Geometry. Like she was ever going to use that. Sometimes she thought about quitting school and just working full time. Then, she could definitely afford a cheap apartment.

But Mama had made her promise that she would graduate high school and at least think about college.

“What are we going to tell her, Adam?”

She paused at the frantic sound of Elisabeth’s voice.

Tell her? Tell who?

“The truth,” Adam replied. “What else can we say?”

“The truth? We don’t even know what the truth is. Would she really leave without Ágata?”

“She would if she thought it was safer that way, Elisabeth,” Adam replied solemnly.

“This is going to kill Ágata, Adam,” Elisabeth cried. “I can’t do that to her. I can’t tell her that her mom has just disappeared.”

What?

What the fuck?

Ágata could feel herself growing numb. Her heartbeat slowed. The world around her dimmed.

Mama was gone? Disappeared? Without her?

No, no. They had to be wrong. She wouldn’t. No!

She stumbled forward, banging into the table. A chair scraped across the floor and their voices immediately grew quiet.

“Estefania?” Elisabeth asked, racing into the room. She came to a sudden stop, her face falling as soon as she saw it was Ágata and not her mama standing there. Then she smiled. But Ágata could tell it was forced. It didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, Ágata, you’re home early.”

Adam walked in, his face serious. They were a similar age to her mother. Adam had a thick build and dark hair that was going gray around his temples. Elisabeth was petite, her blond hair cut in a bob. Mama said she’d known them for years, even before Ágata was born. That she trusted them implicitly.

“I better make you some dinner. What do you feel like?” Elisabeth fluttered around, not meeting Ágata’s eyes.

So Ágata moved her gaze to Adam. He appeared grim. Even more serious than usual. Adam was a straight shooter. She knew he’d tell her the truth.

“Tell me.”

“Ágata,” Elisabeth said hesitantly as she drew some leftovers out of the fridge.

“Tell me. Just tell me.”

“You should eat first,” Elisabeth said.

“No. Tell me.” She could feel the tears developing, but she forced them back.

She had to be strong.

Always so fucking strong. But she could do this. She could take anything.

“Your mother left.”

“Adam!” Elisabeth said, dropping the glass she’d been reaching for in shock.

It shattered, and Adam immediately turned his attention to Elisabeth. “Baby, be careful!” He walked over and picked her up, carrying her away from the mess.

Tears were dripping down her face and Ágata moved to grab the brush and pan to clean it up.

“Ágata, sweetheart, leave it,” Adam ordered.

She glanced over to find that Adam had set Elisabeth down on a chair at the table and was moving toward her.

“Go sit down.” His tone was gentle, but it was clear to tell it was a command.

She moved to sit across from Elisabeth. “Mama really left?” Ágata shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t leave me behind.”

“Oh, Ágata.” Elisabeth stared at her with such sympathy that anger stirred. She didn’t want to be pitied.

The kids at school had been complete assholes when she’d first started. Most of them had spat out abuse at her on a daily basis. But she didn’t give a shit. She just stared them down until they backed off. Now, they left her alone.

She could deal with that. She could deal with just about anything.

But Mama leaving her . . . no, that might be the thing that broke her.

“She wouldn’t leave me.” Ágata knew she was repeating herself, but she didn’t know what else to say.

“I’m so sorry,” Elisabeth whispered. “But you know you’re welcome to stay here. We’ll take care of you.”

“No! No!” She stood up. Her chair flew backward.

Elisabeth flinched, and Adam placed his hands on her shoulders. Shoot. She hadn’t meant to upset Elisabeth. It was just . . . Mama wouldn’t do this to her.

She knew Ágata needed her.

“Ágata,” Adam said. “You know something was going on in your mom’s life. Something she wouldn’t talk about.”

Ágata frowned. “You mean the reason she entered the cult in the first place, right? That there was something or someone she feared.”

Elisabeth and Adam looked at each other. Adam nodded.

“Do you think . . . do you think someone took her?”

“Oh, honey, no.” Elisabeth shook her head.

