Once the smoke was barely seeping out, I pulled away the brush and ventured into the cave. I could feel three distinct echoes of recently departed souls as I neared the back. I didn’t want to see their bodies, so I left them.

I shoved my dirt bike into the back of one of the SUVs before getting Edgewood. His face was slowly reforming since he was definitely a high Fae. I dragged him into the SUV and cuffed his hand and knees—I had mostly removed his feet at his shins with buckshot—to the base of the seat.

The chipper was waiting for me when I reached my storage unit. I pulled my dirt bike out of the car, parking it back in its place. The collector was looking far more whole, like he had been shot by a .223 not a 12 gauge. I didn’t have much time. I grabbed a few rolls of duct and electrical tape. I wrapped him up head to—what he had left of his—toes.

I hitched the woodchipper to the SUV and headed back home. A hundred feet from my house, I put the SUV in park, and got out. A light was on. I checked my shotgun, making certain it was ready. The front door was unlocked. I carefully opened it, then pushed into my house. My sister looked up from where she was making something at the stove. My brother-in-law rushed for a drawer across from where he was sitting on the floor with the baby. I lowered my gun, and we all looked at each other. My brother-in-law slowly began putting my 1911 back in the drawer.

I let out a long breath and was surprised to hear the baying of a hound. Rudy flopped down the stairs, licked the baby absently as he flopped over to me, very excited that I was home.

“Heavens, Aaron, you just about scared me to death,” My sister said.

“You might not want to put that away yet,” I said to my brother in-law.

“What’s going on, Aaron?” He asked seriously, pulling the 1911 back out.

“Work followed me home. I believe I have things taken care of, but there is still a chance things could go downhill,” I replied. “I need to clear the house, then we can talk.” They looked at me in shock. I needed to make sure things were safe before I told them whatever I was going to tell them.

I pushed past them and went upstairs to check the guest room. It had my sister’s family’s stuff, but it was clear. I unlocked my door and pushed into my room. It was sacked: clothes strewn throughout the room, dresser tipped over, bed flipped, safe cut open, and my guns discarded on the floor. Rudy stuck by my side as I finished the cabin and went out to the shop. My extra silver-tipped rounds I had made were missing, but nothing else was gone. More importantly, no one was here. I walked back into the kitchen, letting my shotgun hang from the strap across my chest.

“You had a month,” Bill said, my 1911 still grasped in his hand.

My sister was holding the baby, eyes wide. “Should I call the police?” she asked.

“No, it’s fine now. I dealt with it. I just need a phone to call the FBI, and we should be good to go.” I walked to a drawer where the men had dumped all my stuff and grabbed my phone. It was dead, so I plugged it in to charge. “Wait here until I get back.” I turned to go back outside.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t call the police?” my sister asked, cradling her baby protectively.

“They couldn’t help. I just need to wrap this up. You’re safe.”

“If you take another step without telling me what is going on, I’m going to call them,” my sister stated firmly.

I pulled a scrap of paper off the counter and jotted down Chris’s number, then slid it towards her. “If you must call someone, call this number. He’s with the FB,I but give me fifteen minutes, and I will call him myself.” I turned and went out. Rudy was right on my heels.

He barked and growled as we reached the SUV. I opened the side door, and he jumped in tearing at Edgewood’s shoulder. Rudy sat over him, teeth sunk in, thrashing his head in anger. I hadn’t imagined for a moment the pup was capable of such aggression. I shut the door and drove to my cemetery at the far end of my property. I got out, revved up the chipper, and aimed the chute down towards an old plastic tarp. I tried to pull Edgewood out of the SUV, but with Rudy pulling on him in the opposite direction, it was impossible. It took me a couple minutes to pry him off and tie him to a tree.

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I shoved the Collector in the chipper. “Come back from that,” I found myself muttering as Edgewood’s body ran through the blades. I could feel the echo of his dark soul vibrating around me, trying to piece its body back together. I was not finished by any means. I was going to come back with containers of salt, silver, and raw iron shavings, mix that concoction with what was left of Edgewood, separate it all out in a couple different plastic tubs then bury them. Honestly, being chopped up by the steel blades was probably enough, I just didn’t want the slightest possibility of him coming back. Once had been enough.

I found my sister finishing the dinner she had been cooking when I burst in. She looked at me, irritated. “Your contact says he’s on his way.”

