I introduced Lannon to Jack, and we all entered the motel room. I grabbed a new shirt out of the bag Jack had packed and quickly stepped into the bathroom to change.

“Violet’s asleep,” Jack warned as I returned, hushing his tone.

I nodded, sitting down on the couch beside him. Lannon sat on the recliner across from us, still trying to track my mother’s location with his handheld device.

“So, remember Michael from yesterday?” I asked.

“The lawyer?”

“Yeah. Well, turns out I was right. There was something off about him.”

“What?”

“He’s a demon.”

Jack laughed nervously.

“Like, he’s an asshole?”

“No. An actual interdimensional demon. With an attraction to radishes.”

“Oh.”

It took about a half hour, with lots of rehashing and rewording, but I was able to convey the day’s events to Jack. I wasn’t sure he would’ve believed me at all if Lannon hadn’t let him touch his activated body shield. Jack pressed his hand against the invisible barrier over Lannon’s arm with the glazed expression of a toddler trying to comprehend goldfish in an aquarium.

At the end of the whole explanation, he summarized, “so Revella, she’s currently trying to find your mom? And her plan is still to kill her on sight, basically?”

“Basically.”

“Then we need to warn her.”

“We can’t. Her phone is dead or disconnected. Probably Michael’s doing.”

“I’m getting somewhere,” Lannon said, looking up from his calculations. “The demon’s doing his best to scramble her phone’s signal, but I can still get a weak trace on it. Looks like she’s west of here. Somewhere between Hoskins and Lewisville. If we get closer, I’ll get a more precise pin on her.”

“So we should get moving,” I said. I winced. “Jack, I need you to stay here with Violet.”

“What?”

I knew he wasn’t going to like that.

“One of us needs to stay with her. It can’t be me, because I need to talk to my mom to get her away from Michael.”

“I…Laura. If all this multiverse stuff is real, you can’t expect me to sit here while you go running headfirst into a situation where people are going to try to kill you.”

“Lannon’s doing the fighting. I’m just there to talk to my mom and get her to safety.”

Jack looked frustrated.

“I know you want to help,” I said. “But the most important thing you can do right now is stay with Violet and keep her safe.”

“What if something happens to you?”

“These people have super advanced medical technology. I’ll be fine.”

I was lying a bit with that one, but I could only sit here and reason with Jack for so long. I’d wanted to tell him what was going on, but I’d only allotted myself so much time to do so. I couldn’t sit here and comfort him all day while Revella hunted down my mother.

“Do you trust me?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“Then let me do this. Keep Violet safe, and I’ll be back with you soon.”

“I…”

I rose. Lannon followed my lead.

“I love you,” I said.

He echoed the words back. We kissed, and I hurried out with Lannon trailing me. We climbed back in the car, and I set us rolling toward Lewisville.

“You really stressed to your husband that he needs to keep your daughter safe. You know that Revella doesn’t have a reason to come after them now, right?”

“I know, but I needed to give Jack a job that felt important. Because the truth is someone needs to stay with Violet, and I need to be the one who talks to my mom, but he wouldn’t be happy sitting idle while I’m in danger.”

“Can I ask why you needed to talk to him at all then? Why not catch this demon first and then explain the whole situation afterward?”

“In case something happens to us,” I said. “I want there to be someone alive who knows what’s happening. Someone who can alert the authorities if we fail and if Revella isn’t able to stop Michael.”

Lannon sighed.

“It’s a nice thought, but I don’t think military forces on this Earth can mobilize fast enough. Bullets don’t really work on radish demons. If we fail, it’ll be a matter of months before this thing to chokes out all life on this planet.”

“Well, better to have some insurance than nothing at all.”

“I love your optimism.”

I drove us westward. Fortunately, soccer mom had recently filled up the tank. The stolen handgun was digging into the muscle of my right butt cheek, so carefully, I withdrew it from my jeans pocket and placed it in the cupholder.

“Don’t let me forget to bring that,” I instructed Lannon.

“Just don’t accidentally try to take a sip from it while you’re driving.”

