Evelyn was in the middle of a dream. One that seemed to make perfect sense, but as she woke up to darkness, the dream slipped away. What time was it?

She tried to reach for her phone, but was frozen in her bed. It took a few more blinks before she noticed the words floating in her vision.

Roll for perception.

Evelyn swallowed, then grabbed the d20. She had a guess what this was, but still felt nervous.

The die landed on fourteen. The +4 was a nice bump to eighteen. Time resumed, and she grabbed her phone, checking the time. She barely registered it was four in the morning when Clarissa walked in, back in her blue dress now. “What is Van Horn?”

Evelyn rubbed her eyes. “Sorry?”

“Van Horn.”

“Um, you mean the horn on a van? Like the van Derek drives?”

“I mean, I noticed a sign through the tiger’s eyes, and it said Van Horn.” She then made a weird noise with her mouth, almost like a tsking noise.

“Sorry, what was that last part?”

She made the tsking sound again. “It made little sense. It had a T and an X after it.”

“T and X?” It hit her, and she sat up. “TX. Abbreviation for Texas.” She threw the blankets off her and ran straight for her laptop. She pulled up a map and put in Van Horn, Texas.

She breathed a sigh of relief as it showed up. It did exist. But the relaxation all left when she saw how close it was to the Mexican border. She had a passport, but Tyler mentioned he didn’t.

She didn’t remember how early in the morning it was until she listened to the phone ringing on the other side. She glanced at the clock on her computer, wondering if she should wait a few more hours, when Tyler’s tired voice came on.

“Hello?”

“Tyler! I’m so sorry. It’s late. Or, uh, early. Princess Clarissa said she recognized the sign Van Horn, Texas, while meditating. The tigers are in Texas.”

“Oh. Great. This is great!”

“I looked it up. It’s pretty close to the Mexican border.”

“That’s… not so great.” There was some shuffling around. “I’m assuming they’d go into Mexico if they’re traveling in a straight line.”

Evelyn put in her home address and hit enter, watching it make a trip to Van Horn, Texas. “Mmm, yes. This route has a bump to avoid Mexico.”

“Well, we know where they are. We have a direction to go. I’ll call the other two and we’ll leave as soon as possible.”

She nodded, even though Tyler was on the phone and couldn’t see. “I’ll start packing.”

***

Rafael stuffed some clothes into a small suitcase. It was early. Way too early. But once he got the call from Tyler, he couldn’t go back to sleep. He was nervous. Nervous about Ezekiel. About the saber-tooth tigers. About calling his work that he couldn’t come in today. There were too many things that needed to happen, and it all needed to work. Ezekiel needed to kill a saber-tooth tiger before Akshi’s minions did. Then they needed to rush back home to protect him in the bubble. So many things could go wrong. But it would be too dangerous not to try.

It was six in the morning before Rafael grabbed his phone and dialed his manager’s number. Alejandra was just getting up, a bathrobe around her. He wanted to let her keep sleeping.

“Hey, Mary,” Rafael said as soon as his manager said hello. “Look, I’m really sorry to do this so last minute, but… but it’s fall break.”

“And you want off today?” Strangely, Mary sounded excited.

“Um, yes. Just for a day or two. If that’s possible.”

She let out a whoop. It was so loud Alejandra glanced over, curious.

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“Brian will cover for you!” Mary said.

Brian was his other manager. “O…kay. Is everything alright?”

“He and I had a wager. Brian was positive you would never ask off for any of fall break. I said no one could do that after all the work you did last week. So if you asked for a day off, Brian was fully prepared to take your shift. Which he will. I’ll make sure of it.”

Rafael let himself smile, even chuckle a bit. “Thanks, Mary.”

“You have fun. You work too hard.”

He hung up, knowing at least work was covered. He talked to Alejandra about what was happening, and she got nervous, but nodded.

Rafael finished packing, not knowing if he needed it all. But if they were going to spend the night somewhere, he didn’t want to be unprepared.

At six-thirty in the morning, Tyler’s car pulled up. Rafael opened the door with his suitcase as Tyler got out and unlocked his trunk. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Nervous,” Rafael said.

“We all are.” He helped Rafael put his suitcase in the trunk. “Best-case scenario, we come home late tonight with Ezekiel holding a very large cat tooth or claw.”

“That sounds great. We’ll focus on that.” Rafael wiped his forehead, glancing at his house.

Tyler nodded to Alejandra. “Are you okay to watch everyone’s characters while we’re gone?”

“Yeah.” She folded her arms, still in her bathrobe. “Grizzizzik too?”

Tyler frowned. “I’m not sure if he will come. But Nick promised that if Grizzizzik wants to join the others, he’ll drop him off at your house and then leave.”

Alejandra played with her fingers. “Is Nick okay?”

