Kale worked his way around the bodies and toward the world-gate. He and Ferrox needed to get back to the meadow.

When the wood along the bottom of Penglai’s gate had begun to smoke, a black snout had forced its way through a growing hole. Kale had decided the best course of action was to push the hound back and go after it and its master on the other side. All he had to do was wait until they burned through the last of the bindings. Fighting in Penglai meant less chance of burning down the meadow with Vera in it.

It was a good thing they had done just that, too. An immortal had been on the other side after all. Not a kitsune.

Glad I realized what was happening before I missed all the fun, Ferrox said. It was over too quickly, though.

I want to get back before anyone misses us.

Think it’s too late for that.

Mother and Vera were rushing across the parking lot when he stepped back through the broken world-gate and into the meadow. Vera skidded to a stop and threw a hand over her mouth at the sight of him.

There’s so much blood. Is he okay? Vera’s terrified thoughts bombarded him. Kale didn’t understand at first and then realized the immortal’s blood covered him from their battle.

And the celebration snack afterward, Ferrox added.

Vera’s eyes widened. She wrapped an arm around her middle like she was trying to hold herself together.

Whoops. She heard that, Ferrox said unnecessarily.

She’d heard and saw all the thoughts rolling through their mind.

Ferrox, Kale shouted, trying to get the demon to stop replaying it all.

Yeah, yeah. I’m out. Ferrox retreated behind his barrier. The link cut off.

Braxas lumbered up behind Mother and lifted his nose into the air. “Do I smell immortal? Did you bring some back?”

The dragon eyed Kale’s hand. Kale had brought back a little extra for later since he’d been in a hurry to return. Vera’s eyes dropped to the bloody mass in his hands. Blast.

“It’s all yours.” Kale tossed the organ up to Braxas, who snapped it out of the air. He ran his cleanish hand over his face, hoping he didn’t have gore all over that too. “You’ll want to get that door patched before someone else gets here,” he told Mother, angling so he could hide the mess covering his front. “I’m going to get a clean shirt, and then we can head out if you’re ready,” he said watching Vera sidelong.

Vera nodded mechanically. She must have thought he couldn’t see her because she added, “Yeah.”

“I’ll unbind the gate for you when you get back,” Mother told Kale. “Addamas is running an errand.”

Kale strode off, the tension through his neck and shoulders making it difficult to take a deep breath.

He overheard Mother softly encourage Vera, “Hang in there.”

The breath he’d been trying to take in, punched from his chest.

“When you guys said dwarves, I didn’t picture mini Sasquatches,” Vera whispered to Kale.

He winced. She wasn’t being mean, just speaking her thoughts aloud as always. Unfortunately, dwarves had incredible hearing. And held grudges. Russet fur rose along the spine of the dwarf leading them through the jungle. He didn’t slow his oversized feet or show any other sign of hearing her, but Kale knew the damage had been done. Sasquatch was a derogatory term coined by siphons before the Unraveling—back when they were enslaving and slaughtering the dwarves. That meant the dwarves knew where Vera was from.

Since dwarves are only as tall as Vera’s waist, Kale hadn’t considered the possibility that she’d make the connection between them and Earth’s mythical forest creatures—or that she’d voice it. Even if she’d called them Bigfoot, that wouldn’t have been a big deal. It was a fairly common nickname for them. But Sasquatch? Stars help us.

Kale counted at least six dwarves keeping pace with them in the trees. There’d be twice that many he couldn’t see. Fortunately, he also spotted smoke from the soul-eaters’ village. At least she’d kept her observation to herself until they’d arrived. If they’d been farther out in the jungle, who knew what the dwarves might have tried. Kale handed a pouch off to the dwarf. The creature snatched it with a low growl and took off. Hopefully, they would accept double payment to lead them safely back to the world-gate, once they had time to calm down.

“Wow, it’s incredible.” Vera craned her neck to take in the village of tree houses. “They look like hot air balloons.”

Kale considered the bright patchwork tent structures that were constructed high off the ground, around the tree trunks. He supposed the huts did look like Earth’s flying balloons—if someone skewered a tree through the center of the balloons. Some trees held only one hut, but others held several. Platforms and rope bridges spanned the distance between them.