“No, that has to be it. Someone’s taken her.” She wouldn’t have left of her own free will. No way. “I have to call Gordie. He’ll help find her.”

“We can’t call Agent Gordon, Ágata,” Adam said calmly.

“Why not? He’s the freaking FBI. It’s his job to find missing people, right?”

“She’s not missing,” Adam said. “There’s a note.”

“What? A note? No.” A note would imply that Mama left of her own free will.

Ágata just kept shaking her head. “No. No.”

“I’m so sorry, Ágata,” Elisabeth said again.

Why did she keep saying that? It didn’t help.

“She left a note for you and one for us,” Adam said. “I’ll go get them. We haven’t read yours.”

He returned with two letters that he handed to Ágata. But she couldn’t do this here. In front of them.

Jumping to her feet, she raced into her bedroom and flopped down on the bed. She pressed her hands to her eyes and took several deep breaths.

There had to be some mistake. Her mama wouldn’t leave her.

No way.

She was just gone for a bit. Maybe she needed a break. Or she was going to work away for a while.

Shit.

She chose the easiest one first. The one to Adam and Elisabeth.

My dearest friends,

I’m so sorry to have to do this. But you know I wouldn’t unless it was necessary. For all of our safety, I have to leave, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.

I know I’ve already asked so many favors of you, but I have to ask one more. Please look after my Ágata. I tried to keep her with me, to live a normal life. But it’s not possible. He won’t allow it.

Love her like she was your own. I wouldn’t ask it of you if I didn’t know that you would do this for me.

I’ll be forever in your debt.

Estefania.

A sob broke free, but she pushed it back. She couldn’t . . . she wouldn’t let the pain escape. Not yet. Not until she read the second letter.

Her hands shook as she opened the envelope.

My darling Ágata,

You’re my greatest treasure. The love of my life. The one thing I did right in the world. I am so proud of you.

But I’ve made some mistakes in my life. Things I regret doing. People I regret getting involved with. Becoming a part of the Children of the Divine is the least of my transgressions.

I have to leave, Mija. I know you will be angry with me. I know you won’t understand why. But I’m doing it to keep you safe, sweet girl. Adam and Elisabeth will look after you. I know that you haven’t known them long, but they are good people. Please respect them.

I know how headstrong you can be. How brave and loyal. You are my daughter, after all.

But do not try to come after me, Mija. I have to follow the path I started, and you can’t walk it with me.

Just know that I love you. More than anything,

Mama

And that’s when the dam broke. The tears came. She sobbed. Huge, heaving sobs that made her feel ill. By the time she stopped crying, she felt utterly drained. As though there was no moisture left in her.

She was empty inside.

But there was something she had to ask Adam and Elisabeth. Stumbling to her feet, she moved to the small bathroom across the hall and splashed water on her face.

She stared at herself.

She didn’t recognize the girl staring back at her. Leaving the cult had been hard. Leaving her friends behind . . . she thought it would be the worst thing she’d have to endure.

Turns out she was wrong.

Spinning around, she forced herself to go downstairs. Adam and Elisabeth were sitting in the living room, sipping on hot drinks.

Elisabeth jumped to her feet as Ágata entered. “Sweetheart, can I get you a hot chocolate? What do you need?”

Ágata shook her head and tried to smile. It failed.

“Oh, sweetheart.”

She let Elisabeth hug her. But it was more for the other woman’s sake than for hers.

Because she was numb. Nothing was getting through to her right now.

Adam shot her a knowing look. He got it. He knew how she was feeling.

Maybe.

Because even she wasn’t entirely sure. She was angry, then sad, then confused, and now there was . . . nothing.

“I need to ask you something,” she said as Elisabeth moved back.

“You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, Ágata,” Elisabeth said. “You know we think of you as family. Like our niece.”

That was really sweet. But it wasn’t what she needed to ask. However, she made herself nod. It had been challenging to unlearn everything she’d been taught while living at the Camp.

In the Camp, it had been all about keeping things from the Deity and his Sentinels. Sneaking around and keeping them happy while doing what she wanted.

