“This is a massacre.” Erik said, barely breathing the words.

“This was Orion.”

Erik’s eyes went wide and under the moonlight he paled. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“He’s got a necromancer,” I said and Erik groaned.

Apparently Orion’s pet, Talia, hadn’t been kidding.

“That’s the worst news. Means if he’s broken her he can make forays into the world to wreak havoc in spirit, even if that means just for a short time, it is enough to do shit like this.” He swept his hand out wide to take in the scene at our feet. Not that I needed it pointed out.

“Yeah, things just get better and better.” I walked into the courtyard, aiming toward the main gates that were blocked. They opened into the English countryside.

“Erik, can you still reach Ophelia?”

“No, too far.”

Liam jogged ahead of me and put his hands on the gate. “You think it will open?”

“Only one way to find out.”

The four of us pushed and while the gate was heavy, it slowly slid open.

“You know,” Erik said, “those two dragons are going to be pissed when we don’t show back up.”

The thing was, dragons were the least of my worries. They would survive without us. Milly and Pamela, and worse, Milly’s baby, needed us desperately.

There was no gentle way to say what I’d learned so I blurted it out, the words like bile on my lips. “I’m not worried about the dragons. Orion is going to possess Milly’s baby.”

The countryside beckoned to us, but none of us moved, my words freezing everyone to the spot as if I’d spelled them.

Erik grabbed my arm, his fingers digging into me, and I jerked away from him. “I’m not going anywhere, you don’t have to get all Grabby Mcfeely.”

He stared into my face, his eyebrows drawn low with a pain I almost felt against my skin. “That’s why your parents died, Rylee. A demon threatened to possess you as a baby and they died to protect you, to allow you to live. You have to stop him. You have to find a way into the deep level of the veil.”

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? “That’s been the plan all along, smart ass. Stop the demon, save the world.”

Yeah, that was easier to spit out than what I really wanted to say. That I was terrified we wouldn’t be able to get to them, that Orion would possess the baby and Milly and Pamela would be tortured and killed, or worse yet, tortured and forced to serve Orion.

Liam took a step out and then held up his hand. “Be quiet. You’ll wake the giant.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. I peered around Liam to see the giant sound asleep on his side, his bare ass peeking at us from under his dirty loincloth.

“You shift,” I said softly. “Take Alex and get Will or Deanna to meet us at the trail head with a car.”

He nodded and stripped out of his clothes, then handed them to me. “I’ll head to Jack’s.”

I took his clothes and tucked them into my jacket, his smell easing some of the anxiety in the pit of my stomach. At the rate I was going, I was going to have some seriously massive ulcers by the time I was thirty.

Of course, that was assuming I’d make it to thirty.

Naked, Liam shifted into his wolf form and without a backward glance, took off, Alex tailing behind.

No words exchanged between me and Erik. We jogged through the gate, down around the feet of the sleeping behemoth and into the open field. Roughly a mile of wide, open space stood between us and the relative sanctuary of the forest. A mile. Easy as peach pie.

The thing was, the last time I’d crossed this, things hadn’t gone so well, in large part due to the big ass sleeping in front of the castle.

Halfway across the field, it happened. A loud grunt, and the ground rumbled as the big bastard woke. I didn’t have to see to know he’d spotted us. We were moving fast but still in full view of him. Shit sticks.

A roar lifted the hairs on the back of my neck and I found a burst of speed I didn’t know I had in me. Erik was breathing hard beside me, but he managed to keep up. I glanced at him, saw his face pale and the sweat beads roll down his cheeks. Terror did not look good on him.

The thunder of the giant’s feet hitting the ground rippled toward us in waves that threw me to my knees once, and Erik twice. But we scrambled our way into the dense forest as the giant closed in.

“Here,” I snapped, grabbing Erik and tugging him around a large tree. I pushed his back against it and then did the same. “Quiet.”

Erik closed his eyes and I saw him trying to even his breathing. I didn’t close my eyes. Around us trees shuddered as the giant slowed to a stop and let out another roar. Trying to flush us.

Beside me, Erik shook and I saw him tense. I slapped a hand out across his chest, stopping him. I needed him in one piece, needed him to actually help me, and him getting eaten by a rampaging giant wasn’t going to further my cause.

With a low grumble of what sounded like “screw it all” the giant backed away and retreated toward the castle. I took another thirty seconds before I peered around the edge of the tree.

The giant schlepped, slow and lumbering, scratching his bare ass cheek with overly long dirty fingernails. Disgusting to think I’d been trapped in one of those hands not so long ago.

Dirty fucker.

“Come on. We’ll go slow.” I stepped away from the tree.

“You sure?” Erik’s tone was calm, but I saw the fear in his eyes.

“You don’t deal with the supernatural much, do you?” I weaved through the trees, stopping every ten feet or so to check the giant continued to move away.

“Just demons. Nothing else.” He paused and then went on. “Are you going to let me help you with Orion?”

Wasn’t that the question of the day, one I had only another question for: “I don’t know, are you going to get me killed, or are you actually going to help me?”

“I wouldn’t have come all this way to see you die.” The sadness in his voice struck me and I did something I didn’t often employ. I Tracked Erik, right where he was. His threads were heavy with sorrow, true sorrow that flowed from his soul and a heavy dose of fear.

From what I could tell, there was no malice in his intentions.

I let out a long sigh. “Erik, I protect those I love and trust above all else. I’ve lost too many people and been betrayed too many times not to. If I could do it on my own, I would. But I can’t. I’m not fucking delusional. I need to know—are you in this with me, really with me? No more holding back.”