I smirked, glad that Lannon’s humor was almost as dry as mine.

“What makes radish demons so dangerous?” I asked. “Michael doesn’t have fangs or claws or anything.”

“Their human form isn’t quite as dangerous. The shell they adopt to blend into our society also acts like a cap on some of their abilities.”

“Those abilities being?”

“Lots of things. Holographic projection, manipulation of electromagnetic fields, control over gravitational forces, plain old being fast as shit and nearly indestructible.”

“You’ve got a plan, right? More than just blasting away?”

“That’s the thing with radish demons. They’re hard to plan for. The best bet is to bring as much protection and firepower as you can and hope to nail them in a weak spot before they discard their human shell.”

“And how many radish demons have you killed before?”

“Killed? None.”

My stomach sank.

“But I did see Revella and her team kill one on Earth twenty-seven delta. And I’ve seen footage of a few others killed on other planets.”

“Lannon, are you serious?”

“What?”

“I’ve got everything riding on you. I basically said ‘fuck you’ to Revella’s face because I was confident you’d be able to kill this thing on your own. And you’re saying you’ve never actually done this before?”

“Hey, I’m still the best chance you’ve got. If I fail, then seasoned demon hunter Revella will step in and finish the job. Minus one innocent civilian.”

“I just…I thought you were a little more experienced.”

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“Only one way to get experience. And keep in mind I’m still risking my life for your mom out of the goodness of my heart.”

“I appreciate it. But I…well, this isn’t helping my nerves.”

“Mine neither. Let’s talk about something else.”

“Why can your body shield protect you from lasers and not spit?”

Lannon leaned his seat back.

“Oh, that’s an easy one. It’s the AI built into the shield. It’s great at figuring out where clothes are and molding the force field around those, but it’s pretty bad at figuring out where skin ends and body cavities begin.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your mouth and esophagus are contiguous with your skin. It would be pretty problematic if the force field just kept extending across the skin of your face, into your mouth, and down your throat. You wouldn’t be able swallow your own secretions or eat anything with the shield on. If it does the same thing down your nose and into your lungs, you’d suffocate within minutes.”

“Okay. Makes sense.”

“So the solution was to program a few non-shieldable materials. When the body shield hits saliva or nasal mucous, it dissipates. Prevents the body shield from overextending itself into our lungs, but the drawback is that we can still be spit on. Not usually an issue, but it sounds like you were able to use it to your advantage this morning.”

“Yeah. I don’t think Magrue was expecting it.”

“He didn’t have a reason to think you’d know about that trick.”

“Does everyone have a body shield on other Earths?”

“Nah. They’re difficult to install and not really convenient in everyday life. Only soldiers, police, and people like Revella and me have them.”

I pulled us into the HOV lane. We began streamlining past other cars on the road.

“All these other Earths sound like a neat place.”

“The connected multiverse is incredible. I hope you get to see it.”

“I think I’d like that.”

Lannon nodded.

“We’ll talk about it after we kill this demon.”

I kept us headed west as Lannon continued typing away. Occasionally, he would update me as the radius of my mother’s phone continued to shrink. Just past Lewisville, we pulled off the highway and began combing across country roads. Hilly farmland extended in all directions. Vining plants, fruit trees, and corn. I wondered if the strains we passed were any that I’d studied back at the lab.

Eventually, Lannon announced, “got her!”

I eased off the gas, pulling into the slow lane.

“Where is she?”

“About two miles up the road. Looks like a farmhouse.”

“Why would she go there?”

Lannon shrugged.

“Beats me. But from now on, let’s keep our guard up. Be ready to shoot.”

I eyed my gun in the cupholder.

“You got it.”

I guided our stolen car off the main road to a single-lane gravel path. I stopped us a short distance away from a quaint, two-story farmhouse. There was smoke in the chimney, and the lights were lit. I recognized my mother’s old Honda, the one she’d traded her Mercedes in for after she’d burned through much of my dad’s savings, parked in the driveway.

We’d found her.

“No sign of Revella,” Lannon murmured, peering out our windows.

