In a hotel parking lot in München, Manny held out his hand and tapped his palm.

“You hit my harpy, asshole. A little more. Whores do not come cheap in this city.”

The dwarf sighed and emptied yet another pouch of decorative stones. “That’s all the runes I’ve got. Honest.”

Standing close as previously instructed, Trixie cradled her right wing.

“Well, look at her. Her wing is still busted up and everything.”

“But why was a harpy even walking? Why would one even come close to a road? They know better than most of the Gateways—”

“Oh? So you’re denying you hit my harpy?” Manny challenged. “Because I can call a few wolves up here. Bet they would love to check your cargo too, tiny.”

Teeth grinding, the dwarf shoved his hands down the front of his trousers and fished around.

When he dragged out another pouch from his nether regions, everyone grunted.

Everyone but Manny, who waited for more runes. Magic flowed like water throughout the earth and like water, it could take on various forms depending on how it was tampered—gas, liquid, vapor, or solid. Everything on earth had some rune in it and that rune could be extracted. The most basic form was rune stones, for which dwarfs were famous for making.

“What is that one?” Manny inquired, pointing to a yellow stone. “What is that one? That honey?”

The dwarf held it up and squinted. “Might be. But I’ve had It for ages.”

Manny snatched it. “This’ll do.”

He turned to Trixie but she took a step back, hands raised. “Please. Please no,” she begged.

Try as he might, Eli couldn’t make sense of it. There was a note of anger in Manny’s voice when he asked, “Will this help you or not? It has helped already, has it not? The dose you got on the road.”

“Don’t,” was all the harpy said as she took a shaky step back.

Manny groaned in the back of his throat and turned to the dwarf. “You got a holder?” He spoke before the man could protest. “It wasn’t a question. Course you do. Gimmie the nicest one you got. And I can tell the difference.”

Five minutes later saw Trixie’s forlorn expression when Manny put the beautiful pendant around her neck, the yellow rune safely inside.

“There. That should help.”

And he was right. Trixie practically glowed. She looked more radiant. If not for her miserable expression, Eli might have mistaken this for a nice gesture.

“Harpy, you come with me. You two,” Manny didn’t look back as he said, “you two can fuck off. You know where to find me.”

He didn’t get far. Still clutching her wing under her jacket, Trixie trailed behind him. So did the dwarf.

When Manny stopped to inquire, the little man straightened his beard.

“Different echelons open for different power levels. Let’s just say...I don’t make enough to see the ‘good’ offers. But a vampire...and a harpy?” He snorted under his breath. “That’s gotta be an amazing selection. Hope you don’t mind.”

Manny kissed his teeth and made his way to the motel. “Considering where your runes just came from, this will be hilarious for many reasons.”

There was no sense to keep places like these shrouded in magic, and yet they persisted.

An establishment like this was visible to all magical creatures. The door to the hotel was a regular swinging door but before they reached it, an ancient gate fell from the sky—one side then the other. They slid apart to reveal the colorful world.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

In the time of humans, that magic was necessary to keep them out. That was how the speed gateways had come about, too. And the dwarf was right. Size mattered to the children of Runes. The bigger the being, the more magic it required, the more magic it consumed, and the more magic it could carry.

Anyone else on that highway, including Slade with how low on power she was, wouldn’t have disturbed that speed Gateway. Well, almost anyone. Manny would have disturbed it just fine.

Eli regretted that it wasn’t that prick getting slammed by a midrange truck; he’d more than earned it.

Once they entered, the gateway closed and slid up before fading from view.

“We have to get them.”

“Leave it,” Eli insisted. “Nobody fucks quite as frequent as werewolves. There’s no way it won’t open that same chamber to us. We’ll head there later. For now...we’re in luck. This is where the soothsayer is. And we need to find her. She’ll help us—help you. I know.”

Slade hesitated. “Somebody shoots you in an hour. What we need to do is get you some clothes. And a possible dampening vest. Trixie needs us.”

Eli planted his feet. He wasn’t having it. “Soothsayer first. Or I’m not moving.”

