CHAPTER FORTY-ONEIt took Seth about 60 seconds to come to. I was ready.“Tell me about this Tip-Toe Shadow.”He moaned, touched the back of his head where he had hit the floor. “I want a drink. Do we have anything to drink? Whisky? Vodka?”“Since when have you touched a drop? Stop stalling, and tell me about them. Now.”His face was dangerously white. Part of me said to stop riding him so hard, and the other part said to heck with it, press the guy until he squawks. I don’t know what exactly was going on with Mouth back there, but it had been major. And it had been ugly.“Did . . . did this demon really say to tell you about the Tip-Toe Shadow? I mean, did it use that name?” He turned huge eyes on me, and suddenly Seth seemed decades younger. It scared me.“Yes. What do I need to know?”He sighed, and it was such a hollow, broken sound. Chilling, really, especially from Pulled-Together Seth.“You know that name, Luna. You just don’t remember. You were too young. We both were.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREEMy thoughts were going wild as I drove to Reed Taylor’s house. Anubis had very nearly stolen my soul as well as breaking my face, and I was still cursing myself for that. I had misjudged him. I thought about Seth’s confession about the Tip-Toe Shadow, and my eyes narrowed. I had misjudged everything.Well, if I was so great at misjudging, perhaps I had misjudged Reed Taylor.I pulled into his driveway and felt like pulling right out again. His house was perfect. His lawn, although more overgrown than I had ever seen it, was a thing of beauty. The flower bed was blooming with more flowers and . . . wait, are those actually weeds? Real weeds dared to invade Reed Taylor’s yard? Suddenly, every sense was alert. I slammed the car door and scanned the area. Something creepy and relatively harmless hovered around the backyard, yes, but that wasn’t alarming. But weeds? And the too-long grass? For such a cool, laid-back guy, Reed Taylor usually kept things surprisingly ti

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVEThe sun was starting to rise by the time we bailed out of the hospital.“I am so tired,” Seth told me. He yawned as he got into the car. “I can’t wait to go to bed.”“Spill,” I demanded. “You said I wasn’t astute about Reed Taylor. What was I missing?”“Cripes, Luna. You sure you want to do this? You’ll be wound up, and we’ll never get any sleep.”I grabbed the lapels of his shirt and yanked him halfway out of his seat. “Seth Masterson, if you don’t tell me right this minute, I swear I’ll . . . ”“He was high, okay? He was high. Or coming down from it. That’s why he couldn’t bring you in or risk the ambulance. They would have known.My fingers went slack. Seth pulled himself gently out of my grip. “Listen, maybe now isn’t the time to talk about it. We already have a lot on our plates, and there’s nothing you can—”“He’s using again.”“Looks like it.”“After being clean for so long.”“It happens. I’m sorry, Luna.”“Because I broke up with him?”He shrugge

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVENSeth was crouched over somebody on the floor. My heart sunk. It’s Reed. It’s Reed. It’s Reed.“It’s Sparkles,” Seth said, checking her pulse and breathing. She looked like she was barely conscious. Her demon twined around her arms and legs. “I heard her moaning in the back room.”I narrowed my eyes at the sight of her and spit on the ground. “What’s she doing here?” My eyes widened. “Wait, if she’s here, where’s Lydia? Is she here too?”Seth shook his head. “I didn’t see her. I looked everywhere.”I knelt by Sparkles, tried to make her eyes focus. “Sparkles! Where is Lydia? Lydia?” Her eyes rolled. I slapped her in the face, but she didn’t even react. Even her demon was moving slower than usual.What was going on here? Suddenly I had a thought. I yanked up the sleeve of her shirt. Fresh track marks. She was using. Disgusted, I let her arm fall to the ground with a thud.“You’re useless,” I spat. “You’re a waste of a person and a mother. You deserve everything

CHAPTER FORTY-NINEIt hurt me to see the ones I loved damaged like this. Seth chased away, Reed Taylor broken, Mouth angry and helpless. All of these people brought together involuntarily because they cared about me in one way or another. Each, in their own way, only wanted to help.“Luna,” Mouth said, and he sounded worried. “Why are you looking at me like that? What are you thinking?”I reached for his hand, smiled. I ran my fingers down his cheek. “Thank you for everything, Mouth. I hope you know how special you are to me.”“Luna,” he said warningly, but I had already turned to Reed Taylor. “Reed Taylor, I . . . ”There wasn’t anything more I could say. His wild hair, his gorgeous greens that had gone frightened and worried and were now narrowed with resolve. He was perfect. He was my everything. How can you explain that to someone?“I love you,” I said simply, and then I turned to the Tip-Toe Shadow. “Demon!” I screamed and spread my arms wide. “Taste The Mark! I invite you i