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usual.”
    “Damn. Did you tell the grandparents?”
    “Yeah. They didn’t take it well. Are you gonna talk to Lex or let him sweat his tantrum out?” she asked, and I sighed.
    “He’s got a right to be mad.”
    “It’s not helping anything, is it? It won’t make Simon find the spell to free you any faster,” she pointed out.
    “Right. Are you sure you two are related? You’ve got way more sense than him.”
    Marie laughed and grinned. “He got all the muscle. The rest of us got the brains.” She popped the last bite of sandwich into her mouth, and I rose to dump the cereal down the garbage disposal.
    “Hey, do you know anything about this?” I pulled the flyer with the tiger on it out of my pocket and held it out to her. Marie nodded.
    “Yeah.”
    “Were you going to mention it?” I prompted.
    “No. You’ve got enough on your plate to worry about right now.”
    It was true, but it wasn’t a problem I could avoid. The witch council was responsible for this particular pain in my ass. They’d approached one of Maureen’s grandchildren, Riley O’Driscoll, and told her a sob story about how I was the evilest thing since Darth Vader, and convinced her to take the Titania position away from me. There was a time when I would’ve been more than happy to hand the job over to one of Maureen’s kin, but that was before I’d jumped through all sorts of hoops to win it. Hell, I couldn’t quit even if I wanted to now because I’d sworn to do the job and quitting would make me an oathbreaker. Plus Riley was an untrained witch, and now she was a brand-new shapeshifter. She didn’t even have the good sense to be ashamed of the fact that she was infected with wild magic. No way she could handle my job, so apparently we were going to duke it out for Titania at some point, winner take all.
    Marie shrugged. “I’m gonna crash. I’ve got another long day tomorrow.”
    “The real estate agent will be here in the morning,” I reminded her.
    “No problem. I’ll set my alarm. G’night.”
    At least someone would sleep well tonight. I rinsed out the bowl and put it into the dishwasher, tapping my fingers against the granite countertop as I debated what to do. I could go to bed, stare at the ceiling, and pretend to be asleep when Lex finally came in. Or I could go downstairs and try to make peace, risking the chance of just making things worse and one of us sleeping on the couch.
    I chose the riskier option and headed into the basement. I opened the door and was greeted with a blast of Nine Inch Nails. Wincing, I shut the door behind me and made my way down the stairs, the music thrumming louder with each step. When I reached the bottom I paused at the sight of Lex, and my throat tightened so much that it was hard to breathe. He was across the room, working with the heavy bag, glowing with sweat and temper. Lex was angry all the time, and it killed me that I had no way to fix it. Every time I tried to talk to him, it ended with him being frustrated and me apologizing profusely, with no progress and no resolution.
    Covering my ears, I crossed to the stereo and killed the noise. Lex whirled at the sudden silence, and I held my hands up.
    “Don’t shoot, it’s just me,” I joked. He nodded, his hands on his hips, and I forced myself to keep my eyes on his instead of on his glistening, bare chest.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Marie’s home. She got a call about a missing summoner family. Hunters got ’em, parents and two kids. No sign of where they’ve been taken.”
    Lex shook his head in disgust. “Anything else?”
    “They were faerie-blooded, and they didn’t come to us for help,” I admitted. Lex slugged the heavy bag and I flinched. Guilt gripped my stomach, and I was glad I hadn’t eaten the cereal. I imagined it wouldn’t be as tasty on a return trip. “I know, it’s my fault, and I’m sorry.”
    “It’s Harrison’s fault.”
    I nodded, running a hand over my braided hair. “It’ll be better