Medium (Wonderfall #2)

23. Rory

CHAPTER 23

RORY

We were about to eat breakfast when Manny showed up, having just gotten off shift, still in his cartoon character scrubs. Pia—via my phone—had texted him that we were going shopping this morning, and she wanted Manny along for fashion advice.

I couldn’t blame her. Ellis at least had a sense of style, but I doubted his preppy aesthetic would appeal to a 13-year-old. If I wasn’t wearing a suit for work, I was in jeans and sweaters or button-ups. And while I was sure Shane would clean up amazingly well, his wardrobe currently only consisted of jeans, cargo pants and shorts, and t-shirts.

Manny went around and hugged all of us, including Ms. Jackson. He sat down next to Pia and started quizzing her on what clothes she needed. I tuned them out and turned to Ms. Jackson, who was sitting next to me, tentatively chewing the tomato slice Shane had put on top of their cheese omelet.

“Do you like it?” They wrinkled their nose as they swallowed, and I laughed. “It’s actually better if it’s chopped up inside the omelet.” We’d tried explaining that pizza sauce was made from tomatoes, but we hadn’t been convincing enough. So far the only vegetables Ms. Jackson liked on their own were carrots, asparagus, and potatoes. “Anyway, what time do you need to leave to meet Arch and Dominic?”

They manifested their Ouija board and sparkled out, 2-P-M .

“Got it. We’ll come home for lunch and then when you leave, we’ll take Pia shopping for stuff for her bedroom.”

They nodded and ate another piece of omelet. After we’d had to watch Ms. Jackson eat a grilled cheese sandwich in one bite, we’d all learned to cut up their food before serving it.

E-L-L-I-S-M-U-S-T-B-R-I-N-G-H-I-S-Y-O-Y-O

I blinked. “What? Why?”

My tone must’ve been odd, because everyone at the table stopped talking.

N-O-T-S-U-R-E-J-U-S-T-K-N-O-W

“Okay. Um, Ellis, Ms. Jackson says you need to bring your Yo-Yo when we go furniture shopping this afternoon.”

His eyebrows rose. “I can do that. Any particular one?”

The entire Ouija board sparkled. They didn’t know.

“Whichever one goes with your outfit,” Manny suggested.

Ellis’ forehead creased, and his worry leaked through the bond.

I put my hand on his back. “Look at your Yo-Yos and go with your gut.”

He nodded and relaxed slightly. I casually stroked his back to see if that would help. His muscles stayed tense, but he did lean into my hand a little.

Time for a topic change. “Ms. Jackson, do you want to come shopping with us this morning? ”

In contrast to Pia’s excited, “Yes!”, Ms. Jackson was obviously not a fan of the idea. The nose wrinkle my question received was even worse than the one the tomato had gotten.

I chuckled. “Okay, no worries. Um, is there anything you need us to get for you? We were thinking you might want your own iPad.”

They went absolutely still, their eyes wide and ears perked forward. The Ouija board sparkled out, R-E-A-L-L-Y-F-O-R-M-E.

I grinned. “Yes. Right now you have to share with Pia, and this way you can each watch something different. Or you can look stuff up, listen to music, or play a game. It’ll be yours to do whatever you want with.”

Ellis hmmmed . “Maybe you need a phone too. We already told Pia she’s getting one. We’ll pick one up for you as well. What if you wanted to tell Greg or Cal something? You could video call them and spell it out.”

They cocked their head, then dropped their jaw open in what I assumed was a grin. I-W-O-U-L-D-L-O-V-E-A-P-H-O-N-E

“Done. I’ll put you on my plan.” I really needed to set up some sort of expense fund for District Monitors. Hell, with Grandfather’s help, I could probably fund some stipends for them too.

Pia gasped. “Can we also get Ms. Jackson some toys?”

Ms. Jackson and I tilted our heads at her. “What kind of toys?”

