In another part of the forest, Jeremy was about to be ambushed himself—and he knew it full well.

  He'd gone to the spot the gruff voice on the phone asked him to. It wasn't Felix. Somebody else answered his phone. In the background, Jeremy heard a serious commotion—and the distinct sound of Brian Hendricks' voice. If I hadn't, no way in hell I'd be out here right now all fuckin' alone.

  But he wasn't alone, Jeremy reminded himself. There wasn't anyone physically with him, since so few people even knew about his mission, but they did know, and they were ready to move on his signal. Cinza, Ruby, and Jackie back at the Greywood—give or take a Nikki, who Jeremy wasn't sure was entirely there at the moment—and Will all the way up in Vancouver, ready to strike. Jackie tried to talk him out of it, but her attempts were half-hearted at best. She knew exactly how he felt. It was the reason they'd both given up on city police work.

  He'd had the same conversation with Jackie a dozen times over the years. Every word he told Hailey was true—if he could just take out the kingpin breaking the whole system, he probably would. This moment, this time was his real chance. Jeremy could make a real difference. He wasn't just chasing leads around the Northwest, playing number two to Rachel or Maddie or Cinza or whomever the fuck Aderholt decided to throw him at.

  I'm not a goddamn chess piece. I'm the guy who flips the fuckin' board. I was never supposed to be here anyway. Shouldn't have been on this case, shouldn't have stuck around, shouldn't have thrown myself into the middle of all this shit. Hell, I shouldn't even have joined the goddamn FBI. What was I thinking?

  Yeah, this shit's illegal, and it should be. Ninety-nine out of a hundred cases, even the ones where Jackie and I were tearin' our fuckin' hair out, nobody deserves this kind of street justice. But Brian Hendricks is a terrorist, not a drug dealer or a corrupt politician or even a serial killer. Even Malton wasn't killin' indiscriminately. He's tryin' to commit fuckin' genocide. I can't just stand by and hope the system handles this shit.

  On and on, Jeremy stewed. Without Jackie to break him out of it, without Brian's men arriving to take him away, all he could do was run things over and over in his mind. He remembered his own advice to Hailey about the system, about cogs in the machine, and tried to apply it to himself.

  Am I doin' the right thing? Or am I just really fuckin' pissed, and Lani woke it up again, and now I'm doin' somethin' crazy and suicidal on the off-chance it might help? Ain't they still gonna need me after Brian's gone? There's so much other shit happening. Awakened ain't just gonna be accepted by the world 'cause the one ringleader gets popped.

  "Might not be accepted, but at least they won't be gettin' gunned down in the streets and their goddamn homes…" Jeremy muttered aloud.

  It's worth it. He's got too much power and too many followers.

  What if I set off somethin' worse though? One assassination attempt and he's already got this many on his side, and a whole goddamn network of supplies to boot.

  ...He's the only one who can use golems. He's been runnin' the show since long before that. Motherfucker's as much responsible for Jessica's death as Malton's guys. Golem tore apart that car and would've killed us all if Hailey hadn't held it off. His guy shot Lani up in B.C. when we met Boris and Dan.

  If his guy didn't shoot Lani. If Lani was still with me instead of at home. Maybe he never meets Rook, maybe Rook never gets into the Greywood, maybe Lily doesn't get kidnapped and Hailey doesn't trash London looking for Malton.

  If he didn't help Jackson, maybe the whole goddamn town of Rallsburg doesn't blow up, and none of this ever happens.

  Fuck him.

  "Face down on the ground," grunted a voice just out of sight.

  Jeremy didn't bother trying to resist. He dropped as instructed. They stuffed a black bag over his head, tied his wrists, and muscled him away. Jeremy expected to be loaded into a car again, but they were smarter than that—nothing so loud that could be traced in the quiet nighttime forest. It seemed even more silent than usual after the pitched battle still echoing in his ears a couple hours later. The thick scent of blood seemed permanently fixed in his nostrils, never letting him get used to it.

  They walked—for how long, Jeremy wasn't sure, but it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes. He stumbled over a few tree roots, but to his relief, the two men escorting him weren't going out of their way to make things difficult. They helped him where they could, and they made good progress through the forest despite the restraints. He did his best to keep his sense of direction, but after a few more strange turns, he recognized they were running him in a circle, and he got lost not long after.

