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seeing as he now worked for the Emporium.
    Silence fell between us, but it wasn’t full of tension this time, and I relaxed slightly. The night seemed to be growing colder, which should keep people away from this remote area of the park, but I hoped Ritter and Gaven could finish up before some guy came to walk his dog.
    When we reached my new Jeep Compass, I beeped the door unlocked, but she hesitated before opening it, staring down at the shiny red surface. True darkness had fallen now, and her face was illuminated only by the lights in the parking area. I hoped she wasn’t thinking about retrieving the car she shared with Trevor, which they’d left on the other side of the lot.
    Her eyes lifted to me—large and brown. Tears made them shine in the reflected light. “Even though it all went really bad, I stood up to Trevor tonight. I wasn’t even afraid. For a moment I thought he might start yelling or even hit me. I saw the stick—you know, that stick we’ve seen by the bench all week when we go jogging and keep wondering if someone’s going to throw away. I pictured myself grabbing it and whacking him right back. But he didn’t yell or try to hurt me. He just stared and pretended to listen until those men came, and then he left like he didn’t care.” Her face crumpled. “How can I still love him?”
    I knew only too well. It had been like that for me with Tom. Almost worse was the dying of hope—which she’d realize soon enough.
    Mari hiccuped. “I don’t know who I am anymore.”
    Becoming Unbounded means you really do Change—not only physically but also mentally. Everything is different, including your dreams and all your relationships. Sometimes the new dreams were better than the old. I thought of Ritter and frowned. At least they should be.
    “It’ll be okay,” I told her. “I promise.”
    I drove as quickly as I dared to the palace on the bank of the Willamette River, through traffic that was busy for a Thursday night. Pain flared beneath my temples. I was tired after my mental delve into the Hunters’ minds, and I wanted nothing more than to get home and close my eyes until my body recovered. It was supposed to get easier, but my sensing ability wasn’t increasing as quickly as I’d hoped. Or at all, if the truth be told. Ava had warned patience, but after showing so much initial promise in New York, where I’d reached down a long hallway to ask a Renegade for help, I’d expected more.
    I guess once you become accustomed to being different—special—you crave even more. Purely a mortal reaction, I assured myself. Maybe after a few hundred years, I’d get over myself.
    The palace had been used as a warehouse at one point, and huge metal storage containers, layered with a mess of peeling paint, loomed near the dilapidated dock. A single rowboat floated there, awaiting attention from my niece and nephew. I would be glad to leave Oregon just so I didn’t have to worry about them drowning. They were so fragile, and though all of us kept an eye on them, it wasn’t the same as when their mother had been alive.
    Maybe I was more like Ritter than I realized, because Lorrie’s death was one of the things I craved to avenge.
    I parked my Compass in front of the ugliest container next to the other half dozen cars already there, all of which faced forward so the vehicles were ready in case of emergency. When everyone was home, we looked like a small auto dealership—a fancy new dealership. The neighbors probably thought we were running drugs.
    Which, if you thought about Dimitri’s experiments, maybe we were.
    “Welcome to the palace,” I said, flipping off the engine.
    “This is where you live?” Mari studied the two-story structure doubtfully.
    Seeing it through her eyes, I could understand the reservation. It was exactly what it seemed—a small, fifty-year-old hotel that hadn’t undergone major repairs or upgrades for several decades, except for the gleaming bars over the windows and