Things were different out here, yet kind of the same. There was always an authority figure that you needed to hide things from.

She licked her lips. “Do you know who Mama is hiding from?”

They shared a look, and her heart raced. Did they know? If they did . . . then she could find them. Destroy them.

And Mama could come home.

Then Elisabeth shook her head. “I’m sorry, sweetie. We don’t.”

Were they telling the truth? She turned to Adam. He wasn’t a man who lied.

He grimaced. “We really don’t. I’ve tried to get Penelope to tell me so many times. When your father died, she was beside herself. She was hysterical. We brought her back here. We tried to get her to stay with us. She did for a while. You were nearly five, I think.”

She didn’t remember. Shouldn’t she remember?

“You loved my chocolate chip cookies,” Elisabeth said. “Your mama would have nightmares. She’d yell out things. Names. But when I’d ask her about them the next morning, she wouldn’t say anything.”

“Then, one day, we woke up and both of you were gone. We had no idea whether you were alive or dead until you turned up unannounced on our doorstep a year ago,” Adam told her.

“We went to live with the Children of the Divine when I was ten. Or nearly ten. I think I wanted a birthday party when we first moved there and I got upset when someone told me that children didn’t have birthday parties. Mama made me a small cake in secret. We had our own private party. She probably would have been in trouble if we’d been caught.”

“Sounds like Penelope.” Elisabeth smiled sadly. “She’d do anything for you.”

“She left me!” Ágata scrunched the notes up in her hands.

“There has to be a good reason for that,” Elisabeth said.

She looked over at Adam. Was he keeping something from her? People did that. They needed to learn not to underestimate her.

He sighed. “Don’t look at me like that, kid. If I knew something, I’d tell you. Hell, I’ve begged Penelope to tell me what she’s so scared of. But all she’d say is that it was safer for everyone if she didn’t tell us what was going on.” He let out a frustrated breath.

Ágata understood. Mama was stubborn. And protective of her.

She just never thought she would leave her.

Pushing back her tears, she took a deep breath. “She told you nothing?”

“No.” He shook his head. “All I know is that she’s been running and hiding for a long time. I don’t even know how she found the money to move around like she did.”

Ágata hadn’t thought about that. Mama had never worked. Where had she gotten the money?

“Maybe my dad had some money saved up.” She barely knew anything about him. His name was Tom Cooper. They had never used his last name, though and she didn’t know why.

Elisabeth and Adam shared a look.

“What? What is it?” She was so damn sick of being kept in the dark. Maybe if she’d pushed Mama more she would have told her what was going on.

Then, she wouldn’t be in this situation.

You can survive this.

“From what we know of your dad, he, well, he wasn’t always on the right side of the law,” Adam imparted.

“What?” She sank into a chair. “No.”

“I know this is hard to hear, sweetheart,” Elisabeth said. “We tried so many times to convince Penelope to leave him, but she wouldn’t. I guess she loved him. He could be charming. So much fun. But then he had this darker side.”

That wasn’t what Mama had told her. She’d said he was kind and fun. She’d never said he was a criminal.

“That’s not true! Mama would have told me.” She stood, anger thrumming through her. Why were they lying to her? Mama was gone and her dad was dead, and all they wanted to talk badly about him?

“I’m sorry,” Elisabeth said.

Rage flooded Ágata at the pity in her eyes. She didn’t need pity. She needed answers.

“Mama wouldn’t lie to me.”

Still, unease filled her. Because she never thought that she’d leave her either. Getting up, she ran from the room. She didn’t go far though. Her legs didn’t want to carry her. Instead, she slumped against the wall and slid down it so she was sitting on her ass.

What was she going to do without Mama?

It had always been them against the world. Her friends lived hundreds of miles away. Ágata had never felt this alone. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she sniffled. She hated this.

She was strong. Always strong.

Leaning her head against her knees, it was all she could do to hold back the sobs.

“Leave her for a bit, Elisabeth,” Adam said through the open door.

