"If I'm not allowed to blame myself for dragging everyone else into this, neither are you." He fixed her with a serious stare. "I'm not kidding, Kenzie. Stop saying it. Stop thinking it."

She swallowed. "It's so much pain and death over me. Because of me. I know it's not my fault, that I didn't ask for it-"

"No, you didn't." None of us did. "Steven knew he probably wasn't going to make it out of there. He felt responsible for Charles's actions, and he was willing to risk his life to stop him." He reached over and squeezed her hand. "So we're going to do it for him."

She squeezed back. "You think we can?"

I think we have to. "If we can find him."

"We can-" She paused and tilted her head to the side. "Nick's coming. Well, I suppose everyone's coming, but I can hear Nick."

Jackson looked up in time to see Nick and Alec walk through the dining room door, arguing, with Marcus close behind.

"Just admit you were p.i.s.sed off about it," Nick demanded.

"There was nothing to be p.i.s.sed off about."

"Except for the fact that Marcus had more women crawling on him, and you can't stand that."

"Honey, if you think I'm that insecure, you haven't been paying attention."

She groaned and s.n.a.t.c.hed an apple from the gla.s.s bowl on the table as Alec jerked out the chair next to Mackenzie's. "How exhausting is it, Alec, carrying around that ego?"

Alec scrubbed a hand over his face. "A lot less exhausting than listening to you b.i.t.c.h all the time."

Jackson sighed. "If you two keep bickering like this, people are going to think you're having s.e.x."

Alec laughed and scooted over so Marcus could slide another chair in next to his. "Only people who don't have to watch her lovesick puppy routine around Derek."

Nick sat beside Jackson and shrugged. "Whatever, Jacobson. You already spilled the beans. The man loves me."

"Uh-huh. G.o.d help him." Alec leaned forward and stole Jackson's coffee. "So, Casanova, have we got a plan?"

"We go home. We look for him, and we get ready." What he didn't say, what Alec already knew, was that they wouldn't find Charles Talbot if he wanted to hide. They couldn't.

But he would come to them.

"What about Mahalia? Is she staying in New York?"

"Far as I know." Mahalia didn't particularly want to see any of them, and he didn't blame her.

Mackenzie spoke, her tone oddly protective. "Marcus wants to go to New York. Can you arrange for him to meet with your father, Nick? Maybe he can answer some of your sister's questions about Charles."

She smiled. "Sure. Marcus mentioned something about it last night. I'm going to call Daddy this morning."

Marcus nodded. "Nick thinks her father can help me talk to the Conclave about Eddie."

"Right." Nick twisted the stem from her apple. "I'm going to call Ronnie Coleman, too. She mediates for the Conclave, but I think she'd be interested in Eddie's case."

"Good." Mackenzie squeezed Marcus's shoulder lightly. "They can protect him, right? I mean, in case-in case anyone comes after him?"

Nick barked out a laugh. "Charles Talbot's crazy, but he's not crazy enough to try waltzing through the Conclave. Though we'd all be lucky if he tried it. They'd eat him alive."

Jackson nodded. "Marcus would be a guest, ent.i.tled to every protection. They'd guard his life with theirs."

"Good," Mackenzie said again. "We can call you if we have questions, but you need to go and make sure Eddie's okay."

Jackson watched as Marcus smiled at her. "Thank you, Mackenzie. For everything."

She shrugged and reached for her teacup. "So we're going home. I don't know what else to do."

Jackson tightened his fingers around hers. "Home. We'll figure something out."

Mackenzie nodded. "We'll figure something out."

Alec finished the cup of coffee he'd stolen from Jackson and picked up a m.u.f.fin. "We flying? We lost the posh private jet."

"I could get it back," Nick offered, "but it'd be faster to fly commercial."

"Then that's the plan." Jackson eyed Marcus appraisingly. "Do you need us to make arrangements to get you to New York?"

"No, I can get there, as long as someone will let me see Eddie when I do."

"Nick'll take care of it." Alec rose with his m.u.f.fin in one hand and dug his cell phone out with the other. "I'm going to book a flight."

