Ten steps later, I was sure I’d gone far enough. I closed my eyes and stuck my fingers in my ears to block out sights and sounds of the Netherworld, unconcerned with how stupid I must look.

I wanted to look stupid in my own yard.

The wail came even easier this time, and rather than worrying about that, I reveled in it, grateful that I didn’t have to fight for concentration with that slither-creature sliding toward me. Intent wasn’t hard to come by that time, either. I seriously wanted to go home. Just in time to sneak out.

I kept my eyes open, and was amazed to see the Netherworld simply fade around me, going first gray, then insubstantial. The sharp stalks blurred, then finally disappeared, and I found myself standing in short, dead grass, a mere six inches or so from the brick wall of the house and my bedroom window.

Oops, cut that one kind of close. Though, I’d gone two extra steps, just to be sure. Were distances skewed in the Netherworld?

My brain danced around the possible implications of that thought, but then I shook it off. I had to get to Nash’s.

I spared a moment to pluck the obvious shards of Netherworld grass from my jeans, vaguely frightened that they hadn’t simply faded from existence with the rest of the Nether. Then I zipped up my jacket and took off toward Nash’s house at a jog, hoping the remaining slivers would shake free with the movement.

Any other night, I would have been nervous to be out alone, but after several minutes in the Netherworld, edging my way through a field of deadly grass to get away from something slithering through the stalks after me, nighttime in the human-world seemed downright welcoming.

I was breathing hard by the time I got to Nash’s house, where he, Tod, and Emma were piling into her car. “Leaving without me?” I panted, leaning with my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

“Kaylee, jeez, you scared me!” Emma cried, loud enough that if any of the neighbors had been awake, they’d have heard her.

“We weren’t leaving without you.” Nash greeted me with a tame kiss on the tip of my nose, a greeting that spoke of relief, rather than heat. “We were coming to find you.”

I wrapped my arm around his waist, pressing into him to share his warmth. “I’m only a couple of minutes…” My voice trailed off as I glanced at my watch. It was twelve thirty-five. I’d left my room around eleven fifty-five, and it had taken me no more than ten minutes to jog from my house to Nash’s. And I’d spent less than five minutes in the Netherworld. I was sure of it.

Which meant I was missing twenty-five minutes….

Fear washed over me like a cold ocean wave, and both Hudson boys saw it on my face.

“How did you get out of your house, Kaylee?” Tod asked, his voice deep with suspicion, and when all heads turned his way, I knew Emma could both see and hearhim.

I squeezed Nash and stared at my feet. “My dad fell asleep in the living room. I didn’t have any other choice.”

“So you crossed over?” Nash’s voice was lower and more dangerous than I’d ever heard it, and his words held no hint of calm. He held me at arms’ length, both hands on my shoulders. “Don’t ever do that again. Do you understand?”

I shrugged out of his grip, my temper flaring to a hot, sharp edge. “It’ll be pretty hard to get Addy’s soul back without crossing over,” I snapped.

“Crossing over?” Emma’s brows sank in confusion. “To where?”

“I mean alone,” Nash clarified, ignoring her question. “You can’t go there alone, Kaylee. You have no idea what…stuff is out there.”

“What stuff is where?” Emma demanded, propping both hands on her hips.

“Well, I know a little better now.” Turning from Nash, I slid into the passenger seat, then I caught Emma’s eye and tossed my head toward the driver’s side, urging her silently to get in.

The guys followed our lead reluctantly.

“What happened?” Nash demanded softly, as he clicked his seat belt home in the backseat. “Did you see something?”

I twisted around and smiled to relax him. I didn’t like the bossy side of him, but knew it stemmed from concern for me. “Just a field full of weird grass with something slithering through it.”

“Lizards,” Tod said, and I knew based on Emma’s reaction—or lack thereof—that he hadn’t let her hear him that time. Which meant we weren’t talking about ordinary lizards.

I glanced at Nash with my brows raised in question, but he only shook his head. We’d talk about it later, after we’d dropped Emma at her house. Or rather, after she’d dropped herself off.

Em was still irritated by our refusal to explain what was going on, but she hugged me when she got out of the car and told me to be careful doing…whatever we were doing.

I hugged her back and thanked her sincerely. Then I hugged her again, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time I’d see her. I really didn’t want to die in the Netherworld. Or anywhere else, for that matter. Not yet, anyway.

I slid into the driver’s seat and Nash climbed over the center console to sit next to me. Then I twisted to look out the rear windshield as I backed slowly out of Emma’s driveway, while she let herself into her house. “So, time moves slower in the Netherworld? That would have been nice to know.”

“If we’d known you were going, we would have told you,” Tod said matter-of-factly. “Along with the fact that most species of Netherworld lizards are poisonous to humans.”