Mia's face was proud and determined in the light reflecting off the walls as she tried to soothe the toddler, to no avail since she was upset herself. She hadn't had the lantern in the coffee shop. It must have been in the little room upstairs. And it suddenly hit me that this was how Mia and Remus had been getting around, moving under the city to evade the FIB and the I.S. I hadn't even known the tunnels existed, but Mia had probably witnessed their construction.

Mia's eyes flicked to mine, and discovered by my emotions, I stepped out. "Remus is fine, Mia. You have to turn yourself in."

"No I don't," she said, the defiant pride in her voice telling me she wasn't giving up. Ever. "This is my city."

I shook my head. "Things are different." I slowly moved forward. It was frigid down here, and I shivered, edging closer yet. Almost close enough to make the splat ball gun a sure thing. "If you don't come in, the FIB will bring everything against you. I know they look stupid, but they aren't. Without a show of goodwill, Ms. Walker will leave with Holly." I stopped when Mia's chin lifted. "Mia, I swear I will do everything I can to keep Walker from taking her, but you have to help me."

Mia shook her head and backed up. The light in her hand swung wildly over the cold walls, and Holly started to cry. "Remus is right. I'm going back to the old ways. They've kept me alive for hundreds of years. Give me Remus, and leave me and my child alone, or there will be more deaths. You've been warned."

Turning her back on us, Mia headed for the black arch of the tunnel.

My gun swung up, and Ford got in my way. "Mia!" he exclaimed as I tried to edge around him for a clear shot. "Think about your future."

"My future?" The words were a cold, imperialistic bark, and she stopped at the edge of the three-foot drop. "You are children! You are all children! I saw the birth of this city, when she was a wallowing hole that pigs ran through heedlessly. I helped her grow by removing the people who would keep her ignorant and small. This is my city. I built her. How dare you think to put your laws and rules on me and lecture me about the future! I'm not running away. Tell Captain Edden that if the FIB follows me, his son will be in a casket, not a hospital bed. You," she said, child on one hip and light in her hand, "are nothing. Animals to be culled and sucked dry. I am still living among pigs."

I had my gun aimed at her, but I'd have to hit her face for it to do any good with her wearing that heavy winter coat.

"Mia," Ford said in his best psychologist voice, "I'm not as old as you are, but I've lived more heartache and joy than you can comprehend. Don't do this. Love is worth the trial. It's what defines us. Nothing can stain your love for Holly. And you do love her. It is as clear as your voice. Isn't that purity worth some pain? Don't risk losing that from pride!"

From behind me in the stairway came the soft scuffing of shoes. Adrenaline surged, but I couldn't take my eyes from Mia. I'd give anything for Edden or Glenn right about now. Mia's eyes tracked behind me, and her face grew even more determined as I heard the presence of only one person, not the ten I wanted.

"The Turn take it, Morgan, you are worse than my mother," a masculine voice mocked. "Always showing up at the wrong place at the wrong time to mess up my day."

I spun around. I couldn't help it. "Tom!" I exclaimed, backing up and not knowing who to point my gun at anymore. "Get out of here. Mia is my tag!"

Mia's brow furrowed. Dropping my nylons, Tom came even with Ford, his bandaged hand out in warning to me and pointing his wand at the banshee, looking like a bad actor in a fantasy flick. His expression was far too condescending for him to get out of this alive. "You can have her," he said. "All I want is the baby."

Mia's face went white, and my jaw dropped as it all came together. He wasn't trying to bring in Mia. He was working for The Walker. He was a freaking baby snatcher. He hadn't been spying on me when I kept finding him at crime scenes; I'd been messing up his takes.

My face burned, and I shifted the aim of my weapon to him. Slime. And how is the FIB going to find me now? "What do you think you are doing?" I said, but it was obvious. "You can't touch Holly, and Mia sure as hell isn't going to help you."

"Unlike you, Morgan, I don't mind a little smut on my soul," he said grimly, his brow furrowing to tell me that whatever was in his wand wasn't legal—not to mention nasty enough that it bothered him. "Ms. Harbor is going to walk up those stairs and hand that kid to whoever I say." He smiled an ugly smile at the angry woman, standing with her heel at the edge of the drop-off.

"And you walk away with a pocketful of change, huh?" I said, backing up to better get him in my sights. "Subjection spells are nasty, Tom. Did you take the tongue out of the goat yourself, or did you pay someone to do it?"

Tom's jaw clenched, but he didn't move. "What's it going to be, Mia?" he said. "Either walk up those stairs on your own, or you do it charmed."

"Bloody hell witch," she cursed, her head lowered to eye him from under her hair. It was the look of a predator, her eyes black and her muscles tense. Mia let Holly slide from her, and I retreated—getting out of the way; Ford was doing the same. "You won't have her," Mia said, setting her lantern down as well. Hands free, she stepped forward. "I earned this child with blood and death."

Oh, this isn't looking good… Oblivious, Holly patted the floor where the light fell, fascinated with the shadow her chubby hand made and trying to catch it. Getting to her knees, she started crawling, chasing the echoes. I eyed the drop-off. It was far too close for my comfort. "Mia…," I warned, but she wasn't listening.

Mia's eyes had narrowed and her stance shifted. Pulling herself up tall, she became a wronged goddess, her face beautiful and calm, savage and without pity. She was a queen, a giver of life and death, and her eyes shone like black coals. Oh, she was pissed.

"Tom, look out!" I shouted as Mia leapt at him, her hands bent like ugly claws.

Tom panicked, and Mia easily knocked the wand from him. It skittered to the base of the stairs. "You will all die to feed my child," she said, looking small as she stood in front of him. "And I will weep tears to suck your life for all of eternity."

"Mia! Stop!" I shouted, my gun pointed at her. "I won't let you kill him. I'm not going to let him take your baby either. Just stop. Back off and we can find a way. I promise!"

Mia hesitated, either considering it or trying to think of a way to kill us all at once.

"I mean it, Mia," I intoned, and her grip on Tom trembled. A bead of sweat rolled down his face. He understood how close he was to death, not knowing if I'd really bother to save his sorry ass or not. I honestly didn't know why I cared.

Holly squealed in delight, and my eyes darted to her. Fear pulsed through me, and I almost jerked into a run. Oblivious to the anger of the adults, immune to it because of her history, the child was contentedly playing in the shifting light, wobbling on her feet and entranced as she reached for the shadows we were making on the curved wall of the tunnel. She was at the edge of the drop-off. Teetering, she cooed, and Mia's face was riven with indecision. If she moved, Tom would run for his wand. If she didn't, her baby would fall.

"Ford! No!" I shouted as he lunged for the little girl in her pink snowsuit.

"Got you," he exhaled as she tipped into a fall and he pulled her back at the last instant. The two of them landed against the cold floor with a puff of Ford's breath. Holly thumped into his chest, safe. But Ford was holding her.

"Oh God…Ford," I breathed as the little girl peered up at him and smiled that same smile she had given me—right before she pulled my aura away and ate my soul. I couldn't move. If I did, Mia would kill us all.