Thank you, for saving me.

I smiled and gave her a tired nod. “Just try to avoid Rocs in the future.”

She bobbed her head. I will do my best.

Crouched beside her, I stared out at the lake, all of the ogres still hanging out in the water except for Dox and the triplets.

“What happened?” I turned my face up to Dox, who stood over me.

“You mean after you left without us?” He growled.

Lop laughed, slapping his hands on his thighs. “That was f**king wicked awesome, woman. If you were an ogre, I’d be banging the hell out of you.” His brothers were nodding in agreement.

Liam slowly stood, every line of his body tense. Lop held up his hands. “Easy wolf, I said IF. She’s too f**king puny for my taste. But that took balls, to head into hostile territory without help. Ogres like a good, strong woman. None of this pansy ass, ‘I broke my nail’ shit.”

Liam relaxed, then snorted. “No, it takes a stubbornness that one day is going to get her hurt. But if I ever get tired of her, I’ll let you know.”

My jaw dropped and the triplets fell over themselves laughing. Even Calliope let out a soft nicker.

“It wasn’t that funny,” I grumbled, but I bit the inside of my cheek. Not for one second did I think Liam would ever get tired of me. Gods, I hoped not.

Dox dropped to a crouch beside me. “You killed the Roc, that’s why they were willing to help.”

Dev crawled toward the fire, stretched out on his belly. “Yup, you did what no ogre has been able to. You got rid of the big bitch of a bird. The ogres are in your debt.”

“What they say is true.”

I turned to see the rest of the ogres emerging from the lake, water glistening on their many-colored hides. They were surreal, the lava still erupting on the mountain behind them, the dark night above, and the reflection of the lake. The scene was damn near poetic.

Grey boy crouched beside me and held out his hand. “I am Sla, and I speak for all the ogres, all the Gangs. You are welcome here, Tracker. And we will stand with you when the time comes.”

I swallowed hard, and set my hand in his. “Just for killing the Roc?”

He smiled down at me. “Killing the Roc was the sign that you are the one who will lead us into battle.”

Oh, no. Not this shit again. “Nope, sorry, that isn’t going to happen; we threw him into the pit.” I tossed a twig into the fire, to illustrate my words.

Sla shook his head. “It is not so easy to kill a demon. If it was, there would be none left. You took away the body he possessed, nothing more.”

“How do you know all this? Are demons a past time hobby for you?” I lifted an eyebrow at him. Dox groaned softly, but Sla didn’t seem to mind my attitude.

He flopped to the ground and stretched out lengthwise as if he, and all the other ogres, hadn’t tried to kill us just a few hours past.

“We have prophecies too, though you will not find them in any ogre-skinned book.” His eyes flicked up to mine and I gave him a nod. No point in denying it. He shrugged. “If an ogre is stupid enough to be skinned alive, they deserve it.”

The ogres around us gave a resounding rumble of agreement.

“More to the point, you are the sign that the final battle is coming. When the Roc dies and the lava flows, the battle is nigh.” He eyed me up. “I’d hoped you’d be a bit more intimidating, though. The triplets speak true, you are rather puny to be a hero.”

I really didn’t like the direction of this conversation. “Orion isn’t coming back. There is not going to be a gods-be-damned battle. And I am no one’s hero.”

Dox put a hand on my shoulder. “You have their loyalty, whether you want it or not.”

I shook his hand off and stood. I didn’t know what to say, how to stop them from believing these prophecies. Or to get them to see that it was over, that Orion was done. So I walked away from the group to the edge of the firelight, where Liam caught up to me. “Hey. We’re alive, they aren’t trying to kill us, and we have Calliope. Don’t throw a fit because they want to believe in something that scares you.”

I could have slapped him. For telling me the truth and for pointing out that I was afraid. I didn’t do fear well, never had.

“You aren’t the one being set up as some gods-be-damned savior of the world. I’m nobody, just a Tracker. That’s it. There is nothing more to me. I don’t have any special powers; I don’t have any magic. Hell, if we’d been a little longer crossing the veil at the castle, I would have died. I am not cut out to be in any prophecy. If it comes down to me and Orion, he will win!”

Note to self: when anger is flowing, try to recall that you might be a lot louder than you realize. Like as in yelling at the top of your lungs.

All the ogres stared at us in the sudden silence after my outburst. I closed my eyes, shame flooding me. Liam stepped back, his face shuttered from any emotion. “I’m going to go and find a vehicle. Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”

“Liam, wait.” I started after him but in an instant, he disappeared into the bush.

