"My body kept letting Troubles out, and I didn't know how to stop it, but I'd already put enough people in danger. She could help me stop a Trouble when it was let out of me or so I thought," Duke says, taking comfort in her reassurance, leaning into her touch out of instinct.

There's a pause at the question. "I mean, far as I can tell, she did something to me. There are all these Troubles in me- in my blood, and she sounded like they were all gonna explode. out of me, hitting everyone in its path with a Trouble of its own."

He shakes his head.

"You might not really be safe here either."

But he knows Maggie won't care about that.