She rolled her eyes. I couldn’t wait until she was a full-on teenager. “Like toys a cat would play with, only bigger? Haven’t you seen the videos of tigers playing with balls and boxes? ”

Ms. Jackson stretched their head in front of Manny to get Pia’s attention. He huffed and snatched his plate off the table as he sat back in his seat.

I-W-A-N-T-T-O-S-E-E-T-H-E-T-I-G-E-R-V-I-D-E-O-S

Pia gasped again. “You haven’t seen them?” She scooted her chair back from the table.

“Pia!” Shane pointed at her, then at her plate. “After you’ve finished your breakfast.”

Pia and Ms. Jackson both slumped in their chairs. “Fine.” Pia picked up her fork and shoveled an over-large hunk of omelet into her mouth.

I grimaced and looked at Shane and Ellis so I didn’t have to watch her chew. Maybe Pia and Ms. Jackson could get table manners lessons together. “Anything else we need to shop for today?”

Shane groaned. “I think the list is plenty long enough already.”

Manny stood and began to clear plates. “You’re forgetting about the fine art of impulse shopping.” He winked at us before sashaying to the kitchen.

Shane rubbed his face then turned his head and cupped his hands to hide his mouth from Pia. “Can I bring a flask?”

Luckily, Manny was willing to take Pia shopping for clothes while the rest of us—being magically tethered together and all—bought Pia and Ms. Jackson’s electronics. Both of them got sparkly phone cases, Pia’s in pink and Ms. Jackson’s in purple. I badly wanted to buy Shane a new phone as well since his was over four years old, but he didn’t even look longingly at the current models. I’d wait and get Ellis to help me convince him he needed an update for the new business.

We tracked Pia and Manny down in some godawful teen store with blaring K-Pop and cheap fabrics. I’d never felt so much kinship with Grandfather.

I’d given Manny one of my credit cards earlier, so we didn’t have to go inside. We stood opposite the store’s entrance to wait. Manny spotted us and dashed out with an armload of bags from other stores.

Shane held out his hands to take them. “Shit, Manny, we owe you a lot more than lunch.”

“Nah, man. We’re good. This is fun for me, and Pia’s actually trying to pick things that can be worn with multiple outfits. This is our last stop.”

They were done about fifteen minutes later. We picked up lunch on the way home, letting Pia choose the next vegetables for Ms. Jackson to try. Since we were having Chinese food, she picked spicy eggplant and stir-fried green beans. I had my doubts, but the rest of us would eat anything Ms. Jackson didn’t.

When we got home, the street was lined with cars again, so I pulled into the driveway behind Shane and Ellis’ vehicles. Manny had been lucky to snag a spot in front of the neighbor to the east. I felt awful having the end of the car block the sidewalk, but hopefully I wouldn’t get a ticket. As we got out I looked up and down the street. The cars parked along the curb were a mix of older-models that matched the houses they were in front of and huge SUVs with blacked-out windows.

Did it make me a bad person if I immediately worried about drug dealers? We had Pia to keep safe. I blocked my thoughts from Shane and Ellis as I pondered how to get Shane to let me buy us a house in a better neighborhood ASAP.

We unloaded the bags and took them inside. Ms. Jackson was ecstatic over their new iPad and phone, and Ellis and I promised to get both phones set up after lunch. I for one would feel better if Ms. Jackson had a phone with them during the raid. If they couldn’t carry it magically, I was sure Shane’s grandmother had left a crossbody purse behind.

Ms. Jackson, it turned out, liked both the eggplant and the green beans. Well, first they gave all of us a severely skeptical glance, but then they licked at the sauce and gave a little purr. Pia put some rice on their plate and served up a little of each dish. Ms. Jackson cleaned their plate in less than a minute. I didn’t watch.

“ Rayas , you need some table manners.” Manny spoke what all of us had been thinking.

Ms. Jackson sparkled out, R-A-Y-A-S .

“Stripes. It’s a nickname. Don’t change the subject. You eat like a wild animal, not like a wicked cool shapeshifter from another dimension.” Manny cocked his head. “That reminds me, has anyone shown you The Rocky Horror Picture Show ?”

