Teeth gritted, I tried to come up with a reason why he was being a douche, why he was trying to wriggle out of what he promised.

“There is a simple solution,” Liam said, and I turned to face him, “let her take Alex. He can wear the bracelet and tell her when it gets hot.”

Thomas rolled his head side to side. “I said only one could go through the veil. Send Alex then.”

“We can’t send him!” I snapped. “And you damn well know that.” Time to play the hard ass. “Frank, Megan, time to go. There is another necromancer we can go to.” I pointed at the front door and they dutifully went.

“You cannot take them. My zombies will stop you.” Thomas was all calm and cool.

Megan put her hands on her hips and squared off. “You think you’re the only one who can take care of zombies?” She flicked her hand outward and, though I saw nothing, Thomas gasped and clutched at his heart.

“How … how did you do that?”

I leaned toward the closest window and peered out. Every single zombie had dropped to the ground. Except for the giant who was leaning … toward the house.

“Shit, everybody out the back.” I grabbed Megan as I ran past her and then Alex bolted ahead of me, barreling out the back door. I didn’t dare glance behind, just kept running even once we were outside. The giant was huge and when he hit it was going to be a big fucking mess. Each step I took I expected to get crushed, the immanent arrival of the giant’s body on us with no way to avoid it. The thought only pushed me harder and I yanked Megan hard, forcing her to keep up.

Behind us there was an explosion of wood, metal and glass as the giant’s body hit Thomas’s house. The ground at our heels erupted, the force of the impact dropping us to the unsteady earth, the rippling earthquake forcing us to stop running. I rolled onto my back to see the giant’s head just a few feet away.

For a moment, there was nothing except the two of us breathing heavy and staring at the rotted head that had nearly taken us both out. The giant’s eyes were liquid and oozed out of their sockets, and his blackened tongue was caught between broken and sheared teeth cutting it in half leaving it hanging by a shear thread of muscle.

Gross.

“Sorry, I didn’t think that would happen,” Megan whispered. Her face was as pale as fresh fallen snow. I doubted mine was any better.

“What did you do?” I pushed to my feet and then offered her a hand. She took it and the tremors in her body rippled up through mine. She didn’t let go.

“I cut his ties to the zombies so they would go back to sleep. But I didn’t know there was a giant.” Her breathing came in rapid gusts and I knew she was about to pass out.

“Sit down. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

She plunked on the cold, damp grass but didn’t let go of my hand.

Liam, Alex, and Frank came running from around the giant. Liam’s eyes were frantic until he saw us and his body visibly relaxed. Alex jogged and danced, occasionally shooting out a paw to punch at the body of the rotting giant. “Stings like a butterfly,” he chirped happily.

Liam pulled me into his arms, though I didn’t let go of Megan. “Why didn’t you dodge to the side?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t think he’d fall that far.”

Liam’s jaw dropped and at my feet, Megan laughed. “Me neither.”

Her face and cheeks had pinked and I pulled her to her feet a second time. “Okay, enough out of you. Looks like you’ll fit in fine with the rest of us.” I glanced at the massive body. The house was completely destroyed, as in gone. Looking like there had never been anything except a mostly rotted giant laying there.

Problem number one. “Did Thomas make it out?” I Tracked him and felt a thread taking me around the side of the giant. I followed it, and everyone else followed me. Megan clung to my hand and I let her. There was not any immediate fighting I could foresee and we didn’t need her doing anything else without explicit instructions.

Thomas stood to one side of the giant, his hands in his hair, his mouth moving as he talked to himself. I interrupted him. “Thomas. Are you going to send me and Alex through the veil now?”

His head snapped up as the giant’s body bucked. Ah shit, not again. I backed away, letting go of Megan. “Get ready to run, people.”

The giant bucked twice, and then began to sink, dissolving into the ground. The earth seemed to reach up and drag the giant down, swells of dirt and grass tugging at the body until it melted back to where it had come from. The house that was under it was gone too now. So except for a few shards of wood and glass, there was nothing left of what had just happened.

“That wasn’t one of us. What is that?” Megan whispered. The ground gave one last heave, a bubble of air that sounded distinctly like laughter curled up out of the earth and around us, the air crackled and danced.

Thomas backed away and said only one word.

“Elementals.”

Chapter 18

Megan piped up before I could. “Elementals? What are those? Like wind and fire and stuff?”

“I will not speak of the elementals our world holds. That is not the way we do things. Do not ask me again. None of you.” He took a deep breath and again shook his head. “Rylee, I will send you and your Alex into the deep veil. You have three hours. No more, no less.”

Shit, I wanted to know about the elementals too. Something about what he said stirred a memory for me. A salvage I’d gone on years ago. I shook it off. Another time I’d ask Thomas.

Even though I was probably poking a bear, I couldn’t help it; I had to know. “Why did you change your mind? Why are you helping me now?”

His eyes flicked to Liam and then he said very softly, “Perhaps even an old man wants to believe the darkness can be beaten back. Even if just for a moment.”

Wow. That was not what I expected. Thomas barked out a laugh. “Then again, I also believe I would like you out of my life as soon as possible and this will be the only way. Chaos and danger, you Trackers are always the same. I’d forgotten that.” He flicked his hand, tossing the bracelet to Alex, as if his earlier words were nothing.

Alex grabbed it mid air and the bracelet locked around his right front ankle. He gave it a shake, the gold catching the light. “Pretty.”

“Three hours. That should be plenty.” I stepped beside Alex and didn’t look at anyone else. This was not goodbye, I would see them soon enough.