I smiled at the memory. “Well, Mike was kind of loud.”

“I thought you were going to take off, but you just went back to your book.” He stared at the city. “I wasn’t exactly a nice person back then. Anyone besides you would have run away.”

“I knew there were things out there a lot scarier than you.” I sipped my beer. “And I actually liked you guys.”

“I don’t know why you liked us. We were on the fast track to nowhere back then.” He turned his face toward me. “I know your uncle didn’t think much of me, and he was right. I was bad news, and I don’t blame him for not wanting me around you.”

“Nate and I didn’t agree on a lot of things. And you weren’t that bad. You were always good to me.”

He frowned. “Before I met you I was a total asshole. I had a juvie record, and I was headed down a pretty bad road. Mike and me were all ready to drop out and join up with a bike gang out of Boston. They were hard core. You had to pull an armed robbery in order to get into the gang.”

His revelation stunned me. I knew he’d had a bad rep, but I’d never thought of him as a criminal. “What stopped you?”

“You did.”

“Me?”

“There was something about you that made me want to be a better person.” He blew out his breath. “I know that sounds cheesy, but it’s true. After I met you, I didn’t want to do that crazy stuff anymore.”

It took me a minute to recover from my shock. “Remember what I told you last night about me being half undine? It can affect humans, especially guys, and they start acting different around me.”

“Maybe that’s true, and it might be what made me sit at your table, but you’re a good person, Sara. You were too good for me and the rest of the guys back home.”

“Is that why you threatened violence on any boy at school who hurt me?” I smiled at his look of surprise. “Roland told me.”

He grinned, not the least bit embarrassed. “I meant it, too.”

“Greg, I –” I started to asked him again about whatever had been worrying him, but I was interrupted by his cell phone.

“Sorry, have to take this.” He walked to the other side of the roof and I watched him as he spoke to the caller. His voice rose a few times and I picked up snatches of the conversation. I heard him say the name Draegan several times, as well as his uncle’s and cousin’s names. He looked haggard when he hung up and joined me again.

I crossed my arms and confronted him before he even reached me. “Greg, who was that? What is going on?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. You look like hell every time you get one of those calls.”

He drank down the last of his beer. “It’s just family stuff. I told you my cousin is having a rough time.”

I wasn’t going to let him off the hook this time. I’d seen real fear on his face a minute ago. “Who is Draegan, and what does he have to do with your cousin?”

Panic flashed in his eyes before he schooled his expression. “He’s no one,” he answered in a hard voice. “Leave it alone, Sara.”

“Don’t do that,” I pleaded. “I know you’re in trouble, and I’m betting it has to do with your uncle. Tell me. Maybe I can help you.”

He sighed roughly. “You can’t help me with this. No one can.”

The defeat in his voice shook me. Greg had never sounded so helpless. I laid my hand on his arm. “How do you know that if you don’t tell me what it is?”

He pulled away and put a few feet between us. “I’m not getting you involved in this. It’s too dangerous.”

“Greg, in the last few months, I have been attacked by vampires, demons, witches, mutant hyenas, you name it. I’ve seen things that would give anyone nightmares for the rest of their lives. I can take care of myself, and I’m not alone. I have two werewolves and a Mohiri warrior downstairs. You know Roland and Peter will want to help you, too. Trust me when I tell you we are exactly the people you want to get involved in this.”

He reached for his beer and saw it was empty. I handed him my bottle which was still half full. He took a long swig before he looked at me again. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can.” I took his hand, something I’d never done before, and his callused fingers closed around mine. “Just tell me, and we’ll figure it out together.”

He made an angry noise and pulled me over to the patio area. Once we were seated on the couch, he raked his hands through his hair. I waited quietly for him to speak.

“In June, my cousin Danny got sick and they found out it was leukemia. He went through a round of treatments, and the doctors told Uncle Leo and Aunt Mary that it didn’t look good. In October, he just went into remission. The doctors didn’t know what to make of it.

“Then Uncle Leo was killed in a car crash on his way to visit them. It was a big blow, especially with everything Danny was going through. Aunt Mary couldn’t leave him so she asked me to come out here and take care of everything for her. It was only supposed to take a week or so. But a few days after I got here, a guy showed up at the door, saying he worked for someone named Draegan, and he was here to collect on a debt Uncle Leo owed him. I told him I needed to see proof of how much money Uncle Leo owed, and we would pay him when we sold off this place.”