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I have to get back in there.”
    He left me on the sidewalk crumbling to
pieces and with so many questions that I didn’t know where to
start. But I had the sick feeling that he was right.
    Did I really run when things got hard? Was I
that much of a coward?
    As much as I wanted to run now, his words
made it clear that I couldn’t. At least, not yet. First, I needed
to see Exie and Sloane and figure out what the hell he was talking
about.

Chapter Four
     
    There were no cabs near the Slowdown so I had
to walk to a nearby restaurant and call one. While I waited, I
ordered an iced tea and nibbled on soft pretzel sticks.
    I wasn’t hungry at all. In fact, after
Ryder’s confrontation, I was nervous I would just puke the pretzels
back up. Still, after waitressing for over a year, I knew what it
was like on the other side. I thought I should not waste my
server’s time.
    As soon as the cab arrived, I threw some cash
down on the table and ran back outside. I was too close to Ryder
still. I needed as much space as I could get to clear my head and
figure out what to do next.
    I gave the cab driver directions to Exie’s
house first, but everything looked abandoned. There were no lights
on and the grass hadn’t been cut in a while. It pushed onto the
sidewalk and driveway along the edges, looking sloppy and
neglectful.
    Echo would have never allowed the yard to
look like this if she were still living here. I didn’t know what to
think about that.
    I realized belatedly that I should have tried
to get a rental car at the airport. While I had enough money for
cabs, I didn’t want to spend my entire day driving around the city
in them. Unfortunately, not even my fake passport had my age as old
enough to legally rent a car, and without my Siren’s curse, I had
no hope of convincing a clerk to give me one anyway.
    So with few options, I instructed the driver
how to get to Sloane’s house next. If she wasn’t home I didn’t know
what I was going to do or where I would go after.
    My options right now wavered between going
back to the island or calling for Hermes.
    I had a strong feeling Tortola was not where
I wanted to be, but then again, I really, really, really didn’t want to call Hermes.
    I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or
anxious when Sloane’s house showed signs of life. The lawn had been
taken care of, blinds were open and so was the garage door,
revealing Sloane’s mom’s car.
    I paid the driver, grabbed my purse and
slammed the door shut behind me. My feet dragged as I walked up to
the front door.
    Sloane and I hadn’t left things on the best
of terms, but I still loved her. If she was in trouble, I wanted to
help.
    I had always wanted to help her. She just
hadn’t let me.
    The cab drove away and I felt very alone and
suddenly very afraid. I wouldn’t put it past Sloane’s mom, Thalia,
to knock me unconscious, tie me up and hold me until Nix showed
up.
    I was banking on the fact that some love had
been lost between Thalia and Nix after Anaxandra and Evaleen were
killed last year.
    Initially she had blamed me. I hoped she’d
realized by now that I wasn’t her daughter’s murderer. I had tried
to save Eva from Nix’s plans.
    Shaking out my unease, I met Thalia in the
garage. She had stepped back outside to get groceries from her
trunk. Her long dark hair was pinned in a bun on the top of her
head and worked with her glasses to give her the whole sexy
librarian vibe.
    Nix had turned Thalia into a career girl for
him a long time ago. Her house, car and clothes reflected her
success. From a distance she looked pristine… shiny. She looked
like a trophy wife made from every man’s fantasies.
    After spending so much time on the island and
away from the Greek circle, her beauty was startling. I had
forgotten that they, er, that we were so flawlessly
pretty.
    “What are you doing here?” she snapped as
soon as her cold gaze landed on me. “He’ll kill you if he finds
you. You shouldn’t have come