The place was right were Vincent said it would be. There was a neat line of houses, the remains of the sort of place Gus said used to be called a suburb. Most of the houses were in disrepair, but there was one in the middle, white with red shutters, and a long covered porch, that still had a white fence around the yard.

"It'll be the best one. The one worth bragging about," Vincent had said.

That one.

Vincent had wanted to come, but she had said no. He'd gotten upset, as close to angry with her as he'd ever been, but Rafferty had been firm. She had left a note for Trevor, didn't even want to imagine how that conversation would have gone.

Rafferty needed to do this alone. For Katrin. For herself.

She marked the distance to the house, the one worth bragging about, and decided to arrive at the end of a long, impressive jump.

Rafferty took off running. A dozen strides later she propelled herself into the air. She landed in a crouch, at the end of the path leading to the porch, just like she wanted to.

There was a man on either side of the door. Rafferty straightened up. They looked at her, but didn't speak. She thought they looked tough. She also thought they looked scared.

Good.

The one of the right leaned over and rapped on the door, never taking his eyes off of Rafferty.

The door opened and Alex with Malice walked out, moving in that swaggery way that Rafferty had quickly grown to hate. He had something in his hand.

Are those… cherries?

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Rafferty slipped into a fighting stance, and tensed, ready to pounce. She intended to end this quickly.

"Hold on, hold on," said Alex, putting up one hand as he descended the steps.

Alex stopped when he stepped off the porch. He wasn't more than twenty feet away. He put the bunch of fruit up to his mouth, and sucked one of the cherries off the stem. Alex made a satisfied noise before he leaned over and spit out a pit. He held out the cherries toward Rafferty.

"You want one?" he asked.

Rafferty didn't say anything. This wasn't going quite like she'd imagined.

"You sure? Season's almost over. You'll have to wait a whole year," he said, and ate another cherry.

"Oh well," he said when Rafferty remained still.

Alex flipped the cherries over his shoulder without taking his eyes off Rafferty. The man to left of the door caught them without moving his hand.

"There are nine cherries there, Terry. If there aren't at least seven when I ask for them back, you and I are going to have a serious discussion," he said.

Alex glanced toward Rafferty's sword, still on her belt.

"Planning to cut me in half?" he asked.

Actually, I haven't decided yet.

Rafferty flicked her wrist, and sent a shimmer of Blue through her bracelets.

All right, I'm ready. Let's go.

"Nice," Alex said. "You know, I don't know your name. It feels like I should."

Alex seemed intent on remaining at this distance. He might have thought he was out of range. Rafferty shifted her feet, calculating the short jump. She was going to enjoy showing Alex he was wrong.

"No? I guess it doesn't matter. I've been calling you Sparkles," he said.

Alex put his hands up in an almost comical fighting position.

"You sure you want to do this again? I've almost killed you twice now," he said.

"I wasn't angry before," Rafferty said, preparing to jump.

"Excellent," he said softly, a smile spreading across his face.

There was something in the way he said it that made Rafferty pause, a little worm of doubt wriggling in her brain.

No. This is my plan. Not his. Go now.

There was movement, just a little, to her left.

"Oh, there's something I forgot to mention," she heard Alex say as she started to turn her head.

There were footsteps now. She heard them clearly. Rafferty turned to face them.

"This isn't a boss fight," Alex said.

Rafferty had just pivoted into position when there was a bright flash of light in her face, obscuring whatever opponent was rushing in her direction. The blow that followed knocked her off her feet.

Was that Blue?

She had fleeting thoughts of Seth as she thumped to the ground, her ears ringing, and her eyes still fuzzy from the flash.

"You've got work to do first," Alex's voice said, sounding very far away.

Rafferty looked up to see the figure standing over her come into focus.

It was a girl. She was maybe a little younger than Rafferty. Her long hair was a shiny, unnatural turquoise. There were cracks in her skin, like a roughly handled porcelain doll. The cracks glowed, like they were brimming with Blue.

She looked very, very angry.

Whatever this is, it isn't possible.

"Calamity, meet Sparkles. Sparkles, this is Calamity J," Alex asked.

The girl made a harsh short sound. Rafferty supposed she would call it a growl.

Rafferty gripped her sword.

"Spread her guts across the lawn, J. Then we'll have a snack."