  Finally, with his legs starting to really give out from the long day, Jeremy was pushed down so he could crouch into an enclosed space. From the dirt and moss above his head, he figured they were in a cave or something—and as the bag was lifted away, his expectations were confirmed. They'd set up a small camp under a huge tree, with wide-open spaces giving clear sightlines in every direction. Jeremy gaped at the clear flaw until he remembered Cinza's guess.

  "So y'all are protected by magic," he muttered.

  "Yes," said Brian, emerging from deeper within the cave-like space. Felix was a few steps behind him, buried in his phone. "You told Felix you're ready." He hesitated, and Jeremy recognized the telltale sign of the man checking him once again with one of the stones.

  That's one use. Seven more to signal. Jeremy tried to inch his hand toward the stone in his pocket, but couldn't quite reach that far, and didn't want to try with so many eyes on him.

  "My people say you were in the camp assisting the injured," Brian went on. "The injured awakened," he added with disgust. Jeremy never ceased to be amazed how much vitriol the man could put into a single word.

  "Hey, I can't know what they are. It's my job to help people, and I saw people gettin' shot." Jeremy shrugged. "Then I saw them takin' control of golems and shootin' lightnin' without any idea who it might hit. Their leader showed me a huge fuckin' part of the forest where everything's screwed up 'cause of what they did to Rallsburg. She confessed it was her that did Rallsburg in."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I'm glad you finally understand," said Brian. "They are too dangerous to let live."

  "Took me a while, but yeah."

  "You understand why I can't trust you yet, right?"

  "Sure." Jeremy nodded. "Take my gun and whatever else you got to. I've got one of your stones though, swiped it off one of y'all way back. You cool if I keep that?"

  Brian nodded. "I hope you use it well."

  To Jeremy's relief, Brian's men only took his gun, his phone—which wasn't his, but a burner Cinza had given him as a dummy—and his wallet. They left the stone, and even let him keep the hip flask half-full of Rika's whiskey (which he'd refilled before setting out from the Greywood), though one of them checked it for a bug or a tracking device just in case. Jeremy rubbed his wrists to relieve the sores, before putting his hands back in his jacket pockets—and hesitated.

  Holy shit… I'm about to die.

  Felix hung up his phone and called to Brian. "You want to hear this."

  "What?"

  "They found her."

  Brian dropped the jerky he'd been eating. His face got pale. "Where?"

  "In the camp. She was here during the battle. Someone recognized her photo. They're absolutely sure."

  Brian fell back against the nearest chair. "She was… oh, God in heaven, please. Is she okay?"

  "Yeah, they saw her after. One of our guys who stuck around in the camp and pretended to be a victim. She was with some of her friends and your old sheriff." Felix smiled. "They checked her. She's not awakened. None of 'em were. Rumors were bullshit."

  A huge sigh of relief. Brian visibly de-aged a dozen years right in front of Jeremy.

  "Where is she now?"

  "We aren't sure. Probably still in the camp somewhere. He had to get out to call us."

  "She must…" Brian's voice choked up. His eyes were glistening. Even from Jeremy's distance, he could tell, the man was on the verge of tears. "She must be trying to find us. Going to places she thinks I'd be. Oh God… what will she think of me?"

  "We'll get to that when we get to it," said Felix, trying to be as gentle as he could, but he didn't really have the voice for it. "Hold it together, man."

  They kept talking for a while, eventually making it back to other battle plans. Jeremy stayed seated where he was, seemingly forgotten by Brian after the news. He had no idea why they would've gotten the info about Natalie wrong, but it could only be a good thing—after Brian was gone, his men wouldn't go after her, so long as she laid low.

  Start signalin'. It's time. Suck it up and don't fuck it up. Maddie will get it, sooner or later, once she pulls her head out of the shit and back into the real world. If not, Cinza and Jackie'll explain it to her.

  Jeremy worked up the courage. He pressed his finger to the stone, focused just as Cinza had demonstrated, and picked a random spot on the ground. Each signal took a couple minutes to complete. Will couldn't sense them until the spell actually finished, so Jeremy had to do the full thing. The magic activated—the first, and probably the last, time Jeremy would ever use magic in his life.

  Two… three… four… five—

  "Coming in!"

  His concentration broke. Jeremy looked up, against his better judgment… and was confronted with the absolute last person he wanted to see in that moment.