“Manny’s got a point,” I interrupted. I couldn’t think of how to explain Rocky Horror to Pia, much less to Ms. Jackson. They’d have to experience it. “I didn’t want to say anything, because you’ve had enough to deal with adapting to the human world, but some table manners would make it easier for you to meet new people. New friends. When you swallow everything at once, it can be... off-putting.”

“It’s gross.” Pia put her hand on Ms. Jackson’s back. “I’ll help you though.”

They nodded, looking abashed .

Shit. I didn’t want them to feel self-conscious. “It’s okay. You didn’t know, and it wasn’t important enough to bring up before now. You’ve been learning so much every day, we felt bad adding more.”

Pia held out one of the serving spoons. “Can one of your forms hold this?”

Ms. Jackson reached out a paw and it changed to an orange, furry... hand. At the end of the tiger’s foreleg. My scalp prickled and I suppressed a shiver of revulsion.

“Cooool,” Pia breathed as she handed the spoon over. “Hold it like this.” She demonstrated with her fork.

Shane added more rice and eggplant to Ms. Jackson’s plate, and we all stared as they used their new hand to scoop up a spoonful of food.

“Now put it in your mouth and close your lips around the spoon before you pull it out and leave the food inside.” Pia demonstrated with her own food.

I was a little concerned about their fangs, but Ms. Jackson maneuvered the spoon around them and closed their mouth. Their forehead wrinkled as they seemed to be using their tongue to get the food off the spoon, but they pulled it out completely clean.

We all cheered, and they seemed pleased. They finished the food on their plate with the spoon, and the process became faster as they got used to it. I wasn’t sure I would get used to the freaky hand though. None of us complained when they licked the remaining sauce off the plate.

We moved to the living room to set up Pia and Ms. Jackson’s new phones. Pia didn’t need my help, so I set up Ms. Jackson’s for them. They changed into their panda form and sat on their butt. I held the phone out to them, and they took it from me with two furry, five-fingered hands. I worried I might let on how much their hands creeped me out, but to my everlasting gratitude, Ellis came over and told me he’d show the apps to Ms. Jackson because Shane needed to ask me about Pia’s bedroom furniture.

I found Shane in the hallway to the bedrooms, at the end of the distance from Ellis the bond would allow us to be.

He opened his arms. You okay?

I stepped into his hug. No. I feel awful about it, but I can’t stop staring at their hands.

He chuckled silently. I guess being around Wonders all our lives helps Ellis and I not react to stuff like that.

We stayed in the hug for a few minutes until Pia shouted, “Manny and Ms. Jackson are leaving!”

I gave Shane a quick kiss. “Thank you. I love you.”

His smile was brilliant. “Anytime, and I love you too.” Weird hand phobia and all.

I smacked him in the chest as I left the room.

Ms. Jackson was back in their black panther form. Ellis pointed at them and said, “I put all of our numbers in their phone, along with Greg, Cal, Arch, and Dominic. Arch texted that Carlyle, Dimi, Mercy, and Garfield have checked in and are helping watch the building. Um, I haven’t met Garfield yet, but Arch was complaining about him not having clothes? Anyway, everything’s quiet so far.”

I hugged Manny and patted Ms. Jackson on their back. “Be safe, you two. Um, where’s your phone, Ms. Jackson?”

Manny laughed, and he gestured at them. “They just sort of put it in their pocket, without having any pockets. ”

I didn’t think I wanted a demonstration. I looked at Ms. Jackson. “Call or text if you need anything. Um, did you try texting with your, uh, hands?”

They sat, curling their tail around their hind legs. Then they opened their mouth, and a raspy, grating voice said, “Yessss. Thankh hyou for the phhhone.”

My eyes went wide, and I gaped at them.

Shane muttered, “Holy shit.”

Pia squealed, “Ms. Jackson! You talked!” She ran forward and threw her arms around Ms. Jackson’s neck.

