She bit her lower lip. “I’m in a foster home. They won’t care much. And Frank said I could be trained, so I could be strong.”

Broken wings, broken hearts, broken homes. They fucking well flocked to me, no matter the place. Of course, this time I wouldn’t be keeping this broken-winged one for my own family.

No?

Teeth tightening, I tried not to listen to that voice in my head. Already Megan impressed me, and I could see her and Pamela getting along well, their personalities a good match.

Instead of that, I changed subjects. “Eve, I need you to go back to the mineshaft, tell Blaz and Ophelia to come here and wait for us at Doran’s. That is where we will meet. Can you do that?”

She swallowed and dropped her head to me. “The new dragon, I do not trust her not to try and eat me.”

“Blaz won’t let her.”

Erik cleared his throat. “I could go with her. I’m used to flying and Ophelia will calm if she sees at least one of us is intact.”

“And you would let me face the demons on my own?” I wasn’t really surprised he wasn’t trying to come with me. He hadn’t exactly shown himself to be all that into the actual fights.

“Not much left for me to tell you. You’ve memorized the symbols and runes you need, and if I am honest with myself, this is overwhelming me. Vampires, ogres, witches and werewolves. I’d much rather deal with two angry dragons. Them I know how to deal with.”

He walked over to me and pulled me into a quick embrace. “I’ve shared with you all I know. It isn’t much, but it’s all I have from your father.”

I stepped back. “I think I will need you yet, old man. Don’t think you can get out of your duties that easily.”

Laughing, he walked toward Eve. “Yeah, I believe that. I just think that right now you don’t need me at your side. In a while, perhaps. But not now.”

Eve, happy that Erik would fly with her, took off without hesitation, leaving Megan and Frank with me and Alex. Alex circled Megan and she stared at him, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Wow, I thought Frank was shitting me when he said he knew a werewolf.”

I glanced at Frank and he blushed and pushed his glasses up his nose but said nothing.

“Well, you’re about to meet a hell of a lot more than that, kid. Can you control zombies yet?”

She nodded. “Yup, it’s why my family booted me out. They didn’t like the dead relatives showing up for family meals.”

Again I looked at Frank. “And you too?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because we’re about to dive into the deep end. Alex, give Faris a call.”

He sat back on his haunches and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Faarrrrrrrriiiiiiiis.”

Megan slapped her hands over her ears, but when the slice of air opened and Faris stood far on the other side, deep in the protective shadows of his home, her jaw dropped along with her hands.

“Wow.”

I nodded. “Here we go, kiddos. Off to meet your new mentor.”

Chapter 17

Faris didn’t take us to Thomas’s land, not right away. He took us back to his hidey hole, the one with the shuttered and blackened windows. I was just glad it wasn’t his cement room. That I couldn’t have handled.

And while Frank and Megan were somewhat squeamish around him—I was guessing their inborn dislike of vampires was making them uncomfortable—he was calm and cool. Like he really didn’t care they were necromancers.

Which only intrigued me.

“Doran?” Faris asked the second we stepped through.

“He’s fine, so is Berget. If you need us from now on, go to Doran. Whether he likes it or not, his house is going to be central command until all this shit is dealt with.”

Frank gave a small smile and I winked at him. Yeah, I knew he’d be happy about that.

I waved my hands at Faris. “Come on, I don’t want to sit around here all day, Pamela and Milly are waiting.” Just saying their names, my Tracking kicked in and I felt the pulse of their lives. Pamela was awake and scared, but nothing was wrong with her; at least, she hadn’t been hurt. But how would I know if Orion had broken her? Would she even know? Fuck, we had to hurry. We’d left them too long as it was.

Faris’s lips twisted downward. “Thomas will kill you. He was one of the last necromancers held prisoner by the former Emperor and Empress.” He tucked his hands behind his back, clasping and unclasping them several times. His nerves showed.

I let out a groan. That couldn’t be good. “Let me guess, more than anyone else, he has a major hate on for vampires?”

Megan let out a squeak. “Vampires? Really, will I get to meet one?”

Holy shit she was green. Faris though, seemed more than a little amused. “I like this one, Rylee. She has spunk. Reminds me a bit of Pamela. Perhaps you would like to leave her here with me to train?”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” I said nothing else, not really wanting to encourage him. Trusting Faris was like trusting a boomerang; it came and went but it was never right where you thought it would be.

“Really, honestly. There aren’t vampires out there, are there?” Good grief, she sounded like a love struck teenager. Probably thought they sparkled in the sunlight instead of burning like a gasoline-soaked torch.

“My sister is a vampire. You might meet her,” I said, keeping my eyes on Faris. His lips twitched. For now, Megan didn’t have to know. Even though Frank shuffled his feet and his face went bright red with keeping a secret from his pretty young friend, he said nothing. Good boy.

Faris cleared his throat. “I believe it will be best if I open the doorway directly into the house Thomas lives in. That way the zombies he has roaming will not have as much of a chance to tackle you.”

I licked my lips. “You can’t kill him, Faris. We need him and so do Frank and Megan.”

He put a hand to his chest and his eyes widened in mock innocence, the ass. “Why would you say that? You assume I would just attack someone?”

“Because I know you,” I snapped. “I know if you have history with Thomas you want to see him face to face for some stupid fucking reason that will, in the end, ruin everything.”

Faris’s grin slipped. “He and I have unfinished business.”

“I don’t fucking well care. You can deal with him after he has helped us and after he has trained these two to their fullest potential. And not one second sooner. Got it?” By that point I was right in his face, physically crowding him. Of course, he didn’t back down, that wasn’t his style.