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for them?’
    I press my lips together.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Nothing.’
    He watches me for a few seconds. I look away.
    ‘This is about Goldilocks, isn’t it?’
    I watch a line of bull ants scurry over the concrete wall behind him. ‘No.’
    ‘Bullshit. You and Maggie didn’t bat an eyelid about him being out half the night. He’s doing more than running around after the missing kid with the visions. What else is going on?’
    I sigh. ‘He’s trying to help.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘He thinks there might be a way to protect Mags from being forced to shift by Rephaim.’
    Rafa stares at me. ‘Don’t you think I’d know about it if there was?’
    ‘You didn’t know about Jason.’
    He turns away.
    ‘His life has been different to yours—it stands to reason he might know different things. You keep saying Nathaniel doesn’t know everything.’
    ‘But Goldilocks does?’
    ‘Rafa—’
    ‘Does he think his seer is going to know?’
    ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Who else then?’
    ‘ I don’t know .’
    He shakes his head. ‘I told you there’d be more. He knows too much about the Rephaim for someone who’s never been to the Sanctuary.’
    The last time Rafa shared that suspicion, I was half-undressed on his bed. For a second I remember the feel of his lips on my skin, my hands in his hair. The need to touch as much of him as possible…I cut short the memory before it robs me of focus. Right now all I feel is Rafa’s impatience. His distrust of Jason. His hurt that Jude and I met Jason a hundred years ago and allowed him to stay hidden from the Sanctuary and everyone there. Including Rafa. But like everything else about my past, I don’t remember it and I can’t undo it. In the sunlight, I think I can see how heavy the last year has been on Rafa. Believing Jude was dead. Believing I was dead. I forget sometimes that he’s had his own grief to carry. My own frustration fades a little.
    ‘Maybe Jason will talk to you if you stop jumping down his throat every time he opens his mouth.’
    ‘When were you going to let me in on this plan of his?’
    ‘When I knew if he could help or not.’
    The muscle in his jaw twitches. ‘Just once, I’d like you to trust me enough to tell me what’s going on.’
    ‘Rafa, this wasn’t about trust. It was about giving Jason time before you started picking him apart again.’
    ‘What does he think he’s going to find?’
    ‘I don’t know, but isn’t it worth a few more hours to find out?’
    ‘We need to be looking for Jude, Gabe. It’s only a matter of time before someone else twigs that if you’re alive when you’re not meant to be, he might be too.’ He shakes his head. ‘Some days I really wish you remembered all this shit.’
    I don’t answer because I know full well that most days he’s glad I don’t.
    Rafa sets off again. We don’t speak while we cross the road, stopping halfway to wait for an old jeep to pass us.
    ‘Look, I need a bit longer. For Mags. That’s all I’m asking. Jason will watch out for her if we’re not here, I know that. But if there’s something else we can do to protect her from Taya and Malachi, I want to try.’
    He turns to me as we walk, lets his breath out. ‘A couple more hours. That’s it.’
    I nod. It’s not much of a concession, but I’ll take what I can get. We’re on the esplanade now. ‘Green Bean?’ I ask, realising that’s where we’ve been heading.
    He shrugs. His sleeve is torn and his arm is still bleeding.
    ‘Bryce won’t be impressed if you go in looking like that,’ I say. ‘Let’s go home first, tidy it up.’
    Rafa lifts his arm to get a better look. ‘A quick shift will fix it.’
    ‘With who, Zak?’ My stomach does a small flip. Like it does every time Rafa says he’s leaving Pan Beach. If he’d taught me to shift, I could heal him. But it’s another one of those things he keeps mentioning but does nothing about.
    ‘How long will you be?’
    He looks away.
    Rafa has been to Mexico to see