The rest of us crowded forward and congratulated them as well. I couldn’t stop remembering Ellis speculating about what Ms. Jackson’s human form would look like.

Manny clapped his hands. “Hey! Ms. Jackson and I have to go. Now that they can speak, there’s a lot of singing along to the radio they need to catch up on.”

“Wait.” Shane held up a hand. “If there are any victims you think would be better off coming back here, um, it’ll be tight quarters, but we’d be glad to have them.” He raised his eyebrows at me and Ellis, and we agreed.

Manny, sober now, nodded. “Will do.”

We all followed them to the door. None of the neighbors were outside to notice the huge cat getting into the passenger seat of Manny’s car.

I shut the door as they drove off. “Everybody ready? We have the list?” In addition to a new desk, we were replacing the entire bed in Pia’s room, as the headboard was probably from the 1980s and the mattress was almost that old.

“Wait! I have to get my Yo-Yo! ”

We all followed Ellis into the bedroom. He’d put his sex toys in the nightstand, but his Yo-Yos were still in his duffel on the chest of drawers. I made a mental note to look for a display case while we were out.

“I’m taking this one.” He held up a silver and red aluminum Yo-Yo with a red skull on the other end of the string. “It’s called a Metal Drifter, and it’s got this cool counterweight so you can do tricks.”

He held onto the skull and spun out the Yo-Yo. Then he put his free hand on the string in the middle, so the Yo-Yo spun in a circle. “This is called a Pinwheel.” Then he casually threw the skull in the opposite direction and moved his hand rhythmically to keep both objects spinning. “This is a Butterfly.”

Pia clapped her hands. “Will you teach me?”

He flashed her a smile. “Of course.” Expertly he grabbed the skull and did some sort of sleight of hand to get the Yo-Yo to stop spinning and roll back up into his palm.

“That’s impressive, Ellis.” I sent my admiration through our bond, and I could feel Shane doing the same.

His cheeks darkened, and he kept his gaze down as he stuffed the Yo-Yo in the front pocket of his shorts. “Thanks. I know it’s a dorky hobby, but I enjoy it.”

I blocked my anger at his dad or Arch—or both—behind a mental wall and went over to hug him. “No hobbies are dorky. You love it and you’re amazing at it, therefore it’s cool.”

He flashed me a smile. “Thanks, um, let’s get going.”

He walked swiftly out of the room and headed to the front door. We all followed, but Pia dashed over to the couch to get her phone, so Shane and I waited for her. Which meant we weren’t with Ellis when he opened the door .

“Um, hi? Who are you?” Then he made an eep noise and, raising his hands in the air, backed into the living room.

Uncle Hugo, followed by Randolph Chamberlain and three guys holding automatic rifles, walked in.

Fuck. I spun around. Shane had already picked Pia up and was running for the back door. But he skidded to a stop when two armed men stepped onto the porch. We could see three more spread across the yard.

Uncle Hugo surveyed us with the air of a bad TV villain. “Phones on the coffee table. Hands on your head.”

We all complied, though Shane kept his hands on Pia, who’d latched onto him with all of her arms and legs. Her phone wasn’t on the coffee table.

Uncle Hugo smirked at me. “Hello, nephew. Long time no see. Or, at least, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you in person. I’m sorry I didn’t know you were stalking me until I saw the footage on Randolph’s security camera.”

He must’ve noticed my surprise, because he chuckled. “That’s right. You missed one. Randolph saw you carrying out the little creature there.” He inclined his head toward Pia. “It wasn’t hard to wait outside your condo and follow you over here.”

Randolph smiled at Pia like a creeper. “I’ve missed you. It’s time for you to come back home.”

Pia cringed into Shane.

“Put her down,” Randolph ordered. “We’re taking her with us.”

“No!” Pia shrieked. She sobbed into Shane’s neck, her arms and legs around his back .