He pressed a finger into his temple.

“Nothing on the infrared spectrum, either. Looks like we beat her here.”

I allowed myself a sigh of relief. I’d had enough of that woman to last a lifetime.

“Same plan as before?” I asked. “I’ll go in and pull my mom out to safety?”

“I guess so. It’ll be riskier. The demon will realize something’s up as soon as he lays eyes on you. You shouldn’t have been able to find your mom with the technology available on this planet.”

“So what? Avoid running into Michael?”

Lannon nodded vigorously.

“Yes. Always a good idea. Whatever you do, don’t let him find you.”

“What if he does find me?”

“Throw up that deflector field generator and run.”

I winced.

“Lovely advice.”

“What can I say? Options are a bit limited when dealing with radish demons.”

He peered at the house and touched his temple again.

“It looks like there’s a figure in the living room, by the fireplace. The heat signature is too cold to be human, so that’s got to be our demon. The other signature is sitting on the porch out back.”

“My mom.”

“Yep.”

I grabbed my gun and ensured it was set to maximum power before tucking it away in my jeans.

“Well. Wish me luck. I’ll try to guide her back this way so you can see when she’s clear.”

Lannon nodded, pulling out his own weapon.

“I’ll be ready.”

I let myself out of the car and cautiously crunched up the gravel path. I walked a long parabola around the farmhouse, avoiding the front windows and staying on the side opposite the chimney.

Every click of gravel stones clacking against each other sounded like a gunshot, but no pseudo-lawyers emerged from the farmhouse, so I assumed I hadn’t been detected. It didn’t help my palpitating heart.

Patchy weeds littered the front lawn. Behind the house was a massive field with dozens of columns of sprouting plants in crisp alignment. The leaves burst through the soil only to the height of my ankle, but they stretched on forever to the microscopic fence on the horizon.

I plucked one at the edge of the field, just before I rounded the corner of the house.

A small red bulb emerged from the dirt, attached to the green stalk.

God damn it.

This was a fucking radish farm.

I threw the radish aside, took a breath, and rounded the corner of the house. The vegetable wasn’t important. This conversation was. My heart was now swinging around in my chest like an aberrant pendulum. I didn’t know what I would find. My mother could be brainwashed, held captive against her will, or still lost deep within Michael’s illusion. I’d have to figure out what to say on the fly.

I saw her sitting in the rocking chair outside. A curling tail of smoke slithered up from the cigarette between her lips. It looked like she’d again been unsuccessful in quitting. Not really a surprise there.

She noticed me when I was just a dozen feet away, eyes widening in surprise.

“Laura!”

She pulled the cigarette from her lips and quashed it underfoot, grinding it into the wooden floorboards.

“Hi, Mom.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came here to find you. Are you okay?”

She couldn’t shake the look of surprise off her face.

“Okay? Me? Of course I am. I just didn’t expect to see you here. Michael’s firm gave him a week off, so he booked us a surprise trip to the countryside.”

“So you came out here voluntarily? Of your own free will?”

She looked at me like I had flowers sprouting out of my head.

“Well, yes. Why wouldn’t I have come here with my own free will.”

In a way, the answer disappointed me. My mother was so disconnected with reality that she still hadn’t realized Michael was not human. She was still accommodating his every request.

It also made me angry.

She hadn’t even wanted to travel for a day to celebrate my wedding. And now Michael had convinced her to drop everything and take a spontaneous vacation. Just for fun.

This guy was getting to be really unlikeable, even discounting the end-of-the-world stuff.

“Well, Laura, I’m so happy to see you. I’m sorry about yesterday. Is that why you’re here? Did you want to talk?”

It took every ounce of willpower in my body not to viscerally react to her comment about yesterday. I strained the muscles in my face to keep from grimacing.

“Yeah.”

I forced the word through my lips like spitting toothpaste into the sink.

“Can we go for a walk? I want to talk about some things.”

My mother leapt out of her chair as fast as her arthritic knees would allow.

“Of course. We can talk about whatever you want.”

She turned to reach for the door.

