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probably saved Emma’s.
“Yes. She wants to talk—later. You’ve met her dog.”
    Chase nodded, putting the book back on the shelf and withdrawing.
    “We’re going to walk him. Look, can you sit down? I don’t care where. It’s hard to
     talk when you’re standing there looking down at me.”
    He sat on the edge of the bed—probably because it was the farthest away.
    She turned to her computer and found the Biology and English notes he’d asked for.
     She wasn’t sure they’d do him much good; Chase didn’t really understand how to study.
     But she sent them to him anyway before she turned.
    He was sitting absolutely still, watching her, his elbows on his knees, his hands
     loosely clasped between them. “I don’t hate Emma,” he said.
    “No?”
    “Let’s pretend that I believe you. That Emma—the Emma you know—is never going to become
     another Merrick Longland. She’s never going to learn how to use the power she has.
     It’s never going to define her.”
    This was not a surrender, and Allison knew it; the tone of his voice was too measured
     for that. But she nodded, waiting.
    “They’re not going to leave her alone.” He exhaled, running his hands through his
     hair. “They know—roughly—where she is. They’ll know exactly where she is, soon.”
    This, Allison believed. “How do we stop them?”
    He stared at her, his eyes rounding, as if he couldn’t believe the stupidity. “Eric’s
     spent his entire adult life trying to do just that. So has the old man.”
    “Yes, but you’re hunting proto-Necromancers, if I understand anything. You’re stopping
     their numbers from growing. How do we stop them, period?”
    “Kill their Queen,” he replied. He might as well have said,
kill their god
, given his tone.
    She stared at him.
    “It’s complicated. I’d say it’s impossible.”
    “If we kill their Queen, it stops?”
    “If we kill their Queen, the dead are free,” he replied. “Wherever it is the dead
     go, they’ll go.”
    “Andrew Copis—”
    “Yes, there’ll always be some who get stuck or trapped. But they won’t stay that way
     forever, and they won’t be able to hurt anyone who isn’t a Necromancer by birth. But
     it’s not going to happen.”
    She swallowed.
    “I don’t think you have it in you to kill. Not yet. Probably not ever. It’s not a
     problem the Necromancers have.”
    “I noticed.”
    “Good.” He lifted his chin, exposing his Adam’s apple. “Emma might not have it in
     her, either. But they won’t stop. So let’s go back to that: Emma is in danger here.”
    “And because she’s in danger, I’m in danger.”
    He tensed; he heard the edge creep into her voice. She tried to stop her hands from
     balling into fists, since she wasn’t going to use them anyway.
    “If you can’t step away, yes. I know you don’t want to do it. If you were the type
     of person who could, I probably wouldn’t be here. I mean, here, in this room, in this
     house. I wouldn’t be having this moronic conversation. I wouldn’t be—” he fell silent,
     and his expression was so raw, Allison had to look away.

CHAPTER
TWO
    C HASE WITH DOWNCAST EYES was probably for the best; the door—which was ajar—swung open,
     and her mother walked into the room carrying a tray. “I didn’t ask what Chase drinks,”
     she said apologetically.
    Chase shook his head. “I don’t drink when I’m working.”
    Her mother laughed, because Chase was grinning. “And I don’t serve alcohol to minors.”
     She set the tray on the desk beside Allison’s computer, which was conveniently open
     at a screen full of biology notes.
    “I’m going to walk Petal with Em after dinner,” Allison said.
    “Make sure you wear a heavier coat. It’s not getting any warmer out there.”
    Allison reddened but nodded, and her mother left. “It’s hot chocolate,” she told Chase.
     “And bagels; there’s jam. And apples.”
    “I can see that.” He took his phone out of his pocket.