I shouted in my head for Grandfather, but he didn’t appear. My abilities had never worked that way, but maybe things would change since now I was bonded. I tried Dimi, then Garfield and Mercy. Nothing.

I can’t reach the ghosts!

Fuck. This was bad. No way would they leave us alive when they took Pia. Shane couldn’t hold on to her if they put a bullet in his head.

The mere thought of that nearly sent me into a tailspin of panic, but Shane interrupted my freakout. Pia has her phone. She’s texting Arch and Ms. Jackson behind my back.

I didn’t relax, but hope was suddenly an option. Ms. Jackson wouldn’t let them take Pia. But we needed to give Manny time to drive back here.

Keep him talking. I frowned at Uncle Hugo. “Aren’t you supposed to be at an illegal auction right now?” They were both certainly dressed for it in expensive black suits.

Randolph stepped forward. “There’s no auction. The auctioneer had heard some chatter about you stealing the girl, so he told me he wouldn’t sell to me again until I could prove I wasn’t under surveillance.” He thrust a pointer finger at me. “Fuck you. Hugo and I faked an auction to see if you’d bugged my phone. And when the auctioneer found out there was some rescue team converging on Houston for it, he banned me for life. Said I was a security risk.”

I grinned. “Excellent.” Though it sounded like the Hunter team had a leak.

He smirked. “You won’t be so happy when my men kill all those so-called rescuers. Who’ll rescue the rescuers, hmmm ?”

I doubted Randolph’s men could take out a team of Hunters , but if Arch and Dominic’s crew were tied up, they wouldn’t be able to come help us anytime soon.

Randolph gestured at the goons. “Get her.”

One of the men kept his gun pointed toward me and Ellis, and the other two went over to Shane and Pia. They were on the other side of the seating area, pretty much at the far end of the distance the bond would allow. Shane backed against the wall, but there was no escape. One guy put the muzzle of his gun directly against Shane’s head, and the other one grabbed Pia’s arm and yanked. “Come on, or your friend here dies.”

Shane kissed Pia’s head and gave her a quick squeeze. “Go on now. It’ll be okay.”

Slowly Pia unwrapped herself from Shane. She let the goon drag her over to Randolph, but when he reached for her, she popped out all of her thorns. The guy holding her jerked his hand back and swore. Pia turned to run back to Shane, but the first goon still had a gun to his head. She froze.

The goon with Shane was staring wide-eyed at Pia. “Uh, boss?”

“No questions! You’ve seen nothing!”

The man jerkily nodded. If there hadn’t been two other guys with guns in the room, Shane could probably have gotten away from him. Dammit, there was nothing I could do.

Except stall.

“Uncle Hugo, do you really want to be involved in the trafficking of people? What would your high society friends say?”

He snorted. “People. This girl isn’t people. You spent too much time with my do-gooder brother and his trashy wife. At least I made Father see the truth about you before he died. ”

I stifled my rage. It wouldn’t help us get out of this. “Yeah, well, it’s too bad after he died, Grandfather saw the truth about you .”

Hugo sneered. “Are you still going on about seeing ghosts? Father and I never believed that bullshit from you or your slut of a mother.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Ghosts are less believable than a girl with thorns coming out of her skin?”

Grandfather chose that moment to pop into the middle of the room. “Really, Rory, you forgot to invite me to a party?” Grandfather wasn’t translucent for once. Even I couldn’t see through him.

The goons all pointed their guns at him. Pia started slowly moving toward the kitchen, getting out of the line of fire. Shane, blocked from Pia by the gunmen, edged in Ellis and my direction, sliding behind the couch to reach us.

“Sorry, Grandfather. They stopped by unannounced.”

Uncle Hugo’s eyes were bugging out of his head. “F-father?”

Randolph pointed at Grandfather. “Where did he come from? Get him!”

While one of the goons kept their gun trained on him, another one clamped a hand on Grandfather’s arm. He instantly stared at his hand. “Why’s he so cold?”

