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the direction of The Hanging Tree. “Just like that night
they hanged Elijah. Just like the Southern Estate. It’s changed in
the way it looks, feels. But it isn’t over yet.”
    “ Yeah, I know,” he says. He
leans against my car, too, looking out over the river and the dead
tree that stands at the end of Main Street. Its dead, black limbs
stretch out far, reaching for the sky, never to bear leaves again.
“Timing sure was interesting for when it changed, huh?”
    I look over at him and don’t miss the
accusation in his voice. “Sure was. I never said it wasn’t for me.
But…”
    “ But you’re still standing,
and you and yours seem to be doing just fine,” he filled in. And
it’s there in his voice. While I am the obvious one to blame, what
he’s said is true.
    “ Ian’s back,” I say,
changing the subject. The surprise on Luke’s face is obvious. “He’s
doing a lot better. And I think he’s going to be a lot of help in
the danger that’s about to start back up.”
    “ Back to hunting vamps?” he
asks, the lines around his eyes tightening. “Even though he is one
now?”
    I shake my head. “Like I said, he’s doing a
lot better. He’s not plagued by self-loathing all the time, at
least. But yeah, I have a feeling he’s not going to let anyone in
Silent Bend be hurt by this army anymore. He’s ready to get back to
his new—old, self.”
    “ Well, praise Jesus for
that,” Luke says, and the relief in his voice is not hidden one
bit.
    I nod, letting a tight smile pull on my
lips. “There’s something I need to ask you. And I’m serious.”
    “ What’s that?” he says, his
features instantly darkening. I can’t blame him. When I ask for
something, it’s never easy, or good.
    “ I need you to be on the
lookout for someone. I think I’m still being spied on, and I think
there still might be someone sneaking into the House.”
    “ Who?” he asks as his brows
furrow.
    “ Henry.”
    The weight of the single word hits us both
heavy. Instantly bringing mass and seriousness to the
conversation.
    Luke takes nearly a full minute, processing
what I just said, and applying it to the previous statement I just
made. I told him I was serious, so he knows not to ask that.
    “ We’ve found some things.
He’d left little clues, right from the beginning. And, well, I
opened his tomb. It was empty.” My eyes lose focus, recalling that
intense moment. I should have found bones and decaying flesh.
Instead, all I discovered was air and another clue.
    “ Henry Conrath is alive?”
Luke asks, and I know it’s for himself. “Then where has he been the
last ten months?”
    I shake my head. “I don’t
know. But I’m sure he hasn’t stayed away this whole time. I need
you to be on the lookout for him. And I need you to tell me right
away if you see anyone who even might be Henry. Would you recognize
him?”
    The Sheriff nods. “I met him once, about
four years back. People aren’t lying when they say you look just
like him.”
    I know. I’ve seen it, too. We’re father and
daughter, in looks and DNA and immortal fate.
    I open the door to my car, turning back for
a moment. “Everything else has been okay, right?”
    His expression falls a bit. “Yeah,” he says.
“Things have been…almost normal for a few weeks.”
    That makes my heart sink. “I’m sorry that’s
about to change again. I swear, I’m doing my best to make
everything right.”
    I can tell he knows he should say something
like, “I know,” but he still doesn’t fully trust me and my ability
to make things right, not when I’ve been the inciter of so much
wrong.
    “ Keep me informed,” he says
instead, with a nod.
    I say a goodbye and climb back into the car,
starting the engine, and pulling back onto the road.
    I pull my cell phone out and dial Nial. He
answers after just two rings. “Hey,” I say. “Could you and Lillian
meet me at the Institute in just a few minutes? I’m headed there
now.”
    “ Of course,”