A curious toddler wandered to the edge of one platform outside his home, trying to spy on the visitors. Only he got too close and fell. He screamed, his arms and legs flailing. Vera’s wonder turned to horror as the diapered child plummeted toward the ground. No one was close enough to catch him. Above, a woman collapsed just as the boy’s fall slowed. The child hovered mid-air with a giggle, waving a hand like he was batting around dust particles. Then he floated upward.

Vera watched it all with huge eyes. “They can fly?”

“Only with help,” Kale told her.

The boy was deposited into his mother’s arms. She scolded him before throwing an accusing look their direction. Kale directed Vera’s attention to the collapsed woman, who began to rouse. The mother with her newly returned baby called out a thank-you and bowed to the woman.

“You see those stripes of ash on her face?” he asked Vera. “They identify her as a zombie. The ash is out of respect for the family of whoever owned that body before the soul currently possessing it. It’s a way to mask the features, so the family doesn’t have to look at the face of their lost loved one.”

“If it’s not the body’s owner in there, then who is it?”

Kale shrugged a shoulder. “No idea. But she must be strong to leave and return to her body without aid.” It was quite impressive.

“She is my father,” greeted a man bent with age. He emerged from a hidden door in the side of one of the biggest trees. Behind him, two younger men descended the spiraling stairs built inside the tree and hidden from unwanted outsiders.

“Really?” Kale looked for the woman with renewed interest, but she was already gone. “How many bodies has he possessed since his death?” Kale asked curiously.

“Twenty-eight,” answered the man, who must be the current tribe leader. Kale didn’t think they’d ever met. He didn’t make it to Zerzura often. Especially not to that part of the realm.

“I’ve never heard of a soul able to hold on for that long,” Kale mused.

“My father always was stubborn. And it’s fortunate for little Obasi that he is. That’s not

the first time he’s had to catch that little one. The child doesn’t seem to have inherited our tribe’s sense of balance or common sense,” the chief said loudly for the young boy to hear. Obasi shied back from the edge. He’d already returned to watch the strange arrivals. Only this time, his mother had tied a vine around his middle.

Vera waved, and the boy disappeared.

“I am Vadik, leader of Tiger’s Nest.” Vadik looked with pride at his home. “I assume you are here to summon someone.”

“Unless you have the answers we need already,” said Kale, knowing the soul-eaters kept close tabs on the world beyond their jungle.

“No one has known anything about the person responsible for bringing down the meadow and returning the Guardian to his former state.” Vadik bobbled his head. “Or no one has been sharing anyway.”

Vera startled at the man’s revelations and moved closer to Kale. “You know an awful lot,” she said.

“We know just about everything that has already happened,” explained Vadik.

“Recently, all the spirits want to do is gossip about the Guardian and his former charge,” grouched one of the men behind Vadik.

“Should we have come here?” Vera asked under her breath, no doubt wondering if it was safe to be there with what the people knew.

“You are in no danger from us,” answered Vadik. “Our people are in the unique position of understanding all points of view in Earth’s history. While we do not want you to be here longer than necessary—for our safety—we sympathize with what led siphons to their fate. And we want answers to what is happening in the world, for our children’s sakes.”

“If you know everything, do you know about the kirin?” Vera asked.

“Only what you know. That revelation threw our clan for a loop. We thought we knew everything, but it seems the existence of an entire kingdom has eluded us.”

Kale was disturbed that the soul-eaters knew the details of their conversation with Alalana. It had taken place privately in the old meadow. Realizing that no conversation went unheard was unnerving. Vera seemed to be having a similar realization based on how fast her heart sped up.

“We would like to rectify the hole in our records,” prompted one of the young men impatiently.

“As you can see, my people struggle with not knowing every secret of our world.” Vadik tapped his cane against the ground. “You were close with her, yes?” Vadik asked Vera.

“She was like a mother to me.”

“Good, then she has left her mark on your soul, and we can use it to summon someone else with the same mark.” He struck the ground more firmly with his cane.

The darkness at his feet, which had stretched closer to Vera unnoticed, retreated toward him.

Vera jumped away. “What was that?

“He is curious about you.” Vadik cocked his head to study Vera. “Your soul fascinates

him.”

“Him?”

A crash through the undergrowth captured the soul-eaters’ attention. Vadik whistled, and the shadow puddled around him lifted and took the shape of a tiger. Vera scrambled back, but the shadow beast took no notice of her. The tiger focused on a shriveled corpse, which stumbled into the village. It looked mummified.