I was impressed at Grandfather’s solidity. This bonding stuff had some interesting side effects.

He allowed himself to be pulled toward Randolph and Hugo. “Hello, son. How unpleasant to see you here.”

“Wh-what? ”

Randolph rounded on Hugo. “I thought your father was dead.”

Uncle Hugo pointed at Grandfather. “He is! He’s supposed to be!”

I tsked . “I told you he wasn’t happy with you, Hugo.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dimi appear behind Pia and wrap herself around the girl. They moved slowly toward the kitchen.

A muffled cry came from the back yard. Hugo didn’t react—his attention was all on Grandfather—but Randolph pointed. “Check it out!”

The guy who’d had his gun on Shane earlier jogged over to the back door. “Uh, boss? I can’t see any of the guys.”

I sensed relief from Shane and Ellis. Ms. Jackson was here. Or maybe Arch and his crew. Either way, we had backup.

“Guard the door!”

The goon stayed in place. Shit. Ellis and Shane were now pressed up against me, but we couldn’t get to the front door without Randolph and Uncle Hugo noticing. At least the goons were more worried about Grandfather than us. As long as Randolph didn’t notice?—

“Where’s the girl? Find her!”

Fuck. Probably the only place Pia and Dimi could be was in the pantry.

The goon who wasn’t holding onto Grandfather headed around the corner to the kitchen. We heard the pantry door open. “She’s not here!” Cabinet doors slammed open, then a moment later he came back shaking his head. “There’s only the kitchen and a pantry. She’s not in either, and she’s not in the cabinets, up or down. ”

Randolph’s face turned purple. “She didn’t just vanish. Search the bedrooms.” We all looked toward the entrance to the bedroom hallway. No one mentioned that we would’ve seen Pia go that direction if she’d done so.

Had Dimi somehow hidden Pia?

The goon took off, and we heard more slamming doors and bathroom cabinets.

I put my arm around Ellis and Shane. Shane moved oddly, like he wanted me to scratch his back. Get the phone! Pia put it in my waistband, and I’m worried it’s going to fall.

Ah. Ellis pressed closer to me to give me more maneuvering room. I slid my hand down Shane’s back until I bumped into Pia’s phone tucked into his waistband. Ellis shifted in front of me as I slipped it into the back pocket of my jeans.

We’d edged along the wall enough that we were in the corner of the room. The front door was about fifteen feet away from us along this wall, but if we ran for it, we’d be easy targets, especially for automatic weapons.

Hugo pulled a handgun from his pants pocket and pointed it at Grandfather. “Did you fake your death or something? Was this all some sort of con?”

Grandfather rolled his eyes. “Did you or did you not see me appear from thin air? I’m dead, Hugo. Shoot me if you want to; it won’t make a difference.”

Mercy and Garfield popped in next to Grandfather. Ellis and Shane jumped. Right. They hadn’t met those two yet. Garfield was in his naked, hairy glory. The goons in the room shouted and pointed their weapons, and Randolph pulled out a gun of his own. “Who—what? You’re dead! You’re both dead! I buried you myself! How are you here? ”

The third goon ran back in and hovered uncertainly near the hallway to the bedrooms, his gun pointing between Mercy and Garfield.

Mercy ignored Randolph and gave me a thumbs up. “The Hunters took out all the bad guys who were guarding the house. Ms. Jackson has Pia. Arch and Dominic said we could deal with this asshole.” She pointed at Randolph. “And it’s up to you about the other one.”

Randolph was still sputtering. “How are you even here?”

Grandfather snorted. “Ghosts, you dumbfuck. Get with the program!”

Garfield held up his hand. “It’s our turn, Carlyle.” His voice became loud enough to be heard outside. “Randolph Chamberlain, the charges against you include trafficking, enslavement, and causing death by neglect. How do you plead?”

Randolph raised a shaking hand to point his gun at Garfield. “Plead? This isn’t a court. You don’t have any jurisdiction here.”

