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“Uh-huh, sure. I’m sure Toby’s crime-boss daddy is goin’ to be totally fuckin’ fine with you twitching and accidentally snapping his son’s neck in half.”

“He has other sons,” I said, then shrugged when they both looked at me. “I’m just sayin’, it’s not as though we wiped out his entire family. Just that one guy.”

“I doubt that will ease his thirst for vengeance, but at this stage we can hope,” Victor agreed.

“Okay, so I guess we’d better get moving . . .” Hearing my name from the TV’s crackling speakers, I looked over . . . and spotted a vague outline of someone who looked a lot like me on the screen. The words WANTED FOR MURDER scrolled across the bottom. Of course the signal had improved, so the words were crystal clear at that precise moment.

The heads of all eight people in the shack swiveled toward me.

“So uhm . . . we’re gonna uh . . . go . . .” I got to my feet and heard Zee and Victor do the same. “It was nice meeting you all.” While I was crossing the floor, the glares stayed locked on me, but the TV had gone back to unrecognizable static. “Enjoy the rest of your uhm . . . meeting.”

Hooper made his way over and escorted us back outside to the dirt lot and the parked trucks.

“Stick to the road,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of critters in these waters that’ll chew you city folk up like candy.”

I couldn’t really explain that I was the biggest critter of them all, so we just thanked him and headed up the dirt track, away from the little shack and its lonely light. Gloomy darkness quickly swallowed us, but there was just enough light from the stars to illuminate the track ahead.

We didn’t talk much. Our situation wasn’t great. We were a long way from home, and the story out there about us wasn’t a friendly one. If we got picked up by local law enforcement, or even the local SSD, things would get rough unless we could get hold of Leomaris. Some places didn’t like Lost Ones, and sometimes the people who were hired to help folks made them disappear instead.

“I can fly on ahead . . . see if there are signs of life anywhere . . .” Zee offered, then plucked a bit of dried algae from his purple hair.

“We already know it’s going to be a long walk, and I imagine from above we’ll be difficult to see on your return. I do not want you to get lost in this environment. I believe we should stay together.” Victor walked on, his footfalls a lot lighter than Zee’s and mine behind him.

Zee jogged to fall into step beside him. “Wait, are you looking out for me, Fancy Fangs?”

“Of course.”

“Huh.” Zee ambled along, curiously quiet. Quiet enough for Victor to notice.

“This is typically the point at which you ignore my advice and proceed with whatever dangerous or risky idea you have already decided is the best course of action.”

“Nuh-uh, I don’t ignore your advice.” Zee’s Victor voice was spot on. “I listen to it very carefully and go do the exact opposite.”

That got a chuckle out of Victor. “I see. Then your willful disobedience is deliberate.”

“Exactly. Now he’s gettin’ it. It’s almost like you be learnin’. Not bad for a fossil.”

“Thank you. I think.”

Zee snorted, and at the same time, ruffled his wings open into the visible spectrum. “Willful disobedience, here I come.” He flapped a few times, whipping up dust and grit, then took to the air. “My wings glow, Fossil Fangs,” he called back. “When you see me, call out, an’ I’ll find you again. Night-flying problem solved. Be right back, Kitten.”

Victor and I stopped to watch Zee’s purple glow vanish into the sky.

“At least his willful disobedience is predictable,” I said.

“I should know better than to advise him when he’ll do what he likes regardless.”

“He’s sort of right, though.” We began to walk again, listening to crickets chirp and other things croak and chitter. “His wings do glow, so we can spot him.”

“If we can see him, so will others. There is risk to his plan.”

“I guess, in his mind, there’s always risk.”

Victor waited a beat and said, “Zodiac is not immortal.”

A slight quiver in his voice had me looking over. Much of his face was shaded by the darkness, but I caught the concern in his night-shining vampire eyes. He really did care, just like Zee had picked up on. Despite Zee’s strength and bravado, he was the most vulnerable of us. I could heal almost anything—Victor too—but Zee only healed bad wounds when we were intimate. Yet he still threw himself into danger without much thought for his own safety.

“He’ll be fine,” I said. “He’ll come right back, I’m sure.”