroway's kitchen table, then cast the paper with Addie's handwriting into it. Once the surface of the water grew still, Evangeline placed two golden threads of saffron on her tongue, closed her eyes, and murmured a spell. Opening her eyes, she leaned over the pan and stared into the water. Jax held his breath.

"I don't see her," she whispered, her eyes fixed unblinking on the water.

"She's blocking you." The Kin woman with the baby spoke for the first time, causing Jax to jump. He'd forgotten she was there.

"No," Evangeline said. "I don't get that sense."

"Keep your eyes on the water." The woman handed her infant to Mrs. Carroway and approached the table. "Open your mouth." Evangeline did, and the woman placed more saffron on her tongue. Then she covered Evangeline's hands with her own, lending strength to the spell.

Evangeline tried for a minute longer. Then she collapsed into a chair and buried her face in her hands. "Addie's not out there. I think she must be dead!"

Mrs. Carroway burst into tears, and her husband and son rushed to her side. Jax shuffled his feet uneasily and looked at Evangeline and then at Riley, hoping he knew how to comfort a crying girl.

Apparently not. Riley made a move as if to pat Evangeline's head or give her a hug, but then he chickened out and did neither. Mrs. Crandall elbowed him out of the way so she could put an arm around Evangeline.

The Kin woman, meanwhile, cleared away the pan of water and saffron, then folded the remaining pages of Addie's letter and pressed them into Evangeline's hand. "You're overwrought. Try again when you're fresh. You were blocked."

"No one was fighting me," Evangeline argued. "I'd know."

"Not if she was shielded by wards."

Evangeline inhaled sharply. "It could've been wards."