“But she’s hurting. And she has every right to be upset, Adam. How could Penelope just leave her like that?”

“She thinks she’s doing the right thing. It was probably to protect us. But especially Ágata. She knows we’ll look after her.”

“Of course we will. If Ágata will let us. But what if she tries to leave? To find Penelope?”

“Shit,” Adam said.

“Do you think we should have told her about De Almería?” Elisabeth whispered.

Ágata tensed. Who?

“Christ, no. You’re already worried about Ágata running off and you want to give her a target?”

“A target?” Elisabeth asked.

“We don’t know whether De Almería was involved in Tom’s murder,” Adam said. “But there’re rumors Tom was working for him. He could know what happened to him, could know what Penelope is running from. Hell, he could be the reason she’s running. We have no idea. What I do know is that De Almería is bad news, and that Ágata won’t be able to resist going after him. It’s way too dangerous. Hernán De Almería is a bad man. He’ll kill her without a hint of remorse. Or worse.”

Worse?

She swallowed heavily and quietly got to her feet to creep upstairs.

At least now she had a name. Hernán De Almería.

It was a start.

“You sure you want to do this, Ágata?” Aine asked through the phone. She had them all on speaker.

Was she sure? Nope.

But this was what she’d been working toward ever since Mama left. Well, she’d had to finish school first. She’d promised Mama.

However, now it was time to set things in motion.

“I have to,” she told Aine. “You’ve made sure their regular server is out?”

“Yep, I just caught her call in to work saying that she’s got a tummy bug,” Isaac assured her. “Your manager is freaking out.”

Ágata looked at her uniform in the mirror of her crappy apartment. Adam and Elisabeth had wanted her to go to college after graduating from high school. They’d even offered to help her with finances, as well as telling her that she was welcome to live with them as long as she wanted.

But she couldn’t do it. It had felt like she was taking advantage of them.

So instead, soon after graduating high school, she’d moved into this crappy apartment.

It was shitty, located in a bad neighborhood, and the security was non-existent. The first thing she’d done was add her own deadbolt to the door. She also had a baseball bat by the door and knives hidden around the room.

Not a gun. She’d just never been able to bring herself to buy a gun. They kind of scared her. Although she’d never been entirely sure why.

When she left the apartment, she always carried something from the protection kit Aarón had given her. He’d made one up for each of them. Each contained Mace, a stun gun, a rape whistle, a personal alarm, pocket knife, and a folding baton.

Aarón liked them all to be prepared. And safe. The guy was a walking weapon. And considering the way that Renaud’s singing career was picking up, he might need all those skills to keep his brother safe.

Some of those fans could get overzealous.

“I’ve got to do this. You know that. And this is the first chance we’ve had to get close to De Almería.” With that, she ended the call.

Hernán De Almería.

She’d wanted to go after him as soon as she’d learned he might have something to do with her dad’s death. The night she’d heard his name mentioned by Elisabeth and Adam, she’d raced up to her bedroom to call the others.

Thankfully, they’d managed to talk her out of her stupid idea. Getting close to De Almería took some finesse and work. If she’d tried before everything was set up, then she’d have failed.

Or worse, gotten his attention and ended up dead.

De Almería was a bad guy. Isaac’s research into him had built a picture of a dangerous, smart, and powerful man.

No. This was much smarter. Even if it had been hard as hell to wait and plot. He was the only lead he had for how her Dad died. And maybe why Mama had taken off the way she had.

Abandoning her.

Still, he might not have any answers, though. This could all be for naught. Years of planning, and she might end up no further ahead than she was now.

Maybe Mama left because she got sick of taking care of you.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. That wasn’t what happened. Hernán De Almería had to know something about her dad’s death. Isaac had tried to find answers down other avenues, but they couldn’t just go around asking people if they knew how he’d died. Isaac had tried to get hold of any police or coroner reports, but there was nothing.

De Almería was the only clue she had.

She was going to move forward with the plan. Get close to Hernán De Almería and find out what he knew.

Or die trying.