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observant than I was.
    I’d been a hermit for ten years. I’d lost a few people skills during that decade, and if I was honest I’d never had too many to begin with. If I’d taken even a moment to think about what Vivian was going through, I’d have seen it coming.
    When we thought the murderer was killing human partners of elementals, Vivian split with her girlfriend. Now that her ex wasn’t in danger, of course she’d try to repair the relationship—but she needed to do so without admitting they broke up to save Olivia from a homicidal magic man who didn’t exist in her version of reality.
    Relationships between humans and elementals were always fraught. It was hard to keep the secret when we lived so much longer than they did and needed regular access to our element. Telling the secret carried its own risks.
    Vivian lifted her shoulders, a single, helpless shrug. “She says she doesn’t trust me.”
    “Give it time.” Mac was quiet, but he’d obviously heard every word. “It takes a while to build that sort of thing again.”
    Vivian nodded. “So, you’re saying I shouldn’t hack her Facebook account just yet?” I worried she wasn’t joking.
    Sera shook her head. “It would probably be easier just to date someone new, Viv. You’re hot. Move on.”
    I noticed Brandon had snapped out of his sullen teenage reverie and was looking at Vivian with renewed interest. “You have a girlfriend?” he asked a little too eagerly.
    Six pairs of eyes rolled simultaneously, and the rest of the drive to Will’s house was silent.
    Though Will had become progressively more civil over the course of the afternoon, we were still summarily dismissed at his front door. Mac cast an apologetic glance our way, but he still followed his uncle inside. In the past I’d heard him speak of his family in less than flattering terms, but I saw none of that animosity here. Though I planned to corner him at the cabin for more information, I couldn’t be sure where his loyalties truly lay.
    Fortunately, we had a spy. Unfortunately, it was Simon, who often prolonged his grand reveals until he felt the response would be sufficiently dramatic. And so we were all surprised when he starting speaking the moment the doors closed on Sera’s Mustang.
    “Vivian, tablet.” She pulled the ever present device from her bag. So far as I could tell, it was her security blanket. “We need to find a girl named Pamela. No last name, I fear. She attends the local high school and is most likely around James’s age, so probably a junior or senior.” While he spoke, Vivian swiped her hand across the screen, her movements rapid and confident. If the information existed anywhere online, she would find it. “I suspect we do not have much time. The large man was quite insistent. If not for our presence, he would have demanded more details from his son. That is almost certainly what he is doing now.”
    “I found three,” said Vivian. “Any more information?”
    “Brandon thought they might have run off together, so we should assume they were dating.”
    “There is no indication of that with any of these girls,” Vivian said. I could hear the annoyance in her voice that came when a problem resisted being solved.
    “Only because you don’t think like a teenage boy,” said Sera. She pulled over and held out her hand for the tablet. “If James is anything like the rest of his family, he’s a decent-looking kid, and his sweatshirt suggested he’s pretty mainstream, at least in the way he dresses. Let’s assume the hardcore goth is out, as is the mathlete who looks utterly terrified in her school photo.” She passed it back. “Door number three it is. Get me the address, and we just might beat Big Will there.” She grinned at me, delighted to have a purpose and to be one step ahead of the man who’d dared to disrespect our authority.
    “Are you seriously making me be the voice of reason?” I asked.
    “You could only be the voice of reason if