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I had to say those two words, to push them past the weight of Influence he’d just used on me.
     
     
    And those two words were enough.
     
     
    His face flushed dark, angry. ‘‘I have asked you politely, Allie. Don’t think I won’t force the issue.’’
     
     
    ‘‘I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.’’ I dropped the pin on his desk.
     
     
    ‘‘There are legal actions I can set into motion. If you agree to come back to the company now, it will save us both a lot of time and effort.’’
     
     
    I nodded. My dad was all about efficiency. And things going his way. I’m sure he knew exactly how he was going to make my life miserable since I’d said no to him. ‘‘See you in court.’’
     
     
    I walked across the room, past Zayvion, to the door. Made it this time. Got all the way to the receptionist’s desk, then across the half mile of burgundy carpet to the elevator that was wooden and small, too small, far too small, but fast, and even a fast coffin was better than my slow feet right now.
     
     
    Once I hit the lobby, I broke into a jog, needing to be through the lobby in a hurry and gone from here, away from my father who seemed to have found a way to lie in a blood-to-blood Truth spell—something I’d never thought possible. I wanted away from the memories of what I wished he could be, and away from the reality of what it meant to fight him for my life. Again.
     
     
    I pushed through the big glass-and-iron doors and stopped outside the building, under a dark awning that caught the rain. The cab was not waiting, and I remembered Zayvion told me he’d paid the guy.
     
     
    Great.
     
     
    I couldn’t decide where I should go next or what I should do.
     
     
    The police sounded like a good idea, if I could find someone who wasn’t bought off by my dad. A lawyer sounded like a good idea too, but had the same drawback.
     
     
    With any luck, Mama had already called the cops and told them I was Hounding the hit back. With any luck, they would already be starting their investigation.
     
     
    Someone had put a hit on Boy, and I knew my dad’s signature was on it. His real signature, not a fake. He had a part in this regardless of the Truth spell.
     
     
    Maybe I hadn’t asked the right question. Maybe someone had erased his memory of what he’d done. Memory manipulation was against the law, and deservedly so for how dangerous it was. No, I couldn’t imagine him ever letting someone mess with his mind.
     
     
    He must have found a way to lie, to manipulate the Truth spell so even blood magic couldn’t detect it.
     
     
    That terrified me, but I believed he could do it.
     
     
    He was good at magic, my dad. One of the best.
     
     
    I couldn’t figure out what he would gain from putting such a heavy hit on such a little kid, though. It didn’t make sense.
     
     
    Zayvion strolled up and stopped next to me, standing so close we were almost touching. His heavy pine cologne smelled really good now, not nearly as strong as before. People wrapped in dark coats and scarves moved around us in a hurry. Zayvion didn’t say anything, didn’t move. Just stared out at the muddied traffic and hazy gray rain like I did. Strangely, knowing my father hired him to tail me made things a little easier—at least I understood why he was following me around.
     
     
    ‘‘Still on the clock?’’ I asked.
     
     
    ‘‘Nope. Quit today.’’ He held up a check, tucked it in his coat pocket. ‘‘I don’t get involved in family disputes.’’
     
     
    ‘‘Right,’’ I said.
     
     
    He was quiet, still, patient. I decided I liked that about him.
     
     
    ‘‘Buy you lunch?’’ he asked.
     
     
    ‘‘Not hungry.’’
     
     
    More quiet, except for the traffic and constant city sounds. A cab pulled up, and it made sense I should take it home. Instead, I just stood there while a short blond woman in a dark green trench coat appeared from the next building and scurried into the