I let out a long sigh. I didn’t want her to call Chris, too late now. “I’m going to get cleaned up.” I shuffled up the stairs and took a long, hot shower. I found a set of clothes from the piles Edgewood’s men made and went back downstairs.

Dinner was served, but neither Bree nor Bill were eating, just the baby. Bree was feeding him spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. Rudy lay under the baby’s chair, head flopped on the floor, one droopy eye open watching for scraps. “Where did you find the dog?” I asked, settling into a seat across from Bill.

“He was sitting on your porch. Did he get locked out? He looks like he missed a few meals,” Bill replied while my sister looked at me, still not touching her food. “He demolished two bowls and probably would have had a third if we let him.”

“I don’t know exactly what happened to him,” I paused. “He must have gotten out.”

“What happened? You wouldn’t leave him out on his own,” Bree asked. She was concerned, I could tell, and still not interested in the food in her plate.

I cut into my roast. “Work followed me home,” I said matter-of-factly, then shoved the delicious food in my mouth.

“Here?” my sister glanced around the room, wide-eyed. I thought that had been pretty obvious when I had swept the entire house.

“Yeah, I took care of it.” I shoved more food in my mouth.

“What does that mean?” My sister snapped. She shifted in her seat and glanced at her husband. He nodded to me. I could tell he could guess the vein of what “took care of” meant.

“Don’t press him, dear,” he said. “He probably can’t talk about it. Is that right, Aaron?”

I could; it wouldn’t do them any good, but I needed to say something because they should stop swinging by my place. It just wasn’t safe anymore if it ever was. “I killed them. Tied up loose ends, as it were.” My sister blinked rapidly in disbelief. Perhaps, I should have approached it differently. I took another bite of mashed potatoes. The confirmation played across Bill’s face. He had guessed something similar, but it was clearly still a bit off putting, even for him.

“I don’t know what to even say,” My sister breathed. I waved my fork dismissively.

“It’s fine. I made it out alright, with some help, and I... I took care of it.”

“If you need us, you can come to our place,” my sister said. She glanced around my home; the look on her face reminded me of someone lost in a dark forest.

“That would be nice, very nice. I should make certain thing are settled here.” What I really meant was ‘It’s better if I stick around and get rid of anyone who might come poking around looking for Edgewood or me for that matter,’ but I couldn’t say that without making her current reaction worse.

“How about we all pack up, and take the helicopter to a hotel?” Bill suggested, standing up and grabbing the baby. I bit into my roast; gosh it was delicious. My sister and brother in-law stared at me blankly.

“That sounds wise,” I muttered. The rest of my food would have to wait. I should have told them after I finished. After shoving my sister’s food in large Tupperware, I went back to my shop and grabbed what I needed to finish off the Collector’s remains. I called Chris on my way to the cemetery; he was on his way with a team and would be here in three hours. I told him I would be back in the next day or two. By the time I was back from burying Mr. Edgewood, Bill and Bree were packed and had Rudy on a leash. I took my 1911 from Bill and threw on a clean jacket.

Bill flew us to a local airport; we got an Uber to a hotel, and I paid for the rooms. It was the least I could do. I paid for two days for mine. It felt like I was going to sleep 24 hours so I was surprised when I woke up the next morning. I got my brother-in-law and sister on their way. Though, my sister said she was not done talking, and I would be hearing from her. I waited with Rudy at the entrance of the hotel for Chris. He pulled up in his nice Ford, towing his old silver bullet camper. I let Rudy in the back, then climbed in the passenger seat.

“I got an earful from your sister. She was very worried.” Chris gave me a long look. “She didn’t seem to know what was going on.”

“Someone from the exotic trafficking ring found my house.” I glanced back, taking note of the cars around us.

“What happened?” Chris asked as he pulled on to the main highway.

“I ran him through a chipper, then burnt the remains with salt, silver and raw iron.”

“Heavens, man, was that necessary?” Chris looked over at me, face grim, one eyebrow raised.

“I shot him in the head with a forty-five the first time, and he showed up in my house a week or so later. I would have run him through again if I thought it would help. I need a plane to go to his compound. I don’t know what we’re going to find, but I’m guessing there are things that will need put down.”

Chris nodded. “What did he want? Do you even know?”

“Oh, I know,” I let out an exasperated sigh. “He wanted to catch Sinew, the grendel, alive.”