"Business cla.s.s, at least." Nick shot him a warning look. "Don't cheap out on us."

"Yeah, yeah." Alec grinned at Jackson. "I'll be in room five-twenty. Meet me up there when y'all are done eating."

Jackson waved a hand. "What are you going to do when we get back to New Orleans, Kenzie?"

She shrugged. "I want to figure out a way to fight, but I don't know what to do. He's so powerful. That magic... Is there anything he can't do with it? How am I supposed to-"

"You're not," Jackson interrupted, crumpling his napkin in his free hand. "We are. We'll find a way. Together."

Mackenzie squeezed his hand but looked at Marcus. "He's going to come after me, isn't he? He's not going to give up."

"He's traded everything for this. His life, his family. Even his sanity." He clasped his hands on the table and frowned at them. "Giving up isn't an option."

The hair on the back of Jackson's neck rose, and he thumped the table near Marcus's hands. "Hey. Don't even think about it. Not alone."

Marcus shot him an irritated, defiant look. "The man raised me, and I never even-"

"Not alone," Jackson repeated firmly. "n.o.body is going after him solo. All you'll do is get yourself killed." Oh, you're terribly reasonable, aren't you, Holt? Now that he doesn't have your girlfriend? He ignored the voice and glanced at Nick. "Help me out here."

She patted Marcus's hands. "He's serious. Besides, you'd be better off helping your friend-and my father-in New York. Really, Marcus."

Mackenzie curled her free hand over Marcus's arm. "The man raised you, Marcus. That's why you never thought he was doing anything wrong. But you didn't ignore the truth when you saw it. You found out what was going on and you did your best to make it right. That's all anyone has a right to ask of you, and I'll kick your a.s.s if you do something stupid."

"All right." He sighed and smiled. "I'd better go make my own arrangements to leave. Goodbye, Mackenzie."

"You have Nick's number? And Jackson's?" She sounded like a worried mother letting her child out of her sight for the first time. "In case anything happens, you should have both."

Marcus rolled his eyes, but his smile didn't fade. "I have everyone's numbers. I'll be okay."

"Okay." She leaned over to give Marcus a slightly awkward hug. "Just...be careful, okay? You owe me a lot of help with this whole giant-cat thing."

"I suppose I do, at that." He rose and saluted Nick. "I'll be in touch."

She sprang out of her chair and hugged him quickly. "Come to New Orleans when you can. We can go out without Alec this time. We'll have more fun."

Marcus offered his hand, and Jackson shook it firmly. "Thank you for what you did for Mackenzie. I'll remember."

Marcus nodded. "So will I." He waved and walked away.

Mackenzie watched him go, an odd look on her face. When Jackson slipped back into his chair, she sighed. "I know it's stupid to feel guilty, but I turned his life upside-down."

"Charles turned his life upside-down." Jackson picked up his empty coffee cup and set it down again. "Ready to head out? Depending on what Alec books, we've probably got a long day of traveling ahead of us."

"Yeah. I suppose we do." She shoved away her teacup and reached for the last m.u.f.fin in the bowl. "Am I going to be stuck in these clothes indefinitely?"

Nick wrinkled her nose. "I hope not. You're going to burn up in fleece."

"No." Jackson shook his head. "It wouldn't make much sense to hide you from him when he'd have to know you're with us."

"As soon as we get back to New Orleans, we'll take care of it. Give me five minutes, and I'll have you looking like a star," Nick promised, grabbing another apple. "Want to head up?"

"Yeah." Mackenzie rose to her feet. "Let's go home."

Home. Jackson put a protective hand on the small of her back. "That's the best d.a.m.n thing I've heard all week."

Chapter Twenty-Four.

Jackson pa.s.sed Alec the last bag from the trunk and pulled his ringing phone from his pocket. "Kat. Is there a problem?"

"I take it you haven't listened to my five frantic messages?"

"My battery's almost dead," he told her, alarmed. "What's wrong?"