  "Do you know who that is?" asked Felix, shocked.

  "'Course I do, or he'd be dead right now," grunted the burly man filling the entryway. "He's awakened."

  "...Fuck." Felix took a step back. "You know they can still do shit while they're bound and gagged, right?"

  The man grinned. "Shot him with a tranquilizer. He's completely out. Figure we can use a high-value hostage, eh?" He glanced around. "Well fuck me silly, looks like we got a matching set!"

  He tossed his unconscious captive down on the floor. Jeremy tried to avoid looking, but sure enough, the dreadlocks were unmistakable.

  Lani. Of all the fuckin' people in the world, they picked up Lani. How the fuck did this happen? Where the hell is Rook?

  "So what do we do with 'im?" asked the burly guy.

  "Kill him," said Brian shortly, turning away. "He's awakened."

  "Now hold up a sec," said Felix quickly. "He's not wrong, this is a valuable hostage. We could get a lot of mileage here. We gotta consider." He glanced at the burly guy. "How long will the tranq last?"

  He shrugged. "He's pretty skinny. Could be hours at least, maybe longer. He moves a little, I've got more."

  They retreated further into the cave, deep in discussion—Jeremy somehow still forgotten. Guess the guy thought I was a captive. Brian and Felix are too caught up in their own shit to care. Looks like me not bein' important is finally payin' off.

  All I gotta do is… signal.

  Jeremy's hand still held the stone. He'd been ready to die only minutes earlier.

  He stabbed me in the fucking back. He betrayed me. Broke our partnership over a sociopathic killer who gave him a goddamn smile.

  He gripped the stone so tight in his fist, he thought it might break. His fingers dug deep into the skin of his palm. Next to him, Lani's face was completely passive—not peaceful in the slightest. Dead, even, except for the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

  Just signal. Lani would get it too.

  "We're headin' out," Jeremy heard from somewhere deeper into the cave. The others nearby headed in. Jeremy glanced up and saw some kind of communication equipment back there.

  "What's goin' on?"

  "Someone found a way to break Jackson's barriers," said Brian. "We're no longer safe. We must escape with as much as we can. Break down everything."

  Felix began dealing out direction assignments—nothing specific enough for Jeremy to use, but from the sound of it, they were definitely trying to get out of the forest entirely.

  "What about you, boss?" asked the burly guy.

  "My daughter is heading home. I'm going to meet her there."

  ...Fuck me.

  There was no way Jeremy had time to signal with how fast they were breaking everything down. The entire little cave was a flurry of activity—everywhere except for the entranceway, where Jeremy still sat mostly ignored.

  He got to his feet experimentally, and still, no one noticed him. Jeremy took one step toward the cave opening… and stopped again.

  He turned around.

  In six quick steps across the cave, Jeremy had grabbed his things. Someone looked up, surprised, but Jeremy was already moving again. In one swift motion, he hoisted Lani up onto his shoulders. Thank God you're so light, and that I've been workin' out ever since you got shot.

  Jeremy thought he might have heard a shout of alarm, but he didn't care at this point. He was sprinting away, hoping desperately their code of honor still held—that they would not shoot someone unawakened.

  No gunfire pursued him, nor any thumps of chasing footsteps through the carpet of leaves. He didn't glance back, but if he had to guess, he believed they were more concerned with their equipment and supplies. The place was burned anyway. Jeremy hadn't really learned anything valuable. Most likely, they'd assume he was there to save his partner—more fool them, assholes. Can't trick 'em again, but I know where he's goin', and who he's… fuck. Who he's meetin'.

  Jeremy grabbed the phone out of his pocket, desperately holding onto Lani with one hand as he stumbled through the forest in the vague direction of the pilgrim camp. He dialed the number he'd memorized just before leaving, just in case. Jackie had insisted, though Jeremy fully intended not to use it.

  Well, thanks, Jackie. Saved my ass once again.

  The phone picked up, but no one spoke on the other end, only a faint hiss of noise.

  "It's Jeremy. I couldn't do it. Somethin' happened."

  "Explain," said Cinza, not unkindly.

  "It doesn't matter. I know where he's goin'."

  "Where?" asked Will, who was dialed in on the same line.

  "Rallsburg. He's goin' back home to look for his daughter."