I don't want to give Lindsey any more of my time, but I know have to. I was downright awful to her. I tried — and, thanks to Kam, failed — to manipulate her. And now she's shown up at my house. I can't be awful to her, so I give the brightest, most welcoming smile I can manage and say "Of course!"

My palm's on the handle to the veranda overlooking the hills when Lindsey stops me.

"Actually, um..." Lindsey looks a bit sheepish, staring out into the night.

I remember, belatedly, her saying she found the view to be creepy in dark. I turn, wincing. "Sorry. Let's go to my study."

With Rory's work being largely classified — either by our government or another — and mine being so public, we both keep separate offices at home. It didn't start that way, but as our profiles grew it was the only way to make sure we didn't compromise each other's work.

I press my palm against the scanner, and realize only then how my marriage died.

Long before I ever spent the night researching about monster bars after one of the girls mentioned it offhand, long before I tracked down Kam, and long before I ever became the woman who'd become so comfortable with turning off my brain like that, Rory and I had built walls.

"Ty?" Lindsey prods as my hand lingers.

"Sorry, yeah. Long day," I offer, not quite believing the words myself. Hoping she won't dwell on it if I don't (outwardly, anyway), I pull open the door and usher her inside.

Lindsey takes a seat across from me, her posture rigid. Bracing herself.

"I owe you an apology," Lindsey says after a few moments. She leans forward, placing both her hands on the desk between us — reaching out, literally and figuratively, to me. I go to take her hands in mine. We fumble, though, as Lindsey has to let go of her phone. It clatters into my tote.

I wince, but Lindsey pays it no mind. Instead, she grips my hands tighter. "I was so, so wrong. I saw the way that Kam got treated by that... That awful person, and I just... I had a moment of clarity. I want to be better, okay?"

I'm dumbstruck. I know how she lies, and she seems... Genuine.

"I..." Could it really be this simple? If even Lindsey can change, then maybe it's not so doomed. Maybe we don't have to break up. Maybe Kam and I can just... Be. Maybe we can just exist in a world that's not going to kill us, or mock us, or hunt us. "It's okay, Lindsey."

"You really mean it?" Lindsey says, fear and something like elation warring behind those big, expressive eyes of hers. They make her look so young, even now when she looks so tired and worn by the world she's had to fight through.

I give her a fortifying little squeeze. "I do."

Lindsey gives a grateful smile, and I feel... Good. Upbeat.

Unlike before, I feel like I've helped — truly, actually helped — her. Maybe some day Kam will even see fit to relax around her. I understand why she wouldn't, but... There's hope.

Lindsey's phone buzzes. I reach for it, but she pulls away and snatches it up before I get there. I've seen that look.

"Everything okay?"

"No, yeah... Just... Warrant came through. Big case." She holds up her phone. "Sorry. Gotta go."

She doesn't bother with pleasantries.

I get it. It sucks, but I get it. Lindsey doesn't have magic — at least, not magic she can use without risking the wrath of the Guild for being an unlicensed practitioner — but she still has a job that, like mine, requires her to drop everything at a moment's notice.

She's a hero still...

I want to be bitter. To do as I did before, when I let myself go to the darkest places inside. To fixate on how she still had that sense of justice — warped as it may be — when I'd lost mine. But then I feel something I haven't felt in awhile: righteous indignation.

Kam.

I lean back in my chair and sigh. I let her emotions wash over me. It's not being in her, but the feeling of it combined with how Lis worked me over earlier has me feeling so relaxed that I don't notice I've dozed off until my phone startles me awake.

Hours have passed.

And Kam's nervous.

I take out my phone and see the alert: a video, posted to a channel I followed from a burner account. Kam's channel. Without bothering to ask her, I just start watching.

And she's magnetic.

Even if I didn't love her, even if I didn't know her... She's amazing at this.

When it's done, I don't bother to overthink it.

T: You're amazing, you know that?

There's only the briefest pause before—

K: I love you so much
T: Love you, too <3

And then, I remember the business we're both in.

T: What did Jessica say when you showed it to her?
K: Uhhhhh...

When she doesn't answer, I know she's on with Jessica. Fear. Panic. I want to make it better. I'm about to teleport, to be there by her side, when I feel it subside. Relief replaces it, then resolve. And then, I remember Rory.

He and I haven't talked.

I hope Kam can lend me some strength for what I have to say.