Instead of insisting again, Slade stared him down. “This is important.”

“Well, so is this.”

Steeling himself for a fight, Eli opened his mouth to cuss.

“She needs us.” Slade’s woeful expression spoke of oncoming tears. “You know Manos, what he can do, what he’s capable of. Trixie only took care of him because she’s got a kind heart. What’s that ever done for anyone?”

As true as those words were, Eli resisted. He wanted to find a way to help Slade, now more than ever. And she didn’t have to remind him of what Manos was—who Manos was. All the more reason to find a way to fight him.

When Eli looked at the entrance to the motel, he hesitated. Manos walking side-by-side with a harpy much less referring to her as ‘my harpy?’ unheard of.

“I think he likes her.” Eli wasn’t sure where those stupid words came from, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced. “He likes her. Maybe—maybe getting cared for day in day out for the last five years left an impression. He went to find honey for her—”

“He went to get a fucking bear,” Slade reminded him. “And yes, let’s talk about that honey. Honey she keeps refusing but he keeps on her anyway. Why?”

Eli didn’t know. Each second they stood there, he felt foolish.

He wanted to declare it again, Manos’s change of heart, but those words died in a scoff when he dared to utter them.

“What he likes is what she knows. And she knows everything that’s going on. And she’s got the gift of foresight. Manipulated properly, that’s the gift of setting things in motion. That’s what he’s after, not her, and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to get it. No matter who it hurts.” When she met Eli’s gaze, she begged, “Please. All we have left is our humanity. Trixie’s not just some servant, she’s our friend and she wouldn’t leave any of us unguarded around the likes of my brother. We can’t leave her. Any secret she betrays is coming back to her, not him. And he knows that.”

Thoughts of the soothsayer came and went but equally, thoughts of Trixie’s body in a ditch did too.

Letting out a sigh, Eli relented. “Fine.” He breathed out another, “Fine,” before setting off toward the motel. “And then we’re seeing that soothsayer. All right?”

Slade nodded. “Right.”

When they were close enough, two doors slammed down before them.

“What’s going on?” Slade asked, looking up and waiting. “The doors aren’t coming back.”

Eli met her gaze, stunned. “They’re back.”

That realization had Slade floored. “My rune magic’s too low. It’s like a human’s.”

But she didn’t look like a human. She resembled a ghoul. He should have forced her. If he’d forced her to feed, they wouldn’t be like this now. Manny wouldn’t have gotten this far. Slade would have awoken and intercepted him if she’d had power.

“So that’s why I’m not in there when the wolves come.”

Eli held her hand. “Stop saying that.” He pulled the collar of his cloak around until the pocket watch sewn into it came into view. “We have time, well over an hour. So just sit tight.” That’s what he said but below the surface, he panicked. “We...you know, it’s not too late for the soothsayer....”

Between the look she gave him and the situation at large, he felt like scum.

“Trixie,” he admitted, “I’ll go save her.”

Slade’s stern expression softened. When she stepped close and hugged him, he tensed.

In time, he hugged her back. This was unexpected...and nice. Considering that she’d always been prickly till now, a thought occurred to him. He leaned back and tried to meet eyes with her.

She returned the gaze, confused. “What?”

“No—nothing.” This new development put a fire in his gut. Speaking of guts, he held his. “Shit.”

“You just save Trixie. I’ll worry about saving you,” Slade promised. “I’m not gonna stand around here wait for my piece of shit brother to work his way through the brothel.”

Eli turned to face the double doors and they slid open for him. In the distance, Manny and company stood at a counter.

Now or never.

Slade gave his hands a squeeze then backed away, shivering. The earth magic was doing its job of crippling anyone with low power who might stumble in. This wasn’t bluffing or hyperbole, she wasn’t able to follow.

“I’ll take care of her,” Eli promised, and ran in. “Don’t go far.”

Slade let him go but not before calling out, “Don’t do anything stupid.” At Eli’s look of confusion, she brought her thumb along her throat indicating death. “Watch your back with Manny.”

The doors slid shut and she faded from view.