"Yes. Just for a little bit," she pleaded. "Until we know what we're dealing with. There was a girl in the library today, she'd been by the Perk. It was empty. No customers, no employees. That makes no sense. Unless people are starting to disappear on the island now."

Isabel's phone chose that moment to beep. Given the circumstances, she immediately checked the message and had to fight hard against flinging the phone against the wall after she'd clicked it off. "Principal Winchester can't find Sam or Peter. They've been gone since this morning."

"Would you think about what you're saying?" Even though she was frustrated as hell, Isabel tried to dial it back because both of them yelling would not end well. "How are you going to do that? Magic? Do you know it'll work? My god Wyatt, Peter was pretty damned powerful himself. And now he's missing. I don't want to be the next one making calls."

"They're going to have to come through the kitchen door and go through you to do it, because until we have a better idea of what we're dealing with, I don't plan on leaving the house unless you're walking me up to the library." It was the best plan Isabel had to keep him safe for the time being. "So unless you plan on leaving me here alone, I think I'm pretty safe."

"Just twenty-four hours," she said quietly. "That's all I'm asking. Let's try and get a handle on what this is first."

He'd made his choice then.

Isabel took a deep breath and nodded. "Fine. At least eat some dinner first."

Proper tactics called for reconnaissance first. Learning the enemies' weakness so that it could then be exploited when you did finally go on the offensive. But Isabel had only spent six months helping fight a war on another planet. What would she know?

Subdued, she moved about the kitchen for a few minutes before setting two plates of pasta on the table for them. "Here, eat."