Once more, I’d screwed things up.

“Good f**king job, Rylee,” I muttered to myself. “Good f**king job.”

I made my way back to the fire and flopped down beside Calliope. I wished Alex was there to break the tension. Or Pamela to point out something good and beautiful. I Tracked Alex first, pinpointed him in a heartbeat. Almost directly east of us, his threads were strong and healthy, but he was afraid of something. Not totally unusual with Alex; he could sometimes get spooked by his own shadow.

Then I Tracked Pamela.

While she was in the same place, she was bruised and scared. I sat up straighter and Tracked Eve. No, this couldn’t be happening, not when I was all the way on the other side of the continent. Eve’s threads, I could barely feel them, weak and fading fast.

Eve was dying. I shot to my feet.

“Dox, go help Liam—we’ve got to go. Now.”

The ogres around us rustled, Sla stood slowly. “What is it?”

“One of my wards is dying. I have to get to her.”

I reached out and put a hand on Calliope’s neck.

Warm and dry, her coat was silken under my fingertips. “Calli, do you have any way at all that we can reach your tribe, let them know that you’re okay?”

She shook her head. No. I would have done so on my own if there was some way.

I put my hands on my head and clung to Eve’s threads. So far away, I was so god damned far away. Calli’s father had said they would wait for us. It had only been three days; surely they wouldn’t have hurt Eve? Fuck!

If only there was a way I could jump the veil … my eyes snapped open and I stared into the flames. Faris had said I could learn. Maybe. I paced in front of the fire, my mind racing as I struggled to remember exactly what Faris had done. The triplets spoke with their heads bowed together, and Sla made a motion with his right hand that sent the rest of the ogres melting into the darkness.

“Where is it you must go?” Sla asked. “Perhaps one of our magic wielders could help you.”

“You got a place to cross the veil close by?” Hope flared. If there was a place we could cross the veil that would take us at least closer to North Dakota, we might have a chance.

Sla nodded slowly. “Yes, we have such a place. Though I do not know if it will lead to where you need to go. Our entrance leads to a castle.”

Hell yeah, that was what I wanted to hear. “How close is it?” I gathered up my jacket, slid it on over my damp clothes.

The grey ogre stood slowly. “An hour from here, a little more if we go slowly.”

I did a quick check of my weapons. “And if we hurry?”

Dev bent and scooped Calliope into his arms. “Come on, enough dicking about. Let’s go.”

“Wait, Dox can carry her; you aren’t all coming, are you?” Please tell me I hadn’t acquired a Gang of ogres.

Dox and Liam stepped out of the bush as I was trying to figure out how many ogres were coming with us. Apparently, Sla and the triplets had appointed themselves my newest bodyguards. Liam took charge, slipping once more into Agent mode. “Rylee, stay tight with me; Dev, you and Tin trade off if you need a break from carrying Calliope.” The two ogres gave him a salute. “Lop, you bring up the rear, Sla and Dox take the lead.”

Surprising the shit out of me, everyone did what they were told. Sla and Dox set a fast pace, crashing a path out in front of us. Jaw tight, I held Eve’s threads and struggled not to let her pain affect me. Her life leached from her, and I knew she had hours at best. Whatever damage had been done to her, it was bad enough that her natural healing abilities wouldn’t be fast enough. She needed someone to heal her.

No one ambushed us and we made it to the entranceway through the veil in less than half an hour. A massive cedar tree that had to be at least twenty feet around was our destination. Split in the middle, cored out by fire, the black opening beckoned. With my second sight, the entrance was clear as day and more welcome than anything I’d ever seen.

“Rylee, you ready?” Liam touched my shoulder. I nodded.

Sweat drenched even in the cold night air, exhausted from the day’s events, I struggled to hold onto Alex’s and Pamela’s threads alongside Eve’s.

And then Pamela’s threads shimmered like a candle being blown on. Not dead, but across the veil, the gods only knew where.

“FUCK!”

Their voices clamored over me while I fought the nausea that rose in my gut. “Just go, get through the veil.”

They did as I said and we all stepped through the veil, the tingle of it sliding over my skin. The cedar tree opened into an inner courtyard that I hadn’t seen.

And Pamela’s threads were suddenly clear as a bell.

“PAMELA!”

There was a scuttle of feet, and then, “Rylee, I’m here!” And then her threads disappeared again. This time though, they were gone, like as in across a body of water gone.