Mercy intoned. “Randolph Chamberlain, you are sentenced to death. You will not be allowed any last words, because we don’t give a fuck.”

Garfield morphed into a huge gray wolf, and Mercy changed into an even larger polar bear. But instead of attacking Randolph, Garfield leapt toward the goon near the back door, and Mercy lunged toward the one near the hallway.

Both men fired a spray of bullets at the ghosts, but the ghosts vanished before they reached their targets.

Shane, Ellis, and I dropped to the floor when the guns went off. We looked up in time to see Randolph Chamberlain fall to the ground, riddled with bullets .

I could tell it wasn’t visible to anyone else in the room, but I saw Randolph’s ghost rise from his body. He barely had time to look around before the translucent wolf and polar bear, who’d been waiting nearby, tore him to shreds.

I gulped and focused on Hugo, who’d ducked behind Grandfather and the third goon. He was clutching one hand to his chest and shouting what looked like, “No! Randolph!” but I couldn’t be sure because my ears were ringing from the gunfire.

The goon near the hallway raced to the back door, and he and the other one who’d shot Randolph ran into the night. They wouldn’t get far.

Ellis, Shane, and I slowly stood up. The third goon let go of Grandfather’s arm. He pointed his gun at Hugo and backed away, occasionally glancing toward me, Shane, and Ellis to make sure we weren’t a threat.

Hugo didn’t bother watching him go. He spun around and pointed his gun at me. I didn’t have any trouble making out his words. “This is your fault!” His face was white, and he was sweating. He waved his free hand as if he was swatting a fly.

Shit. I held up my hands and walked a few steps along the wall away from Shane and Ellis.

Rory! Ellis was pissed.

Dammit, don’t be a hero! Shane tried to grab at me, but Hugo swung his gun over, so he stopped and held his hands up like I was doing. Ellis shrank back into the corner.

I nodded to indicate I’d heard both of them but kept moving slowly toward the door. My hearing was coming back a little at a time, but I heard Grandfather .

“Hugo, don’t make this worse. Did you know you’re having a heart attack? You should sit down.” Grandfather uttered this in the same tone he’d use to advise Hugo to take an umbrella because it might rain.

Hugo continued to advance toward me, gun first. “I’m going to kill Rory, Father. You always loved him more than me. Same with my unlamented sibling.”

I kept my hands up high. “Uncle Hugo, we need to get you to the hospital.”

His breathing was becoming labored. “I’ll go after....” He waggled his gun at me. “After I kill you.”

“No!” Grandfather roared. “If you harm Rory, you will never see the afterlife. I will rip your soul apart just like Mercy and Garfield did to your buddy Randolph.”

Hugo was getting closer, about five feet away. His hand was shaking, but I wasn’t sure if I could move fast enough to shove his arm up before he pulled the trigger. From the way he hovered next to Hugo, Grandfather seemed to be having the same debate with himself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Shane clenching his fists and almost vibrating with the need to do something. I didn’t dare look at him in case Hugo decided to shoot him or Ellis first.

Distraction incoming.

I felt more than saw Ellis lean over and swing his arm out. Then a rolling sound with a clatter following it ran along the wall behind the sofa.

Hugo whirled to face the noise, and Grandfather and I jumped at him, pushing his gun arm up. He pulled the trigger, but the bullet went into the ceiling .

Shane reached over Grandfather to yank the gun out of Hugo’s hand. He tossed it toward the couch. He was saying something, but I couldn’t make it out since my ears were ringing again from the gunshot.

The front and back doors burst open, and a swarm of Hunters ran into the house.

Hugo’s legs went limp, and we lowered him to the floor. He clutched his left arm, and his breaths came fast. His eyes drifted shut. I could barely make out Grandfather yelling about Hugo needing to cross over damn fast because if Grandfather caught him, he’d never make it to the other side.

One of the Hunters patted Hugo down for more weapons. “I’m Dominic. Y’all okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re fine.” I looked around for Ellis and Shane, who were trying to get over to me but were held back by another Hunter. I left Hugo in Dominic’s hands and ran to my men, wrapping them in my arms. Thank fuck. Are you okay?

