I strapped my boot knife in place with a sigh of relief. In boots, jeans, and a plain t-shirt I finally felt like myself again. The pieces of my suit lay scattered around my room like fallen soldiers, so eager had I been to strip out of it.

A fresh bandaid lay across my palm. Evan had insisted on placing it there himself before I could change. With a centering breath, I told myself not to read too much into it.

Ready to face the world, I snagged a shirt from my dad’s room on the way downstairs.

They were just finishing up their gadgets as I entered the living room. While Espy was Beni’s companion officially, as Magda she was rather like a big sister to us all. Because of her leg, she didn’t take much to the field anymore. Instead, she’d been turning her brains to advancing the cause in other ways. Kind of like how Unky had become our brightest inventor, Esperanza’s tech wizardry had taken our mission to the next level. She could track all the Saints on jobs, hack official documents for us, and even use secret satellite surveillance to triangulate likely nests--and that was just the stuff I knew about.

“Here.” I tossed Dad’s shirt to Evan.

He’d already taken off his coat and tie, but he caught the shirt in the air and headed to the kitchen.

Deliberately, I turned away from him to Beni. “All setup?”

“Think so.” Her voice was as casual as mine, but there was a knowing look in her eye.

Evan came back in Dad’s shirt, the button-down over his arm.

“Let’s begin,” Espy said, reaching for her tablet.

“Don’t we need to wait for--” I stopped. We didn’t have to wait for Dad anymore. Evan was my senior partner now. “I mean, I’m ready.”

Espy flicked her fingers across the touchscreen, and news articles bloomed on the TV. Some were decades old or more, but they all had something in common. Each headline was a missing persons case, a man and a woman. With another swipe, a new batch of clippings flowed across the screen. Obituaries. Only the men were in them.

“As you know,” she began. “When I retired from the field I entered the fight in other ways--”

“You’re making it sound too boring.” Beni broke in, voice filled with pride. “Auntie’s been working on this database. She’s cross-referencing everything we know about the feeding and hunting patterns of the Damned with unusual deaths and disappearances all over the country. You know, looking for patterns where there shouldn’t be any. It’s really cool!”

“Traditionally we focus our efforts on urban areas.” Espy took over, much more modest than Beni. “The Damned can hide their victims as just another death in a city, especially one with a large transient or homeless population. A few weeks ago I changed my search parameters, and noticed something troubling in a small college town called Rossberg.”

“Rossberg…” Something pinged in my brain. “I think Dad and I have been through that area on jobs before. A long time ago, maybe.”

Maps and surveys popped up on-screen next, with a blinking light in the middle of nowhere.

“Richard does have a safehouse about thirty miles out of town limits,” she confirmed. "I've already secured the use of it."

“A college town, you said?” I was starting to connect the dots. “Sounds like a transient population to me.”

“Exactly,” Espy said. “Ross University was founded in 1890. Since that time there have been twelve cases that can’t be explained away by normal collegiate shenanigans. Every ten years a young couple goes missing. The man later turns up dead. The woman is never found.”

“That’s why you wanted us,” Evan said. “Seth and Beni are the right age.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “This year is the year of the next attack, lucky thirteen, so we’ll pose as lovers and infiltrate the school.”

Beni blew me a kiss, and I rolled my eyes.

“But how do we know they’ll take the bait?” Evan asked. “There’s, what, hundreds of kids on campus?”

“I’m O-neg, remember?” I said. “What leech will pass up an opportunity to feed on a universal?”

“I don’t like it,” he said. “There’s too many variables.”

“He sounds like you,” Beni teased her aunt.

“Since this is a recurring pattern, we can safely assume the Damned will have local contacts.” Espy ignored her. “If Seth donates at a blood bank, I imagine word will spread of a new universal in town.”

He was silent for a beat, then sighed. “I suppose you’ve already drawn up a dossier?”

“Out of hopeful preparedness,” came the gracious reply.

“Excellent!” Beni beamed, grabbing my wrist. “I’ll help Seth get packed.”

“The brief--” I tried to protest as she dragged me to the stairs.

“Oh, you can read it on the way.” She practically threw me in my room and closed the door. “All right, spill.”

“Spill what?” I rubbed my wrist out of theater.

Not that she cared. “What’s going on with you and Evan?”

I stared at her for a second too long, and then headed to the closet to grab my duffle. “Nothing.”

“Something’s changed.” Her tone left no room for argument. “The...energy, or whatever, between you guys is different.”

Sighing, I tossed the bag on my bed. “Nothing’s going on, but I did come out to him today.”

“No way!” Her eyes lit up, and she plopped down next to me. “And how’d he take it?”

“He--” touched my face “--took it fine, actually.”

“See?” She said, sounding quite pleased with herself. “No big deal. Not everyone is like Pacey.”

“Right.” I tossed an old sweater at her head.

She ducked. “Seriously, though, I’m proud of you. What about your dad?”

A chill tickled down my neck. “One thing at a time, Ben.”

“I get it,” she said. “My dad’s not the most enlightened type either. He still thinks I’m a virgin.”

“It’s not really that,” I said. “I’m just not ready.”

“And that’s fair,” she said instantly. “It takes how long it takes, from what I hear.”

“If anything, I’m afraid he’ll act more okay with it than he really is,” I said. “Sometimes I think he’s afraid to let me down. He’s always tried so hard to be both parents for me, you know?”

“I do know,” she said softly.

We fell silent, both lost in our mama trauma. My hands found the clothes I wanted to take on autopilot.

“Think Evan’s done picking apart the plan, yet?” asked Beni.

I laughed. “We should go rescue Espy.”

I held out the strap of my bag to her, picking up my weapons chest myself. Together we marched downstairs.

As expected, both senior partners were flipping pages back and forth, murmuring to each other.

“I think that will do it.” Evan looked up at me. “Ready to go?”

“All set.”

“Then let’s get to work,” he said. “The Damned won’t redeem themselves, will they, partner?”

Partner.

I tried not to let the word do things to me. Evan and I were brothers now, and that was all we would (or could) ever be. Together we would free the spark of Spirit trapped in the Damned, like every other pair of companions. I would be the best partner any Saint could hope for, the best knight, and Evan would never know I wanted to drown in his green eyes. He’d have no reason to think I wasn’t worthy.

“Let’s get to work,” I said.