She sounded more aggravated than afraid, but it was hard to tell for sure with Derek's annoyed voice in the background. "Someone broke into the office and my apartment. Derek's got me rolled in bubble wrap and stashed in a closet-"

"I should have you on a plane out of the state!"

Kat raised her voice and talked over her cousin. "I'd sort of like to know what the h.e.l.l is going on now."

He froze. "Ask Derek if he smelled anything odd."

Kat made an outraged noise a second before Derek's voice came on the phone. "I heard the question. And no, nothing odd. Normal human smells, mostly soap and aftershave. Could be they loaded up on it on purpose to screw up any trail that they'd leave, though. Kat's computer at the office was trashed."

It didn't sound like something Charles Talbot would have done. "We're at Alec's house. Keep Kat away from her apartment, and I'll have Nick check out the office. Thanks, Derek."

"Wait just a G.o.d d.a.m.n minute, Holt. You can't send Nick running into the middle of that s.h.i.t by herself."

Jackson remembered Alec's words and groaned. Derek was already in a protective rage, and the last thing they needed was to rile him even more by endangering Nick. "Fine, we'll have someone else do it. Just stick close to Kat."

"Oh, she's not going anywhere. So figure this out before she kills me."

"Yeah, will do." He hung up and cursed as he made his way up the steps and through the door. "Alec?"

Alec wasn't in the living room, but Mackenzie was there, digging through the duffle bag he'd retrieved from Mahalia's. She jerked her head toward the back of the house. "He said he was going to his study to make some calls."

Jackson flipped the deadbolt home. "I have to go talk to him. Someone broke into our office and Kat's apartment while we were gone."

The blood drained from Mackenzie's face, but Alec's heavy footsteps in the hallway forestalled her reply. He strode into the living room with his phone against his ear and a frown. "What the f.u.c.k? The office and Kat's place?"

"Yeah. Doesn't sound like the kind of thing Talbot would do, unless he's trying to create a diversion. I thought we'd ask Nick to check it out, but Gabriel got growly about that. Any ideas?"

"s.h.i.t." Alec sighed and tilted his head back, and Jackson knew from experience he was weighing priorities in his head. Finally he blew out another breath and nodded. "Okay. I'm going to lock this place the h.e.l.l down. You get a d.a.m.n gun out of my garage and keep an eye on Mackenzie while I head to the office."

"Check the files, okay? Derek said they destroyed Kat's computer."

"Yeah, I will." Alec tossed the phone at Jackson. "Your freaky psychic called twice. He sounds even more paranoid than usual."

They'd used Wesley Dade as a contact before. His precognition was among the most reliable Jackson had seen, but Wesley usually didn't call him out of the blue. "I'll see what's up. It could be related to the break-ins." Or to Talbot.

"Good." Alec turned on his heel, striding toward the back of his house and the attached garage. "Lock up behind me, and ward yourself and Mackenzie to h.e.l.l and back."

When his partner had gone, Jackson turned to Mackenzie. "Looks like more excitement. You have enough to worry about. I'm sorry."

Mackenzie's fingers tightened around a shirt she'd pulled from the bag until her knuckles turned white. "Kat's okay, right?"

"h.e.l.l yeah. She's fine." He pried her fingers from the shirt. "You met her cousin, remember? He's not going to let anything happen to her."

"Her cousin." Mackenzie's eyebrows came together, but she released the shirt finally. "Derek? The one Nick has a crush on? He's Kat's cousin?"

"Yeah. s.h.i.t, I thought I told you." He pulled her over to sit on the couch and lowered his arm around her shoulders. "Derek will watch out for Kat."

"You might have told me." Mackenzie took a breath and let it out in a tired sigh as she leaned closer. "G.o.d, I've learned so much in a week, my head can't hold it all. I'm surprised I know my own-" She stopped abruptly and laughed hysterically. "Oh G.o.d, I didn't know my own name."

He tucked her head against his shoulder. "First, it'll catch up with you. Later, you'll catch up with it. You'll see."

She was silent for so long he started to think she'd dozed off, but finally she turned her head until her breath tickled his neck. "Thank you."