They nodded. Let’s find Pia so she knows we’re all right.

Plus I was dying to know how Ms. Jackson and Dimi had gotten her out of the house.

We hadn’t even taken a step toward the front door when Arch ran up and nearly tackled Ellis into a hug. Then he released him and scanned for injuries. “Are you hurt? Did you see a medic yet? Let’s get you to a medic.”

He began to drag Ellis toward the door, but Ellis dug in his heels and held onto Shane. “Arch! I’m fine. Stop it!”

Arch hesitated. “Are you sure? I’d feel better if you got checked out. ”

Shane and I exchanged an amused glance, since apparently we didn’t rate the same level of care.

“I’m fine. I’d like my Yo-Yo back, but other than that I don’t have a scratch on me.”

I smacked a kiss on Ellis’ cheek. “You were amazing.” I turned to Arch. “Ellis distracted Hugo at exactly the right time.”

Ellis shrugged, his cheeks darkening. “It was just Runaway Dog. It’s a kid’s Yo-Yo trick. Like Walk the Dog but the dog gets away.”

Arch puffed up and he scowled. “What? Didn’t the man have a gun? That was dangerous, Ellis. You should leave the heroics to people who’ve been trained.”

I got between Arch and Ellis. “The people who’ve been trained weren’t there. Ellis is a grown man, fully capable of evaluating risks and making decisions under pressure.”

To my shock, Arch deflated. He ran his hand over his head and face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Ellis, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. I was just scared for you.”

I moved to the side so Ellis could respond, but all he said was, “Yeah? Well maybe next time have this conversation with yourself before you talk to me like I’m a child. And speaking of children, we need to go find Pia.” He brushed past Arch and led the way out the door.

Shane and I mentally high-fived each other through the bond, and Ellis glanced back and made a face at us. But he was smiling.

Before we left the house I looked back at Hugo’s body. A loose circle of Hunters still surrounded him, but they were chatting and not on their guard. He’d passed .

Grandfather smirked at me. “He was so scared he crossed over in a blink. Hugo won’t trouble you again.”

As soon as we walked out onto the porch, Pia shrieked, “There they are!” She dashed through the crowd of Hunters and threw herself into our arms.

I wasn’t the only one of the three of us who got choked up as we held her.

“Are you okay, Pia?” Shane stepped back to scan her up and down, much like Arch had done to Ellis.

“Yep! Ms. Jackson came through the cracks in the window! And then they picked me up and we went back out the same way! It felt like we melted, and then we were solid again. It was so coooool!”

“Uh, sounds like it.” I was pretty sure my eyes were as big as Shane’s and Ellis’ right now.

I gave Pia another hug. “Did they tell you that you don’t have to worry about Randolph Chamberlain anymore?” Shane had mentioned he knew a Wonder who was also a trained therapist. We’d been leaning toward taking Pia to see her before, but now it was imperative.

“Yep! We met Garfield and Mercy, and they told us he’s dead and so is your uncle.” Fuck, I hoped Garfield had manifested some clothes or appeared in his wolf form for that conversation. “Are you sad about your uncle, Rory?”

I shook my head. “I’m sad he turned out to be the person he was. He seemed a lot nicer when I first met him after my parents died.”

Manny walked up, trailed by Ms. Jackson in their black panther form. “ Hombres , I need a vacation after this week. Who’s with me? ”

We laughed, and I gave Manny a hug. Then I got on my knees and threw my arms around Ms. Jackson. “Thank you,” I said into their fur. “We owe you everything. Anything you need, just ask.”

Their growly, raspy voice rumbled out. “You’re welcome, but I did it for Pia.”

I sat up and looked them in the eye. “All the more reason.”

They made a weird snuffly snort sound and gave me a jerky nod.

Then Pia came over and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “Can we have tacos for dinner?”