“That’s a zombie, isn’t it?” asked Vera.

Kale didn’t answer. She didn’t need him to.

“The most recent meal of the Kings and Queens,” observed Vadik.

“They exsanguinate their prey,” Kale answered before Vera had the chance to ask.

“They drink people dry? Like vampires?”

Diyu, I thought someone would’ve told her about them already. “The Kings and Queens of the White City are spiders,” he revealed.

“Big spiders?”

“Very.”

She squeezed her eyes closed. “That’s what Mimi was about to tell me before…”

Kale suspected he knew what had interrupted their conversation. Eventually, they were going to have to talk about what had transpired earlier that day. Regret churned in his mind, but he pushed it aside. He couldn’t change what he was.

“If that person is dead, why is it still moving?” Vera asked.

“In Zerzura, tigers release the souls,” Kale explained.

Vadik’s tiger approached the husk of a corpse and roared. With a sigh, the body dropped lifelessly to the ground at the shadow’s feet.

“So when a body dies in Zerzura, it just wanders around until it finds a shadow tiger?” asked Vera.

“The soul is pulled toward Tiger’s Nest,” said Vadik. “It won’t stop until it finds its way here so it can be released. Then a tiger carries it to our underworld.”

“You wouldn’t want to run into a corpse on its way here,” Kale added. “They’re basically feral until they reach Tiger’s Nest.”

“And that tiger just hangs around, pretending to be someone’s shadow?”

“Not pretending,” Vadik corrected. “That is the shadow I was born with. It is the same with all soul-eaters.”

“That why your village is called Tiger’s Nest,” Vera realized.

“Precisely.”

“Between tigers and knobbys, I will never look at a shadow the same way again,” said

Vera. Kale figured she had to be referring to the goblins from Lemuria, who rip the shadows from the dead to harvest their mana.

“The good news is that we now have a body for your summoning,” announced Vadik “Are you ready?”

“Into that?” Vera’s lips curved down as she eyed the withered corpse.

“Despite how it looks, it’s fresh and will receive a spirit just fine.” Vadik sized up Kale.

“I’ll stay down here,” Kale volunteered, knowing the trees above were no place for someone like him.

“Let’s get this done, then. So we can send you all on your way.”

One of Vadik’s helpers retrieved the body. The three disappeared into the tree stairwell. Vera gave Kale an odd look.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m just surprised you’re being so chill right now. You’re usually more uptight than this if you can’t stay by my side.”

Honestly, it hadn’t occurred to him to worry about what could go wrong. Which meant that after the fight with the immortal, he’d detached a little too well from his emotions. He hadn’t even noticed.

“You going to be okay?” he asked, knowing it was what he should ask.

“Sure.” Slips of black swirled over her fingertips. “I can handle dead bodies and ghosts. As long as we don’t have to meet the spider people.”

“No spiders,” he promised. “Just get some answers about Suzie and then we’re out of here.”

“Off to shut down her network for good.”

“You should be prepared…” Kale tried to figure out how to tell her this and decided to be straightforward. “Even if we stop Suzie’s plans, there’s little chance that we can reverse what’s been done. The old meadow is gone, and this is what I am now.”

“If that’s the case, we’ll find a way to make it work,” she said confidently.

“Are you coming, young woman?” called Vadik.

“Coming.” Vera reached up and tangled a hand in the side of Kale’s shirt. The warmth of her hand nearly made his breath catch. “You know, I only care about finding you a cure so you don’t have to fight the monster in your head. I know how much that sucks. But even with four legs, I still think you’re stinking hot.” And then the girl gave a blasted wink, before turning to run after the soul-eaters, leaving him standing there with his heart pounding.

The cloud he’d only just recognized forming between him and his emotions, parted. Kale wanted to chase after her and demand that they do their resurrection ceremony on the ground. That way, he could be there in case everything went wrong. Of course, he couldn’t demand any of that. For one, it would piss Vera off—she’d been thrilled that he was seemingly in control of his overbearing self. But also, his sudden one-eighty would need an explanation. He was not prepared to admit that he’d been close to losing a part of himself. Stars alive, she tamed my monster and pulled me back. She actually did it. The fog was still there, gathering on the edges of his mind, but in that moment, he wondered if she really could keep him together.