Tyler shut the trunk, then glanced at her. “Yeah. He’s fine.”

“Okay. Okay, good.”

Rafael frowned, not sure how he was supposed to interpret his sister’s question, but he didn’t have time. He’d just tuck it away to think about during the eight-hour road trip they were about to have.

A second car pulled up, parking away from them so Rafael couldn’t see Evelyn. Which was fine. He forced himself to look away.

Hraktar walked outside with Quetzal on his shoulder. The drake was about the size of a large lizard, though he was so heavy now only Hraktar could handle him on his shoulders. The drake got down and scuttled toward Alejandra. She knelt down to give his head a pat before he disappeared around the house, no doubt looking for mice to snack on.

Derek, Milo, Clarissa and Ezekiel got out of his car and made the quick trip toward Rafael’s house. Ezekiel nodded at Rafael. “I… assume you got my note.”

Rafael smiled. “The note so well hidden that I didn’t notice it until this morning? That note?”

“Oh.” Ezekiel rubbed the back of his head. “Don’t you usually reach into that cupboard?”

Rafael hid a smile as he glanced down. It was the cereal cupboard, and he hadn’t had cereal in a while. “Not yesterday.”

Alejandra giggled. “Next time you can put the note on the counter. Mom won’t see it.”

Ezekiel shrugged, then glanced at Clarissa with a smile. “Yeah. I suppose.”

With a smile, Tyler leaned against the car. “Hey, you two, remember what we’re doing.” He was focusing on Clarissa and Ezekiel. “Ezekiel’s got to be prepared at a moment’s notice to fight a saber-tooth tiger one-on-one. Princess Clarissa and Milo need to be there as backup in case Ezekiel goes down, or in case there’re more creatures we need to fight off.”

Milo slapped Ezekiel on the back. “So, be careful what you’re doing here. No one wants you two teleporting into battle naked.”

Derek covered his mouth, but it did nothing to stop his laughter. Ezekiel smiled as he gripped Clarissa’s hand. “We shall resist.”

“Cuddles and kisses are still on the table, though, right?” Clarissa asked.

Ezekiel gave her a quick kiss. “Always.”

“Ugh. Newlyweds,” Tyler muttered.

“Milo’s got cure wounds prepared, and so does Clarissa,” Derek said.

“Are you sure you don’t need me?” Hraktar asked.

“Yes, we’re sure,” Tyler said, watching Clarissa and Ezekiel walk inside the house hand in hand. “You and Grizzizzik need to remain here. It’s already dangerous enough splitting the group. If something goes wrong out there, we need both of you to remain and keep the main mission going. We’ve got to eliminate all the monsters before next August.”

Hraktar nodded, one he wasn’t committed to. “But if the princess dies…”

The bubble collapses. The phrase Hraktar left unsaid.

Tyler sighed. “I know.” He glanced at Derek. “Ezekiel gets teleported first. If he gets in over his head, Milo is next to teleport. If they need the extra boost, send in Princess Clarissa. That is the order. Let Evelyn know.” Tyler then glanced over at Milo, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Don’t tell Princess Clarissa I said that.”

Milo nodded, his face grim. “I won’t.”

Tyler grabbed his phone out of his pocket. “Alejandra, stay near the princess. Have her keep meditating. If there is any change in the tiger’s direction, call us and let us know. Especially if they dip into Mexico.”

“I will,” Alejandra said.

“If they dip into Mexico, Derek and Evelyn can find them and guide them into the US, since they have passports.” Tyler sighed, tapping something on his phone. “This is fine. Everything will be fine. We’ve planned for everything. It’ll be fine.”

“It will,” Derek said.

Tyler gave a final sigh, then finished tapping his phone. “Alright. Evelyn’s with Derek for this first stretch.” Tyler gave Derek a look. “Keep conversation light. Don’t talk to her about anything she doesn’t want to.”

Derek gave him a thumbs up. “I won’t.”

“Good. We will always stay near each other in case she wants to switch drivers sooner. Rafael, you will be with me. Let’s get this started.”

Derek nodded, almost distractedly. Rafael followed his gaze until he landed on Hraktar. More specifically, Hraktar’s midsection covered by his armor. Rafael hid his smile because he knew why. Hraktar was an unbelievably chiseled fellow. Despite the strange way to describe it, plump hernias were all Rafael could think of whenever he looked at Hraktar’s stomach.

The silence descended, and Hraktar finally took notice that he was getting the attention. He frowned, glancing at his midsection before looking at them all.

Derek cleared his throat. “Right. I will see you on the road.” He pulled out his own phone, tapping something as he walked toward the car. Rafael got in with Tyler, then buckled himself, watching Alejandra and Hraktar walk back into the house.

Tyler started up the car, sighing. “We’ll be fine.”