Eli fell asleep before any of them.The guest room had been quietly rearranged over the past few days — some drawings tacked to the wall, a shelf cleared for whatever Eli might want to put on it, a night light plugged in on the far side of the bed. Nothing overwhelming. Just enough to make it feel like it had been thought about.Gray adjusted the blanket, then reached over and turned off the bedside lamp, leaving only the small light. He didn't want Eli waking in the dark and not knowing where he was."Goodnight, Eli," he said quietly."Goodnight, Eli," Lily whispered from the doorway.They stepped out. Selina was waiting in the hallway."Brother, I'm going to my room!" Lily announced, and was already gone before anyone could respond. Her door closed. A second later, the faint sounds of whatever she was doing on her tablet filtered through it.Gray shook his head. She was gaming. It was always games with her."Is he asleep?" Selina asked."Out immediately," Gray said.She smiled. "He

"I'm already here," Mara said.She'd chosen a table near the window and was sitting with her phone face-up on the table, earphone in, the line open. The cafe was small and quiet — a neighborhood place, not the kind anyone would look twice at.Gray came through the door two minutes later. He didn't look her way. He went straight to the counter, ordered a cup of coffee, opened his laptop, and took a seat two tables back and to the left. Close enough to hear everything through the connection. Far enough that he read, to any casual observer, as a man in a cafe getting some work done.Mara glanced at his reflection in the window. She almost laughed. He was very good at looking ordinary when he wanted to."Is she close?" she asked quietly."Just got a message," Mara said. "She might be here.""Right. Take out the earphone and set it near you. Leave the mic open, I'll record from here."Mara slipped the earphone out and tucked it under the edge of her handkerchief on the table. She glanced a

The election changed the city quickly. Banners went up on lamp posts overnight. Posters appeared on walls and shop windows and the sides of bus shelters all had candidates' faces stacked one above the other in some places, the same intersection carrying four different promises from four different people. Alistair's face was everywhere: the same shot repeated across half the city, a wide smile below large text about hope and protecting the future. His campaign ads started running on television too, Alistair speaking directly to the camera about children's programs, social services, community investment. A better West Arcadia for everyone. He wasn't the only candidate doing this. The city was full of them. Older faces, younger faces, some trying to look serious and some trying to look approachable, all of them saying variations of the same things. But Alistair's presence was the loudest. He'd spent years making himself visible, and the machine he'd built for it was running at full ca

The door opened slowly. Mara's head appeared in the gap."Lily said you needed me?""Yeah." Gray waved her in. "Come in."She stepped inside and looked around. It was Gray's room and she'd never been inside it before, at least not properly or with only two of them alone. It was neat, more organized than she'd expected, though she wasn't sure where that expectation had come from. Everything had a place and was in it. She stood there for a second taking it in.Gray picked up the folded clothes from the corner of the bed and came to her."You're still in your work clothes," he said, holding them out. "I figured you'd want something more comfortable. You've been running around all day."Mara looked at what he was holding. Then at him.She took the clothes slowly. "You prepared these for me?""You're here, so I should take care of that." He said it simply, like it wasn't a remarkable thing to say.Something in Mara's chest moved in a direction she chose not to examine right now."Thank you

# What I Want The first man through the door was tall, with silver starting to thread through his hair and sharp eyes that moved across the room before the rest of him had fully settled. They landed on Alistair. Behind him came a man with round glasses and a mild, unhurried face. The third was younger than Gray had expected — late thirties, maybe, with the composed look of someone who'd found their footing early. Gray recognized all three of them. He kept that to himself. Alistair stepped forward with his hand out. "Gentlemen. I'm very glad you're here." The tall man shook it. "We wouldn't miss something you arranged personally, Alistair." Alistair turned with an arm gesture toward Gray. "Before we sit — let me introduce someone. Gray, a few more people I want you to know." The tall man first. "Leonard Boss. One of the largest real estate development operations in the city." Gray had come across the name in Mara's research. Not connected to the foundation directly, as far as