The irony of this was that – he and Veronica had never been aligned like this before. Theo had been determined not to like her, as a boy, when their father had first brought her into their lives; he had been determined never to need her, as a stepmother, as anyone, even when he had learned to like her. He and Cee had known about their father’s secret, the werewolf secret, for a long time before her: they had not shared that at first, either.

But now – now they were closer than they had ever been before, brought near by necessity. They were allies in a new way now. Nathaniel Gallivan had left them both like this. Adrift. (And it was terrible to be relieved for her pain, but Theo – was almost absurdly grateful for this. He didn’t know if he could have done it alone.)

He gave her a jerky nod. No protest. Just – “I’m sorry he did this to you.” It turned out he wasn’t angry at Veronica, after all: his anger was only for his father, for doing this to them all.

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