“Let me just tell Michael where I’m going.”

“Wait!” I hissed, stepping forward to reach for her hand.

She paused.

“What is it, Laura?”

“I don’t want you to tell Michael.”

She frowned.

“Why?”

I used the events of yesterday as leverage.

“I’m still upset about you trying to set me up with him. I don’t want you to go talk to him right now.”

For once, my mother seemed to be willing to acknowledge that she’d done something wrong.

“Okay. Yeah. That’s fine.”

She pulled her hand away from the doorknob, letting it hang limp at her side.

“Let’s talk,” she said.

I felt bad, leading her on. She seemed hopeful that I was here because I wanted a reconciliation of some kind. If anything, seeing her again so soon only stirred up a tabasco-laced ball of anger in my throat. I was not in a forgiving mood, but I was willing to act the part for a few minutes to save her life.

I guided her down the steps of the back porch. Every slat squealed under her weight, I winced, glancing at the back door, but Michael never came.

We started walking back the way I’d come. We made it about five steps when a voice behind us made my spine go rigid with fear.

“Hey guys!”

I turned around the way a rabbit caught in a trap turned when it heard hunters’ footsteps approaching.

Michael stood on the porch, poking his artificially blond head out the back door. He let himself out and began approaching us.

“Laura! What are you doing here?”

He grinned disarmingly.

Fuck.

“Hey Michael,” I said. “Good to see you. I was just taking a walk with my mom.”

“That’s nice,” he said. “Really kind of you to come all this way to pay a visit. How’d you find us?”

I wanted him to stop advancing, but he was relishing the approach. A cat playing with its food, he sauntered down the steps of the porch. He wore a tank top and cargo shorts that revealed a hint of a farmer’s tan.

“She told me,” I lied, pointing at my mother.

Not the most plausible story, but at least I could buy myself a few seconds with the confusion.

My mother looked confused.

“But Michael and I left our phones in the car. So we wouldn’t be distracted from the nature on this trip.”

“Apparently not,” I lied. “You texted me this morning.”

She looked worried.

“Maybe my memory’s getting rotten.”

Michael shook his head.

“I’m not worried about your memory, Sally.”

His sandals smacked against the dirt as he hopped down from the last step of the porch.

My right hand itched, fingers curling around the grip of the gun in my back pocket.

“Mom,” I murmured.

She turned to look at me, but I didn’t take my eyes off Michael.

“I want you to run.”

“What?”

Even before the words had passed her lips, I had whipped out the gun and fired a pair of shots at Michael’s chest. Slamming on the button to activate my watch at the same time. The pulsating rings burst forth from the device.

“Laura!” my mother screamed as she processed that I’d just fired a weapon at her new friend.

I didn’t hear her. I was too busy sinking into a pit of dismay as I watched the laser blasts bury themselves harmlessly in Michael’s chest. The impacts didn’t propel him backwards or even wrinkle his tank top.

He glanced down where the beams had struck and back up at me, laughing.

“You idiot,” he chuckled.

“Run, Mom!” I screamed, grabbing her arm with my free hand and tugging her with me.

We stumbled across the weedy grass. My heart was pounding, climbing up my esophagus. My mother was stumbling over every step, leaning heavily on my hand gripped around her wrist with a dead woman’s desperation. I held the shield up behind us, not sure that it would do any good.

I glanced at Michael.

The ground was rippling around him. I felt it slipping and trembling under my feet.

No, no, no. Whatever he was about to do, it really wasn’t going to be pretty.

Why couldn’t my mother bobble along any faster?

We kept scrambling, putting meager yards between ourselves and the demonic parasite behind us.

Then, an explosion erupted down the street.

Michael glanced toward the plume of smoke. I did, too, still scrambling for cover.

“What’s going on!” my mother screamed.

I wasn’t sure, but it looked like the explosion had come from where Lannon had been waiting.

I glanced back at where Michael had been standing. He was gone.

Maybe Lannon had been right about not having a plan. Things had gone to shit before my mother could even express her disapproval with my personal life.